Category Archives: Wire Work

Necklaces, Pendants, Techniques, Torch Work, Wire Work

Swirling

December 5, 2010 Karen

I thought the wind would take all of our Fall leaves this week, but a few hardy souls remain. We’re not especially used to the blustering breezes nature just sent us, but the movement of the trees outside my studio window seemed to symbolize the rushing of people as they ready for the holidays. Of course the people are gathering as the trees are shedding. I hope the gathering brings good fortune to our local merchants.

I’ve been doing a bit of swirling myself this week – round and round and round. I saw a pendant made of three wire swirls in a catalogue my friend brought me. The swirls graduated from large to small in a straight line as they layered at the edge of one another. Of course, I couldn’t just make that one, mine would need to be different. Eventually, my pendant became a necklace composed of five circle swirls.

These swirls are soldered together and finished with a dark patina and a tumble. I liked this look and decided to enlarge it. Then I learned that often “less is more”. The larger necklace has the same number of swirls, but they have bigger diameters.

Before starting this piece, I didn’t realize how much more difficult it would be to keep the rounds held together. I kept adding solder to these circle hoping to connect the parts of each round. This, of course, led to solder showing on the front. Hmm . . . now what? The dark patina on the first piece did a nice job of covered the solder, but didn’t do as well on the larger piece. Also, the swirls continued to want to pull apart. Finally, I soldered a wire to the back of the necklace alleviating this problem.

You can see the solder still showing in this photo. Since it was also showing on the front of the main circle, I soldered a bezel and placed a charoite cab (from magpiegemstones.com) on the front.

Hurray! Following one last patina that required extra Q-tip applied liver of sulphur in spots to cover that stubborn solder, the piece went for a tumble and was complete. The last picture shows the different in size between the two necklaces. Both of these are fairly heavy and used a good deal of wire. This was fine in copper, but I think I will curtail my plans for making this in sterling silver until prices for this wire go down. Do you think that will ever happen? It’s possible that the only way I’ll see this in silver made from my studio is to let that solder flow on the top!

The wind blows gently today, but bodes of cooler South Texas weather. I wonder what ideas it will bring me this week.

Necklaces, Techniques, Wire Work

Obsessive . . .

December 3, 2010 Karen 1 Comment

. . . chaining. An obsession is an idea that cannot be gotten rid of by reasoning. I’ve created so many designs with chain in the last week that I’m wondering if this is an obsession. Most of us largely consider an obsession to be negative, but I’m pretty pleased with the new necklace designs. Do you think an obsession could be positive?

The chaining phase I’m in initiated with a piece that has already found a home, but it led to two necklaces that have the same designs, but different stones.

Next, I made a couple of variations on this style. The first one featured faceted black onyx beads and it went quickly to its new owner. This second piece is done in turquoise with a bone eagle and other stones. You can see that all the wire components of these pieces are handmade including the headpins. I had not intended to make the latter, but on the evening that I wanted to attached the gemstones, I was completely out of headpins. So, I made a date with torch and balled them myself. I’m still facinated with how you can hold a piece of wire in the flame and a little ball forms and crawls up the wire. I lost a few of these balls as I was watching them climb the wire. They got too big and fell right off! I think I finally gave in on the turquoise piece and went to the store for “boughtin” pins.

Eventually, I grew weary of making jump rings and tried a different design with purchased chain. Also, I wanted a mixed metal look. I was attempting to achieve a “no droop” effect with this piece and made a looped half neck ring to stabilize the design. I attached a handmade chain to finish it off and give it more motion. There is a cluster of faceted black onyx beads on one side of the necklace. I don’t know if this will be as popular as the pieces with gemstones, but I think it has lots of potential. Gemstones or pearls could easily find their way on to this piece.

So do you think I’m being obsessive with the chaining? Probably! But, I choose to think I’m just putting in a lot of good practice to improve my skill in making chains. I don’t think I need to go to the doctor yet!

