Wire Wrapped Pendant

A friend of mine asked Karla to make a piece of jewelry out of a stone she (the friend) picked up at some tourist spot. I have completely forgotten where it was picked up or what kind of stone it is. So, it fell to me to do the wrapping to make it a pendant.

This is what I came up with: 

I must say that I'm extremely proud of it!  I used the tutorial here for inspiration and the general know-how to be able to do it, as I've never done it before.  Karla will be finishing the piece, finding the perfect chain and other embellishments.

As this is a custom piece and specific order, it's not going on Etsy.  But, everyone take note!  Should you want something like this, all you have to do is Convo us on Etsy, or send an email to kelleyaccents [at] gmail [dot] com.

Learn by Doing

So, I've spent the morning cruising the net, trying to promote our Etsy store and generally wasting time.

I did, however, have a learning experience.  Yesterday, I purchased a coil of copper wire to experiement with (since it's sooo much cheaper than sterling) and try out some designs.  After a wasted hour, I broke it out along with a couple jewelry pliers.  I started twisting, wrapping, and bending wire.  I came up with some cool spirals that I think I want to use in a pair of earrings.  I looked at them and thought to myself, "Self.  These earrings would be REALLY cool with some hammered copper!"  I don't have a jewelers anvil or an appropriate hammer.  So, I broke out the carpenters hammer and a pry-bar to hammer on.

It didn't work.  I finally ended up hammering the copper wire into the concrete of the patio.  It takes a lot of fine hammering to get a good look, yet you've got to know when to stop.  I was trying to flatten out the whole piece, eyering included.  The wire wrapped around the eyering cut the post and cut the eyering right off!  Oops.  Well, now I know not to do that again.

It was a wonderful experience, simply because, had I not attempted to do it, I wouldn't have learned that it doesn't work!  Now, I know, and 'Knowing is Half the Battle!'

Working with Wire

Since I've started making jewelry with my wife, I've been drawn to working with wire.  There is something that makes it a very satisfying pursuit.  I'm not quite sure what it is.  It may be taking something and using my hands to form it into something that looks (or tries to!) beautiful. 

As I was pondering what to write about tonight, I was browsing through Etsy and found this shop:  WireYourWorld

The work there is absolutely beautiful!  I especially love this piece!

It also appears to be a very successful shop.  Which is a good thing!  It means, if we do it right, we can reach that level as well.  We just need to figure out how.

I'm a big Stargate fan and have had an idea for a few weeks now to do some wirework based on the symbols of the different Goa'uld.  I think it would be great fun, but I'm not sure how well the pieces would be received!

Bunch Ring & Our First Tutorial!

Well... the tutorial is soon to come.  I've taken the photos for it and will write the text up tomorrow.  I'm so tired right now!

As I said in the last two posts, I've wanted to make a ring out of wire and beads.  A Bunch Ring.  And I've succeeded in doing that!  The design came out of 'Step by Step Wire Jewelry', but I made it!  I'm so proud of myself, can't you tell?

So, our first tutorial is going to be on making headpins.  I hope our readers will find it useful.  I hope to post the completed tutorial tomorrow.  If I get too busy, well, it'll probably have to wait until the weekend!

New Ring?

Karla found this amazing HowTo article in a magazine she has, about making a bunch ring out of wire.  I love the design, it's so cute!  I'm going to try it.  I just need to get some wire.  I've heard that copper is in style now, so I'm going to get some of that and give it a try. 

For anyone who's curious, it's on pg. 25 of 'Step by Step Wire Jewelry'.  It appears to be the Summer Preview 2007 issue.

My Own Design

I've realized recently that when I say my wife and I make jewelry, that's not entirely true. I pretend to make jewelry. She makes jewelry. I photograph and post what she's made, do the online marketing and generally do the research on what we need to know to make our fledgling business work.

I've decided to turn that around. How can I truely support her in her dream if I don't take part in it? I'm not sure that's possible. And, I like it. It's a very creative outlet, and I've always been artistic. So, I vowed (is that too strong of a word?) that I would start making my own designs. I found that, it's not as easy as it looks.

The problems is, it's easy to put together a pair of earrings. Anyone with a general will to do it can. But, to put together some stunning earrings, is another thing entirely. Tonight, as we sat down to start making jewelry, and I shocked her by picking up the bead tray to find a combination I liked, I realized I had no idea what I wanted to do. I picked up beads, rearranged beads, dropped beads and a lot of other actions, before I found a design that I liked and I felt was original enough.

Unfortunately, once I started putting them together, I realized gravity was not helping my design. I scrapped them and came up with something else. My very own design... I'll get some photos posted in the next couple of days.

Edit: I finally was able to get some pictures taken of it and I posted one to the right.

Wire Weave

All hail the mighty wire weave! I learned how to do the basics today. I made a bracelet out of silver colored wire. It looks COOL! I'm definitely going to have to dedicate more time to doing this. It's great, looks great, feels great. And, I can finally wear metal jewelry. Most of the stuff we make is more geared towards the female. This can be very masculine and looks wonderful. I'll have to take a picture to get it posted. I can tell you where my energy is going to be going for the next little bit!

Edit: I just got a picture posted on the Etsy site. I posted it again here so you can see it. Cool, huh!

D