Monika Wiklund

I have already mentioned this bracelet in an earlier post, but since I did not have a picture of the bracelet at that time I decided to post this now.

This bracelet is made using the same technique as the earlier post, but this bracelet is wider with three rows of beads of varying sizes instead of only one as in the first necklace. Using larger beads in the middle row gives the bracelet a slightly rounded contour, and I think that it adds a lot to the overall impression. Of course, it is possible to use the two bracelets together and I think that they also fit pretty well together with the stone necklace I posted about a few posts back.

Photography by Kristian.

When I bought the metal parts for this necklace, I had not noticed the position of the holes and as a result they have been lying on my desk for quite some time before I finally came to think of this design. I used illusion cord and the RAW stitch to make this bracelet using the metal spacers, small purple faceted glass beads, three large purple faceted glass nuggets, and seven large faceted rock crystal nuggets.

Since I only had six of the metal spacers, I had to use more of the nuggets to make the bracelet fit around my hand without having to add a clasp, and this is why I decided to use the purple glass nuggets to avoid having to put two rock crystals next to each other. I like the way the light reflects and shines in this bracelet and since I am pretty fond of purple, I think that I will be using it fairly often.

Photography by Kristian.

For this necklace, I wanted to make a “frame” for the heart-shaped seashell pendant using black and silver-colored seed beads. At first, I tried using peyote stitch but that did not work very well so I decided to go for the RAW stitch instead. It was a bit tricky to get it together, and it took some experimenting to get it right, but I really like the result.

From the start I was considering making a necklace from seed beads as well, but when I had completed the frame of the pendant I realized that it would steal the focus of the pendant, so I went for a simple suede string necklace instead and made a seed bead bracelet to go with the necklace. Even though I used the RAW stitch for the pendant frame, I used the peyote stitch for the bracelet and used some more suede string as the core of the bracelet.

Photography by Kristian.

I love the combination of the orange carnelian and the black agate in this bracelet. The colors are great, but the fastening of the clasp could have been better. This was my first try at using the Right Angle Weave in a bracelet, and I had yet to figure out how to make the transition from the weave to the clasp. Otherwise I think that the small,  heart-shaped, magnetic clasp fit the bracelet very well, but the fastening could have been a lot better.

Photography by Kristian.

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.

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.

chain necklace with purple silver-foiled beads with matching bracelet and earrings

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 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.

I have made this necklace and bracelet specifically to match a white, brown, and purple skirt that I have. The minute I saw the brown and white stone beads, I knew they would be a perfect match for this skirt, and the amethyst nuggets perfected the match.

Colorful stone necklace

I am not sure what kind of stone the brown and white beads are, but I think they might be some kind of jaspis.

For the necklace I used one large amethyst nugget as a center piece, and smaller thinner nuggets with the holes at one end between each of the white and brown beads. Every second brown and white bead is coin shaped and the others are twisted ovals. For the hanging beads, I only used the coin-shaped beads.

Close-up of the necklace

The bracelet uses the same brown and white stone beads, but rather than the smaller amethyst nuggets, I used larger nuggets that are hanging from the bracelet between some of the brown and white beads.

Matching bracelet

The beads are linked with each other using eye pins, hat pins and some small rings.

Photography by Kristian.

Matching set of necklace, bracelet and earrings made of silver-lined blue and crystal seed beads, small faceted glass beads with dark blue core, small blue silver-foil hearts, dark heart-shaped toggle clasps, and small angel charms.

Blue angel necklace

The bracelet and the necklace both have the angel charms and follow the same pattern with the seed beads and glass beads, although on a smaller scale with the bracelet.

Blue angel bracelet

The earrings are made from hat pins, silver-lined blue hearts and seed beads.

Blue silver-foiled heart earrings

The angel charms are made from flower-shaped glass beads, silver-colored metal wings, and blue faceted glass beads, that have been put together with a hat pin.

Close-up of angel charm

Photography by Kristian.