Monika Wiklund

As I have mentioned earlier, chain necklaces are ever popular and I have made several variations of these kind of necklaces. This is my latest version, for which I have created the chain by using links from three different chains, one with large round links, one with large oval links, and one with smaller slightly twisted links.

For this necklace I used champagne-colored round silver-foil beads, faceted rock crystal nuggets, and a champagne-colored silver-foil heart pendant. It is a bit different from other chain necklaces that I have made because of the lighter color scheme, but I think that it should look pretty good together with dark clothes. I haven’t tried it yet, but I hope that I will get the chance soon.

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.

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.

I made this necklace to go with a white top with a pattern of small blue flowers of several shades. It is a pretty short and thin necklace, and it is almost a perfect match for the top.

The idea came to me when I was looking at the small, flat, oval lapiz lazuli beads, and I was trying to think of something to do with them. I started to look through my always increasing collection of beads and I came up with the small, faceted, rectangular zebra jasper beads and figured that the combination might look good with the top I mentioned earlier. To create some distance between the different beads, I added the “double” metal spacers and finally I selected a simple magnetic clasp to complete the necklace without drawing attention to the clasp.

This is a very simple necklace, but the material and combination of the beads create a complexity of its own and I am very happy with the result.

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.

This necklace together with one I will post about later were both made as birthday gifts to my husbands aunt for her 60th birthday, and since I do not meet her very often I acquired the help of my husbands cousin in order to pick a suitable style for the necklaces. She helped me a great deal and this necklace is a variation of an earlier necklace I made with fresh-water pearls, lapiz lazuli, and a sodalite pendant that she believed would be appreciated.

I had  given away the earlier necklace to a friend, and thus I made this new variation where I used a drop-shaped lapiz lazuli pendant in a large round beads cage and placed a flower-adorned clasp next to the pendant at the front of the necklace. The clasp is turned the wrong way in the picture but it is still possible to see the outline of the flower and leaves.

Unfortunately, I was not able to go to the party myself, but I have been told that she appreciated the gift.

Here is a close-up of the lapiz lazuli drop pendant in the simple round spiral bead cage.

Photography by Kristian.

If you have looked around a bit among my earlier posts, you might have realized that I like to work with natural materials such as lava stone, semi-precious stones, coral and wood and this is another example, using lava stone and emerald nuggets. Not too long ago, I found these emerald nuggets in one of the online bead stores where I shop for beads some now and then and I just had to buy a string and see what I could make of them.

Since the emerald nuggets are dark green with even darker, almost black patterns I decided to combine them with some lava stone beads to make this necklace here I have used one of the nuggets as a pendant and a few other mixed in with the round and barrel-shaped lava stone beads and silver-colored bead caps to make the base of the necklace. I am pretty satisfied with the result even though I think it might have been even better with a slightly larger nugget for the pendant.

After I had completed this necklace I had the opportunity to visit the physical store where I bought the emerald nuggets, and I bought another string of smaller emerald nuggets that I have yet to use. I think that I will combine the different sized nuggets and create something with more emeralds in, but I have not quite finished my mental picture of that design yet.

Photography by Kristian.

As you might have noticed, I like semi-precious stones and minerals, and in this case I have used tigereye, tiger iron, and lava stone beads to make a fairly long necklace with a heart-shaped tigereye pendant.

The oval long beads down close by the pendant are the tiger iron beads, the rest are tigereye or lava stone beads with metal bead caps. Perhaps the pendant is a bit small for the length of the necklace, I might consider remaking it some time and make it slightly shorter as well as maybe move the tiger iron beads farther away from the pendant. Otherwise I think that the beads fit fairly well together, and I was rather happy to try the tigereye cube beads with the diagonal holes. I found them in the form of a necklace at a local store close to my work, and I love the luster of the beads so I bought a necklace that I have taken apart for the beads.

This picture gives a closer view of the pendant where the shifting colors of the tigereye can be seen quite clearly.

Photography by Kristian.