Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! This is going to be a long post.. but 1) you might just learn something and 2) it's a giveaway post so it's totally gonna be worth it.
I have decided to change a few things about the giveaways around here. Since I started this site I have been giving away jewelry every Friday. It's been fun and all but I think I need to mix it up and make the jewelry giveaways only happen once a month (this means that the items being given away will be pretty darn fab (at least I think so anyway). I figured I would start off my monthly jewelry giveaway with something super duper that took me about 6 hours to create (this includes massive pondering about what to put in the piece). So what's this weeks item...? It's a teal, black and white dangley bracelet (pictured above). It's loaded with sterling silver....crystal, pearls, glass, and stones of many varieties (turquoise, onyx, amazonite, fluorite....just to name a few..).
If you want to skip all the tutorial stuff and just go to the giveaway scroll to the last paragraph of this post. If you want to possibly learn something and see how I made this bracelet.. hang with me a while. I think you'll enjoy what I have to share.
When I start working on a jewelry project the hardest part for me is picking the colors and then the elements I will be using. I am very lucky in that I have a lot to pick from (I do a wide variety or projects and have subsequently bought a wide variety of beads and findings (findings are pretty much anything that's not a bead)). The neat thing about this is that I get to mix up elements from each medium into each new project. Basically I'll use some of my bead embroidery stash for regular ole necklaces and such (and vice versa).
Once I have a color theme picked I start pawing through my stash to get the colors together. I lay them all out on a mat and start grouping them together to see how they work with each other. I'll add and remove away elements the entire time I am making a piece.
For this bracelet you will need a length of chain (about an inch longer than your wrist, a ton of head pins and of course your beads and findings.
I usually lay out my headpins with the beads and finding combos I want to use. Sometimes I am extremely particular and will actually create about 6 groupings and just repeat them in a pattern over and over until I get to the end of the bracelet. Since I had such a wide variety of unique teal beads I decided to make this totally random. There are repeats for sure - but there are also loads of individual elements that are one-of-a-kind (ooak for short).
Once I have a pretty good representation of what I am going to use in the piece I start adding each dangle one at a time. It's time consuming but well worth the effort. Since I was using a larger chain for this bracelet I actually put 2 - 3 dangles on each loop. Usually I'll just do one on a loop.. but I wanted this bracelet to make an impact and really stand out.
Like I said earlier.. I'll add and remove beads as I see fit. Sometimes things I thought would work just do not fit in once it starts to come together.
Seeing a piece come together is by far the most exciting part for me. If you have read my posts before you will know that I actually do not wear much jewelry - it's the creation process that I love more than anything else.
As far as creative processes go, jewelry making is extremely rewarding to me. I love the combination of colors and textures in finished pieces and seeing someone wear something you made is a pretty good feeling too.
Wire Wrap Loop
Several people have asked me to share some of the specifics of how I make my pieces so they can do this for themselves. So this next part is going to give a little demo on one of the most essential techniques needed for making this bracelet and most of the necklaces and earrings I make (heck for making just about everything really). It's called a wire wrap loop.
I tried my best to take pics as I was going along..but I also found some really darn good videos on YouTube that you should also watch in order to really master this. You can see them HERE and HERE.
You will want to practice this a LOT before you tackle a real project. I used floral wire when I was first learning. It's cheap and you can mess up a ton of times without worrying about wasting precious resources!
You will need 3 kinds of tools. Wire clippers, round nose pliers and flat nose pliers. You can get these anywhere they sell bead supplies. I either use 24 - 22 gauge headpins or wire (depending on what I am doing). With any wire.. the lower the number the thicker the wire.. so 18 is way thicker than 26. It's weird I know.
Start by making a 90° bend in the wire about 2 inches from the end of the wire.
Bend the end of the wire back, around the top of the pliers. You can go ahead and bend the wire around most of the way, but you don't need to bend all the way.
Since you need to go all the way around you will need to move the pliers so that the 3/4 loop you just made is on the bottom plier tip instead of the top.
Then you will want push the end of the wire back under the pliers to form a complete loop.
At this point, since we are adding these to the chain, you will want to thread a link in the chain into this loop - before you close it.
