Category Archives: Wire Work

Bracelets, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work

Adventures in Silver

February 9, 2011 Karen

I’ve previously mentioned the astonishing price of sterling silver. Today it is listed by Rio Grande Jewelry Supply (http://www.riogrande.com/news.aspx) at $31.18/ounce. Ouch! It hurts to order sterling silver wire, but I’m making it a practice to look at the current price per ounce on the day my package arrives. It is usually higher the day it comes than the day that I ordered it. I keep thinking it will make me feel better . . . I’m not sure that’s working.

The next step after ordering that sterling silver wire is cutting it. I’m getting much braver and last night, making the bracelet shown here, I actually forgot about the price. Later, when I looked up the amount of wire used and the price for the silver I was extremely glad I didn’t mess up the bracelet!

The armature for this one is an attempt at another style, besides the wave, that is slightly adjustable. This one has some play in it.

Supported by successful feelings about the bracelet, I worked on a sterling silver necklace this morning. It features fused silver pieces in the front and I completed it with a hand made chain. (I AM going to get those handmade jump rings to be my friend . . . soon. I hope. It’s amazing how much better a job I do when I put on those silly reading glasses. (The optometrist told me what would happen to my eyes after age 40. He forgot to warn me about 60.)

I also finished a much simpler sterling piece where I soldered a bezel to sheet metal and then soldered a small part of that metal to a wire armature. I purchased chain for this longer necklace.

Finally, the last photo shows one of the mixed metal pendants I mentioned in another blog entry. It has a pretty modern look which isn’t normal for me, but it’s a start on the mixed metal layers!

Now that I have completed a few sterling silver pieces, the next step is to price them and then see if there are customers out there who don’t mind paying more for this metal. If so, there will be less pain the next time I place an order for sterling silver wire and sheet metal. If not . . . well, I guess I’ll be sticking with copper.

Creativity, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Torch Work, Wire Work

Layering

February 7, 2011 Karen

The cold snap that has fallen upon my warm climate location has resulted in considerable layering of clothing. Since we are not used to frigid temperatures, I don’t have wool sweaters and warm leggings. Yet, I learned last week that if you just put on enough layers of what you do have, warm cometh! There is, obviously a concomitant issue: how many layers can one person don and still be able to move around?

Having successfully layered my clothing, I felt the need to explore the layering of metal. Most of my metal pendants are pretty large and I was attempting to created something a bit smaller.

The first pendant shown, all in copper, happened accidentally when a small piece of copper I had cut from the middle of a circle fell upon a larger piece. This is a really good reason (or excuse) for not keeping the workbench too neat and tidy. The layers of the pendant are soldered together. I like this pendant, but kept hearing a little voice in my ear saying “where’s the gemstone?” For the next pendant, I added another parameter. I wanted something small, layered and with a gemstone.

Finally, I wanted one more addition to the pendant factory process. . . sawing. I was gifted a saw for Christmas and have had minor success with it. Sunday it was time for real saw action. Sawing is not easy and I can see that it will take considerable time to refine this technique. Yet, the organic look in the next pendant is a start. the problem statement for it was “in what ways might I combine sawing, layering and a gemstone in a metal pendant?”

This one, too, is interesting, but I didn’t achieve smaller . . . I left that term out of my problem statement and it didn’t happen. Actually, I do not think I’m ready to saw “smaller” at this time.

I found the most difficult part of the process for the pendant with gemstones pertains to the order of events. On the silver pendant, I soldered the bezel to the sheet metal first and then attached the wire stem and finally the leaves. I tried to change this order on the last pendant. I soldered the small copper pieces on first and then when I heated the metal during the bezel soldering process, the copper pieces fell off. That, of course, makes sense to me now, but I guess you learn by doing.

Today, I’m interested in trying some mixed sheet metal in the pendants. I’ll let you know if that process is worth sharing. The next time you put on all the layers of clothing just pretend you’re a gorgeous pendant!

Metal Work, Philosophy, Rings, Torch Work, Wire Work

Ring a ding ding . . .

