My Own Private Garden

Two golden songbirds surround a lovely deep blue cloisonne circle which has a pink flower and blue butterfly picture on it. The center bead is surrounded by deep blue fiber-optic cats eye beads, green and deep blue glass beads, and teeny golden accents.

Cloisonne is an enameling technique in which thin wire partitions (called cloisonné) are filled with enamel. This technique is very old, and was practiced in ancient Byzantium and China. First, delicate strips of wire are bent to create a design, then are placed and soldered onto the bead's surface. Next, the spaces are filled with different colored enamels. Finally, the bead is fired and polished several times to produce the desired effect.

The loop is double-strung with strong nylon coated wire and hanging from a satin cord which closes with a lobster-claw clasp that has a teeny starfish charm accent.