My Scrapbook Paper Necklace

I love finding new ways to create jewelry. I wish my public library had a bigger selection of jewelry making books. I think I've already checked out all the jewelry making books they have. This lead me to splurge on some books at the book store and today, I'm so glad I own the books that inspired me to make this necklace that I am sharing with you today.

I already wrote a blog about how much I love Margot Potter, The Impatient Beader. I own that book as well as Beyond the Bead. For the pendant of my necklace, I started with the chipboard pendant idea from Beyond the Bead. Margot Potter goes above and beyond using art supplies that I have never seen before to decorate what started out as a plain piece of chipboard and turn it into a beautiful pendant. Because I didn't have the all the materials Margot used for her project, I improvised and took shortcuts because I'm probably more impatient (a.k.a. "lazy") than Ms. Potter.

The pendant of my necklace is made from scrapbook paper and reused junk mail. I used a paper punch to make six circles from the junk mail (heavy cardstock) and two circles of the scrapbook paper. Then I stapmed a design on the scrapbook paper circles. I made the bail using 24-gauge craft wire. I made a wrapped loop and then made an "S" with the tail. I used the most porous circles to be the core where I would sandwich the bail. I dabbed a bit of E6000 glue on the wire and adhered it to the paper circle, then smeared some Mod Podge on top of that and sandwiched the wire between two circles, making sure the edges were completely sealed. After the bail was set, I added the other layers of junk mail circles and the scrapbook paper, again taking care to seal the edges. Then I applied a layer of Mod Podge on the front and back (let one side dry first) of the pendant. To add a super glossy finish, I used a dimensional adhesive on both sides.

Because I had a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper with two holes punched out, I decided to use the same paper to make beads. I have a copy of Making Beaded Jewelry by Barbara Case. Ms. Case has instructions in her book for making your own beads. I wanted to try her papier mache beads, but I didn't want to mess that comes with papier mache. So I created my own method to acheive the same result. I cut six 12x0.5 inch strips and started coiling the dry strips on a toothpick. When I got the coil started, I applied glue to the whole strip using a basic glue stick. I removed the toothpick and continued coiling the strip using my fingers to keep the coil straight. Then with wet fingers, I smoothed down the seam. With the paper wet, I tore a tiny bit off the end to acheive the "seemless" look as suggested by Barbara Case in her book. After making six beads like this, I let them dry for about two hours. Then I dipped them in Mod Podge and used my fingers to smooth it all over. I used a head pin to make sure the hole was clear before I set those to dry again.

Now that I had my pendant and matching beads, I found more coordinating beads in my bead boxes and here's the end result. I didn't discriminate the beads I used, since the main focal bead is paper, this necklace has paper, glass, plastic, and metal beads. Here's a closer look:

A close-up of the pendant.

The opposite side:

A closer look at the beads:

The clasp:

One last look:

A lot of love went into creating this necklace. That's why I decided to blog about it. I hope you like it as much as I do.