February 1, 2011 Karen 2 Comments

I think it’s interesting to discover what others believe about gemstones and/or specific shapes that may be used in jewelry design. I’ve enjoyed writing for Magpie Gemstones and researching information pertaining to the properties of various stones (http://www.magpiegemstones.com/properties.html); but today I became interested in whether there might be symbolism behind the rings many of us wear. Of course, I understood the symbolism surrounding wedding rings, having worn the same one for over 42 years; yet, I didn’t realize that some believe this ring is on the third finger of the left hand because this is closest connection to the heart (flutter, flutter . . . and a collective “ahhh”).

Some people, married or not, however, wear rings on other fingers and I wondered if these also have symbolism. While researching, I began to wonder if the ring I wear on the third finger of my right hand was symbolizing something to others that I had not intended. Therefore, I had to dig deeper.

I’m a pretty stubborn researcher and always try to verify the information in one source by finding the same information in at least one or two other places. Based on that requirement, here’s what I learned. Some cultures do believe that the finger on which a ring is worn is indicative of something about the wearer. This may vary by culture, but the following seems predominant:

Thumb: A person who wears a ring on their thumb can be telling the world that he/she has strong willpower, is self assertive and insists on freedom and independence.

Index: If a person wears a ring on the index finger, the wearer can be emphasizing personal assertiveness and ambition. Supposedly, that person makes up his/her own mind.

Middle: Wearing a ring on the middle finger is purported to symbolize strength and balance.

Third Finger: A ring on this finger tells the world that the wearer is creative, optimistic and has a sense of well being. As previously mentioned, this finger on the left hand commonly holds the wedding ring.

Pinkie: Wearing a ring on the pinkie may be telling folks that the wearer considers himself/herself appealing and easily expresses things to others. This finger wears the relationship ring.

. . . and here I thought people just wore a ring on which ever finger it fit! That’s what I’ve always done; if it fit and felt comfortable, I wore it. Now I’m going to have to pay attention to which finger I have a ring on. But wait, there’s still hope. Is it possible that other people, like me, do NOT know the symbolism just described? If so, then I may as well wear those rings on any finger I choose. But, just in case I want to SAY SOMETHING by wearing the ring on a particular finger, I’m well prepared with the rings I have made this week.

I learned to make the rings in the picture at the top at a wire workers meetup where my friend was kind enough to share her expertise. You can check out Sherry’s Jewels on her Artifire site (http://www.artfire.com/users/sherrysjewels) Directions for the rings at the bottom come from Kim St. Jean’s new book, Mixed Metal Mania. She calls these “old bones” rings, but I just call them “earth” rings.

The final photo shows a turquoise ring that I am just finishing. It still needs a bit of work. This ring just happens to fit my index finger; so when you see me, be sure to realize that I’m ambitious! In the mean time, maybe you should go try on your rings and figure out if they display any symbolism.

By the way, if you need any rings, I think I know where you can get some!

Bezels, Creativity, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, Torch Work, Wire Work

Resistance to Closure OR Procrastination?

January 28, 2011 Karen

Several sleepless nights this week left piddlin’ in my studio wondering what to do when you are too sleepy to do much of anything. Have you ever felt that way? During one of those times, I located a number of UFOs (unfinished objects) and pondered the current state of my work.

My need for closure used to require that I rush to complete each piece. My head knew that this was not a good thing since creative people are supposed to be amble to remain open for all the artistic possibilities that might present themselves. When you decide on an idea or problem solution (close) too quickly, there’s less opportunity to exercise true creativity. This is one of the areas rated on many formal creativity tests. Yes, my head knew I should resist closure, but I still willed myself to “get it done”.

Because I understand this need to resist closure, I consciously try to remain open and therefore lay some things (pendants in particular) aside while I consider various alternatives for completing them. Apparently, I got carried away with this little practice and during one of my late night/early morning studio carousings, I discovered what I had wrought. I had an entire pile (a little exaggeration) of things left undone.

Then it hit me. Creative gurus teach that we are supposed to diverge and then converge. During my divergence, I was resisting closure and laying things aside while I thought of the myriad of possibilities for how each could be used. But, oops, I forgot the rest of the teaching . . . CONVERGE! During convergence, we are to pull the ideas together, make a decision and, in my words, finish the work. I didn’t do the latter.

So, on that fateful day, it was time to CONVERGE. (Can you here my battle cry?) I devoted one day to getting those pieces in some sort of completion form. I made the pendant for the first one, “Wing It”, last May upon coming home from a boutique run where a customer said that’s what she does. Oh well, it’s only January; but it was time for something to hatch.

