stringing pearls in my spare time

[ivy_chan]

After some re-tooling, I have finally taken a picture of the necklace and bracelet set I made for my mother.

Comments

[lvsinsanity]

That looks really beautiful, did you have to add the hooks to each shell or did you buy them that way? Could I ask how you attached everything together?

[ivy_chan]

I strung the beads on beading wire first, then attached a crimping bead to each end. I then attached the clasps, strung the wire through the clasp, then looped it through the crimping bead a second time, crimped it shut with crimping pliers, and cut the wire. The tools I used were miniature needlenosed pliers, miniature wirecutter, and miniature crimping pliers. You can find them and books on beading at Michael's, but I'm not sure if Wal-Mart carries them. The abalone I bought at a gem show, and it's not available at Michael's, though possibly Bedazzled has them.

[ivy_chan]

Adding to this, the hooks aren't attached to the shells. They have holes bored in the middle, but the clasps are strung on the wire with the rest of the beads.

[dinpik]

That's so lovely! And the clasps sound gorgeous. I'ma sucker for that kind of thing.

[ivy_chan]

Thanks! These are totally my favorite clasps. I like jewelry with personality, which is probably why I don't purchase anything in modern jewelry stores/counters. I need to look up these people and see if they have other awesome clasps/beads I may use.