She lived in Michigan for many years. We met in high school and immediately hit it off. I wanted to send her something that would remind her of her time here. That's why I chose a Petoskey stone as the centerpiece.
I've always loved Petoskey stones. They're found only in Michigan, and they're remnants of an ancient coral reef. You can find a lot of fossil coral on the market, but Petoskey stone is special and you rarely find it.
The pendant posed a bit of a challenge. The hole was a bit large, and at first I was just going to string the necklace, but then I decided I wanted to use chain. The pendant was too large for a wire wrapped bail; I was also worried that if I wire wrapped it I would need stopper beads on each side, and if I made a wire wrapped link to hold the pendant and the stopper beads, it would be too wide, and it wouldn't hang properly.
So I decided to use a fine chain inside the bead to give it a little movement.
I love the way it turned out, and even better, my friend loved it! I hope it will be a happy reminder of Michigan and the good times she had here.
6 comments:
Your memory necklace is beautiful! My grandmother-in-law gave me a box of Petoskey stones that she used to hand polish w/different grits of sandpaper - even gave me a kit! I may make a necklace w/just a pendant for my mother-in-law & her sister ~ Thanks for the wonderful idea! :)
Thank you so much for your kind words!
You totally should make necklaces out of those stones. They are so special, and I'm sure your mother-in-law & her sister would love them!!
Lovely! I've never heard of Petoskey stones before!
Skye, they really are beautiful! They're a unique kind of fossil coral and they're hard to find outside of MI. They're not often cut and cabbed or made into beads, except by locals.
There are a lot of sources for other kinds of fossil coral, but Petoskey stone is a cool little secret here in MI! :)
I'm a Michigan girl too- my kids are old now but one of our favorite summer trips was to Petoskey state park to hunt for stones. Where in Michigan are you located? I'm in GR :)
That's great, Nancy! I love meeting fellow Michiganders. ;) I live north of Detroit. I actually do a show in Grand Rapids--the West MI bead show! It's coming up in a week or so.
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