Retired - Crazy Lace Necklace

To begin, lay out your five crazy lace agate stones on the Lacy's Stiff Stuff Beading Foundation at least one and a half inches apart. Using a black permanent marker, trace around each stone, being careful not to get any marks on the stones themselves. Move the stones temporarily, and use the marker to thicken each traced line to about half an inch thick. Color both the inside and the outside of the traced line. This is so none of the white shows through the beadwork. It is recommended, but not necessary.Spread a small amount of E6000 on the back of each crazy lace agate bead and glue them in place onto the appropriate spots on the beading foundation. Set aside to dry. (NOTE: the E6000 only takes about ten minutes to set, but allow roughly twenty four hours for it to fully cure.)Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut out each of the glued on stones, making sure you leave an inch and a half wide border around each. You will begin with the largest pendant stone first.Single-thread a needle with two yards of black Wildfire thread.Bring the needle up through the beading foundation directly next to the pendant, leaving an unknotted tail about nine inches long protruding from the back of the backing material.Add four 8/0 jet black opaque Czech seed beads (BCS-8240) and bring your needle back down through the backing material next to the pendant, leaving ample room for the four beads to sit comfortably.Bring the needle up through the backing behind where your stitching started, leaving enough room to add to beads. Add the two beads and then thread your needle through the first four beads. Add four more beads, stitch down and back six beads. Thread through those six beads and add four more. This is called a 4-6 backstitch. Continue with this stitch until you make it all the way around the pendant.Once you come back to the beginning, make several passes with the thread through all of the beads, and pull tight to secure this row.Bring the needle back down through the backing fabric very close to where you started, and tie a square knot using the remaining thread on the needle and the beginning tail. Trim excess thread.To create the first bezel row, single-thread another two yards of Wildfire and pierce the needle upward through the backing so that it comes out between your base row and the pendant.Once again use the 4-6 backstitch to add a row of 11/0 devil's food red ruby Siam Czech seed beads (BCS-1490) between the base row and the pendant. Finish this row the same way you finished the first.Single-thread another two yards of Wildfire and once again bring the needle up through the backing, this time directly between two beads in the bezel row.Thread the needle through one of those two beads, starting from the inside going out. Onto your needle thread three 11/0 jet black opaque Czech seed beads (BCS-1240).Thread the needle through the other red mix bead in the aforementioned two beads, this time going from the outside, in.Pierce your needle through the backing again, and come back out roughly six beads down from your last stitch between two beads again. Add three black 11/0 seed beads and repeat this add-three stitch all the way around the pendant.When you return to the beginning, bring your needle back up through the first group of three 11/0 black seed beads, coming out through the middle (top) bead.Add a 4mm x 6mm simulated onyx bead (SPOX-05) to your thread and stitch though the middle bead in the next grouping of three black beads. Continue in this manner, adding an SPOX-05 between each three-bead grouping, making several passes with your thread through the row.When you have completed this, stitch down into the backing near where you began and tie a square knot using your remaining thread and the beginning tail. Trim off excess thread.Once again, single-thread your needle with two yards of Wildfire. Pierce your needle upward through the backing material directly on the outside of the original base row of jet black 8/0 seed beads, leaving a tail about nine inches long. Add a single 4mm turquoise blue candy jade round bead, stitch down into the backing and up through the bead again. Add another 4mm turquoise candy jade bead and repeat. Continue in this manner, individually stitching each 4mm candy jade bead down around the perimeter of the base row. After completing this row, pierce your needle back down through the backing material and tie a square knot using the remaining thread and the beginning tail. Trim off excess thread.Carefully trim off the excess backing material, making sure not to cut too close to the outside row, as you might accidentally cut a thread. Set the pendant aside.To create the four bead-embroidered crazy lace agate pieces (two pink and two turquoise), individually stitch a base row of 4mm round simulated onyx beads around each of the crazy lace agate beads. Add a bezel row to each, just as you did with the pendant, using the pink-red 11/0 seed bead mix (BCS-1490) on the turquoise crazy lace agate beads, and the blue-green 11/0 seed bead mix (JSK-0191) on the pink crazy lace agate beads. When you have completed all four pieces, carefully trim off excess backing material, making sure not to cut too close to the outside row, as you might accidentally cut a thread.Evenly spread a thin layer of Crafter's Pick glue to the back of each of the five bead-embroidered crazy lace agate pieces, and press them onto the black ultra-suede material. Smooth out the ultra-suede with your fingers, making sure the beads are securely glued down with no air bubbles or glue blobs present. Allow to dry, and then trim the ultra-suede so that it is exactly the same size as the Lacy's Stiff Stuff backing material.Once the glue is dry and all of the pieces have been trimmed, you must now stitch the basic beaded edge around each of the stones. For this stitch, you will be using 