All about jewellery making

Christmas is coming….and my bead shop, Bead Tree has new Christmassy beads!   I especially like these Christmas tree ‘window-pane’ beads.  They are so called due to the copper-plated edging that creates an effect similar to a window-pane.  On arrival one of these Christmas tree beads was damaged so I decided to used it to make myself a pendant with a wire-worked star at the top. 

Following instructions devised by Mark Lareau in his book called ‘All Wired Up’ I created a headpin with a star-shaped end.  This was not easy as it is necessary to judge the position of the star’s points by eye. It took me quite a few goes to make one I was happy with.  The rest is really very simple.  Insert the headpin into the bead with the star at the top and then create a wrapped loop (if you don’t know how to do this see my previous post here) at the other end from which to hang a selection of beads of your choice.  Add a jump ring at the top and ta-da here you have a fun Christmas tree bead pendant:

As well as my own tutorials I also have a collection of links to other festive beading projects on the internet in the Christmas beading section of my blog.

Many people get married in the summer so I thought I would write a tutorial for some earrings that would be suitable for brides and/or bridesmaids.  This design is very quick and simple to make.  Here’s what you need:

2x   6 inch lengths of 26 gauge wire
1x   pair of ear wires
2x   focal bead (8mm)
20x  Swarovski crystal bicone beads, 4mm (I used 8x vintage rose, 8x chrysolite and 4x clear)
26x 3mm pearl beads (I used ivory)
1x   6mm pearl bead
1x   4mm metallic bead
Round nose pliers
Flat nose pliers
Wire cutters

1.  The first step is to thread the beads that form the main loop of the earring.  Here is a diagram to show you how:

2.  Once you have the beads in the desired order draw both ends of the wire towards each other and make a neat and tight wrapped loop at the top.  You will need to trim the wire that you have used to create the wrap so that you end up with a wrapped loop bearing a single wire out of the top like so:

3.  The next thing you have to do is to cover the wrap you have just made.  To do this take the 6mm pearl bead and thread it onto the wire.  Hold the wire with your flat nose pliers and pull the bead down firmly to cover the wrap.  When you have done this then thread on the 4mm metallic bead followed by the 3mm pearl and finally create a wire wrapped loop at the top to hang the earring from the ear wire (see diagram below).  Repeat for the other earring.

Inspired by a forthcoming Christmas concert I set about designing myself some really sparkly, super-dangly earrings.  To me, dangly earrings are the jewellery equivalent of the high heeled show providing an instant confidence boost and a bit of glamour.  Wishing to spread a little pre-Christmas cheer I will explain here how I made these glittery shoulder dusters.  It really isn’t as hard as it looks and this design is hugely versatile in terms of length, colour and the potential for added detail. 

I knew that I wanted to make my ‘Christmas party’ earrings in a Christmassy colour and had absolutely fallen inlove with some deep emerald faceted crystal rondelles that I had actually purchased as Bead Tree shop stock.  Nevertheless I couldn’t resist and gathered a handful of these scrumptious beads to set aside for my own use.  Also in my shop inverntory were some silver-lined apple green seed beads that not only complemented the rich emerald colour very well but offered a good dose of sparkle - fundmental to my vision of these showstopping, glimmering and twinkling, swishing and swaying earrings that I had in mind.

What follows here is a guide to their construction rather than a precise tutorial.  This is to allow you to be creative with your own version.  If you use my ‘Christmas party’ earrings tutorial and would like to send me a picture of your finished earrings I will be pleased to add it to this post.

Materials

0.6 mm wire (I have used silver-plated)
24 beads about 6mm in size (I have used my luscious green rondelles)
Small handful of size 8/0 seed beads (I used silver-lined transparent)
Small handful of size 11/0 seed beads (I used silver-lined apple green)
One pair of ear hooks
Round nosed pliers
Flat nosed pliers
Wire cutters

The first element of these earrings that I made were the individual dangles.  I made my own headpins by cutting from my wire and making a small loop with the round nosed pliers at the end to stop the beads from falling off.  (You could use ready-made headpins just as well if you can find some long enough).

Here is my schemata for the sparkly dangles but you can create any combination you like:

Make 2 of:  (11/0 - 8/0 - 6mm - 8/0 - 11/0) rep twice then add 6x 11/0

Make 2 of:  (11/0 - 8/0 - 6mm - 8/0 - 11/0) rep twice then add 12x 11/0

Make 1 of: (11/0 - 8/0 - 6mm - 8/0 - 11/0) rep twice then add 18x 11/0

Finish each dangle with a loop at the top.

