A cold New Year's Eve, a beautiful day

It looks like it could be a perfect night for watching fireworks: the sky is clear (hence why it's so cold), the ground is covered by snow and it's a full moon. So cold enough to not want to be outside for long after dark, but a beautiful day for photography and a great night for fireworks.




Today I watched the moon rise in the afternoon. What a lovely pale pink with a slight yellow tint it was, coming over the horizon. The moon is just so beautiful and a "moonrise" in the late afternoon is so silent, elegant, etheral, so like a whisper or thin veil compared to the sunrise. At the same time as the moon rose, the sun began to set so although focusing on the moon, I also have a photo or two of the near-sunset.





I had time to photograph some of the plants too. And since the blog is called wildroses and blackberries, I thought I might show you some related photos. First rosehips from our cultivated roses -- those old-time roses with a wonderful scent. Then a blackberry leaf. Last but not least, I had to include a pic of our snowberries.

Wish you all a Happy New Year!

Ogalala butterfly stitch

When it comes to off-loom bead weaving there are two things I'm especially drawn towards: lacy stitches and ruffles. Ogalala butterfly stitch combine them both: netting with a drastic increase of beads for every row creates flowing ruffles.

In the bracelet above, called Sjögräs (Seaweed), I have used chunky 8/0 japanese seed beads in peridot together with drops in sparkling aqua green-lined aqua. Not a colour combo I use very often, but I liked the feel of it, real bright summer shades. The clasp is a cobalt blue MOP charm.

When the bracelet was finished, I played around with it, rolling it together. Which turned out to be a good thing to do: when rolled together, the ogalala strip turned into a flower. Some time later a new contest was opened at Pärlplatsen, Regntunga skyar (Skies heavy with rain). The theme being to create beadwork in a greyscale. I sighed -- had been working a lot with boring colours lately -- but gathered all my grey beads and findings. That included a UFO, consisting of grey vintage drops, filigree connectors and pewter-grey chain. It had lead a quiet life in the UFO collections since I hit a dead end with the design. Now I stripped away some of the drops and flowers and instead I got the idea to stitch ogalala flowers to the filigrees.

The result was Under en silvermåne, Under a silver moon.


I actually did not get the idea of rolling my netted ruffles into flowers just out of the blue. A couple of years prior, I had made a rose in peyote ruffles for another contest. That contest was dedicated to peyote stitch only so while I didn't like the stitch much, I did enter with my very first finished peyote beadwork. The instructions for making ruffles had I found much earlier at Beadwork.about.com. That time I had soon realised that ruffles made great roses, the same way you roll a ribbon or paper rose. The rose was then stitched to a filigree box clasp. Ideally I wanted to use a sieve clasp, but at the time I couldn't find one so the filigree clasp had to make due.

Gammeldags ros means Old-fashioned rose.

Bead cap flowers tutorial: copper anemones

*Instruktioner på svenska finner du HÄR.*

Bead caps can often make pretty flowers. I enjoy mixing together caps and beads for different types of flowers. The simplest kind is the one you just thread straight on to your cord or jewellery wire when stringing bracelets or necklaces (see these instructions), but it's also easy to make flower charms, like my copper anemones above.

Making these charms, I was partially inspired by Melinda Barta's Open Blossom from here lovely book Custom Cool Jewelry (Interweave Press). Unlike her flowers, though, I wanted to make more naturalistic charms with stamens and sepals. The result can be seen above, a solid copper charm reminding of wood anemones.

Instructions include step-by-step pictures of how to make wrapped loops. Click on photos for enlarged pictures.



Supplies for one charm:

1 "petal-shaped" cupped bead cap, 8 mm
1 skinny bead cap, not cast 6 mm
1 donut-shaped bead, 3 mm*
1 soft headpin*

* = can be substituted with a fancy headpin (bali-style)

Tools: (bent) chain-nose pliers, round-nose pliers, cutter

Technique: wrapped loop/wire wrapping



1. To make the smaller bead cap fit over the larger, flatten it by pushing it down a bit. Place the cap on the table, "sepals" facing down, place your finger centred on the cap, and push down. Do not press too hard. It is better to push a little, check how well the cap fits on the larger bead cap and then press a bit more if not widened enough.


2. Assemble the parts as shown in the photo above.


3. Wrapped loop: Hold the headpin, flower down, and grab a hold with the tip of your chain-nose pliers as close to the bead caps as you can. Bend the pin 90 degrees to the side.


