How to: Strawberries and cream Necklace by Tansy Wilson
Monday, June 6th, 2011This is a guest post by Tansy Wilson. Tansy is a professional jeweller and runs her business from beautiful rural Somerset. She also teaches a jewellery evening class at her local college. Tansy has a BA in 3-D Design and has been in the design industry for 20 years.
“I loved the pink and white swirls of their stunning glass marbled beads and this gave me the idea of creating the summery strawberries and cream theme influenced by the classic treat at Wimbledon or any summer picnic. I also used their Swarovski crystal pearls to compliment the design. The marble beads are sold in a mixed bag of 50 grams so you do not know what shapes you will receive so plan your design and then you can utilize all the beads you do get so you can make either a bracelet or necklace or both! What you can guarantee is that you know your piece will be truly unique. The daisy toggle clasp adds that extra summery garden feel and is such a pretty feature it won’t matter if you wear the clasp at the front or back.”
You will need:
Necklace
- 2 x 20 inch lengths of 0.5mm Beadalon elasticity
- 2 x silver crimp tubes 2.00mm long
- 1 x silver flower ring and bar clasp
- 21 x glass marble pink beads
- 40 Swarovski crystal pearl white beads 4mm
- 40 Swarovski crystal pearl rose beads 4mm
Bracelet
- 2 x 12 inch lengths of 0.5mm Beadalon elasticity
- 2 x silver crimp tubes 2.00mm long
- 1 x silver flower ring and bar clasp
- 7 x glass marble pink beads
- 24 Swarovski crystal pearl white beads 6mm
STEP 1
Look at all your beads in your mixed pack and decide what shapes you want to use to make your bracelet and necklace. Lay the beads out next to each other planning that an average adult bracelet length is 7½ inches long including the daisy clasp.
STEP 2
Cut two lengths of 0.5mm elasticity 12 inches long for the bracelet and two lengths that are 20 inches long for the necklace. Starting with the bracelet, hold the two 12 inch lengths together and thread onto both a 2mm silver crimp tube. Then thread both ends of elasticity through the jumpring on the daisy clasp and then back through the crimp tube. Slide the crimp tube up towards the jumpring so that the elastic is trapped nice and tightly making sure you still have long lengths of elasticity to bead onto. Using crimping pliers, squash the crimp tube so it secures the elastic and trim excess short ends away.
STEP 3
Starting with your first bead in your design, thread both lengths of elasticity through the hole of this bead.
STEP 4
Now split your elasticity and thread two 6mm white Swarovski crystal pearls onto one length and two 6mm white Swarovski crystal pearls on the other length.
STEP 5
Taking your next larger glass marble bead regroup the elasticity and again thread both lengths through the same hole of this bead. Keep repeating steps 4 and 5 until you reach your desired length of bracelet.
STEP 6
When you have finally added your last glass marble bead, holding both lengths of elasticity together, add another 2 mm silver crimp tube and this time thread both ends of elasticity through the loop on the bar of the clasp and then back down through the crimp tube. Ensure all the beads are nicely packed together before finally crimping in place. Cut off excess ends.
STEP 7
As each 50 gram pack of beads contains a mix you should have enough smaller beads to make a necklace. So again work out your design and lay out the beads planning a necklace that is at least 16 inches in length including the clasp.
STEP 8
Repeat steps 2 to 6 this time using the two lengths of 20 inch elasticity. As I am using smaller glass marble beads for this necklace, I have used 4mm Swarovski crystal pearls. When threading the pearls onto the divided elasticity, I have added one 4 mm white Swarovski crystal pearl and then one 4 mm rose Swarovski crystal pearl to add more colour then reversed this combination to create a pattern.
STEP 9
As you repeat the process of adding the Swarovski crystal pearls either side of each marbled bead try and plan your pattern so the colours alternate all the way down the necklace. Finally repeat step 6 to add the bar of the clasp and secure the necklace. The beauty of a 16 inch necklace on elasticity is you can always double it and wear as a bracelet!
STEP 10
You have completed the project. This is the finished Strawberries and Cream necklace. You can get everything you need to design it by clicking here. Have fun making your own!
You could also try…
Bracelet 
There may be odd shaped beads left over from your 50 gram mixed bag that you could make additional bracelets with. You could combine with beads you have already in your bead box to make quite a different style!
Designer Tip
- Using elastic rather than nylon coated wire means that putting your bracelet or necklace on and taking them off is easy and simple as you do not have to undo the clasp at all!
- If you order two packs of the mixed glass marble beads you will be able to be more selective with bead sizes and then have enough left over to make more designs for your friends!
This project has also been featured in Making Jewellery Magazine.