To illustrate the construction of the top part of the earring I will draw some diagrams as I think it is easier to communicate the technique pictorially.

With a piece of 0.6 mm wire approx. 7 ins long use your round nose pliers to create a large loop as shown in diagram 1.  Then using your flat nose pliers bend both ends of the wire so that they are at 90 degrees as indicated above.  You should now have something that looks like this:

Before proceeding add your beaded dangles to the loop in order of your choice followed by a 6 mm bead that threads onto both ends of the wire.  You now need to make a wrap with the wires just above the bead (holding the loop you made in stage 1 with the flat nose pliers will make it easier):

Next trim the wire that you have used to wrap with before threading on the second 6 mm bead.  Finally make a wire-wrapped loop with the remaining piece of wire like so:

Make another earring in the same way, attach both to your ear hooks and you’re done!

Copyright 2007 http://www.allaboutjewellerymaking.info
Not to be reproduced on any other website, in printed format or on a portable media device. May be printed for personal use but must not be used for commercial purposes.

Just a quick ’show and tell’ and a teensy tutorial.  I am loving wearing these earrings at the moment.  They are very simple to make using a basic hoop finding.  Here’s how I made them:

Materials:
2x hoop earring findings (or make your own from wire)
1 pair ear hooks
0.2 mm wire
Small handful size 9/0 seed beads
Small handful size 11/0 seed beads
3 large drop beads
4 small drop beads

1.  Un-hook the wire hoop at the back of the pre-made hoop finding and thread on your chosen drop beads in the following order - 1 small, 1 large, 1 small, 1 large, 1 small, 1 large, 1 small.  For the moment forget about these beads, just let them hang on the hoop out of the way.

2.  Take some fine wire, approx. 0.2mm in diameter, and wind it a few times around the hoop at the top.  Once the wire is firmly attached thread on your first seed bead (I have used blue size 9/0).  Position this bead up against the hoop on the outer edge and wind the wire around the hoop a couple of times to secure it.  Now you are ready to thread on your first group of 3 smaller seed beads which will sit on the inner edge of the hoop (I have used pale grey size 11/0).  Here is a close up picture to give you the idea:

As you can see from the photograph I have repeated this process 3 times plus one blue size 9/0 seed bead before incorporating the drop beads into the design (the drop beads essentially replace the 3 seed bead unit that you have been adding).  Each drop bead is separated by a size 9/0 seed bead and the wire should be wound around the hoop a couple of times between each bead so that they are all secured in place.

3.  Very nearly there!  Continue until you have incorporated all 7 drop beads into the design and then resume wiring on seed beads just as you did at the beginning so that they match the first side.

4.  Attach ear hooks and you’re done!

Copyright 2006 http://www.allaboutjewellerymaking.info
Not to be reproduced on any other website, in printed format or on a portable media device. May be printed for personal use but must not be used for commercial purposes.

  These earrings are fairly simple to make although they do take a bit of patience and you may have sore fingers at the end!  They are an excellent way to practice wire-wrapped loops (if you do not yet know how to create wire-wrapped loops see this post that gives links to tutorials on the net).

N.B. To see a bigger picture of these earrings please visit the original post where I first introduced them.

Here’s what you need:

2 x length of chain consisting of 9 fairly large links (if you don’t have any loose chain you can appropriate necklace extenders such as these for the task)
72 x headpins.  I used 2 inch silver-plated headpins
72 x crystals or 4mm beads of your choice
Round nose pliers
Flat nose pliers
1 pair of ear hooks

For my example I used 3 shades of crystals to create a gradient effect.  You could use any combination of colours, a solid colour or even create a rainbow effect.

Start by adding 4 beads on wire-wrapped loops to the link at the bottom of the chain like so:

diagram 1

As you proceed to add beads up the length of the chain add 2 wire-wrapped crystals/rounds on one side of the previous set and 2 on the other side like this:

diagram 2

This will ensure that they hang nice and evenly.  That’s all there is to it!  Just keep adding beads as you wish.  To achieve the gradient effect I changed colour after 3 rows.  Once complete add to an ear hook and hey presto just the other one to do.

Besides changing the colourways you could also experiment with the length of chain and the number of beads.

Hope you enjoyed this mini-tute.

Copyright 2006 http://www.allaboutjewellerymaking.info
Not to be reproduced on any other website, in printed format or on a portable media device. May be printed for personal use but must not be used for commercial purposes.