Bubble gum balls, often known as bubble gum beads, measure 20 millimeters in diameter. Plastic (resin or acrylic) is used to make these beads. This technique was created using a resin bead from kit. Bead spacers I’ve used are acrylic pearl spacers. Results, or apparatus: The silver wire, crimp beads, and heart toggle clasps from my hefty necklace hardware kit were put to good use. Actually, the only tools you’ll need are wire cutters and crimp pliers. You may skip buying the pair of needle-nose pliers I’m holding in the photo unless you plan on working with jump rings. For this guide, we will omit the jump ring and crimp directly onto the clasp.
You can get your hands on some tools and some bead board at any arts and crafts shop or on Amazon. See, these are the identical crimp pliers I have on Amazon and they’ve served me well for years. I’ve got some wire cutters here if you need them. To get a clean, precise cut, I use high-quality wire cutters.
Guidelines For Necklace Creation
Laying up the focal beads is often the first step in a design for me. As for the necklace’s focal point, I choose a rhinestone. When I use a floral focal, I move it to one side and add two more fill-in beads to the other side (the aqua and coral pearls on the right of the image do this). Even while I usually make sure that the beads on opposite sides of the necklace are identical, a more eclectic assortment of beads may be just as much fun. If I’m not making a complete rainbow pattern, I try to limit myself to no more than four or five colors. To avoid making the design seem too cluttered, I intersperse patterned and specialty beads with plain beads of the same hue. If you’re not some sort of jewelry-design genius, I wouldn’t use every single kind and shade of bead in your bead box to make a single necklace.
Regarding Crimp Beads
The crimp bead should be the very first thing you add to your necklace. The clasp is the glue that keeps your necklace from flopping about. You may find a lot of low-quality crimp beads and tubes on the market. Locating high-quality plated crimps is very challenging. Crimps made of sterling silver or gold-fill are more convenient to work with than their less-sturdy counterparts (but they are much more expensive). For my store, I have only the best plated crimp I could find. Don’t torment yourself by persevering with a crimp that collapses fully under the weight of your pliers, smashes absolutely flat, and refuses to fold in such a manner as to keep your wires apart as I explain below. The crimp is to blame, by the way, so don’t feel bad about it.
The wire ends must be kept separate and immovable inside the crimp, so make sure the crimp bead folds over neatly. The crimp should fold over twice to provide a tight hold on the wire. Without this, the crimp will eventually break and your beads will scatter. It’s time to get started on your necklace. Hold the wire ends on opposite sides of the crimp bead with your thumb and fingers. For the most secure and reliable crimp, your wire should not be crossed within the crimp bead. Grasp your crimp bead with the crimp pliers and look inside to make sure the wire is not twisted or crossed. Apply firm pressure to the crimp bead using the pliers’ first notch (near the handle).