By the way a couple of these pieces are in my etsy shop if you want to check them out. http://www.etsy.com/listing/63457769/turquoise-and-copper-chain-necklace

Necklaces, Pendants, Torch Work, Wire Work

Crisscrossed

November 28, 2010 Karen

The internet’s free dictionary says that crisscrossed means “. . . To move back and forth through or over. . . “ It makes me think of a snake swimming across our pond in a serpentine pattern or Dixie, our blue heeler (cattle dog) crisscrossing behind a bunch of cows as she tries to get them to move in the right direction. She just gets one side of the bunch going and then has to cross behind them to the other side to get those stranglers moving. By going back and forth, the cows eventually go the right way.

There certainly are some beautiful jewelry designs that feature crisscrossing strands or wires. I worked with this idea and hope to be on the right track. I wanted the waves of these crisscrosses to be consistent, but found that especially difficult to construct. Although I measured carefully and worked with care, when I put the two separate pieces of wire together and curved them for the neck pieces, they became a bit whoppy jawed. (Is that an Oklahoma term?) Alas, I finally just went with that look and once again called the work “organic”. I never actually thought of sterling silver as organic, but today it is!

You can grasp the idea of the crisscrosses more easily by observing the following pictures. The close up of the silver shows that the main piece is attached to my hand made chain.

The copper wire in the other photo shows a better view of how the two pieces of molded wire crisscross together to form the neck wire.

I made the silver dangles from heavy gauge fine silver wire using the torch to fuse each ring. I then hammered and textured the pieces. I tried putting on more dangles, but three turned out to look the best.

The second necklace shown here displays larger crisscrosses. It wasn’t what I envisioned, but I do like the shape. The dangles on this piece have either blue or red copper patinas made with household products. I’m still debating whether to leave them on or take them off as the piece looks fine without them. What do you think?

Crisscrosses have many possibilities for use in designs and they present me with a nice new challenge not only for necklaces, but also earrings, bracelets and pendant wrappings. Look for more of this design in another entry. If you don’t see any in a few weeks, you’ll know they just didn’t work out. I believe it’s OK to take a challenge and fail. You just have to try!

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

Like a White Tornado

November 25, 2010 Karen

Like many of you have probably been doing, I’ve been racing around the last few days cleaning my house to prepare for company. The phrase “like a white tornado” kept creeping into my thoughts only I seemed to be moving like a GREY tornado. My interpretation of that means an older slower version of a cleaning wonder. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if a “white” tornado is racist. Go ahead and laugh, strange things enter my head when I’m inhaling those cleaning products.

I seized the opportunity to sit down at the computer and prove how silly my question really was. The initial information provided online was about a cleaning product, Ajax, and a slogan used to advertise it in 1972. No wonder I thought about this phrase;, that’s when my son was born and I was “into” cleaning. This link should take you to a video of one of the commercials used for Ajax. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vurmg1yffg The commercial could lead you to believe that the product makes cleaning go faster. That’s when, at the rate I was moving, I was sure I was a grey tornado this week.

I was still curious about white tornadoes and found more information which might have produced the idea behind the Ajax slogan. I learned about white tornadoes from http://www.chaseday.com/tornadoes.htm : A tornado can appear white when it is “front lit” by the sun. Since most of them are photographed with the sun behind them, they look black or dark grey. (Perhaps being a grey tornado isn’t that bad.) You may also see a white cloud of water rotating into a froth at the base of the tornado. I’m sure you’ve really been wondering about that for quite a while.

The picture at the top shows my version of what might be left behind by a white tornado. The “ditch” in it reminds me of what I was taught as a girl in tornado alley Oklahoma. If you are out when you see a tornado coming and you can’t get to shelter, lie down as flat as possible in the ditch beside the road. I’m thankful I never had to do that.

I’m also thankful for readers like you who go all the way to the end of my entries, even those that are silly like this one. Happy Thanksgiving!

Bracelets, Wire Work

Dimensional Bracelets

November 7, 2010 Karen 4 Comments

I’ve been making dimensional bracelets for a couple of years and have enjoyed both the uniqueness and comfort of them as well as the fact that customers also like them. Since I will be teaching how to make this arm wear at a November wire workers meeting, I’m using this venue to show pictures of a few of the bracelets.

These are called dimensional bracelets because of the option of making layers of stones on the top focal area. These are particularly visible on the grey and orange bracelet. The top can also be made flat as in the purple bracelet shown here. It took many mistakes to eventually get to this design and to figure out how to measure the wire in order to come out right. I’m not showing you the pile of too small and too big bracelets that I made before getting it right. I felt a bit like Goldilocks as I tried to figure this out. The back and sides are shown in the pictures that follow.

