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Raja "Floating" Wire Necklace

This light, summery design show cases my new Beadalon plated wires. These high quality, 49 strand jewelry wires have beautiful, bright silver or gold plated finishes, and are designed to be seen. They lend themselves well to "floating" necklaces - designs which have groups of beads "floating" at intervals throughout the necklace.

You'll need basic stringing skills, and a little wire wrapping to create the center piece of the necklace. You can review those techniques, here:

Parts Needed:


Step One:
Make a headpin charm on a 2" headpin, with parts in this order:

  • Small Turkish Spacer
  • 3mm x 6mm Cat's Eye Donut
  • Raja Bead Cap
  • 12mm x 20mm Faceted Cat's Eye Bead
  • Raja Bead Cap
  • 3mm x 6mm Cat's Eye Donut
  • Small Turkish Spacer
Attach it to the soldered closed ring before you wire wrap it shut. This will be the pendant/drop.


Step Two:
Cut a length of the plated wire to the desired length of your necklace plus 3".


Step Three:
String the center part of the necklace, with parts in this order:
  • 1mm Crimp Bead
  • 3mm Round Bead
  • 4mm 5301 Bicone
  • Small Turkish Spacer
  • 3mm x 6mm Donut
  • 5mm Bali Style Pewter Spacer
  • Casbah Bead
  • 5mm Bali Styel Pewter Spacer
  • 3mm x 6mm Donut
  • Small Turkish Spacer
  • 4mm 5301 Bicone
  • 3mm Round Bead
  • Headpin Charm
  • 3mm Round Bead
  • 4mm 5301 Bicone
  • Small Turkish Spacer
  • 3mm x 6mm Donut
  • 5mm Bali Style Pewter Spacer
  • Casbah Bead
  • 5mm Bali Styel Pewter Spacer
  • 3mm x 6mm Donut
  • Small Turkish Spacer
  • 4mm 5301 Bicone
  • 3mm Round Bead
  • 1mm Crimp Bead
Aline these parts so they are in the center of your necklace. Then, gently crimp the 1mm crip on either side of the beads. This will hold these parts to the center of the necklace.


Step Four:
Using your ruler, measure out 1" from the end of the center bead grouping on the left. Gently close a 1" crimp bead over the marked spot. Now string the second bead grouping:

  • 3mm Round Bead
  • 4mm 5301 Bicone
  • Small Turkish Spacer
  • 3mm x 6mm Cat's Eye Donut
  • Small Turkish Spacer
  • 4mm 5301 Bicone
  • 3mm Round Bead
  • 1mm Crimp
Gently close the last crimp, and your second bead grouping is anchored into place. Repeat this step on the right side of your necklace.


Step Five:
Using your ruler, measure out 1" from the end of the 2nd bead grouping on the left. Gently close a 1" crimp bead over the marked spot. Now string the final bead grouping:

  • 3mm Round Bead
  • 4mm 5301 Bicone
  • Small Turkish Spacer
  • 4mm 5301 Bicone
  • 3mm Round Bead
  • 1mm Crimp
Gently close the last crimp, and your final bead group is anchored into place. Repeat this step on the right side of your necklace.


Step Six:
In my necklace, which is about 18" long, I measured out another 4" and marked the spot, on both sides. Then I string the final crimps, and closed the necklace. I have very sensitive skin, and the feel of a clasp and crimp laying on my neck drives me crazy. So - I string a 4mm round bead between the final crimp, and the clasp, on both sides, as shown to the right. This lifts the clasp and crimp away from my skin, so only the smooth bead touches my neck.


A fun variation of this necklace is to make a triple stranded design, with bead groups floating at different intervals through out the design.


Colors Shown:

  • Dark Pink Rectangles
  • Pink Donuts
  • Rose AB Bicones
  • Antique Silver & Sterling Metals


The jewelry you make from this design is yours do with as you please. You may make it as often as you like without any restrictions. For example, you can make this jewelry for yourself, for friends, or to sell. I do not require that you give credit to me for the design.

While I assert no rights over the finished jewelry, the photography/images and text on this page are copyrighted as follows:

Copyright 2007 by Erin Weik. Licensed under the Creative Commons License Attribution-No Derivs version 2.5. You are free to copy, distribute and display this work for commercial and non-commercial use. You must attribute this work to Erin Weik and www.123bead.com. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. For the long version of this license, please see:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.5/

This copyright applies only to the document above, and does not apply to the rest of the website content, images and text, for which I retain full rights.