4. Grab the protruding part of the headpin with your round-nose pliers. For a small loop, keep the pin closer to the tip of the jaws. For a larger loop, keep the pin further in, towards the joint. Bend the headpin over the "upper" jaw of the pliers (left). When you have bent the pin beyond the point where a semi-circle is made, you reposition the pliers (right) -- this is the most important step in making a perfect loop. You may have to reposition the pliers several times. Complete the circle by bending the pin.


5. To make the wrap, fixate the loop by holding it with your chain-nose pliers in your non-dominant hand. Begin to wrap the wire around the "stem", starting close to the loop and working your way downwards. Wrap slowly for a neat and even wrap. I usually hold the end of the pin with another pair of chain-nose pliers for more force, even if it is not normally recommended. Keep wrapping the wire until it pushes against the bead caps -- you don't want the caps to be too loose as it will make the flower wobbly. You can use a bit of force, but don't overdo it as it risks deforming the loop.

6. Cut of the excess wire as close to the wrap as possible. Squeeze around the wrap with chain-nose pliers to push the end into the wrap. If you don't do this last step, the protruding bit of wire can scratch the skin or snag clothes so it is an important detail for a professional result.

7. Adjust the loop if it has become a bit skewed during the wrapping. Your charm is now finished.




Variations
This basic flower can be varied in many ways. Using fancy headpins, as above, is just one example. The choice of bead caps also have a great significance for the look of the finished flower. You will find a wide range of bead caps to choose from in the bead shops. Just make sure not to use cast bead caps as they often are a bit too chunky to make delicate flowers of -- and you can't manipulate them as was done with the smaller bead cap used in the copper anemones. Mix different colours and/or materials for greater contrasts.

Omit the second, smaller bead cap for a simpler flower without sepal. Use a tiny bead cap, preferrably "crown-shaped", inside the large bead cap for more complex stamens.

I use wrapped loops as they are more secure, but also to stabilize the bead caps and keep them from moving around as the wrap pushes on the caps. You can make simple loops if you prefer it. In that case, bend the headpin at an angle directly above the bead cap, with no gap as in step 3. Follow instructions for loop in step 4, but skip step 5.

Wire bird's nests

Wire bird's nests with pearls as eggs seems to have been popular for quite some while, but I didn't really discover them -- as in take an interest in them -- until some weeks ago. They are really cute and didn't seem too difficult to make or require any supplies I didn't have at home. So of cause I had to give it a try or two.

Above you see my first two pendants, using leftover pearls and scraps of wire I had home. Copper was the only wire in a suiting colour I had at home so I settled with my favourite metal (next to blackened steel, brass and tin/pewter). In the tiny second pendant -- or rather, charm -- I used wire in two different gauges.

Of cause, not all birds lay their eggs in special nests, some -- like hens -- can lay their eggs in simple grass nests or just an undisturbed grassy corner, perhaps under a shielding bush or plant. As I started to use up my copper wire, I took out my thin coloured craft wire and made a small nest with brightly coloured easter eggs. As the wire was so thin (0,3 mm, suitable for crocheting), I used doubled wire in two different shades of green. The cheap pearls did not have perfect holes, going from end to end, which is the reason why some of them seem to be standing up more than others. An imperfection that in a way made the design "come alive" in a new way compared to nest where all the eggs lay down. This is a bit more three-dimensional.


There are many instructions for these nests online, either for free or tutorials for a fee: Just Something I Made, Denise Mathew (don't miss her nest ring part 1 and part 2 too), Stampington/Creative Impulse, Vintaj, Something Sublime, AnneMade Jewelry, Creations by Janice (ring) and purple8p/Jewelrylessons.com (also a ring tutorial). Variations on the theme includes Cindy Gimbrone's A-layin' Pendant with a nesting bird instead of eggs and tadaosgirl's Robin's Egg Bracelet with "single egg" nests.

Framed bead flowers

Some time ago I stumbled upon some pretty flowers at Parts Club, a Japanese bead shop with many free projects (click on recipe). What I especially liked about the Swarovski-sparkling necklace I first found was how the round links were used. At the time chains with big links was very popular in Sweden -- and I really, really disliked them. But suddenly I saw new potential in them, not just crushing them or use as frames to coil on, but as frames for bead flowers.

Recently instructions for a "dreamcatcher-inspired" bag charm has also been published on the website.

