Serendipity

Serendipity

Designed by Magi Anthony Whitaker

materials

  • 32 inches - 24 gauge Round Dead Soft Sterling Silver Wire
  • 12 - 8 mm large hole pearls (oval shape)
  • 18 - 4mm bi-cone AB Clear Swarovski Crystals

tools

  • Flush cut wire cutters
  • Tapered round-nose pliers (I like to use a pair with the smallest tips)
  • Smooth jawed, flat pliers
  • Measuring device (I like to use a 4” plastic quilters square)

Remember that each snowflake is unique as you craft your version of this piece.

  1. Cut six five inch pieces of wire, the remaining piece will be used to form the bail.

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  2. Use the flat pliers to make a sharp bend in each wire 2.5 inches from one end.

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  3. Place a bi-cone crystal on the long end of each wire. Handle these wires carefully as the beads will fall off easily.

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  4. Holding two wires with the bends next to each other make three to four tight twists (twisting the wires together. Use the flat pliers to bend the untwisted length sharply at the opposite end of the bead (this will make the next step easier and help keep the bead from falling off).

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  5. Attach a third wire to the wires from step 4, in the same fashion. Hold the construction tightly to avoid getting large spaces between the beads. Keeping the beads on the wires close together will allow you to create a six pointed star in the negative space at the center of your snowflake.

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  6. Continue step 5 to attach each of the remaining wires. You may have to make minor adjustments as you go to maintain even spacing and a flat shape. If you use the pliers at this pint, be careful not to break the crystal beads.

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  7. Use the quilt square to space the twisted wires evenly around the piece. It should be starting to resemble a snowflake.

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  8. Twist the wires together as needed to make each length equal. This portion in my design was ˝ inch long.

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  9. At this point you will have twelve wire ends you are working with, pick any two that are crossing from adjacent twists, place one pearl and one bi-cone on each wire and twist tightly two or three times, before repeating on the next two. The first twist should be as close to the beads as possible, this will make this section the same as you work around the piece maintaining symmetry.

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  10. The length of this twist will be shorter than the first one but, you still need to measure each one to maintain the symmetry of your snowflake.

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  11. Your last measurement will be of each remaining length of untwisted wire. If necessary, trim the ends to make them even. Using the smallest tip of your round-nosed pliers make a tight “rosette” with each end all the way to the twist.

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  12. You can leave the rosettes out as “bracts”, or fold them toward the center, as I did.

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  13. With the final two inches of wire, make a medium sized loop in the center of the wire and twist ends together tightly two or three times.

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  14. Make matching loops in each end of the bail. Be certain the single loop end is large enough for your chain to go through, and twist it so that the snowflake hangs properly.

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  15. Attach the bail to the snowflake with the matching pair of loops as you would jump rings.

    16. Line Break Although these directions are for a pendant, the snowflake could be attached to a hairpin, or comb for a hair ornament, or a pi back for a brooch.

    I found my inspiration for”Serendipity” at the following web-site:

    https://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/