I’ve also made these in sterling silver, but they get a bit pricey since they require so much heavy gauge wire. Luckily, the copper style is made from recycled wire that has been cleaned, shaped, given a patina and tumbled. Surely it’s good and clean by now. This wire sells around $4 per pound as opposed to sterling silver that is running about $27 an ounce. Hmm . . . don’t you think copper is really better?

gifts, Philosophy, Wire Work

Raining Cats and Dogs

November 2, 2010 Karen

We weren’t really expecting a storm last night, but we weren’t in charge of the weather. First the lightening blessed us with enough brightness that sleep was tough. Then the thunder joined it. Consider the auditory experience of thunder followed by one fearful dog outside yelping and another puppy thinking it must be time to play in the middle of the night. These two were then joined by two more who barked simply because they didn’t know why the others were up. I’ll bet you’ve heard this at your house although I hope you have a few less dogs to chime in.

Finally, I let the scared dog in so she would quit barking. This of course caused the others to bark because they also wanted in. Eventually, thinking all was in order with the fearful animal beside the bed, I went back to sleep. Alas, once the dog was comforted, she realized she was hungry and commenced to eat out the bottom of the dog food sack in the laundry room adding a new auditory dimension. Eventually, the dog quieted and the thunder subsided just in time for the rain to begin falling on our tin roof. Are you getting the idea.

As I fussed with my dog in the house, I could only imagine the other folks who were probably doing the same thing. I have at least two friends whose dogs don’t like thunder. Those women probably have bags under their eyes today just as I do. Oh well, we DID need the rain . . . but I wish we’d gotten more than 1/2 inch.

It’s amusing that I spent my design hours last evening making cats and dogs (and the occasional rabbit). Was it a premonition? Who knows, but I’m not making any tonight because I really need some sleep.

By the way, the critters in the picture are bookmarks. My cousin suggested bookmarks might be a nice item around Christmas. I’ve been making the cats for several weeks, but just figured out the dog and the bunny. The animal fits in the book and the tail hangs over the book spine. I will put them on cards to give as gifts. Let me know if you need any. I can’t seem to get them made fast enough to put in my etsy shop.

Raining cats and dogs . . . let’s have a night of silence on this date or in lieu thereof, could we get a couple of inches?

Bezels, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, selling, Wire Work

Who IS the Customer?

October 20, 2010 Karen

Many articles that discuss getting started selling things advise us to question “who is the customer?” Unfortunately for me, I’ve often ignored that question because the boutiques I serve are so varied. Magnify that by the fact that each store’s customers are pretty varied as well and the equation about the customer is pretty overwhelming. Yet, this week I’ve found that I really needed to stop and ask that question as I prepared to call on a particular boutique. This new boutique caters to the younger set and in the past the owner has suggested I needed some pieces made with chain or leather ropes. My more heavily beaded pieces just weren’t what she needed. One day, while in this store, a girl about high school age came in and tried on clothes. As I watched her, I finally “got it” and realized I did need some pieces with leather, chain and ribbon.

I felt this wasn’t my style initially, but as I’ve made a valid attempt at it this week, I’m excited to be trying something new. It may allow me to expand the options for all my customers.

The first two pictures show necklaces made with a good deal of chain. The mahogany bead piece has handmade copper chain in the back with handmade copper jump ring dangles in the front. The second piece is similar in style, but utilized both hand made copper chain and plated silver chain. I added beads to every other jump ring in the front.

I think these pieces turned out OK, because they have both sold before I even call on the customer for whom I made them.

I also experimented with ribbon and leather cord for a few pieces. I know designers often work with ribbon, but it was tedious for me. My thumbs are quite ruff from working with metal and wire, so the ribbon kept sticking to them and raveling. Fray check for ribbon ends has now become my friend.

The necklace on the right sports a green amber cabachon wrapped with dull aluminum wire. It hangs from a dyed silk cord I purchased at a bead show. The organza ribbon bow can be removed.

I made several other pieces on the leather cord which are not pictured here and hope to also work with the black velvet ribbon I purchased.