As you can see, some flowers turned out better than others. The "chunky" on with teal fp drops is probably my favourite so far. Not counting the latest version, which uses the same amethyst drops as the compontent to the right, but with a second olivine flower added to the back (so they partially show through the gaps between the purple petals). Don't have a photo of that one yet so you'll just have to wait until I've made it into a finished necklace.

Mixing colours and finding new favourites

Everyone has a certain aspect of beading or jewellery making that they pay special attention too. Some focus on textures, others on shapes, some on craftmanship in the details, others on making all components from scratch. Of cause you need all of it to make great jewellery, but normally one thing is of particular interest to the artist. I belong to the group that is fascinated by colours.

Before I started beading I had my favourite colours, but that was it. Nowadays I've discovered so many new colours I like, especially since trying out different colour combos. I hated browns as they reminded me of those awful 70's designs I grew up with in the 80's. Never owned one piece of clothing in the colour. Brown suede or leather shoes/boots was as far as I ventured. Today I own both tops and skirts i dark brown after re-evalutating the colour when beading and making jewellery.


Blue was always my sister's colour so I guess that is part of why I never liked it. I still don't own many blue beads, but gradually I've started to feel more comfortable working with blues. Though I still prefer blues that lean towards other nuances, like montana blue, slate, teal, turquoise (which I wasn't a fan of either), indigo, seafoam, lavender and steel. So right now I feel it's pretty good that turquoise/verdigris/icy blue is the colour(s) of the year 2010.


Another thing I really enjoy, almost obsessivly so, is buying beads with long names. Not because the names are long, but because it indicates finishes, linings and/or coatings that alter the original colour. Celsian and picasso/travertin are my two favourite finishes at the moment and satin can also be added to them (and champagne while on the subject of crystals). Bead colours I love include copper-lined light amethyst, dark topaz rainbow gold luster and sparkling rose-lined light topaz luster. Not to mention alchemy from Preciosa. I'm not a big fan of pink, but the name made me buy some chaton montees in rose water opal. It's not always a good thing to be swept away by beautiful or romantic colour names: I have bought beads that haven't looked as good as they sounded...



Help to find good combinations
Anyway, I wasn't orginally intending to go on just about my favourite colours, I also wanted to write a little something about online colour scheme programmes I like.

On website I like is Colors on the web where you can "spin the color wheel" to get a random colour combo -- a fun way to challenge myself by making me use the first combo I get. Other times, I just spin the wheel and see what combos I get, making sure to write down the ones I especially like.

Multicolr Search Lab is a new favourite that is based on photos. Great way of seeing how similar or different the same colour schemes can look depending on the motifs, textures and proportions. A great feature is that you can choose anything from one to ten colours and it's easy to add or subtract each nuance.

Color Scheme Designer is a more "classic" programme that allows you to make different colour schemes based on the combos you might remember from art class: monochrome, complement, triad, tetrad, analogic and accented analogic. I especially like the latter, which is very effectful not least in jewellery.

Color Schemes is a software by Eni Oken and Greg Patton that you can download for free. This is a programme I've had a lot of fun with and a good feature is that you can save all your colour schemes.

Then there is COLOURlovers, which is a whole community and not just a place to go to explore colour schemes. Note that you can also work with patterned surfaces. And the website comes in several languages (like Swedish).

Other websites of interest includes Color Hunter, Kuler, Color Palette Generator and Color Blender. As you can see many of those have a specific purpose, like extracting colours from a photo or making a nice blend between two colours.

Beaders shouldn't miss the free articles Margie's Muse by Margie Deeb. For bead-related colour schemes and ideas, see e.g. my favourite FusionBeads. There is also a lot of interesting facts about colours on Sensational Color by Kate Smith, where you can learn about history, symbolism and psychology of certain colour among other things.

Those interested in trends of cause like Pantone -- don't miss their "color of the year". You can also keep up with jewellery-related colour trends via bead shops like Fire Mountain Gems, Rings & Things and Artbeads. Also see Crystallized and Jablonex. For reasons why to be aware of trends and places to go to check them out, see Eni Oken.

A fun website that is not about combining colours, but about combining a certain nuance with a person based on their birthday, is Colorstrology. I'm Chinese red: perceptive, kind and magnetic (the colour of November as a whole is claret red).

Got my hands on Belle Armoire Jewelry

Today I finally got the two issues of Belle Armoire Jewelry (Autumn '09 and Winter '10) that I ordered in early December, paying with some of the Christmas money my aunt gave me. I have read about the mag before and seen covers as well as excerpts from its pages, but I have never had a copy in my hands. So far I've only flipped through it, but it's fun to read a new mag and especially one that feels different from the ones I have (mostly Beadwork, which I subscribes to, and a few Bead & Button).