It only took a short while to attach the riveted pendant to some chain and add a few dangles. What took me so long?

The next piece sports a pendant provided by one of the boutiques. The owner had it on a simple silver wire and it had not sold. She sent it home with me before Thanksgiving saying “DO SOMETHING” and she hasn’t seen it since. It’s time! I hope the store owner likes it. She will certainly be surprised to see it again and will probably take it just to get her pendant back.

I cannot honestly say how long I’ve considered the use of this S shaped pendant armature. I know it has been several months since I repeatedly annealed and whacked this shape. At the time, I just wanted to see if I could hammer a piece to the extent that a couple of my friends do in their pieces. This week, however, it finally turned into a necklace.

This one is fairly long and dangles from a doubled leather cord.

Finally, I found two bracelet armatures all formed and tumbled, just hanging around waiting for embellishment. They are now properly adorned.

It’s good to finish these pieces and I’m glad I didn’t follow my urge to just throw them away when I first found them. They were worth completing. Yet, now I wonder whether I was really being creative on these by resisting closure or if I was just plain procrastinating. I think it’s resistance to closure when you are not sure that all the possible ideas have been explored on a piece and you are remaining open to receive those great thoughts. That was definitely the case on two or three of these pieces. However, I have known what to do with those bracelet armatures for a while and just didn’t want to do it. That is plain old procrastination! Shame on me! Will it every happen in this studio again . . . . . I can defiantly say “YES!” Now I hope to resist closure when needed and beware of that other phenomenon.

Earrings, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work

Bird Brain

January 23, 2011 Karen

It’s Cedar Fever season in my neck of the woods and it tends to make me feel a bit dull. After doing a few things that I felt weren’t too smart the past few days, the term “bird brain” popped into my mind. I don’t actually think that anyone has ever called me that derogatory term, but I have heard it used before. So, I wondered. Is it right that when you aren’t functioning at a real high level could you be experiencing the “bird brain” phenomenon?

As it turns out, being called “bird brain” might be a compliment. While scientists used to believe that most of a bird’s brain was a primitive and instinctual structure, recent discoveries indicate that about 75 percent of the brains of songbirds actually serve as a sophisticated information processing center. Many songbirds actually have a more powerful processing center than mammals. The bird’s brain is pretty small, but it’s also quite mighty.

I made a bird necklace yesterday in honor of those little brains everywhere.

The bird is difficult to spot on the copper pendant. I used a nice stamp pad of a bird scene to apply stop out to the metal and then etched it. A close up photo follows. It is much clearer in reality.

I hung the earrings on the necklace for photo taking purposes and wanted to show you the new twisted wire I’m trying out. Although the ends are difficult to deal with, I like the look of this wire. I also used it for a couple of swirls in the handmade chain on the necklace shown in the next photo.

From now on, when I’m struggling with those high cognitive processes, I will not think about bird brains. I will simply hope that my brain is half as power packed as those little song birds.

Tweet … tweet!

Bracelets, Color, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work

Spring is in the Cold Air

January 21, 2011 Karen 2 Comments

Yesterday was one of the coldest days we’ve had this season in South Texas. Although I am seldom chilled while hammering, torching and working with my tools, yesterday was an exception. I was trying to imagine warm Spring breezes blowing across the bluebonnets and women in cotton dresses and floppy hats out enjoying the day. Alas, it was a very big stretch to say the least.

If you are a designer or type of merchant who makes changes in merchandise with the seasons, you may be experiencing my difficulty. At the height of a given season or perhaps even before that season begins, we need to switch gears and plan for the next one. So here goes. I’m layered in warm clothes from head to toe and I have the Spring palette of colors laid out to work with. It just doesn’t seem right, but it IS necessary.

Luckily, the owner of Dovetails of Wimberley gave me the Casual Corners catalogue displaying the Spring line. I’m using it to help plan jewelry to go with the garments. Take a look at the beautiful mixture of colors shown in the catalogue.

Inspired by these photos, I began to play with the fiber I had on hand. This included yarns, ribbons and cording.

This gave me a better understanding of what colors coordinated and might work best in beads.

