I made a purchase of swarovski flat backs and metal fittings for them (not the ones that are used for sewing but links with two loops) in the beginning of the year. They sure are pretty. But every time I took them out I ended up with putting them away again... I first found quite hard to use them in a piece of jewellery...
So once I started to improvise by wrapping those links with beads, I used thin wire for that. It took awhile to get to this point because I started with making a small button and then using that motif trying make it more interesting...
The motif of that pendant is the biggest I have made so far. It's all green&green 
. The motif isn't very strong so I attached it to a stamped "filligree" plate. Earrings are made the same way - by wrapping links with flatbacks and beads etc. And there are leverback earring hooks behind those stamped metal plates.
Thanks for looking!