Daisy Days
Lucite Necklace
Designed by Kristin Burgess


Spring has pushed it's way into Maine and the melting has begun!  It's not exactly bursting with color around here yet but I caught a glimpse of real ground yesturday.  As the snow gives way exposing mixed brown tones paired with our cornflower blue skies comes the inspiration for this perfect Springtime transitional piece.  Our lucite collection is unmatched and loads of fun to design with featuring colors and textures I've yet to see in any other bead medium!  Break out of your 'bead box' and add vintage lucite to your bead stash today! 



This project is great for all levels!  Stringing and crimping are involved with this project.   The necklace has a total length of 23".  Two crimp beads are needed to attach the beaded strand to the pewter toggle clasp.   By omitting beads evenly you can decrease the length of the necklace without altering the look.   I find it helpful to strand the necklace directly onto the softflex spool as it is easier to keep the pattern even (you can deduct beads from either side should the piece end up longer than intended).   The seed beads are always necessary as they help with the curvature of the necklace.

Step 1:

Prepare a clutter free workspace to lay out piles of your beads and components on.    Start by stringing this pattern onto the Soft Flex spool...1 seed,1 teal lucite, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 marbled teal, 1 seed, 1 teal,  1 seed, 1 marbled, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 marbled teal, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 marbled teal, 1 seed, 1 cream striped, 1 seed, 1 teal, 2 seed, 1 flower, 2 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 cream, 1 seed, 1 marbled teal, 2 seed, 1 flower, 2 seed, 1 marbled, 1 seed, 1 cream striped, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 marbled teal, 2 seed, 1 flower, 2 seed, 1 marbled teal, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 cream, 1 seed, 1 marbled, 2 seed, 1 flower, 2 seed, 1 marbled, 1 seed, 1 cream, 1 seed, 1 teal, 2 seed, 1 flower, 2 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 cream, 1 seed, 1 marbled, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 marbled, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 marbled, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 marbled, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed, 1 teal, 1 seed.

Step 2: 

Crimp this strand to the pewter toggle clasp.   Remember that the clasp will add length to your necklace.   If you choose to use a different clasp be sure to measure and consider it's length along with the beaded softflex length.  If you want a shorter style decrese evenly on either ends of the necklace.  I find it helpful to carefully hold the necklace up to myself aroound my neck in front of a mirror.  This way you can really see how the necklace is going to hang and at what length it looks best!  After crimping side one trim the remainder Soft Flex tail using the cutters.   Using the end part of the crimper tool attach the crimp cover, optional, over the crimp for a more finished look.   Repeat crimping and covering for side two.  With crimping complete, you can put away other leftovers and clear your work space.  It is time to epoxy the cabachons in place!

Step 3: 

Time for the fun part....gluing!  With your striped cabachons and E-6000 epoxy you are ready to go!  I find it helpful to put newspaper or other scrap paper under the tube to prevent any spilling or glue ovature from ending up on your bead mat of coffee table as you are working along.  The glue starts to naturally come out when you remove the cap so be sure you are ready to go before opening up your fresh tube.  Any cabachon in this size will work for this project.  A small chunk of E-6000 should be added to the back of the lucite cabachon then press the cab into the flower base.  Be sure that you have used enough glue to make up for how deep the flower is.  Too much glue will mean that it could easily escape from underneath the cab.  So use an awl or toothpick or similar tool to nab any glue that is trying to sneak out from underneath the cabachon.  This is easily done a s the glue take a while to "set" and even longer to fully dry.  Allow 12 hours for complete dry time checking in on how it is gluing from time to time as it dries.  Typically the piece won't move, but please check and be sure so that the cab doesn't permantly glue itself slightly off-center.

As always enjoy!