Monika Wiklund

A while back, I got the idea to make rings by plaiting leather or silk or cotton cord and attaching the ends together using a bead with a large hole as a focus for the ring. For my first tries I used some large metal beads, for example a heart-shaped spacer bead and a slider with a rectangular “spiral” pattern, but when I found this cute little turtle bead I knew it would be perfect to use for a ring. The flat underside of the turtle fits perfectly on my finger, and the hole is just the right size for attaching the plaited silk cord and leather.

When I had tried this version I of course had to try some other animal-shaped beads, and I started to look for similar beads. So far I have found a really cool little crocodile that I have used for a ring, but for some reason most of the beads I have gathered so far have their holes positioned wrong for making this type of ring. I guess I have to keep looking for ideas for using them in similar ways.

Photography by Kristian.

This jewelry is also a result of the preparations for going to Medeltidsveckan in Visby this summer. As you might already have guessed, it is inspired by the strings of beads that was commonly worn together with viking style dresses and this jewelry is made of bronze colored metal details, mookaite and jaspis beads, and faceted glass beads.

I never used it myself since the color does not match either of the dresses I made, but I think that it looks pretty nice and I hope that I will manage to find a use for it some time int he future.

Photography by Kristian.

The pattern from this necklace is also from the beading book that I bought this summer (Beading Beautiful Costume Jewelry – Patterns for Every Festive Occasion), although the original pattern used drops with vertical holes rather than with horizontal holes like these have so I had to adapt the pattern a bit to accommodate for this.

Another difference compared to the original pattern is that I used round and faceted semi-precious beads instead of faceted glass beads. I used round white howlite beads and round and faceted rose quartz beads in combination with pearl white seed beads. The small seed “bead caps” is the addition to the original pattern that I made to adapt to the horizontal holes in the drops.

I think that the idea is pretty nice even though this particular necklace turned out a bit crooked and uneven since the drops are not hanging straight down like they are supposed to, but I think that if I make another one it will turn out better.

Photography by Kristian.

It took quite some time for me to complete this necklace, not because it is a difficult pattern but because I ran out of the matte purple seed beads when I had made a little bit more than half the necklace and it took me quite some time to find the same color and size of seed beads again. Unfortunately I didn’t quite succeed regarding the size of the seed beads so I ended up starting over from the beginning again anyway but I still like the result.

If I recall correctly, I got the idea to create a tubular netting necklace with a large bead inserted into the tube while I was trying to figure out what to do with his large oval-shaped paua bead and I noticed that this mix of purple seed beads matched the colors of the bead very well and I figured that it would create an interesting effect to put the paua bead inside a tubular net like this. It was a bit tricky to build the tubular net around the bead, but I think that the result was well worth the effort.

Photography by Kristian.

Well, this is an example of what happens when I don’t have anything to do on Christmas eve and I get the idea that I want to make a Christmas themed necklace…

When I started digging through my stores of beads I found this combination of red, green and crystal-colored faceted glass beads, and after a while I also found a pattern in my  bead jewelry book. The name of the book is Beading Beautiful Costume Jewelry – Patterns for Every Festive Occasion, and the name of the pattern is Victorian Choker, but of course I did not follow the pattern exactly but adapted it for my own purposes and the available materials.

The faceted glass beads was combined with red, silver-lined crystal and frosted crystal seed beads, and you can see the result in the pictures above. I think that the necklace turned out fairly well and that it is pretty cool even though I am not sure if I will ever be able to use it myself.

Photography by Kristian.

This necklace was made at about the same time as the necklaces I made as preparation for going to Visby this summer. It is a very simple necklace made of white clay and porcelain beads interspersed with metal tube beads. I am not sure how well it is visible in the picture, but the larger beads also have a flower pattern on them.

Photography by Kristian.

Here is another one of my recent favorites, a red coral necklace that I made this summer.

As you might notice, the pattern is a variation of the RAW stitch, but I added some metal spacers between the red coral beads to increase the contrast. I think that the small coral heart pendant makes a very nice addition to the entire necklace, and I am also very happy with how the combination of the larger and smaller coral beads creates a pattern within the regular pattern.

Photography by Kristian.

This necklace was made as a part of the clothing that we prepared for going to “Medeltidsveckan” in Visby this summer. I already had these large red agate beads, and I thought that they would match my red over-dress if I could come up with a nice combination. Since black and red always go well together I dug through my stores and managed to come up with this combination of red and black agate beads together with some black pony beads, black clay beads, and black glass beads that I used to fill out the necklace to a suitable length.

The picture below is not very good since it is taken with a mobile phone, but it shows me in Visby wearing the necklace together with the clothing that I made for “Medeltidsveckan”.

Photography by Kristian.

I have seen many versions of necklaces with hematite heart pendants like this one, and here is a version of my own made with hematite lantern-shaped beads and green cloisonne beads.

The cloisonne beads I have had lying around for some time without using, but the hematite beads I found at Syfestivalen in Älvsjö this spring, and the heart pendant I bought from one of the online shops I frequent every now and then. The pattern  is simple, yet elegant and I really like the result.

Photography by Kristian.

This necklace is just a variation of a couple of my earlier necklaces that I have posted about, but with other colors and a small silver-foil heart instead of an angel pendant. As in the earlier versions, the necklace is made using the tubular netting tecnique and in this case I used a combination of 11/0 white, blue and black seed beads.

There is also a matching bracelet to go with the necklace, and the toggle clasp in both the necklace and the bracelet are in the shape of a small metal heart.

Photography by Kristian.