I cannot tell you how many times I have closed a wire wrap loop before attaching it to the piece I am making. The only choice you have when you do this is to clip it off and get a new piece of wire to start over. It's a hard lesson but one that I am sure everyone had made at least once (or 20 times and counting in my case)
Once you have it attached to the chain, grip the top of the loop (flat) with those same round nose pliers. Grip the end that's sticking out with your flat nose pliers and pull the end of the wire around back of stem. This will form the first
loop around the wire stem, so try your best to wind it close to the top of the loop you just made.
After winding the wire about half way around the stem, stop and release the wire end.
Continue in half loop increments to wrap the loop. I usually do about 3 wraps for the best looking loop.. but sometimes it's more and sometimes less. It depends on a lot of things.
Leaving the right amount of wire at the end to make a nice loop can either be done by measuring the end piece or just by doing it over and over again and having the ability to just eyeball it.
Once you are done cut the hanging piece of wire as close as you can to the wrap you just made. I usually use my flat nose pliers to tuck it as close as I can to the wrap for a neater appearance (plus it will get snagged less often if you do this).
Making a Necklace (this part is for Shaina (Hi Shaina!!!))
Most of the necklaces I make use this next technique almost exclusively. You can see some of them HERE, HERE and HERE... oh yeah and HERE too. See what I mean. I love doing this.
I usually start with a long headpin and a bunch of beads and spacers. I'll stack my beads and spacers on the headpin until I get a combo that I am happy with. I just use the headpin to hold everything until I find a combo or two I am happy with.
I threw a few together so you could see what I am talking about. If you look at the necklaces I have made I do this a lot (that's some sort of gross understatement actually). You can of course just do one bead (like I did in one of those examples from above) or you can do a single grouping or even several different ones that you repeat as you are putting the piece together.
Once you have a combo you am happy with you will take a length of wire that needs to be about 2 inches longer on each side of the length of your bead grouping. You will need this two inches to make your wire wrap loop.
When I first started making these I was using wire that was way too thin (I think it was 24 gauge). I feel it's best to use at least 22 or 20. This will prevent your groupings from bending too much. I use sterling silver half soft but you can also use silver plate craft wire.. it's just as good (just a little stiffer to work with).
You will also need more chain (any thickness is fine). I usually cut my lengths of chain before I get started. You will want to count the same number of links per piece (some people do different lengths but sometimes that makes the necklace hang funny.. so it's really up to you).
Just do a few chain pieces to get started. How many you need depends on the length of the necklace. I usually "try it on" as I am making it until I get to a length I am happy with.
So now you have this piece of wire and your bead groupings.. and it's time to make your first wire wrap loop on that piece of plain wire you have. Again.. just before you close the loop you will want to make sure you loop the end of one of your pieces of chain through it. If you close if before you add it to the chain you will have to clip it off and start all over again. Once you have your loop closed and this piece of wire hanging from your chain you will add your beads and then do another wire wrap loop on the other end.. again.. make sure you add your next piece of chain before you close that loop!
Once you have a length you are happy with all you have to do is add a clasp and a jump ring and you have a beautiful necklace that you made yourself! It's that easy!
If you have not tried to make your own jewelry before I hope this will give you that little push to give it a shot. If you cannot swing getting all of the supplies you might check to see if your local bead store offers classes (I know some folks do not have a local bead store.. sorry you guys). Almost all of the stores offer beginner jewelry making classes and they usually supply the tools you need. This way you will get a feel for it before you make the investment in the tools, beads and findings. Just a warning though.. it's really addictive. Those two bins you see there are just some of the pearls I have amassed. That's not even diving into any of the stones, glass, seed beads and findings I have in tons of other bins (shhhhh don't tell RonChops..he thinks I just have one set of bins when I actually I have another set hiding in my secret craft cave under the house).
So it's time for the giveaway...all you have to do to enter is leave me a comment (just one please) describing what you are most thankful for (this is in honor of Thanksgiving week of course). I am going to use random.org to pick the winner in two weeks (why so long.. cause I know lots of folks are off work this week and might miss out.. and I want to give everyone a chance).
I'll announce the winner on Monday - December 8 (the comments will be open until Sunday evening Dec 7 - 10pm CST). I cannot afford to ship overseas but I can swing Canada (sorry friends from the other side and beyond)...
I'll hopefully be the first to leave a comment (if I can get up bright and early enough) so no one has to worry about being first...
Also.. I have not finished the bracelet (no clasp yet). I will need the winner to give me their wrist size so I can make it just for them.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week and has an opportunity to spend time with their friends and family at some point.. cause honestly.. that's really what it's all about right.
HUGS!