I’ve begun now to work with the beads matching these colors that I got from Magpie Gemstones (www.magpiegemstones.com). I can show you the one new bracelet below and the lapis necklace that just went into my etsy shop (www.dreamcatcherdesigns.etsy.com).

I used a new style armature for the bracelet and think it will be nice for those customers who have enjoyed the wave bracelets. This one is not as wide and displays more gemstones and pearls.

The lapis necklace is a piece that finally hatched. I made the pendant at least two months ago and then it sat and sat on the work table waiting for further inspiration. The blues from the Casual Corner catalogue finally led me to finish this piece. Just a few charoite beads help set off the color of the lapis and make it look more like Spring.

Today, the sun is out even though it is still cold outside. I guess I’ll have to continue to imagine the warmth of the Spring breezes. I think I’ll go put on a floppy hat to get in the right frame of mind.

Bracelets, Earrings, Necklaces, Wire Work

Do You Have a Frienemy?

January 17, 2011 Karen 2 Comments

You’ve probably seen the commercial on television that pertains to losing weight in which a woman calls the bathroom scale her “frienemy”. Evidently and obviously, she is encouraged to lose weight by the reading on the scale while at the same time disgusted by the same number. I CAN relate to the enemy part, but not as well to the friend dimension.

My camera is my frienemy. I’m still trying hard to get my wire technique perfected and lately have been pleased with the way the handmade jump rings close and how the wire looks post hammering. I’ve been pleased, that is, until I’ve viewed them in a close up photograph. Then I can’t believe I’m looking at the same piece of jewelry. Those beautiful closed rings are NOT perfect. That camera is definitely my enemy!

While it’s not as noticeable in this size picture as it is on my large screen computer, you may be able to see the less than perfect jump ring closures and the dent in the head pin wire. I can’t imagine how they got there between the time I completed the earrings and the time I took this photo.

Yet, as I look back at photos of older pieces, I do see some progress in my technique. For one thing, I now know what to look for whereas I used to just be happy with a sort of roundish ring that held together. I can also see that I’m doing better than I used to do and that makes the camera my friend since it has documented change over time.

The close up photos also help me find all the little wire ends on bracelets that need to be tucked under. Even if I wear my reading glasses, I sometimes miss a few, but the camera doesn’t lie and it finds them all.

So what should a girl do with a camera frienemy? Thinking of the camera as my enemy and admonishing this inanimate object for making me look bad isn’t the answer. Also, it won’t do any good to plead with the camera to take a less upsetting photo. Therefore, I’m going to have to work with the friend dimension of my camera. I’m going to try taking a picture of my work sooner rather than later in the design process. This should provide a golden opportunity to spot and correct any technical flaws before proceeding to the next step. Often after I’m moved on, it’s too late to go back and fix certain things.

OK Camera – I’ve decided to let you be a friend. Now act like one and help me improve!

Earrings, gifts, Metal Work, Pendants, Wire Work

Everything’s Comin’ Up . . .

January 8, 2011 Karen

. . . hearts! Many of us have struggled this week to get back in to some semblance of a routine post holiday. While pondering this difficulty, I realized that the stores are beginning to thinking Valentine’s Day. This always sneaks up on me because January is so full of family birthdays. Well, not this year! I’m going to be ready for Valentine’s Day.

I’ve spent some time the last several days making heart earrings. First they were quite plain, although I tried to give them slightly different shapes.

Next, I fancied a few pair by adding beads. Pearls, garnet chips and something red helped these get dressed up.

Finally, last night I got a bit carried away with the alcohol inks. (No! I wasn’t drinking them.) They adhere nicely to the copper and polka dots seemed to add a little twist here. I also did a pair with double hearts soldered to each other, but that photo refused to work. Now I’m thinking of all the shapes that could handle these polka dots in various colors. Let’s see there are butterflies and balls and . . .

Several of these could easily be turned into pendants or minified to become charms. I can see a necklace in particular out of the pair in the first picture that has pearl and garnet chips wired across the middle.

I enjoyed working these out in copper and am now considering going for it in sterling silver. We’ll just have to wait and see if anything hatches with that wire. Perhaps there’s more to come.

