Rhodonite, Golden Obsidian & Freshwater Pearl Mala

Why We Love This Tutorial:

This is a simply strung, long necklace that you can complete in less than an hour! We would often knot between each gemstone bead with this style of necklace, but by using tiny silver crimp beads as spacers, we get the same effect with a lot less effort (and time, yay!). We’ve used some of our gorgeous new nugget freshwater pearls mixed with some lovely natural Rhodonite beads and Golden Obsidian round beads for this necklace. We’ve just had a huge range of gemstone pendants arrive in, so the choice of colour combinations is endless!

Beads and Materials You’ll Need:

• 36x 8mm Round Gemstone Beads (we’ve used 8mm Golden Obsidian Gemstone Beads)
• 31x Nugget Freshwater Pearls (we’ve used these lilac nugget freshwater pearls. If these are no longer available, another pearl in lilac that is of a larger size – 5mm to 7mm – will work just fine!).
• 24x 8mm Round Gemstone Beads (we’ve used Matte 8mm Rhodonite Gemstone Beads)
• Gemstone Pendant. We have used a Rhodonite Twist Pendant in this design. Please note, as with all of our fancy gemstone beads and pendants, we change our stock regularly – so if this pendant is not longer available, try something different!
• Packet of silver Crimps
• Toggle Clasp (we’ve used this rose toggle, but any style will work).
• Tiger Tail (we used 0.38mm in silver)

Tools You’ll Need:

• Flat Nose pliers (for crimping)
• Scissors (for cutting tiger tail – never use pliers for this!)

Method:

1. 1. Attach one half of your toggle to your tiger tail using two crimps (two is better than one, just in case one gives way at some point!).
   2. String all of your beads onto the tigertail in your desired pattern, using a crimp bead as a spacer between each bead (don’t squash the crimp like you normally would though! Just use it as a bead). The pattern for this design is (from one side of the clasp to the other):
      • 5x pearls – 3x Rhodonite – 9x Obsidian – 3x Rhodonite – 7x pearls – 3x Rhodonite – 9x Obsidian – 3x Rhodonite – 7x pearls – 3x Rhodonite – 9x Obsidian – 3x Rhdoonite – 7x Pearls – 3x Rhodonite – 9x Obsidian – 3x Rhodonite – 5x Pearls.
   3. Attach the other side of the toggle using two crimps.
   4. Open up the bail on your pendant and attach it to the ‘O’ section of your toggle. Close the bail back up.
   5. And that’s it! Super simple 🙂