Slice Of Life- Dyed Agate Set

Get set for summer with Brenda Harvey's dyed agate necklace, bracelet and earrings set

For this project, think sun, sea, sand and romantic walks along the beach! The gorgeous oceaninspired colours, shapes and textures of dyed agate slices are an absolute joy to work with and are easily transformed into wearable pieces with a simple combination of silver wire, bicone crystals, and freshwater pearls for a knock-out finish!

How To... Make a Bead Drop

1. Thread your chosen selection of beads onto a head pin. Trim the wire to 1cm above the beads, bend to a 90° angle with round-nosed pliers, then form a loop in the end but do not fully close.

Necklace

1. Cut a 70cm length of 0.6mm silver-plated wire. Curl one end into a small tight coil using nylon-jaw pliers to prevent marking the wire. Place the coiled end roughly in the middle of an agate slice and start to wind the wire around it several times adding a selection of turquoise chips and 4mm bicones so that they all sit on the front of the slice.
2. Bring the wire up to the top of the slice, create an open 1.5cm loop then wrap the wire back around the slice once more. Cut the end of the wire, leaving a length of 8cm. Form another tight coil on this end, again using nylon-jaw pliers. Place one of the jaws of a pair of round-nosed pliers in the loop that you made at the top of the slice and turn a few times until you have created a closed loop. Do not over tighten the wire directly above the slice or it will break.
3. Tuck the ends of the two coils under the nearest section of wrapped wire, as shown, to hold them securely. Cut a 65cm length of silver plated chain and join the ends together with a 5mm silver jump ring. Find the midpoint of the chain and attach the agate slice with a 5mm jump ring to finish.

Earrings

1. Make a single bead drop (see How To...) using a 6mm copper crystal, a turquoise chip, a 6/7mm peach freshwater pearl, a turquoise chip, a 4mm light peach crystal, and another turquoise chip. Hook the open loop through a kidney earwire, close the loop with round-nosed pliers and gently squeeze the earwire into position to prevent the dropper from moving. Repeat to make a pair.

Bracelet

1. Elasticated bracelet blanks often come with jump rings already attached. Count how many yours has and make the same amount of bead drops (see How To...) using a selection of 6/7mm and 9/10mm peach pearls, amazonite chips, 6mm copper crystals and 4mm bicones. Secure each drop to a jump ring on the bracelet to finish.