Monika Wiklund

Even though this seashell pendant is pretty big, this has quickly become one of my favorite necklaces. I knew that it was a large seashell pendant when I ordered it, but I did not realize just how big until I received it.

Like with some of my earlier seashell necklaces, I created a seed bead frame for the seashell pendant, and in this case I also made the pattern go all the way around to cover the back of the seashell which is kind of neat since it does not matter which side of the pendant that is showing. This necklace is a perfect match for one of my sweaters, and I have used it several times.

Photography by Kristian.

These copper spiral tubes are very striking and I think that they can be combined with most anything. As you might have seen among my earlier posts, I have made a couple of other variations of this theme using both copper tubes and silver-colored tubes and different types of stones, and this is my latest version in which I have combined spiral copper tubes with small copper beads and diagonal rutil quartz cube beads.

I think that it is interesting to try different combinations of colors, materials, and shapes of beads to see how it affects the end result, in some cases a seemingly small change can make a whole lot of difference. In this case, I like the variation with cube beads but I think that perhaps another material or color of the beads would have made for an even better result together with the copper tubes.

Photography by Kristian.

I think that this double heart pendant of rose quartz is very cute, but I had to think for a bit before I came up with the idea for the necklace. The hole through the pendant was fairy large, which made it suitable for a suede string necklace but since I did not have that many beads with large holes it was a bit difficult to find a combination that worked. After going through my collection of beads a few times, I came up with this solution using some small donut-shaped sodalite beads that I threaded through the large center hole rather than through the much smaller holes across the diagonal of the donuts.

As you can see, I also had some metal spacer beads that I put in between some of the sodalite beads. The blue of the sodalite creates a nice contrast to the light pink of the rose quart and I think that the double heart makes a very nice focus for the necklace.

Photography by Kristian.

A few weeks ago I noticed that Sirlig pärlor once again has started a design contest, this time with the theme “Harmony”. At first I was not sure whether I wanted to participate or not, but after some thinking I decided to give it a try and to use this necklace as my contribution.

The necklace is a fairly long chain necklace with gold-colored links of different sizes and shapes in combination with large rectangular african jade beads, smaller faceted raw emeralds, large donuts of kambaba jaspis, and a dark brown wooden pendant with a flower pattern in lighter brown and a raw emerald. Although the different stones are quite different in structure, size and shape, I think that the different shades of green harmonizes with the brown of the pendant and the golden color of the metal links and I think that it fits very well with the theme of the design contest.

To be honest I did not create this necklace specifically for the contest, rather I made it to wear with the dress I borrowed for my sister’s medieval fantasy themed wedding. The dress I borrowed was a dark brown wool dress with details in dark green and a white shift underneath, that is, the same colors that I used for the necklace.

Here is a picture of me and Kristian from the wedding where I was wearing the dress for which I made the necklace, the details are a bit small but it is possible to recognize the necklace if you click the picture to see a bigger one.

Photography by Kristian (and a friend).

I really like these twisted metal pipes, and even though this is a very simple pattern and not that different from an earlier necklace that I ave already posted about, it is still possible to make many variations of the theme and I think that this one turned out very well.

This version is made with two different sizes of faceted stone beads, placed three and three between the twisted metal pipes with a larger stone bead in the middle and one smaller bead to either side. I am not sure if it is a correct name but the stone beads were called cinnamon stones when I bought them, which I assume refers to the very nice golden brown color of the stones. As you can see, the colors vary quite a bit from an almost transparent golden color to a pretty dark cinnamon one.

Photography by Kristian.

This has become one of my favorite chain necklaces and I have used it several times already. Most of the materials that I used for this necklace have been lying around, waiting for me to use them for some time now, especially the large silver-foil pendant that was much larger than I had expected when I ordered it and the large black stone beads that I have been trying to figure out what to do with them since I got them.

At last I came up with this idea, and I am very happy that it turned out so well. I like the combination of large beads and thick metal links, and I think that these different materials go very well together. As I often do, I created the chain by using links from three different chains and also added the large flower shaped links since I wanted an even bigger and heavier chain to go with the large beads and the heavy pendant. This is a pretty big and perhaps a bit heavy necklace, but I love the shape and the colors and I hope to use it many more times.

Photography by Kristian.

I bought this seashell pendant because I liked the shifting colors and the cut out pattern but I had a bit of problem figuring out what to do with it since I found it a bit flat and boring to use as a pendant by itself. It took a while, but finally I decided to sew a seed bead frame around it using the peyote stitch.

As you can see in the picture, there is a zig zag pattern with black and white seed beads at the front, but the pattern is gradually fading as it passes around the edge and to the back of the pendant which is completely covered by the seed beads.

When I had completed the frame, I had a pretty vague idea that I wanted to use it in a long necklace and that the necklace should not draw the attention from the pendant. After some searching among all my beads and chains, I found this simple chain and decided to add a few raw chalcedony nuggets to make this necklace.

I think that the different materials go very well together, and I have found out that the color scheme makes it possible to combine with almost any colors since the chalcedony nuggets are slightly transparent and they let through and brings out the color of the clothes.

Photography by Kristian.

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.