Monika Wiklund

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.

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.

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 represents my second try at using the african helix stitch. In my first try with this technique, I learned that it is very important to use seed beads of equal size to achieve a nice and even necklace, and as you can see this necklace looks much better because I used a slightly better quality of beads.

For this necklace I used a base of matte white seed beads for the inner spirals and for the outer spirals I used opaque turquoise  seed beads and seed beads with a light blue core. The clasp is a cute flower shaped toggle clasp and I also added a stone pendant with colors of brownish red and green and turquoise that I think matches the colors of the outer spirals of the helix. Overall, it is a pretty simple necklace that is easy to match with different types and colors of clothes.

Photography by Kristian.

I think that lava stone beads work very well in combination with different semi-precious stones and I have made several necklaces using this theme. The earlier necklaces have been in more discrete colors, but I really like this combination of bright red coral and matte black  lava stone together with the heart shaped cinnabar pendant.

For this necklace, I used three different sizes of coral beads and two sizes of lava stone beads together with some cute metal spacers and a simple round toggle clasp. I really like the colors and the beautiful flower pattern of the pendant, but for some reason I haven’t used this necklace very much so far.

Photography by Kristian.

When I first made this necklace, I was a bit worried that it might be a bit too red and orange and that I would never be able to use it, but once I tried it on I found that it works very well with my coloring and especially if I use it together with dark or discretely colored clothing. Now this is one of my favorite necklaces, although I guess that really doesn’t say much considering how many necklaces I have…

The necklace is made of a mix of red agate and carnelian beads of different shapes and sizes, the small round beads and the rectangular beads are carnelian and the rest of the beads are made of red agate. It is made by using two strings and threading both strings through every second bead and threading them separately through two different beads in between. One of the strings is also threaded through the pendant with a carnelian bead at the bottom to keep it in place.

Photography by Kristian.

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.

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.

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.

My last post was about a necklace that I made for my husbands aunts 60th birthday. As I mentioned in that post, I made two necklaces for her, and this is the other one. It is a simple but elegant necklace consisting of a large rectangular sardonyx pendant and a chain made from “filled in” links, and since the chain is not long enough to fit over the head without a lock of some kind, I also added a simple star-shaped toggle clasp.

I am very happy with the result, and I wouldn’t mind making some variations of the theme if I can find similar pendants or large beads.

Photography by Kristian.