Studio Time: Sedona Lariat

The part of Southwest style that really appeals to me is the organic, uncluttered, clean look and feel it has. As I meander along this journey of making glass beads and jewelry, I feel like I started with crazy, vibrant, and...ahem...cluttered jewelry. I'm trying to learn the lesson that "less is more."

Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't.

My last home in Texas was decorated in southwest style and I went through a year-long process of getting rid of things. When my house was finally ready for showing, I had a really limited set of furniture and I learned how to make it look to advantage...it must have worked. My house sold in a month. In a bad economy. But, the point of this story is that at beginning, I had a lot of "stuff" and was more cluttered than I realized.

I've brought that lesson with me to Hong Kong where everything is shrunken in scale (especially relative to Texas). 700 sq feet is HUGE here. There are apartments, 500 sq feet in size, where they fit 3 (yes, that's three) bedrooms in that space. Don't ask me how. My mind still can't wrap itself around that concept. People asked if I was going to bring my furniture to Hong Kong. I checked into shipping, but decided against it (even though the cost would have been equivalent of buying new furniture here), because the furniture in the US doesn't fit the scale of the HK apartment. I notice homes that are furnished with western style and size furniture here in HK feel more cluttered. I've furnished with furniture built locally (or in China) and it fits and makes my smaller apartment feel more roomy. I've really tried hard not to buy too much stuff. I still probably can get rid of some things. (After all, I moved with 2 suitcases.)

Anyway, the whole point of all that blathering about clutter is that sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't. And Southwest style is sometimes clean and uncluttered, sometimes not. And sometimes in between. That's what this piece Sedona Lariat, feels like to me...somewhere in between cluttered and clean...but interesting, nevertheless. Just like the woman who should wear this necklace.

The Sedona Lariat fits a woman who is a study in contrasts.

She's urban and refined.

She's a cowgirl at heart who happens to love and live in the city.

Sometimes she's classic.

Sometimes she's western and earthy.

Sometimes dressed up.

Sometimes casual.

The girl who can go hiking in the mountains for 3 days.

The girl who can wear heels and a little black dress to a wedding.

comprised of

Twisted silver rings in varying sizes on one side of the neck

A stout leather cord on the other side

Finished off in a cluster of Sedona glass beads in vibrant reds and light and dark turquoise

As I've matured, I've turned into a person that likes options. I'm starting to create necklaces that give options, like this one. The lariat style gives you many wearing options which lets you wear it with different styles of shirts with varying necklines. This can be worn at a conventional length by connecting the clasp to the bottom loop. It can be worn as a choker by clasping it around the neck. Then it makes the remaining length a daring waterfall of a drop.



I could see this being worn with a gray, classic suit, with a plain turquoise, light blue or red top underneath the jacket. Then, swap the suit for a jean jacket and khakis or a leather jacket and jeans and you're ready for a casual evening.