Make your own 'scrunchie' wire beads to create brenda harvey's statement cards and accessories

What you need...

• BEADS Agate, black: oblong x 4, round x 10, cushion x 2, Lava stone, rounds, variety of sizes x 9, Cushion, glass, silver foiled, green x 5, Heart, silver foiled, striped, turquoise x 6, Flower, silver imprint x 1, Resin, round, satin finish, 18mm, bright pink x 3, Seeds: black; teal, Rounds, silver-plated, 3mm, Spacers, corrugated, antiqued silver: 9mm x 4mm; 9mm x 5.5mm
  
  FINDINGS Wire: nylon-coated; coloured copper, 0.3mm (28 gauge), bright pink; black; teal green; turquoise; pale blue, Chain, foxtail crimp, silver-plated, Clasp, silverplated: toggle; lobster, Calottes, silver-plated, Closed ring, silver-plated, Crimps, silverplated, Earwires, silverplated, Card: black; bright pink; silver mirror, Ribbon, satin, turquoise, Crystals, flat back, selfadhesive, Star-shaped sequin, silver, 3-D foam pads
  
  TOOLS Pliers: flat-nosed; round-nosed, Cutters, wire
  

instructions

1. Turquoise Necklace - 1. Cut two black, two teal, four turquoise and three pale blue 1m lengths of 0.3mm coloured wire and make 11 scrunched balls (see How To...) then flatten into disc shapes. Lay these out on a bead mat along with four glass hearts, eight lava beads, five green cushions and one silver flower bead in the pattern of your choice, using black seeds as spacers between each one.
   
   2. Measure the approximate length of your bead pattern, then cut a piece of nylon-coated wire that is 10cm longer than this. Make a crease in the wire 5cm from one end and thread on two crimps. Pass a lobster clasp onto the wire so that it sits in the crease, then thread the wire back through the two crimps and squeeze them into position with the flat-nosed pliers. Trim the short end of the wire to 1cm.
   
   3. String the first couple of beads from your chosen pattern onto the wire, ensuring that the trimmed end is tucked neatly inside these beads. Continue adding beads to the wire then add two silver crimp beads at the very end - but don’t compress them yet. Make a crease in the wire 0.5cm from the last crimp and add a closed silver ring to form the other half of the fastening.
   
   4. Cut a 25cm length of bright pink 0.3mm wire and scrunch it to form a ball with a 7mm diameter (see How To..), then flatten it into a disc shape.
   
   5. Thread a 3mm silver round, a black seed, the flattened scrunched bead, a turquoise silver foiled heart and another black seed onto a head pin.
   
   6. Trim the wire to 1cm above the beads, bend to a rightangle, then form a loop in the end but do not fully close. Hook to an earwire and close the loop to finish. Repeat to make a pair.
   

2. How to... Make a Scrunched Wire Ball - Cut a length of wire, crumple it up and form it into a ball by rolling it in the palms of your hands. The shorter the piece of wire and the more pressure you use, the smaller the ball becomes. Any sharp protruding wire ends can be hidden simply by grasping them firmly in the tips of round-nosed pliers and pushing them into the centre of the bead.