When you look at this picture, you might be thinking “Why did she make 3 identical necklaces? That seems like a waste
of time!” Well, let me tell you my reasoning behind a project like this. Often I use chain and simple stringing to make
a quick piece of jewelry for myself, but in this case I was thinking larger than that. I have a large family, with lots of
cousins (so does my significant other), and when I think about making gifts for the whole lot of them at the holidays it
gets a little daunting. A project like this is easy to individualize with color choices, and when you assemble all of your
supplies beforehand it is super fast to make a whole group. Relatives are not the only people that can benefit from a
project like this… It is also wedding season, and I know I’m not the only beader who’s been roped into making jewelry
for a large wedding party. In the case of a wedding, this is a great project for incorporating several colors in the theme
OR if you need to stick to only one color, you can use three different sizes of beads! The creative possibilities of a
project like this are endless!
Here’s how to make it happen. Of course, the hardest parts are choosing materials. In this case, I chose three different
colors of 8mm fire polish that would coordinate well, whatever arrangement they were in. I used an aqua luster, a light
Montana blue, and a grey and clear givre (transparent and opaque glass in the same bead).
I thought that this color combination would look good with silver or gunmetal chain, and I decided to diversify these
necklaces further by using a different finish of the same chain on each one. I used brushed silver, gunmetal, and shiny
silver.
Now comes the fun part – choosing the stringing pattern. Because I wanted the necklaces to have a unifying pattern, I
went with a simple color block. I strung each necklace in the same pattern, but rotated the colors on each one. I strung
1(A), 2(B), 7(C), 2(B), 1(A), then crimped the beading wire directly to the closed chain links. For a more polished look, I
used crimp covers as well, and used jump rings to attach ball and socket clasps to the back of the chain.
Remember when I said the hardest part is choosing the materials? I’ve changed my mind. The hardest part is deciding
who to give them to! OR you could decide to wear them all yourself… you could even make the chains slightly different
lengths, attach each one to a separate loop on a 3 (or more) strand clasp, and wear them all at the same time! Ha, now
I’m so excited I might make more tonight…for myself! Happy Beading!
– Lindsay
