This will cheer you up no end! This is a looong (32"/820mm) handstitched necklace worked in a freeform spiral weave stitch with a cornucopia of leaves, flowers, butterflies, ladybirds spiralling along a stem towards a handmade (and especially commissioned by me) sunflower lampwork bead made by Ciel Creations with fringed dangles.

The necklace also features some beadwork sunflowers in Japanese seed beads and Czech glass beads which I made separately and then worked into the beadwork of the necklace.

I lost count of the number of hours of work that went into this necklace - probably around 40 hours all in all.

HOW I MADE IT

The beadwork sunflowers and clasp were made using a variation of brick stitch around a central Czech glass bead.
The body of the necklace is spiral weave in a freeform design using a variety of different sized seed beads and Czech pressed glass beads.
The fringing falls from a skirt of net stitch.

The clasp can be undone by folding the petals down and pulling through the loop. All have been sewn through several times so it is robust enough to withstand much wear.