Bracelets, kits, Metal Work, Tutorials, Wire Work

Nuts and Bolts

January 3, 2011 Karen

Today is the first day of the new year and it’s time to get back to the real world. For my little jewelry business that means getting back to the nuts and bolts of producing. January, for me, always means “try something new” during the lull when my boutique customers are clearing out rather than stocking up.

This year my initial “new” something comes in the form of Dream Kits. The name was suggested by a friend and it represents a package of metal components that may be purchased as a set. Kits are highly popular in other avenues of bead work. For example, one can easily find seed bead kits that contain all the components needed for a particular design plus the tutorial for making the piece. There are also kits for making chain maille designs that include lots of jump rings in the size required for the included pattern. Yesterday, I listed a couple of handmade chain kits on my etsy site (www.dreamcatcherdesigns.etsy.com) and I’ll be adding more as I produce them.

My thought with these kits is that some excellent designers don’t want to do any wire work, yet would enjoy using handmade components in their pieces. I enjoy making these and can offer a good product. We shall see if there are any takers.

The next kits are going to also have sheet metal components. These may be needed since working with metal requires so many tools and not every one wants to make that investment. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and suggestions about what types of kits are needed. Do you think it would be better to offer the components separately?

I also wrote a new bracelet tutorial yesterday which will soon be ready for consumers. This flower cuff bracelet tutorial is in the proof reading stage and should be on etsy later in the week.

I’m also trying to learn to use a jewelry saw – currently a slow-go process. My first piano teacher told me to always begin with technique. It appears that the technique of sawing will take some time and practice, practice, practice. I guess its like working on scales on the piano every single day. Practice usually does produce. I find that this practice also requires patience. (My teacher forgot to tell me about that!)

All in all, the nuts and bolts of January 2011 are starting to come together and I’m looking forward to the year’s journey. How about you?

gifts, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, Torch Work, Wire Work

Charming: Another Word for Sharing

December 20, 2010 Karen

I have previously mentioned a group with which I meet once a month. We get together and share ideas about working with wire and other materials for jewelry design. Although I’m not a “joiner”, I really enjoy this group and we’ve met together for over a year without any big arguments. That’s probably because we are a “faux” society. We have no rules, no officers, no dues and no big events to plan. This is probably why we get along so well.

We decided to exchange charms for Christmas. Rather than the usual exchange by designers where participants bring one thing and leave with someone else’s piece, we brought a charm for each person. I walked away with 12 different charms. Some were wired while others were soldered creating an array of very different looking objects. It was fun to see how each person approached the task of making charms in her own unique way.

I used the charms on the necklace shown here. They hang from copper tubing purchased at the hardware store. The charms are separated in a few places by larger copper tubing cut into small links. Without these pieces and the extra wire wrappings all the charms sat right on top of one another and refused to show their personality.

The tubing hangs from several types of fibers including yarn, silk cord and ribbon. I also attached a small copper chain. These hang down in the back where the closure is a handmade hook and oval. You may have seen something similar to this piece (minus the wonderful charms) in a recent beading magazine.

It’s fun to wear this piece and look down at the charms. I know who made each one and the piece reminds me that we are all so unique; yet, we can come together and make a beautiful whole.

After the experience of sharing with this group and creating this piece, I read about a group where each person contributed to necklaces that traveled around the world. The latest Belle Armoire Jewelry, Winter 2011 shares Around the World: A Necklace Round-Robin starting on page 24. I gleaned from the article that each participant started a necklace, creating several inches, and then mailed it to the next person. Individuals added specified lengths to each necklace when it arrived. The gals also kept a blog or journal about what they were adding and how it was created. In the end, each person received a necklace that had been “around the world” having traveled to several different countries. Pictures of these necklace show them to be as eclectic as mine above.

There are so many ways to share this time of year. Christmas, hopefully, brings out the best in all of us. The simple sharing of your talent is priceless. Whether you share a visual art form, the gift of gab, the sound of your music or a simple glow that makes others feel good, we all seem to feel better when we give and share.

Yesterday, as I left the nursing home where my mother resides, one of the aides waved at me and said he hoped I got everything I wanted for Christmas. You know, I couldn’t think of a thing I really wanted except healthy and happy friends and family. When I told him that, he knowingly smiled and understood. I wish the same for all of you.

Merry Christmas!

Dreamcatcher Designs