DIY Venezia Tassel necklace – Bejewelled Travel series

I am a self professed travel junkie. Travel makes me confident, helps me get over my insecurities, and brings me true happiness. Although I can stay at home without venturing outside for months at a stretch, I need to go out and see the world and experience a new place by myself atleast 1-2 times a year. Needless to say, this year has wrecked havoc on all our travel plans and nobody knows when it will be safe to travel for pleasure once again. However, that has not stopped me from reminiscing about all the places that I have been to, sights I have seen and experiences that I relished. It has left me inspired, more than any design challenge that I have participated in the last few months where themes are recycled over and over again. With that said, I launch a new series that combines travel and jewellery making called “Bejewelled Travel.”

Bejewelled Travel

This series will look places of interest as an inspiration or starting point for creative work. I will create and share a design inspired by a city, a particular site or even the culture. It will not be not a direct representation of the place but a collage (of some sort) of images that are stored in my memories of the place. The influence is personal, nevertheless I feel that it will resonate with you. I also invite the readers of my blog, my friends to join me. Play along if you would like with a piece a month for however long you want. You could also send me pictures of pieces that you create (with or without a tutorial) to post on my blog. I would love to hear what you think about it.

Let’s start the armchair travel, with the Venezia Tassel necklace. It is a DIY tutorial to create a bead tassel necklace inspired by the St. Marks Basilica and Doge’s Palace in Venice, Italy.

St. Marks Basilica and Doge’s Palace – Piazza San Marco – Venice

July last year I was travelling around Europe on my vacation. At Venice, I ate at roadside cafes, drank tap water, commuted by crowded ferries, and got drenched in hail. Such a trip will not be possible anytime soon. While buying millefiori beads was a highlight of my trip, it was nowhere close to the experience that I had at the St. Marks Basilica and Dodge’s Palace. I booked an after hours group tour that allowed me to enjoy the golden glow at St. Marks Basilica as the sun went down and the lights came on, one by one. It is by far one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had. A large portion of the 85ooo sq ft of mosaic in the Basilica is gold. That is the tiles are made using glass and 24K gold foil. The altar (Pala d’Oro) filled with nearly 2500 gemstones is a must see for every gem lover not to forget the painting of Jesus Christ as a 16 year old.

The Dodge’s palace with its gothic architecture was no less breathtaking. With the gigantic paintings and gilded ornate ceilings it is a rich portrayal of the prosperity of Venice at its peak. While the Palazzo Ducale was home to the Doge and the Venetian government it also contains dingy prisons cells and torture chambers that you don’t even want to think about. The bridge of sighs that offers the prisoners one last chance to see the outside world before they are imprisoner holds so many poignant yet tragic tales. I shudder to even think of all the hardships of fire, plague and floods that the prisoners’ suffered. 

DIY Venezia Tassel necklace

I was inspired by the gilded ceilings of the Doge’s palace, rosaries of the basilica, the blue skies and greenish-blue waters that surround the San Marco pier to make the Venezia tassel necklace. It looks rich, intricate and ornate and is light to wear. Let me show you how to make a beaded tassel necklace in less than five minutes. This necklace is sold.

Level: Beginner

Time Taken: 5 minutes or less

Materials

Other than the jasper beads and glass beads, I bought the  other materials for the DIY Venezia Tassel necklace from Embroidery Materials. However, this is not a sponsored post.

• Pale Turquoise 3mm Rondelle crystal Bead Chain – 1 meter
• Grape Green 3mm Rondelle crystal Bead Chain – 1 meter
• 30*87MM Vintage Pattern Ornate Metal filigree Pendant  – 1
• Aventurine cuboidal beads – 2
• Blue glass bead – 10mm – 2
• 9mm gold tone jumprings – 3
• 2″ Gold tone eyepins – 4
• Gold tone clasp with rings – 1

Method

1. Cut two pieces of 3 inches each of both green and turquoise chain. Add an aventurine bead to an eyepin and make a loop, large enough to hold the four chain bits. Close the loop by wrapping he extra wire around it.
2. Attach the bead tassel to one end of the filigree pendant.
3. To the other end of the filigree add another aventurine bead via looping. Add a 9mm jump ring before closing the loop. Your pendant is now ready.

4. Cut the remaining lengths of both chains and add them to jump rings.
5. Loop a glass bead on either side of the hook and chain clasp and attach them to the jumprings to which you have added the beaded chains. Close the loops.

Your sassy Venezia Tassel necklace is complete.

It’s been a while since I launched a full series on the blog and I hope you enjoyed this first episode of Bejewelled travel. I would love to hear from you on what you think about it. Please do pin and share if you enjoyed it.

I hope that you find it interesting
Cheers