I’m terrible about hoarding lampwork beads. They are so beautiful, I feel I must create the perfect piece of jewelry with each one. I’ve had a number of beautiful beads sitting on my bead board waiting for inspiration. Recently, this inspiration came in the form of some colored wire and colored Beadalon beading wire.

Here’s what I used to make this necklace:

2 sapphire colored AB Czech teardrop crystal beads
2 light blue AB Czech 4mm crystal beads
2 light blue 4mm freshwater pearls
1 flower lampwork bead made by D.D. Hess
2 sterling crimp beads
18 inches of blue Beadalon beading wire size .015
approx. 5 inches of sapphire Colour Craft ™ 20 gauge wire
nylon pliers
round nosed pliers
wire cutters
crimping pliers

1. First, start by making a clasp using the same instructions for my Clover Clasp project and some sapphire colored 20 gauge wire. I think this claps also looks like a flower, so I thought it was a good choice to accent the flowers on the lampwork bead. One tip to remember with any colored wire, try to handle it with metal tools as little as possible. It is coated, and if handled too much, you can dent/mark it up. Nylon pliers are great when working with this type of wire. Once you finish the clasp, set it aside.

2. Now cut about 18 inches of beading wire. I use my wire cutters to cut the beading wire.

3. Slip on a crimp bead onto one end of the wire, and loop the wire back through the crimp bead.

4. Use crimping pliers to crimp the bead and thus hold the bead in place. If you’ve never used crimping pliers, refer to my Using Crimping Pliers instructions. W. Scott Bartky also has a wonderful animated demo on his site.

5. Once you get one end crimped, use wire cutters to cut off excess beading wire.

6. Now slip on your beads in the following order: teardrop, pearl, 4mm crystal, lampwork bead, 4mm crystal, pearl, teardrop. Make sure that the teardrops have the smaller ends pointing in towards the lampwork bead.

7. Finish the other end of the beading wire with a crimp bead as you did in steps 3 to 5.

8. Now, get the clasp you made previously.

9. Open the eye part of the clasp a little and slip the loop on one end of the necklace onto the clasp, and close the clasp back up.

10. Tread the loop of the other end of the necklace through the clover/flower of the hook side of the clasp. 11. Once you get it resting in the center loop of the clover/flower, use nylon pliers to flatten or press the clover/flower. This will help to keep your beading wire loop inside the clover/flower.

This small grouping of beads in this necklace float because they are not anchored into position. They will slide and move as the person who wears the necklace moves. I used blue beads, beading wire, and craft wire to create this necklace in order to accent the gorgeous lampwork bead. I wanted the lampwork bead to stand out and be the focal point of the necklace. With all the choices in colored wire and beading wire, you could use this technique with any of your favorite lampwork beads that you’ve been hoarding.

Here are some links that can help you find resources to create your own Floating Flower Necklace:

Glass Jewelry/Beads
Beading Supplies
Wire/Metal Supplies
D.D. Hess
Beadalon

All graphics created by Tammy Powley.