If you’re like me, then you’ve made a lot of jewelry over the years. Maybe you’ve sold some of it too and have been asked to make the same piece over and over again. Starts to get kind of boring after while, doesn’t it? Designing a new piece is half the fun of beading. With this combination necklace and bracelet, you can make multiple pieces, but each one is different. So, each time you make one you get to design it over again. You also get to use up those extra odds and ends in your bead inventory and make a unique item that can be worn two different ways. You can either wear it as a 21-inch necklace or wrap it around your wrist three times and wear it as a bracelet.
Though this piece can be made with a variety of beads, I use garnet as the primary bead. The color seems to go with almost anything. For the extra accents beads, I use all kinds of beads such as hematite hearts and stars, freshwater pearls, Czech crystal, glass beads from India, hand-painted beads from Peru, bone beads, chip beads of lapis and turquoise, and rose quartz. You can add just about any beads you have available.
You will need:
1 16-inch strand of 4mm garnet beads
garnet colored nylon beading cord size 4 with attached needle
2 clam shells/bead tips
1 toggle clasp
all kinds of extra accent beads
pliers
glue
corsage pin
bead board
scissors
1. First lay your garnet beads on your bead board and spread them out starting from the 10 ½ inch mark on one side and ending at the 10 ½ inch mark on the other side of the board. Don’t worry about the beads covering the entire board area. They won’t.
2. Now comes the fun part. Start adding your extra accent beads to the empty areas on your board and in between beads. You will probably need to take out a number of the garnet beads to make room for lots of accent beads. Don’t worry about symmetry. In fact, try to avoid anything symmetrical. Also, make sure you aren’t skimpy with the accent beads.
3. Unravel the nylon cord from the card and add two to three knots, one on top of the other, at the end of the cord. Thread the unknotted end of the jewelry thread through the hole in one of the clam shells so that the knots rest inside the shell.
4. Trim off the extra thread, add a dab of glue, and close the clam shell over knot using your pliers.
5. Now string on your beads in the order you’ve placed them on the bead board. As you string them on, also occasionally measure the portion you’ve strung. The length may not be the same as it was on the board due to the fact that your beads are all different sizes and shapes. If you find you want it longer, add some of your the garnet beads you removed previously or other accent beads.
6. When you’ve finished stringing and you’ve measured your piece to ensure it’s approximately 21 inches long, you can add your other clam shell. String on your second clam shell so the shell opening faces away from the beads.
7. Tie a loose knot in the remainder of the thread. Insert the corsage pin through the loose knot.
8. Holding onto the thread with one hand and the corsage pin with the other hand, tighten knot by using the corsage pin to push the knot towards the inside of the clam shell. Repeat this so that the knots are on top of each other. Both knots must be inside the shell.
9. Repeat step 4.
10. Add your toggle clasp to finish the piece.
Here's a printer friendly copy of this file.
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