Monika Wiklund

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.

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.

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.

A matching set of necklace, bracelet and earrings made from a light silver-colored, oval, angle-cut chain, some silver-colored metal beads, purple silver-foiled beads of different sizes and shapes, and with a large purple silver-foiled heart as a pendant.

I really like the combination of and the contrast between the dark purple beads and the light silver-colored chain and I wanted to create a set with a common theme without using the exact same pattern in each part. The bracelet and the earrings use the same colors, but rather than using the square and oval silver-foil and metal beads of the necklace, I used the small silver-foil hearts to increase the focus of the pendant of the necklace.

Photography by Kristian.

A thick and rather heavy chain necklace with large nuggets of african jade and raw tiger eye. The chain consists of patterned spades and rings, combined with a couple of larger flower contour links.

The pendant consists of one african jade nugget and one raw tiger eye nugget, and on one side of the necklace there is a combination of two african jade nuggets and one tiger eye nugget, while the other side of the necklace has two tiger eye nuggets and one african jade nugget. This, together with the positioning of the flower contours in the chain, results in an asymmetric necklace, which I think draws the attention to the details.

Closeup of one side of the necklace and part of the chain.

Photography by Kristian.

A rather discrete brown glass bead and copper chain bracelet with a cute, heart-shaped copper toggle clasp.

Copper chains are very nice, I wish I could find more of them, I only have a few different kind of chains right now. I think that the flat, square brown silver-foil glass beads fit in very nicely with the copper tones of the necklace, and the combination with a couple of small brown silver-foil glass hearts and the heart-shaped toggle clasp completed the bracelet.

The picture above shows the colors of the necklace, and below you can see the shape of the beads and the composition of the bracelet.

I think I also have a copper chain necklace somewhere that should match this bracelet perfectly, but I can’t seem to find it at  the moment…

Photography by Kristian.

Here is a copper chain necklace made from a simple copper chain and a few larger copper chain links.  I have a dded a couple of flat zebra onyx rings, some smaller round brown and black speckled stone beads that I don’t remember the name of, and a few copper filigree beads. The pendant is made from a large, flat, slightly curved zebra onyx bead.

Picture by Kristian.

The reddish brown twisted, oval mookaite beads add a bit of color to this necklace. The chain is combined from short lengths of a thin triangular chain, single links of oval angle cut chain, single links of a heart chain, and a flower shaped link. A large metal leaf pendant completes the necklace and adds to the length.

Picture by Kristian.

A dark chain necklace made from three different chains, sodalite nuggets, and with a large sodalite donut pendant.

Sodalite is a very nice semi-precious stone, and I love the mix of colors. This is a closeup of the pendant.

I have also made a matching bracelet for this necklace. The bracelet is made from the same materials, with the addition of the padlock and key toggle clasp.

Pictures by Kristian.

A necklace made from a thin, black chain with larger slightly lighter links in the shape of flowers and drops and a carved jaspis leaf pendant. I am not sure what kind of stone the beads in the necklace is, but I believe it is also jaspis. The beads are alternated coin beads and twisted oval beads.

Pictures by Kristian.