Using this Twilight Lily bead by Heather, you can create a romantic accessory perfect for an evening out with your partner. The deep blue colors paired with tiny crystals evokes a midnight tryst under the sparkle of stars and an air heavy with the perfume of lilies.
Tools and Materials
Bead board or Ruler
Scissors
Wire cutter
Chain nose pliers
Round nose pliers
Faceted Black Tourmaline from kandubead.etsy.com
11- 4mm clear crystal bicones
11 – 22 gauge antiqued copper headpins
1 – 5″ – 20 gauge antiqued copper headpin
25″ – 22 gauge antiqued copper wire
6 – 8mm Ghost White patina copper beads
6 – 16mm Indigo Hammered Links
1 – 8mm antiqued copper jump ring
1 – 26mm copper toggle clasp
8 – 4mm antiqued copper jump rings
24″ – Dark Blue leather cording from lilysoffering.esty.com
Step 1. Start your design by building from the focal bead up to the pre-determined measurement. The necklace shown measures 19″ in length with the focal Twilight bead and faceted Tourmaline adding a 2″ center drop. The focal bead needed to be centered at the 9″ mark on the bead board with the remaining beads laid out in an estimation of what was needed to fill the determined measurment.
Step 2. Slide the Twilight Lily bead onto the 5″ long 20 gauge antiqued copper headpin, form a loop at the top and wrap the extra wire around the top of the bead to close it. The extra long headpin will create a nice messy wrap at the top. Cut 1 – 5″ piece of 22 gauge antiqued copper wire and create a loop on one end with your round nose pliers, approximately 3″ into the wire, dependent on the size of faceted tourmaline you are using. Wrap the loop closed, trim away the excess wire and press the cut end into the wire-wrapping. Slide the faceted tourmaline onto the wire and form a second loop under the bead, stopping before you wire-wrap it closed so you can slide the open loop onto the Twilight Lily beads top loop. Close the wire-wrapped loop so the Twilight Lily bead is now suspended from the faceted black tourmaline.
Step 3. Begin creating wire-wrapped connectors with the Ghost White patina beads with 6 – 4″ pieces of 22 gauge antiqued copper wire, closing each loop with wire-wrapping and trimming away any excess wire. You should have 6 white beads with 2 loops on each. Open the 8mm antiqued copper jump ring and insert 2 of the wire-wrapped Ghost White patina bead connectors into the jump ring. Close the jump ring onto the top loop of the faceted black tourmaline.
Step 4. Alternate connecting the Ghost White patina beads with the Indigo links by using smaller jump rings to attach the beads loops to the 16mm links. You should have 4 Indigo links separated by 6 of the Ghost White beads. Once the necklaces center piece is assembled, you can wire-wrap the clear crystals to the Ghost White bead loops using the 22 gauge antiqued copper headpins. Add 1 crystal to each bottom loop of the Ghost White connector loops. Add 5 crystals to the top loop of the Twilight Lily bead so they are grouped around the messy wire-wrapped bail, in between the faceted black tourmaline and the Twilight Lily bead.
Step 5. Cut 2 – 12″ pieces of 2mm dark blue leather cording. Thread one of the 12″ pieces through the last loop of the left side of the Ghost White connector beads. Cut a 3″ piece of 22 gauge antiqued copper wire. Place the center of the wire over the doubled leather approximately 1/4 of an inch from the bead connector loop. Twist the wire over the leather cording from the middle of the wire, pulling the wire around to the front and over itself several times to keep the doubled leather together. Press the ends of the 3″ piece of wire into the wrap you just created so the wearer does not get scratched from the sharp end of the wire. Gather the 2 pieces of leather together and push them through the end loop of one side of the antiqued copper toggle clasp. Fold both the leather cords over and cut another 3″ piece of 22 gauge antiqued copper wire. Bind the folded leather onto itself by wrapping from the center of the wire as you did previously with the lower area of the leather. Tuck the sharp ends under the wrapping and press the wrapping with your chain nose pliers to ensure a tight wrapping. Repeat this step for the right side of the necklace with the second piece of 12″ dark blue leather and the opposite side of the copper toggle.
I hope you enjoy creating this ultra romantic necklace as much as did.
Now. Where is a lily garden? I’ve got plans…. 🙂
Much Love & respect,
Shannon LeVart
Heather Powers
July 6, 2011 at 2:29 pmI love this!
Kristen
July 6, 2011 at 2:47 pmOh Shannon that is gorgeous but I think I will leave the wire goodness to you! WOW!
TesoriTrovati
July 6, 2011 at 3:54 pmSo very cool, Miss Shan! I love the different textures and the color is right up my alley! Enjoy the day!
Erin
CraftCrave
July 7, 2011 at 1:12 amJust a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [07 Jul 01:00am GMT]. Thanks, Maria
Riki Schumacher
July 7, 2011 at 3:53 amFabulous Shannon! The necklace is beautiful. Riki
Malin de Koning
July 7, 2011 at 11:29 amIt's beautiful! And also – my two favorite artisans in the same piece! Can't beat that, can you. Love the color scheme. Not me at all, but it makes me very inspired to try it. Thanks!
JeannieK
July 7, 2011 at 2:53 pmI love the name almost as much as I love the necklace
personalized jewelry
July 21, 2011 at 5:31 amWhat a great tutorial! Thanks for taking time to post this. I think it will be a fun project to try. I’ll save this for the future.