Silver and Gold Wire Wrapped "Silver Green Line" Necklace

I went to the American Bead Show in Charlotte, NC this past Sunday at the Metrolina Expo Center and came home with some nice beads and gemstones.  I was a little disappointed with the show however.  It was pretty small this time and my favorite wire guy wasn't there...so sad.  Next time, I guess!

I was intrigued by a strand of 15mm x 15mm diamond faceted Silver Green Line stones.  They were the first stones that I wanted to make something with for my Etsy shop.  They're a pretty dark green with silver/white strands of color running through them.  For some reason they make me think of Art Deco style...not sure why.

Any how, I made a couple pairs of earrings that I'll be listing in my shop later today, and then I played with some ideas and came up with this pendant for a necklace.  Do you ever struggle with whether or not to wear gold, or silver jewelry with an outfit?  Well, I have a couple pieces of my own jewelry that has both finishes and just love them because they're so versatile, so I realized that I should make something like that.  This way you could pack it for a trip and have a necklace that should go with pretty much every outfit in your suitcase!

 

I took out my pretty 12 gauge non-tarnish silver plated wire (that I had bought from my favorite wire-guy at the last bead show!) and cut a 6 1/2" piece of it.  I filed the ends smooth so as to have no burs to catch on any clothing.  Then I hand-formed the shape.  I didn't use a guide, just went with an idea that I hoped would look great with one of those square stones nestled in the middle of it.  I hammered just the rounded bottom of it to flatten, and then came in with the ball end of the hammer to add some texture.

 

 My next step was to grab my 20 gauge gold plated wire and form a kind of cloverleaf using my Wild Wire jig.  The trick is to make one small loop that's just big enough to slip over a peg.  Wrap two loops, then slide it off the pegs, flip it over and form the last loop.  This way you'll have a more flat piece...not as many layers
of wire on top of each other.  Then using my
rawhide mallet I flattened and strengthened the piece.




I then slid the bead onto the "headpin" I created and then lined it up inside the silver wire form to see where I wanted it to lay once wired into place.  This gave me an idea of where I needed to form a bail. 





This is where my mandrel came in handy.  I formed a bail that would be big enough to slide the necklace in and out of.  I'm a firm believe in pieces having multiple uses.  So, if you have a gold necklace, or a leather necklace, then this could be added for another look.

I tightly wrapped the wire around the mandrel several times and then brought the wire around to the front so that I could start wiring the gem onto the pendant.

This last photo is not actually the finished piece.  It's the back of it!  If you'd like to see the final pendant/necklace that has one little addes flair to it, then please take a peek at my Etsy shop (top right).  I'll be adding this listing shortly.  Thanks for visiting!