In January, if my budget allows it, I'll buy an issue each of a few other mags I haven't read before. Interweave publications this time. And then I'll just keep my fingers crossed that I can get hold of a couple of cheap copies of Perlen Poesie, a German bead mag, some day. My German is very rusty -- and getting worse -- so maybe it'd be educational as well as inspirational to buy it.

Behind a bead photo

When I wrote a (not so) short article on the history of pearl fishing in Sweden for my bead blog, I was in need of a good photo or two to go with it. At that point I hadn't found the two illustrations I ended up using together with my own photo so I felt I needed to do something myself.

Normally I try to stick to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) when I photograph my beads. Not least since dropping my camera twice or trice has made it a tad... unreliable. And grainy -- thank the gods for NeatImage. I can't take great shots with it so when keeping it simple I can at least try to focus on getting a sharp image and a decent white background.

This time I was going to take photos on white pearls so a white background wasn't ideal. Blue is not my favourite colour, but it was the right colour to symbolize water, the rivers where the freshwater pearl mussels are found. My preferred background, when not using white, is a sheet selected from my collection of decorative papers, originally used in scrapbooking. I found two useful papers in the right colours: a small turquoise paper with a worn painted look and a more dramatic, darker paper with writings and woman on it.


At first, I felt the paper with writings was a better choice as it had a background, which felt more like flowing water. The faux paint on the small piece of paper felt too "dry". But when I placed my tiny Chinese freshwater pearls on it, the text drew attention away from the pearls. It was too noisy, using such a background with small beads. I just had to settle with the paint.

My first shots was taken from above, which was a good way to show off all the pearls, but at the same time made the photo flat and boring. So I did what I always do if the bird's eye view fails: get down to the same level as the items in front om me. Of cause, this means I will have to use a second paper as background or there will be a line between the paper on the table and the side of my "light tent". Don't ask how I learnt that... The turquoise paper wasn't big enough to cover all of the space my camera would capture. So I took my only other blue/turquoise paper and stuck it under and behind the tiny scrap I put my pearls on.

And thanks to the macro setting, the motifs on that paper was blurred in a very effectful way. The writing no longer drew attention from the focal point, the pearls, but added an atmosphere. With a bit of fantasy, the background looks like a landscape painting, a stormy sky. Turquoise and blue meets tones of umber, ochre, sienna, and sepia. Just like in nature.

So in the end, I was pretty pleased with using the papers eventhough they didn't feel or look right when I first held them in my hands. The rest of the process leading up to the finished photo is the usual: taken about a dozen photos in different angles, editing colours, testing different ways of cropping it for the best proportions.


Since then I've only tried a similar thing once, but not with the same result. This was mainly because of a bigger contrast between a paper without any motifs, texture or colour varition and a paper with large flower motifs. I did not get the same abstract background this time and the two papers did not blend at a "horizon". And the flowers on the beads face the wrong directions as well. And the red paper isn't flat, causing the line between the papers to curve. But at least I got a very warm photo with strong, vibrant colours.


I need to experiment much more before I can be sure to succeed with this mixing of papers every photo session... Perhaps a good excuse to go shopping? I need more papers that I can combine.

The colours of winter: peach, blue, green and brown

We did get a white (and wet) Christmas, but already on Christmas Day it began to rain away. By now the wintery whites have given way for the more common winter colours here -- heavy grey rain clouds and fog not included -- a blue sky, peach-coloured clouds in the afternoon, green grass and the many browns of bare trees and bushes. And the golden tones of dead grass and other plants. All of it mixed with the earthy and heavy colours of stone, soil, asphalt, bricks and concrete, darkened by the rain and moisture.

In December, winter can be anything but white.


The clouds get a touch of peach and straw gold already after noon. The rain-darkened lands and buildings is quite a contrast to the sky, when the sun begin to set. Slowly the white clouds start transforming into to a soft velvet and silk, set against a lavender sky. Then the sun sinks behind the horizon and the sky turns dreamy blue, a smooth canvas for the pale yellow moon. An hour later it's pitch black. The changes from day to night and night to day can be so fascinating to watch. And it has a special kind of tranquility to it.

