What to try next?

Hi!

I didn't make anything new in last few days, busy with not crafty stuff...

Plus to be honest with you, I'm not sure what I should try next.

Fact is I still have lots to learn so... I can't jump into deep water and try something like this:

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/107382772340300032/

Lovely piece, don't you think?

I was going through tutorials on pinterest - massive amount of them...

Maybe this cute leaf link chain:

or those beautiful earrings:

or something else from many things what Anacely is showing on her blog: fradany.blogspot.com.

More possible at the moment is that I'll be practicing curls, leaves, hearts and hammering, maybe I'll make few more free form pieces, when waiting for more wire, but I hope someday soon I'll try something new and will show you this in here :).

Sometimes I'm thinking I shouldn't check pinterest and internet, cause all these gorgeous pieces make me green from jealousy that I still cannot make something at least near them if you know what I mean by that. But I'll be trying my best to learn as much as possible as fast as it possible :) So keep your fingers crossed for me :)

Leaves and curls :)

Hello!

Definitely I need to buy more wire :)

My green bracelet catch eyes of lots of people - happy me :) I decided to make another one - this time in blue. I didn't finish it yet as I'm not sure what size I should make.

Here how this bracelet looks at the moment

Yesterday I was playing with leaf motif, bit of hammering was needed, so more practicing of it :) I'm thinking about bracelet with using leaves motif, but have not enough wire at the moment :)

Earrings are already listed for sale in my little shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/446652476/green-leaf-copper-earrings-copper-dangle?ref=shop_home_active_1

I found hammered curls very tempting, so I gave it a go :) wasn't easy to make two exactly the same size and shape curls, but I think result is good. 

I think I'll play more with curls and leaves shapes, cause they great for elegant earrings, but also great for bracelets and necklaces.

Book, new bracelet and hammering

Hi!

Last week I catch nice book from library: The complete guide to wire & beaded jewellery' by Linda Jones.

I found in it few nice projects to try :) Book is nicely written and contains step-by-step instructions to every project plus lots of useful information for jewellery making beginners.

Some Egyptian style pieces shown in this book gave me idea for bracelet. As that was my first try I used acrylic beads for this little project, result looks quite good, but...

I need to remember one thing for sure - read about it in this book - do not hammer any crossed-over wires, cause this will weaken them (unfortunately I did hammer them on crossed-overs :) - will not do that next time :) I hope so at least :)

Bracelet is not perfect, but I had a chance to practice hammering and clasps making.

I still need more practice and I think I'll try to make similar bracelet, this time properly and with beads in different colour - maybe blue or red - not decided yet.

More coiling and stud earrings

Hi!

I don't have much time for crafting lately, but I'm trying my best to make at least 1 piece a day :)

Still practicing coiling and using spirals and free forms :) Soon will need to buy more wire if I'll be using it in this pace :).

I also tried bit of hammering, not much - just a bit on some of new pieces I made.

Hammered star pendant - small

Free form swirl with aventurine chips

I started this with bracelet/bangle in my mind - finished as pendant with seed bead :)

Coiled stud - lightly hammered, but not cut for proper length yet (made 2 pairs). I saw idea for these studs in one of the books I read. I think they are nice looking alternative for simple studs available in the shops, cause they can be customize :)

Drop added to studs - now earrings need a bit of cut on stud piece plus 'butterflies' to have this pair complete. Possibly the other pair will have drop in green or blue - yeah I'm 'blue addict' - I have to admit it :) but these 2 colours looks good with copper for me.

Wired hearts

Hiya!

I thought making hearts from wire shouldn't be difficult... Wrong! :)

Fact is I didn't have much time for crafting yesterday, lots of other more important thins had to be done first, so was really late when I took wire and tools into my hands...

My plan was to make pair of nice big heart shaped earrings, I cut 2 exactly the same length pieces of wire and started to bend it... Result: my hearts weren't the same, maybe a bit, but not enough for me to being use as dangle for my earrings... So... I changed a concept a bit :) And use piece of thinner wire to add some more texture to my hearts and remodeled them for two heart shaped pendants.

That's how I left them yesterday late evening :)

Today morning I decided to add some colour to them and bit of 'texture' cause I thought they are bit too plain for my taste. I took few red cubic glass beads which left me after playing with cuff bracelets and now pendants looks like this:

They'll could look great on bit lighter copper chain, leather suede or even ribbon I think :)

I love wire wrapping!!!

Hiya!

Oh yes! I really do!! :)

I don't remember when I made so much in so short time :)

I have my copper wire since Thursday, so four days and I made already 9 pairs of earrings, 5 pendants and practiced how to make words from wire.

Free form wired jewellery is something what really catch my fancy:) I even wear one of my new makes on Friday and was complimented :)

Two of my first makes you can find in previous post, here pics of rest of them :)

Earrings:

free form with green seed beads

teardrop shaped with blue crackle beads

my first ever caged earrings - marbled red

long green free form

plain free form

little flowers :)

triangles with blue seed beads :)

Pendants:

Little boat with crackle bead

Shell and green sea glass - found on the beach

donut pendant - handmade ceramic bought ages ago from Bulgaria or Romania :)

coils on heart shaped stone found on the beach

simple fitting for small oblong beach pebble

my first wired word :)

I still have lots to learn and lots to try, but I'm sure now that I found something I can be good at :)

So please keep your fingers crossed - and I'll try my best to make more pieces to show you soon ;)

My new pieces :)

Hello!

