Monika Wiklund

My first try at making a tubular peyote bracelet using the uneven peyote stitch technique.  I wanted to try to make something using the tubular technque because I thought it would create a nice effect, but at the same time I thought it was best to start small since I had a limited supply of seed beads and because I wanted to see the result fairly quickly. I started stitching around a plastic chop stick, but it kept falling out so I replaced it with the leather band which I also used for a very simple clasp.

In the beginning, I was not quite sure how  the pattern would turn out, and it took a couple of tries to figure out what happens with the different layers, but I think that it turned out fairly well considering that I am new to the technique.

Photography by Kristian.

Is it strange to combine a black wooden pendant with red agates, black lava stone, and a dark chain? The pendant is rather light compared to the rest of the necklace, which might feel strange at first, but I still think that this necklace turned out very well. It took me a while to figure out what to do with the pendant, and especially what to put in the hole at the top of the pendant. When I started experimenting with different beads, I found that the small round red agate fit almost perfectly, and since I like the combination of red and black I continued the theme with the other stone beads and added the thick dark chain.

Close-up of the wooden pendant, showing the red agate and the butterfly pattern of the pendant. I really like this kind of pendant, and I have a black rose silhouette pendant that is waiting to be used, as well as an older dark brown pattern pendant that I used for another necklace some time ago.

Photography by Kristian.

For this necklace,I wanted to achieve a slightly primitive feeling using wood and metal beads strung on a thick suede cord.

The metal “sword” pendant makes me think of celtic patterns, I liked it the moment I found it and just had to order it. Once I got it, it took me a while to figure out what to make of it, since I didn’t want to pull the focus away from the pendant. Also, I wanted to make a necklace that could be worn by either a man or a woman.

The necklace turned out ok, but I think it might be even better with something other than the metal barrels between the wooden beads. Unfortunately, I didn’t have anything that would fit in better when I made the necklace so  it will have to do until I find something else, and maybe I will be able to rebuild it later.

Photography by Kristian.

Some time ago, I bought a string of bian spike beads and made a necklace with bian and lave stone beads, but I only used about half of the bian spikes for that necklace. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make another version of the necklace with the remaining bian stone beads, and this is how it turned out. It is pretty similar to the first necklace, but it gives a slightly different impression with the round sodalite beads instead of the lava stone cubes, and they also adds a bit of color to the necklace.

When I had  it on one day, I discovered that it was slightly longer than I wanted it to be, so one of these days I will remove a few beads from each end to make it  fit better. I guess that is one of those things you only notice when you wear the necklace with the right clothes…

Photography by Kristian.

This bracelet represents one of my first tries at sewing with beads, using the RAW (right angle weave) stitch for the bracelet and the mandala stitch for the flower.  I am not entirely happy with how it turned out, but I think I learned a few thing by making it, among other things I realised that it is easier to make the parts separately and sew them together when all parts are done rather than try to sew everything together at once.

Overall, I think that the flower turned out ok, but the bracelet could have been better and more even around the flower. The clasp side of the bracelet is not visible in the picture, but I used a cylinder shaped magnetic clasp that was intended for a three-stringed necklace or bracelet, that I sewed into the bracelet after completing the pattern.

Photography by Kristian.

This is a rather delicate chain necklace made from a thin metal chain with small flower links and some pale blue silver-foil beads. It is not very long, and because of this and the lightness of the chain, I believe that it might be suited for a young girl.

I buy most of my materials online, even though I love being able to touch and feel and look at the beads I buy if I get a chance, and so also with this chain. Sometimes what you get when you buy materials online is not quite what you expected, and if I recall correctly I thought this chain would be slightly larger, but I think this necklace turned out fairly well anyway. It is  challenging and exiting when you get some materials that are not quite what you expected, and I love to expand my horizons and try new things with them.

Of course, most of the time I don’t really have a plan when I buy different materials anyway, or only a very vague idea of what I would like to do with them. It is when you have everything in front of you and you start combining things and look at what you already have that the ideas come.

Photography by Kristian.

Lately, I have been trying some new things and this is one of the results of my experiments. I found a web page (in swedish) describing how to sew beads together in different ways, and this necklace is the result of my first tries at the Nepal chain stitch and Mandala stitch.

The nepal chain is made from silver-lined darker and lighter purple seed beads, with the lighter purple seed beads as the stems and the darker purple seed beads as the flowers or leafs of the chain. I think that it turned out fairly well, and the color combination makes me think about heather in bloom.

For the Mandala flower, I used the same light and dark purple seed beads for the base, and then I added some garnet and amethyst beads to fill it out and make the flower more three-dimensional. The garnet and amethyst beads are not exactly the same colors as the seed beads, but I think this is adding to the three-dimensional effect.

Photography by Kristian.

This theme is linked to trees and flowers and other growing things. I used small round semi-precious stones with slightly varying colors but mostly in different shades of green, combined with metal charms in the shape of leaves or flowers to create this necklace.

The rectangular beads are green jasper, the larger round beads are green opals, and the smaller round beads consist of a mix of green jaspis, chalcedony, and tiger-eye.

The center-piece is a large metal leaf charm, surrounded by slightly smaller flower charms and more leaf charms evenly spaced out along the length of the necklace, and even the toggle clasp is following the theme.

Photography by Kristian.

I used a rather discrete color scheme for this necklace, using a combination of a gray stone pendant, facetted needle agate beads af slightly varying shades of gray, grayish blue glass beads, and a thick chain with antique finish. The stone pendant is not quite as dark as the picture implies, and I think that the necklace works very well in combination with dark clothing.

I am not quite sure what kind of stone the pendant is made of, but I really like the slightly uneven pattern and I think it is about the right size and color to combine it with the other stones and beads of the necklace.

Photography by Kristian.

For this necklace, I used some round beige-pink desert sun beads, large light purple silver-lined seed beads, and some light purple silver-foil beads of different sizes and shapes. I think that the colors are complementing each other nicely, and that the combination of different types of beads highlights the pattern and shapes.

The seed beads are used as spacers between the desert sun and silver-foil beads, and the smaller silver-foiled hearts in the necklace gives a tighter connection between the pendant and the beads in the necklace as well as increases the variation in the pattern.

Photography by Kristian.