8/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-8240). Begin with the pendant piece. Single-thread your needle with two yards of Wildfire. Add a bead. Pierce the needle down through the backing material and the ultra-suede, about one sixteenth of an inch away from the edge, between two beads.Bring the needle back up through the same bead and pull outward from the side of the piece to tighten the thread. Leave a tail of about nine inches long. Add another bead and repeat the process. Continue in this manner until you make it all the way around the outside perimeter of the pendant. When you come back to the beginning, tie a square knot using the initial tail and the remainder of the thread. Weave the excess thread into the beads and trim off excess thread. Use this same method to create a basic beaded edge around each of the bead-embroidered stones.After you have completed the basic beaded edge around all five of the stones, you can now start joining them with the draping beaded strands. To do this, lay out the pieces with the pendant in the center, flanked by the two turquoise rectangles with the two oval pink stones on either side of them. The following directions will be to complete the left side of the necklace; simply complete the other side as a mirror image of the first. First, single-thread your needle with two yards of Wildfire. Locate the center bead at the top of the basic beaded edge on the pendant. Count four beads to the left of this central bead, not counting the central bead itself.From the back, insert your needle into the fourth-from-center bead, and pull it outward, leaving a nine-inch tail.Add the following: an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round fuchsia candy jade bead (SPJD-34)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240).Insert your needle into the bead on the upper right corner of the horizontal turquoise crazy lace agate bead, and pull tight. Pierce your needle through the backing and come back out through the bead directly underneath the corner bead on the short side of the turquoise crazy lace agate bead.Add the following: an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240)an 8/0 jet black opaque Czech seed bead (BCS-8240)a 6mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3689)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240).Insert your needle back into the pendant side of the basic beaded edge, two beads down from the first bead. This is how the draping will be created between the pendant and the rectangular crazy lace agate; the strands will be coming out of each of the beads on the short side of the rectangle, and from every other bead on the pendant. There are eight strands total.Now that you have completed the first two strands, repeat this process for strands three through eight. The strands will contain the following beads, in order from left to right: Strand three: two 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round turquoise candy jade bead (SPJD-114)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240). Strand four: Beginning with an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240), and ending with a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240), string one quarter of an inch these two beads, alternating between them. Then add:an 8/0 jet black opaque Czech seed bead (BCS-8240)a 6mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3689)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240). Strand five: string half an inch of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240), then string: a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round fuchsia candy jade bead (SPJD-34)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240). Strand six: string an inch of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240), then string: an 8/0 jet black opaque Czech seed bead (BCS-8240)a 6mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3689)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240). Strand seven: string an inch and an eighth of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240), then string: a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round turquoise candy jade bead (SPJD-114)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240). Strand eight: string an inch and a quarter of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240), then string: an 8/0 jet black opaque Czech seed bead (BCS-8240)a 6mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3689)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and a quarter inch of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240).Once you have created all eight strands, weave your thread back up through the edge beads until you get to the tail. Tie a square knot using the tail and the remainder of your thread. Trim off excess thread.Single-thread your needle again with two yards of Wildfire. Using the same method that you used to create the draped connecting strands between the pendant and the rectangle bead, create the draped connecting strands between the other short end of the rectangle and the oval bead. Place the oval bead so that the direction in which it will be connected to the rectangle will flow nicely with overall draping of the necklace, That might mean that the oval will not be directly lined up with the rectangle, but rather will be on a slight angle. There will be seven strands between the rectangle and the oval. They are as follows, from left to right: Strand one: 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round turquoise candy jade bead (SPJD-114)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240). Strand two: five eighths of an inch alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240).Strand three: an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round fuchsia candy jade bead (SPJD-34)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240). Strand four: half an inch