Flower garden

Combine semi-precious stones in delicate shades to form Dorothy Wood's ethereal bridal jewellery

Wedding jewellery is always a delight to design and make, as it is for such a special occasion. These exquisite prehnite and rose quartz gems are specially cut for Precious Sparkle Beads and are quite unique, forming dainty buds and leaves against the shimmering beaded petals of the flowers. Use these to adorn a gorgeous tiara, then take it further with a matching corsage brooch and pair of earrings.

Tiara

1. To make the flowers, cut a 25cm length of 0.315mm wire. Pick up three rainbow seeds and drop down to the middle. Take one end of the wire through the last two beads again and pull up to create a tiny triangle. Pick up three seeds on one end of the wire and drop down to the triangle of beads. Take the other end through the three seed beads in the opposite direction from the first wire and pull up so that there are now three rows of beads.
2. Continue adding rows of of the following numbers of beads; four, five, five, four, three and two, to complete the petal shape. Twist the wires together at the bottom a few times to secure, then trim one of the tails. Make four more large petals in this way. On a 15cm length of 0.2mm wire, pick up a 4mm rose quartz roundel, a prehnite 3mm roundel and a seed, then drop down to the middle. Take the wire back through the two semi-precious beads only to make the flower centre.
3. Hold the five petals together in a bundle with the flower centre and twist the wires near the petals to secure. Wrap the flower centre wires just under the petals, trim three of the petal tails and twist the remaining two to create a flower stem. Make two more large flowers in the same way, followed by two smaller blooms. Work the seed bead rows for the little petals as follows: one, two, three, four, four, three, two. Make the flowers with the same semi-precious beads in the middle.
4. To form the branched stems, pick up a prehnite briolette on a 25cm length of 0.315mm wire. Drop to the middle and twist for 7mm. Pick up a rose quartz roundel and make a short branch to one side. Repeat on the other side. Wind the two wires together for 7mm again, then add a group of five seeds on each side. Twist for 2cm to finish the stem.
5. Make two more large branched stems in a similar way, plus two or three smaller branched stems. To assemble the tiara, separate the wires at the bottom of one of the large flower stems. Tuck the centre of the band between the strands, then wrap one wire around to the left and the other to the right.
6. Add a large branched stem and a smaller branched stem each side of the flower in the same way. Attach another large flower at either side. Continue with the other branched stems and the two small flowers at either end. Check that you are happy with the arrangement and add more branched stems if required.
7. Cut a long length of fine wire and drop a roundel to the middle, twist for 1cm and tuck the centre of the band between the wires. Wrap the wire a few times, then add another bead and twist to create a short stem. Work along the tiara, adding beaded stems all the way along in both directions. Trim any tails, keeping any sharp ends folded away from the bottom edge.
8. To finish the tiara, cover the front edge with beads. Pick up a seed on a long length of 0.2mm wire, drop to the middle and pass both tails through a rose quartz roundel. Hold the beads at the centre front of the tiara band. Wrap the wires a couple of times in opposite directions around the tiara band. Continue adding alternate prehnite and rose quartz roundels until the tiara is covered.

Earrings

1. Make five petals from clear rainbow seeds, working the rows for the smaller flowers in the same way as the tiara: one, two, three, four, four, three, two. Twist the wires together a few times at the base of each petal and trim one tail off each stem. Make up the beaded centres as described in step
2. for the tiara and assemble, twisting the wires together to make a five-petal flower. 2Make two branched stems; one longer stem with just a prehnite briolette and two rose quartz beads, and the other with two sets of branches using both rose quartz and prehnite roundels as well as a briolette. Wrap the branch wires around the flower stem, close to the petals. Flatten the twisted stems with flat-nosed pliers and trim to 7mm. Bend the flattened stems over at 90 degrees. Lay face down and attach an earring post with epoxy resin glue, then repeat to make a pair.