silver wire weavings, & crystal/pearl weaving necklace

For some reason I am unable to rotate these photos!



Above is my double-woven wire weaving necklace that I attempted to make in the likeness that ancient Vikings would have worn - or my interpretation of one necklace, anyway. All of the beads I have made, except the large carnelian carved rabbit and the brass rose on the bottom.
Materials: 20 and 28 gauge sterling silver wires, silver cone finding, fine silver head pins, carnelian rabbit and small round beads, solid fine silver beads. This has been a project that I have repeatedly gone back to to adjust and change as I learn new techniques.



A closer view of the lamp work beads I have made. The color here is not good; I think they are so vibrant in person. They are bright blue, aqua, red, and the bottom tear drop shaped one is plum purple with dark sparkly blue stripes top and bottom.
Below is a close up of the above necklace.



Below is a necklace I plan to sell. I used the wire weaving technique but triple wove it. It was a lot more work and the weight of it is not insignificant. The bead is African Jade.
Materials: 20 and 28 gauge sterling silver wires, silver cone findings, solid silver beads, fine silver jump rings. I think the design possibilities are really limitless by exchanging the center bead with whatever suits one's fancy.



Below is another necklace I plan to sell. In this photo, it does not appear nearly as shiny or sparkly as it is in person.
Materials: fine silver chain, all silver findings, solid silver beads, fresh water pearls, black AB 4mm Swarovski crystals (oooh sooo sparkly!), silver crimp beads, tiger tail thread for stringing.



And another one I plan to sell. The materials are the same for this necklace as the one above, but an off-loom Indian weaving technique was used. There are matching earrings, but I am not particularly fond of them, so will probably reuse the materials and redo them.



Below is a close up of another way to use the wire weaving. This is done very similar to the necklace, but is worked quite differently afterward. Pliers are used instead of pulling the weaving through decreasingly smaller holes. I have made a few of these rings and I like the 20 or 22 gauge wire for this, making two rows across; the look is less fragile looking, I like it better. Below, I used the 28 gauge wire to make three rows across.



For something like this, and for nearly any project when one works the wire, it 'work hardens' it just by moving it. Even this tiny and lighter than air ring is very strong.

The wire "ropes" or necklaces are quite thicker when compared to a regular ole silver chain necklace. And their weight is significantly heavier.

Any questions? I think this could be a good place to show step-by-step how-to's for this weaving technique, if I can get better resolution from my camera, if that's even possible...

Previous Projects of varying ages

Please excuse the image quality. At the time I did not have a digital camera so I used the computer's scanner and scanned them in.





The beaded drawstring bag with the dragon is made with glass seed beads size 11 and nymo thread. Stitch: peyote tube. Size: 7inches tall, 4 inch diameter bottom.










The beaded bag necklace is also made with size 11 glass seed beads. Stitches: brick for bag body and 8-bead daisy chain for strand. Also, the larger bead for the clasp was made from a beaded pony bead. Measurements: bag 2.5 inches by 3 inches.















The silver wire weaving, also called trichinopoly, is an ancient craft. This necklace was made as a thank you. The wire is double woven silver craft 20G wire. The green, white and blue is a spiral peyote woven bead made from size 11 glass seed beads. The wire necklace measures approximately 24 inches. The peyote tube bead measures about 1.5 inches long and slides freely on the wire.






The black necklace is a pattern from a beautiful bead book that I modified to be a bit less flashy. This was a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law. It is fireline(TM) fishing line and various shaped glass beads: size 11 seed, triangular, round, square, faceted, tubes, teardrop. This also uses a beaded pony bead as part of the closure. Measures 26 inches long.







The green, blue and pink necklace is a combination of an off-loom netted weave and a daisy chain. Materials: nymo thread, glass seed beads (sizes 11 and 8). Simple silver toggle clasp. It was fun to figure out the way the needle and thread should weave to produce such a pattern. Measures 18 inches.







The white netted bead necklace has since broken from use - see the small areas that are mising beads? Materials: irregular size 11 glass or stone seed beads similar - looking to a sort of coral(?, but I don't know). The string was cut by the sharp edge of the beads, hence the hole there.. I have restrung it since, luckily I had saved the few extra beads of this kind to fill the hole! Measures: 20 inches.








The belt-looking multi-colored strap is also an ancient craft called tablet weaving. This is my first attempt. Materials: cotton crochet thread, and used 25 cards and measures 1 inch wide, 10 feet long. The warped threads initially measured 14.5 feet, but the process shrank the overall length due to weaving.







The purple, clear and yellow leafy-looking necklace is off-loom seed bead weaving. Stitch: Apache leaf. Materials: glass seed beads size 11, teardrops. Measures: 20 inches.

Projects

I have been creating whatever suits my fancy if I am able for years now. Luckily I lead a life and have a hobby that allows me to come in contact with some very talented and knowledgeable people who do not mind sharing.

I will add projects as I create them, posting prior efforts if I can locate photos. It'll be a kind of resume of crafts that I have personally created - here in one place!