I received copper wire I bought during weekend. Just couldn't wait and obviously took my tools ;) and started to coil, etc and ...

But slowly.. :)

First I cut two pieces of wire of the same length. Then made coils on each, added marble beads then curved ( hope that I'm using correct word :) the wire a bit, made a loop and added ear wire.

Result:

Then I started another pair of earrings :) Again cut two pieces of wire - this time longer, made little loop, curved to have triangle shape, used thinner wire to make a bit of wire wrapping, then made more bending and looping :), added two tones crackle beads and ear wires.

Result:

What do you think about them? 

My partner and my son like them :)

Coiling

Hiya!

Coiling is one of wire wrapping techniques used in jewellery making. On the net you can find lots of info about it.

Why I'm writing about it?

Simple :) Because I decided to try it :)

Fact, I'm still waiting for my copper wire, but that's not mean I have no wire at home :)

Yesterday I realized that actually I should have somewhere in my stash bit of wire I bought ages ago when I was starting my adventure with jewellery making - I was bit crazy then, I was buying lots of things and never used some of them :).

I couldn't find silver-plated wire I remember I have, but I found aluminium wire in beautiful blue colour :) Very soft stuff, but perfect for practicing coils :)

1st attempt :)

2 attempt :)

Possibly I need different pliers - nylon jaws or something :) to avoid scratching off the colour from wire.

First try with creating Egyptian links :) Lots of scratches :)

And whole bracelet - not scratched :)

Fact - I need to make new clasp, cause this one not looks good, but...

keeping bracelet on my hand nicely :)

If you want to know how to make bracelet like this, here link to tutorial I saw about 2 years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT_5v9Vk8yw

Also found this very interesting article about coiling with nice video tutorials:
http://www.wire-to-jewelry.com/wire-coiling.html

That's all for today! So... till next post ;)

My jewellery making beginnings:)

Hiya!

It is already few years since I'm making jewellery.

Fact, it is more hobby then anything else, but I'm happy with every compliment and every sale :)

My wire wrapping not exactly started recently with practising basics, reading, searching etc. oh no :)

When I made my first piece ( this set for Mum), I decided I need to read more and try more, but that time I was more messy, less organized, I just trying lots of things, not focusing on one particular technique :) I'm bit smarter now ;)

Just found some old pics :) Look at that:

One of my first long dangly earrings -  not existing any more :)

Colourful set - necklace not exist, earrings - remodelled. 

Necklace from this set I gave to my neighbour as a birthday gift, earrings are still with me :)

My first wire wrapped pendant - huge :) I made 2 similar, but now I know I used to thick wire for frame and for that whole thing is sooo big :) Still have it :) 

I think I'll try to make something similar soon, but with better choice of wire :) and definitely much smaller :)

Searching, reading, learning

Hello peeps :)

As I mention before I'm total bookworm, so when searching online I also check books about wire wrapping. I found few nice looking books about it and decided that buying new is not an option, so I put titles down in my notebook and checked charity shops (nothing so far) and library - one book picked from shelf plus few ordered from other libraries around :) Funny thing - I realised I had book about jewellery making somewhere at home.

At home I had 'Beaded jewellery' by Maya Brenner

Unfortunately is not too much about wire wrapping in this book - only 2 pages about basics of wrapping beads.

From library I back with 'Compendium..' by Xuella Arnold and Sara Withers.

Whole chapter about wire wrapping - very informative and inspirational for wrapping beginners, plus a bit about using wire wrapping and found materials like eg. sea glass or beach pebbles in your jewellery in other chapter.

At the moment I'm waiting for rest of books ordered in library and for wire I'll be using for my practising :)

Wire wrapping techniques - basics

Hi!

If you write 'wire wrapping techniques' in your search engine and press 'enter' you'll be amazed how many videos and articles and photos etc you can find around the net.

It is almost overwhelming.

Watching just images makes me jealous for people's ability in making so beautiful pieces, can I be at least half as good as they are one day???

For total beginners with wire wrapping this YouTube tutorial can be great for start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DYhpC8f0Us

I'm still practising :) Look:

Practice makes perfect :) They are still far from perfection tho :)

If I add something like this plus jump rings and ear wires...

I can have pair like them :) I love green beads with copper :)

Sometime ago I made few silver-plated pieces with blue beads - blue addict me :)

This necklace I made for my Mum for her birthday, she likes it :)

I think I'll try to have some books about wire wrapping from library, had one in my hands before and I'm sure they don't have anything more on shelves at the moment, but good thing is I can ask them to find me some in other libraries on our area :) Also planning to check shelves in charity shops -you never know what 'gems' you can find there ( last time I found 2 Agatha Christie books I never read and brill book about vampires in modern world ).

That's all for today... See ya next time :)