All about jewellery making

Here is my latest creation.  It was not very easy to photograph but I have picked out the best picture.  A while ago I bought one of those ring bases with the little loops for attaching charms and it had sat in my beading drawer because I had not felt inspired to create anything with it.  I was wanting some simple beadwork to do in front of the television and so took the ring downstairs with my pots of seed beads and fine wire.  I just began threading and twisting and this is what I came up with.  I am quite pleased with the finished result and how it looks on my hand.  I am planning to write a tutorial for this ring in the next few days which I will add to this post when it is done.

Edited to add tutorial link:  Seed bead embellished ring tutorial

I was planning to write a tutorial on making wire wrapped loops as I frequently make reference to them in the instructions I provide.  However there are already lots of really excellent tutorials with clear pictures on the internet.  So instead I thought I would list here some of the ones that I recommend.

How to make wire-wrapped loops is one of the most useful and versatile jewellery making skills you can learn.  They can be used in so many ways and are particularly helpful for attaching beads to findings such as ear hooks so that it is impossible for them to come off (short of cutting through the loop with wire cutters!).  Other applications are to make ‘bead links’ that can be attached to one another to make a chain, to provide a very secure method of attaching clasps to a piece of jewellery, as an alternative to standard pendant bails and for anything that requires a hanging loops.

Some really good wire-wrapped loop tutorials

htttp://www.beadshop.com/learnonline/techniques/wirewrappedloops - this is one of the best tutorials for wire-wrapped loops that I have seen.  It has exceptionally clear photos and provides a link to the article in PDF format for ease of printing.

http://www.beadazzled.net/WrappedLoop.pdf - this PDF document is another really good tutorial for wire-wrapped loops.  Again very clear images.

 http://www.artbeads.com/howtomawrlo.html - this tutorial for wire-wrapped loops explains how to link beads into a chain with this technique.

 http://www.crystalflair.com.au/html/wrapped_loop.html - this lesson on wire-wrapped loops shows how to use them to create a pair of dangly earrings.

After completing my mossy glade pendant I was enjoying working with wire so much I decided to create a pair of earrings that I could wear with it.  Here is what I came up with:

Again I used 24 and 26 gauge silver plated wire.  The beads on the edge of the wirework frame are size 11/0 silver lined ‘black diamond’ Toho beads.  The small wirework rose at the top of each earring is very simple - I threaded 5 seed beads onto the wire for the centre and then I just kept looping the wire around and around positioning each loop carefully to look like a rose petal. 

The earrings complement the pendant well although the chrysocolla is a slightly different shade.  I think this just emphasises the fact that it is a natural material.  I have an entry on chrysocolla in my gemstone directory that will tell you more about this lovely stone:  Chrysocholla

Chrysocolla

Lately I have been using chrysocolla in my jewellery making projects (see my mossy glade pendant and chrysocolla wirework earrings) so I thought I would find out a little bit more about this beautiful stone. 

Chrysocolla is predominantly green but often displays many variations in shade and sometimes bears a turquoise colouration.  Chrysocolla crystals are formed when copper is exposed to both air and water and the colour value is influenced by other copper based minerals found to be present within the stone - these can include malachite, turquoise, cuprite and azurite.   High quality examples of chrysocolla show a surface covered by separate areas of blue and green that result in an effect resembling images of the earth from outer space. 

I personally think that chrysocolla is a beautiful stone although from a jewellery making point of view it is quite soft.  If you are using it in conjunction with wire embellishment be careful not to scratch the surface with the wire or your pliers. 

Chrysocolla naturally occurs in the USA, Israel and the UK (Cornwall).

I have called this my ‘mossy glade’ pendant and it is Eni Oken inspired.  The stone is chrysocolla and this particular example has many beautiful shades of green within it. I built the assymetric design on the left shoulder of the pendant to hide the fact that the stone itself had not been cut straight across the top.  Due to this flaw I had been wondering what to do with it for a while.

The wire is silver-plated (24 and 26 gauge) and the ornamentation on the surface includes a small Swarovski butterfly, peridot chips and silver beads.  A basketweave effect has been used to create the bail.  Since taking this picture I have hung the pendant on a simple wire necklace that I coiled to match the framework of the finished pendant.  I thought the presentation should remain simple to draw the eye to the gemstone and wirework.