Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Swarovski Beaded Heart Pendant

Swarovski Crystal Astral Pink heart beaded bezel pendant necklace by Rachel Graham

During one of my impulse buys from Fusionbeads.com, I had bought a giant 28mm Crystal Astral Pink Heart Pendant that I had no idea what to do with.  All I knew at the time is that I wanted it.  Close to 3 months later I was exploring Youtube for any new beading projects and I came upon this one:

 TUTORIAL: Incastonare un cuore Swarovski da 28mm

The obvious downside is that the tutorial is in Italian but I didn’t let that stop me from trying to do it.  It actually wasn’t that difficult to make out what Valentina was doing and when in doubt, I just paused the video and compared my piece with hers to make sure I was on the right track.  If anyone wants to try it, let me know and I’ll be happy to help you through it  :)

After finally finishing the beaded bezel and successfully installing the heart, I finished the design with some 3mm Crystal Bronze Bicones around the entire piece to add some extra sparkle.  I will admit that I wish I had used a more vibrant color for the bicones but I’m not complaining.

After finishing the entire pendant,  I couldn’t make up my mind on what material to use for the necklace.  I was thinking about ribbon but I didn’t have any on hand.  Gold chain seemed a little odd to pair with the beaded bezel so I landed on using 3mm brown suede cord which worked wonderfully :) 

If you’re thinking about tackling the Italian tutorial, here’s some tips that I can offer:

  • The total amount of size 11/0 delica seed beads on the first row of the beaded bezel is 72.
  • Use the thinnest thread possible.  I made a total of 3 beaded bezels before I finally got a good stitch that wasn’t too rigid.  I recommend Size O Nymo Thread or 4lb Fireline.  Anything thicker than that will result in a very stiff beaded bezel that will be almost impossible to pass through once you start adding the last rows of size 15/0 seed beads as there are many.
  • During the video, keep close attention to the beads that she skips while making the bezel.  Due to the pendant being a heart shape,  she managed to create a bezel pattern that fits perfectly around the shape and accentuates it.  For example, if you look closely at the bottom point of the beaded bezel on the top photo, you’ll notice it has fewer beads than the other points around the bezel and yet the entire beaded bezel is symmetrical.

Materials used:

-4lb Fireline

-Size 12 Beading Needle

-Size 11/0 Delica seed beads in Galvanized Champagne

-Size 15/0 Round seed beads in Transparent Dark Amber Gold Luster

-28mm Swarovski Heart Pendant in Crystal Astral Pink

-3mm Swarovski Bicones in Crystal Bronze

-3mm Brown Suede Cord, approx 32 inches

Swarovski Crystal Astral Pink heart beaded bezel pendant necklace by Rachel Graham