Monika Wiklund

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).

When I found this cool small metal spider charm, I just had to buy it. The necklace is made with my six-year-old son in mind, and I wanted it to have a cool and slightly rough feeling to it to match the spider charm but at the same time contrast to the metal of the charm.

I think that I succeeded fairly well in my intention with this combination of  small cylindrical wooden beads, round bone beads of different sizes, and a simple hook clasp together with the metal of the charm.

Photography by Kristian.

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.

For this necklace,I wanted to achieve a slightly primitive feeling using wood and metal beads strung on a thick suede cord.

The metal “sword” pendant makes me think of celtic patterns, I liked it the moment I found it and just had to order it. Once I got it, it took me a while to figure out what to make of it, since I didn’t want to pull the focus away from the pendant. Also, I wanted to make a necklace that could be worn by either a man or a woman.

The necklace turned out ok, but I think it might be even better with something other than the metal barrels between the wooden beads. Unfortunately, I didn’t have anything that would fit in better when I made the necklace so  it will have to do until I find something else, and maybe I will be able to rebuild it later.

Photography by Kristian.

I am always amazed when I lift this wooden pendant, because it is very light and weighs next to nothing. The flower shaped beads in the necklace are made from bone, but the rest of the beads are all wooden beads of different colors and shapes.

wooden bead necklace with carved pendant

Picture by Kristian.

I made this necklace not too long ago for my 5 year old son.  It consists of small round and cylindrical wooden beads in three colors, small lava cube beads, and hanging metal letters that spell out his name.

The beads are strung on a waxed cotton string and the clasp is a simple copper toggle clasp.

Picture by Kristian.