of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240). Strand five: three eights inch of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240)11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240), a 4mm round turquoise candy jade bead (SPJD-114), a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240).Strand six: one inch of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)and one eighth of an inch more of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240). Strand seven: one inch of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round fuchsia candy jade bead (SPJD-34)a 13/0 jet black charlotte seed bead (BCS-2240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)an 11/0 jet black seed bead (BCS-1240)and one quarter of an inch more of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240).Once you have created all seven strands, weave your thread back up through the edge beads until you get to the tail. Tie a square knot using the tail and the remainder of your thread. Trim off excess thread.Double-thread your needle with four yards of Wildfire. Locate the bead in the basic beaded edge around the oval that is directly across from the central strand of the draping between the oval and rectangle beads. Pierce your needle up through the backing materials and out through the bead directly next to the centrally located bead. Leave a tail about nine inches long.String about five eighths of an inch of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240), and then the following for the back, single-strand part of the necklace: a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 6mm round fuchsia candy jade bead (SPJD-36)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 4mm round turquoise candy jade bead (SPJD-114)a 6mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3689)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)an 8/0 jet black opaque Czech seed bead (BCS-8240)a 4mm x 6mm simulated onyx bead (SPOX-05)an 8/0 jet black opaque Czech seed bead (BCS-8240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 6mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3689)a 4mm round fuchsia candy jade bead (SPJD-34)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)a 6mm turquoise candy jade bead (SPJD-116)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)an 8/0 jet black opaque Czech seed bead (BCS-8240)a 4mm x 6mm simulated onyx bead (SPOX-05)an 8/0 jet black opaque Czech seed bead (BCS-8240)a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490)an 8/0 jet black opaque Czech seed bead (BCS-8240)a 6mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3689)an 8/0 jet black opaque Czech seed bead (BCS-8240)and a 4mm round jet black fire polish bead (BCP-3490). Thread your needle through a closed jump ring, and wrap the thread upward around one half of the jump ring, making sure no metal shows through. You will add the clasp to this thread-covered jump ring. To the end of one half of the necklace, you will add the "button" part of the clasp. To the other half, you will add the "loop" part of the clasp. How to make the clasp: For the "button" half of the clasp, chose the largest stone out of your black onyx faceted rondelles (SPOX-30). Thread your needle through an 8/0 black seed bead, through the black onyx faceted rondelle, and through a, 11/0 black seed bead, back through the onyx rondelle and the 8/0 black seed bead. Pull tight, and wrap the other half of the jump ring. For the "loop" part of the clasp, thread an 8/0 black seed bead and approximately thirty six 11/0 black seed beads, or however many it takes to fit around the button part of the clasp. Thread your needle back through four of the 11/0 seed beads, and the 8/0 seed bead and finish wrapping the other half of your jump ring.Thread your needle back down through the single strand of beads at the back of the necklace, until you get to the length of seed beads connecting this part of the necklace to the bead-embroidered portion. Add an additional five eighths inch of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240), and pierce your needle into the 8/0 bead directly to the other side of the central bead in the oval, one bead away from the point of origin of the back strand of the necklace. Pierce through the backing and tie a square knot using the tail, and the remaining thread. Trim off excess thread.To make the lacy border around each of the four smaller crazy lace agate beads, and at the top of the large pendant, thread your needle and pierce it up through the backing and out through one of the 8/0 beads in the basic edge stitch. add three 11/0 black seed beads, and sew back into the basic edge bead next to it, back through the backing, and out the same bead. Repeat.To make the tassels hanging from the bottom of each of the four smaller crazy lace agate beads, thread your needle and pierce it up through the backing and out through one of the edge beads close to center. Add about three quarters of an inch of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240), a 4mm black fire polish bead, a 6mm candy jade bead (use pink on the turquoise stone, and vice versa), and three 11/0 seed beads. Bring the needle back up through the candy jade and the 4mm fire polish beads and pull tight. Add another three quarters of an inch of alternating 11/0 jet black seed beads (BCS-1240) and 13/0 jet black charlotte seed beads (BCS-2240) and pierce back into the edge beads and into the backing. Tie a square knot and trim off excess thread.To make the looped fring at the bottom of the pendant, follow the instructions to make the lacy border, except gradually increase the number of beads used per loop until you get to the middle of the bottom of the pendant, at which point you would decrease once again.Please note that the Crazy Lace Agate beads are of a limited supply. Once they are out of stock, we may not be able to get these exact bright, rich colors again.