Swarovski embellishment - three from five!

There is a bit of a story behind this brooch and a confession... Story first, confession later.

I have an ongoing and impossible to explain fascination with the Swarovski crystal embellisment count as mentioned by the weddings reporter in the Sunday Telegraph. I turn to the weddings page of the newspaper as first port of call and count how many of the gowns are 'embellished with Swarovski crystals' and that's all I read on the page. Each week the count is different, but there has only been one week in recent memory that has been Swarovski embellishment-free. Why the fascination? Perhaps it is a fascination with the pervasiveness of the brand, but other than that, impossible to explain! Even funnier, is that my partner has gotten in on the act and will now check and call out the Swarovski count on his way through the paper to the sports pages. I like a bit of sparkle now and then (who doesn't), but don't get into crystals and I am no Muriel, I have never really been into the wedding thing, I love going to them of course and make a fair few wedding rings, but the whole traditional sparkly dress confection thing has never been a dream. I recently became engaged however - which is a wonderful and beautiful thing and I look forward to our simple wedding, whenever it may be and to sewing a Swarovski crystal into the hem of my frock to honor our funny Sunday ritual!

So this brooch is an homage to the Swarovski crystal and the wedding writer from the Sunday Tele. Now for the confession. I bought the Swarovski crystal beads for the brooch and broke my rules... I just couldn't resist!!! The pink thread and wax series of brooches, with all its candy coloured feminine allusions was making a siren call for some Swarovski intervention. The result is quite interesting, the hard angularity of the crystal beads make a strange companion for the softness of the wax and thread - the crystals are a sharp imposition rather than a natural inclusion in the terrain of the piece.