Brads bracelets

As some of you might already know, I enjoy looking for jewellery supplies in the scrapbooking section in the craft shops. One thing I especially like, apart from the papers, is the decorative brads that come in a wide range of styles. I use both the kind where the motif is made of painted metal and the ones with epoxy stickers on.

Brads are easily made into jewellery links or pendants/charms and they can also be attached to bracelet bases, as I've done in the bracelet above. Round brads with vintage motifs were added to a tough suede bracelet, which came already with holes. A quick project -- what took time was arranging the brads and trimming the legs so they were short enough to more or less "embed" in the suede after attaching them in the holes. (If you are looking for the same type of bracelets, I got it from .)


Making brads into jewellery links was one of those ideas I came up with all on my own -- and was pretty proud of doing it -- just to realise later one, when doing some online research, I'm not the only one having had this idea... See Stampvamps.com for example. In my "Colourful Sakura" bracelet I've used jump rings made of square wire as these matches the rolled up legs of the brads better in style. In the summer bracelet on the right I've instead covered the plain jump rings with Miyuki drops.

I have also found another way of making brads bracelets, unlike the methods I've used, Patty's Stamping Spot. She uses a bracelet chain and "wrap" the brads around the links. I really like this way of making brads bracelets too so I think I must have a go at something similar soon.

2009 Bead advent calendar -- the last six

Yesterday I opened my last of the 24 advent calendar presents. Now it's time to start to think about ways of using my new beads and findings. I do know what I'm going to do with the MOP rings already -- decoupage of cause! I'm not a big fan om MOP and shell beads so I often jazz them up by covering them in decouapge papers or other types of paper. Perhaps I'll try using image transfers this time (got one sheet of transfers from NunnDesigns). Or is it time to learn how to engrave shell? I have a booklet on scrimshaw so if that technique work on MOP I might want to give that a try too.

I wanted to do something really icy with the clear flower beads. Just clear beads, perhaps adding silver tones. Another idea was to combine it with copper for more colour, but I think I want to stick to a winter theme.

One thing I've already done was to add a bit of sparkle to the princess crown charm I got on day one. I have these tiny 2 mm vintage glass stones (pointed backs) so I took a few of those and glued to the holes at the tips of the crown. And for once I managed to mix and apply epoxy glue without making a huge mess of it all!

I called it "holes", but it was really just round recessed areas, made especially for adding stones like this. Not sure all beaders using this type of charms and findings realize that they are made for stone setting because I do see much jewelry with dark, often pitch-black, "hollows" where stones would be -- stones that could've made a huge difference in the look of the charm or pendant. But then again, not all beaders are interested in messing with glues and tiny, tiny stones. They probably just buy charms that come with stones already attached if they want colour and/or sparkle.


PS! You'll find pics of the rest of the pressies here. Group photo might be coming up.

Merry Christmas!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve so I take the opportunity today to wish everyone a very merry Christmas, happy Holidays and a happy New Year!



(Cat graphics from CatStuff.)

Faux patina and gilded reliefs

Not too long ago I wrote about the colourful "faux patinas" you can paint onto metal components like stampings and filigree in my other blog. While I enjoyed the idea of using oil pastels like Jane Salley at the Objects and Ornaments blog, I think I especially like matte creamy whites on raw brass (see these examples). Very romantic, reminding of white-washed wood. I also have an ornate hook-and-eye, that I really like, which has a similar colour: a matte bronze or brass tone (partially) coated with a matte creme white paint.

I'm noot too pleased with my first try at this, but then again, I didn't use the ideal paint... Will be giving it another try some day.


Colouring or darkening recessed areas can be very effectful, but it can also be said about adding colour to raised areas. The acrylic cameo above was rather boring and I felt uninspired by it. So, being bored, I took out my "gold vax", orginally a product for wood and similar materials. I took some wax on a piece of cloth and rubbed it over the relief flowers, taking special care to make sure the leaves and edges got some colour too. "Gilding" the motif gave a boring cameo a new dimension -- now I actually consider using it!


As I was playing around with my paint anyway, I also gave this cat brooch a faux patina. It's a cheap plated brooch, that I got and which had now started to tarnish. A lot. Instead of trying to polish the plating -- no idea about materials used -- I gave it a black colour-wash. The black was polished off so it only remained in the recessed areas, the same areas affected by the tarnish. This also enhanced the features better than before when it was all a shiny white metal. Not my best result, but better than originally.


PS! All these methods normally need a coat of spray laquer or similar to keep the paint from coming off too easily when used. On metal, a base coat of laquer or primer may need to be used or the paint won't adhere well to the metal.

