Handmade Optical Lens Charm Necklace

Paper crafting meets jewelry making in this amazing vintage style necklace that is will be the talk of your outfit.  If you love creative jewelry, but have not given it a try, here is a great tutorial from Kyriakos that uses a simple list of products, simple techniques, with amazing results.  The Optical Lens holds a the color and style, which is up totally up to you.  Choose a monogram, a flower, a fun saying or make a tiny piece of mixed media art to showcase allowing the optical lens to protect that little piece of art from the world, while showcasing it.

The diversity in use of the 7gypsies Optical Lens always challenges me to create something unique. We have seen optical lens’s in many projects, on canvas, on cards, on altered mix media items and having the lens on a jewelery was one of my primary thoughts.

It’s an easy project, quite stylish with a mix of vintage and a bit of steampunk styles. Tag used on the optical lens can be a script, a word or anything that matches your style and favourite colours. The cord can be also changed to any other colour or even a chain.

Materials used:

• 7gypsies Optical Lens: Antique Brass (2 pieces)
• 7gypsies Mini Ephemera – Lady Like
• 7gypsies Gears: Industrial (14 pieces)
• Canvas Corp Waxed Cotton Cord Hank – Black 45′
• Knorr Prandell Craft Wire ⌀1mm – Brass
• Efco flat hand wire – Brown

Tools used: Round nose pliers, flat nose pliers, glue,

Step 1: Cut 2 pieces of the flat wire in 3in(~7,5cm) and 4in(~10cm)  lengths. Coil some bronze wire to hold the flat wires together and some for decoration. Coil the edges of the flat wires with the help of the round nose pliers.

Step 2: Mark a circle with the help of the optical lens and cut the design from the tag you want to use and glue it on the optical lens with the printed side facing the glass. You can cover the back of the tag with paint or any medium for protection.

Step 3: Coil some bronze wire on the gears. Do that before glueing them as it will help to keep them in the desired position.

Step 4: Glue the flat wires first, then the gears. Cut 5 about 15in (~40cm) long cords and add end and lobster clasps on both edges of the cords. Adjust  further the length of the necklace with jump rings.

As you can see creating jewelry is so simple. With just a few found items, you can create something truly amazing to wear, just as Kyriakos did with this necklace. To see more of Kyriakos work visit his blog; The Crafts World or Instagram 

Happy Creating!

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