Monika Wiklund

I am almost always on the lookout for new types of chains, and I was very happy when I found the copper chain that I have used in this necklace. For some reason I have not had much luck with finding many variations of copper chains earlier, and this chain is a lot more interesting than the ones I had before. The colors of the copper goes very well with the red-brown round agate beads and the orange-red of the agate rings and the pendant, and the small delicate copper flowers also adds something extra. This is definitely one of my favorite necklaces, and I have used it several times already.

Photography by Kristian.

A simple but elegant necklace made from 4 and 6 mm round moss agate beads and wavy metal links. The color of the beads vary from an almost transparent grayish white to dark green, and the darker areas look a little bit like moss-like threads. I think that it is a great combination for a necklace, but I have to work on how to combine the links with the beads without getting them caught in each other and getting the links stuck the wrong way.

Photography by Kristian.

Here is a necklace that I have made from rhodonite and lava stone beads. The pattern is simple, but the colors and patterns of the rhodonite beads make it more interesting to look at. Perhaps the colors are a little bit paler in real life, but I really like the combination of pink and black.

As you can see, I put some metal spacers and a few round metal beads between the stone beads of the necklace and I used a dark metal heart-shaped toggle clasp that I think match the darker colors of the lava stone beads. The pendant was made from a flower-shaped  rhodonite bead that is combined with a small bead cap and a lava stone bead on a hat pin, and then I added a few more lava stone beads on separate eye pins that is hanging around the larger flower to give it a more three-dimensional feeling.

Even though I seldom wear pink, I have actually tried this necklace together with a black tunic with a pattern of pink, purple and grey flowers and I think that it was a pretty good combination.

Photography by Kristian.

This is a pretty simple necklace made of sodalite and lava-stone beads interspersed with copper-colored spacers and pipes. The slightly twisted pipes creates a three-dimensional effect that is what makes the necklace noticeable. The twists can be seen in the picture, but it is even more evident in reality. Unfortunately I discovered that the holes in the beads and in the spacers are larger than the outer dimension of the pipes,  something that causes the beads and spacers to move along the pipes unless I use glue to stabilize them.

Photography by Kristian.

I made this necklace to go with a white top with a pattern of small blue flowers of several shades. It is a pretty short and thin necklace, and it is almost a perfect match for the top.

The idea came to me when I was looking at the small, flat, oval lapiz lazuli beads, and I was trying to think of something to do with them. I started to look through my always increasing collection of beads and I came up with the small, faceted, rectangular zebra jasper beads and figured that the combination might look good with the top I mentioned earlier. To create some distance between the different beads, I added the “double” metal spacers and finally I selected a simple magnetic clasp to complete the necklace without drawing attention to the clasp.

This is a very simple necklace, but the material and combination of the beads create a complexity of its own and I am very happy with the result.

Photography by Kristian.

Here is another chain necklace that I have made. I have lost count of how many versions of chain necklaces I have made, but it seems there is always some new materials and variations to try and also the chain necklaces are pretty popular so I tend to not keep them for very long. This is a fairly simple combination of a thick silver-colored chain, some small round and triangular moss agate beads, and a larger moss agate pendant.

I like the dark green color and the moss-like threaded pattern in the moss agate, and I think that they look pretty good with the thick chain even if the small round beads are barely noticeable in comparison with the chain and the larger triangular beads.

Photography by Kristian.

This necklace is made from two a white and a green jablonex seed bead mix using the Apache leaf stitch. I wanted the leaves in the necklace to stand out from each other and look like leaves in a garland, which is why I used alternately seed beads from the white and the green mix, and why each leaf is made from the same color of beads.

I think that it turned out pretty well, even though the sizes of the beads vary slightly between the different colors in the mixes so not all leaves are the same size. For the clasp, I used a small round magnetic lock which is fastened through the last seed bead on each end of the garland.

Photography by Kristian.

I made this necklace as an experiment using drop-shaped and  rounded fresh-water pearls. It is a three-strand necklace that has been “braided” by alternately threading two of the threads through the same pearl to create this three-dimensional thick necklace.

The simple toggle clasp can be put in the front or on the side, and I put the larger rounded pearls nearer the clasp because I wanted to use the clasp as a focus for the necklace. Overall, I think it turned out very well and I think I might try other varieties on the theme later.

Photography by Kristian.