Heat-treating tiger's eye in my oven

OK, not only to I torture my beads by crackling them, I also put tiger's eye in the oven to colour it. I've been aware for a long time that red and blue tiger's eye beads are heat-treated, but it wasn't until a beader at Pärlplatsen, a Swedish beading forum, brought up the subject that I felt an urge to test this myself. She in turn had gotten the tip to put here brownish tiger eye in a regular oven at maximum temperature from a stone and bead shop in Stockholm.

She heated the stones for an hour in her first try, I didn't really have the patience to wait that long. But still I got some nice results in the two sessions I did. I put the stones into the oven when it was cold and also let them slowly cool down before removing them from it after I had turned it off. So that I wouldn't get unfortunate results similar to my crackled beads...

I think I could get even better results if I had had more time, but I'm still pretty pleased with how some of the stones turned out. At the photo above you can see three tiger's eye pieces. The one on the left is unheated (by me at least). The stone in the middle took on a dark caramel tone that I like and the stone on the right, which was in the oven longer, became more reddish brown.

I also had a pair of stones in red tiger's eye. On was not the prettiest of stones and the other was a broken 16 mm round bead. Both I was willing to sacrifice. It's not easy to see much of a difference in the photo below, but they did change a bit (bead in the middle is for reference and untreated by me). The stone was heated the longest and turned a brownish purple, but also the streaks became lighter and much more visible. The bead is just a darker version of the untreated one.


I just put my stones and beads in the oven on a pan or aluminium foil, but after researching online I found a bit more "advanced" methods that used clean fine silica sand to embed the tiger's eye, thus keeping them from heating up and cooling down too fast. I did not heat my beads for such a long time as in the instructions I found online, nor did I let it cool down for so long, but on the other hand it is adapted for larger slabs of rock. Those instructions I came across can be found here.

"Meowy Christmas" Ornament Tutorial

*Instruktioner på svenska finner du HÄR.*

This is a pretty simple Christmas ornament I made last year. Don't know how well the text on the cat shows up on photo, but it says Meowy Christmas, hence the name for the ornament.

This ornament doesn't need a lot of supplies or time so it's perfect for last minute crafting (as long as you have useful parts in your stash already). The instructions names exactly the supplies I have used, but you can use any parts you like -- take what you have at home or buy what you like. I have no step-by-step pics, but I hope the instructions are clear anyway.


Supplies for one ornament:

48 mm gold-tone six-pointed filigree star stamping
Cat button, approx. 4 cm tall (no shank buttons)
6 x 8 mm red "pebble" glass bead
Brass pendant with 8 x 13 mm red glass drop
gold-tone eyepin or wire
Beading thread in colour matching the colour of the button around the hole
Cord to suspend the pendant, preferably golden

Tools: Beading needle, round-nose pliers, cutters, two chain-nose pliers. Drill, hole punch or awl (optional)

Techniques used: Simple loop, opening and closing loops.


1. Start by placing the button on the filigree. Move it across the star until it lays where you find it to be centred and at a pleasing angle. If there is a hole in one of the points of the star, this should point straight down.

2. Stitch the button to the star like you would sew a button onto clothes, only stitching through the holes of the filigree instead of through fabric. Keep sewing until you partially fill up the holes with thread (making them less visible) and the button is safely attached to the metal.

3. Put the glass bead on the eyepin -- or a piece of wire with a loop in the end -- and make a simple loop. Cut off excess wire.

4. Open the eye underneath the bead (the flatter side of the pebble) and attach the drop pendant. Close the eye.

5. Attach the bead link to the hole on the point of the star by opening the eye above the bead, push it through the hole, and close it. If there is no holes on the star, you can either drill or punch a small hole or put the loop around an open space in the filigree pattern.

6. Cut a piece of cord for suspending the pendant. Choose a length you prefer. 20-20 cm can be useful. Thread the cord through the open spaces in the point of the star, opposite the dangle. Make a knot and pull it tight. Trim off excess cord.



Tips: This ornament has a clear front and back. If the back will be visible when hanging, you can make it neater by stitching a filigree star onto the back of the first star, front facing outwards. Use an "invisible" golden beading thread or thin wire. A few stitches in the middle is often enough and these can be (partially) hidden under the button on the front. The bead dangle and cord will also hold the two pieces together. Don't forget to attach the button first, but attach the dangle and cord after stitching together the stars.