“This piece contains a story of beauty, fashion, witchcraft and obsession. When the time came to woo the prince, Ursula put on a show. Transforming herself into a beautiful woman adorned in the best clothing and accessories. This show stopping necklace made from coral, seaweed, pearls, and water contains Ariel’s voice. Why would the sea witch wear a single cursed shell when she can make a stunning visual statement?”

Ursula’s Cursed Necklace is a custom design inspired by The Crazy Merchant bead challenge. For the challenge we were presented with some of the Pantone spring colors as well as 10 beads from their shop. We needed to make a unique, fashionable and wearable necklace.

I was immediately inspired by the Pantone colors. I knew I wanted to make a necklace for Ursula to wear. I never really thought she would wear a singular gold shell. I knew she would make a fashion statement. Basically, showing off her wickedly evil curse in a classy way.

This was my first time working with Shibori Ribbon which is a hand dyed silk. It was a learning experience. In this necklace, the ribbon represents the water. I kept the edges rough as the ribbon moved up the necklace. I liked the juxtaposition with the pearls.

It’s always a lot of fun to delve into bead embroidery. Creating texture and new shapes is one of my favorite parts of beading. I played a lot with texture when it came to the focal point. There are pearls, coral, and sea urchins mixed with my watery ribbon. The other half of the pendant should look like the bottom of a coral reef.

I was honored and quite surprised I won something at the competition. There were so many wonderful pieces. The creativity of jewelers is outstanding. Everyone had a fantastic piece and inspiration story. My dear cursed necklace won Second Place overall as well as People’s Choice.