I do not yet know if the customer for which I designed these pieces will like them, but I do know that thinking specifically about “who” the customer is influenced what I designed. I’ve found this to be true before. Once, I was commissioned to create a pin for someone whose bout with cancer was concluding. As I thought about the patient, the pin just seemed to make itself. Another time, a western wear store that usually sells sterling silver wanted to try some copper and that influenced the design of the piece shown here.

So, “who is the customer?” Apparently, my customer is the boutique for whom I am visiting next. Today while scheduling my next trip to a specific Texas Hill Country shop, the owner said “you know what I like”. Yes, I do and in the next weeks I’ll be designing specifically with her in mind.

Know your customer. This can open some avenues of design that I never imagined. But sometimes, I want to remember that I am the customer too and create just exactly what I LIKE!

Earrings, Metal Work, Torch Work, Wire Work

Ah, The Sweet Smell of . . .

October 15, 2010 Karen

. . . metalwork! I never imagined that working with metal would produce so many different odors, or aromas, depending on whether or not you like the particular smell. Most days I’m not even aware of this, but on an unusually sensitive day, my nose took offense to one project.

I was making three pair of etched leaf earrings to fill an order. First, I used the torch and annealed the copper to make it easier to handle. Ah, the smell of propane . . .

Then I painted nail polish on the back of each of the 6 leaves to use as a stop out for the mordant. Ah, the smell of nail polish . . . Then, I used a permanent felt tipped pen to mark the flower shapes, etc on the front of the earring. You really can’t see them in this photo. I tried hard not to inhale the marker.

Next I mixed an acid with hydrogen peroxide (outdoors, of course) and produced a smelly mordant for the etching. Yucky odor!

After the etching was complete, all that nail polish had to come off with that sweet smelling polish remover and the black ink had to be removed with alcohol. Can you smell it?

Since I needed the metal to have a red patina, I again used the torch and heated all six leaves until they glowed red hot. While still hot, I plunged them into a container of cooking oil producing an almost pleasant aroma. It was similar to that of chicken fried steak and all I could think was that finally I could fry something that wasn’t fattening.

Once the clean up was completed after the oil bath, I polished the metal with Renaissance Wax which I can also say produces an odor. Even the dog doesn’t like it!

I made the ear wires out of copper wire and used liver of sulphur to give them a dark patina. Ah, it was like the sweet smell of boiled eggs . . . After the earwires’ tumbler bath, the odors were all gone and I was able to assemble the earrings.

Now why in the world did I end up with a headache?

Bracelets, Earrings, Necklaces, Techniques, Torch Work, Wire Work

When Gold Turns to Silver

October 6, 2010 Karen

I believe this saying has to do with the color of someone’s hair (Knoffler sang something about when the gold of her hair has turned to silver). It might also represent a tact for saving money in the jewelry design business. With today’s spot price for silver at a practically intolerable $22.70/ounce, it’s still more economical to use than gold which lists at $1,330.50 per ounce. You won’t see me using any gold any time soon.

Of course, that’s the same thing I said about silver last year. I was working exclusively with copper, a good deal of which came from the recycling establishment. Lately, however, feeling that my skill has progressed, I’ve delved a bit into silver wire. Today’s photos show the use of fine silver which fuses to itself without solder. Sterling silver requires the use of solder for fusing. One problem that arises with fine silver is just how quickly it melts. My pieces have a few bumps on them where the metal got too hot. Still, I feel it is better to see small flaws that lumpy solder.

The first pair of earrings turned out much bigger than I anticipated, but they do make a statement. I’ve wanted to incorporate seed beads with the wire for some time and enjoyed using needle and fishing line to attach these embellishments to the ovals. They are very lightweight.

The second pair of earrings is, obviously, just a simple set of ovals.

Also, I fused some fine silver circles and put them on a double strand of sterling silver wire. This piece is very simple and delicate. It was trickier than I expected when I tried to get the circles to hang correctly.

What’s a girl to do with earrings, a necklace and no bracelet? I answered that question by getting brave and using some 14 gauge sterling silver wire to make a small simple wave bracelet. I’m still debating as to whether or not to embellish it with beads.

These pieces are a very different style than what I usually make, but were fun to do once I got past my panic of cutting the expensive wire.

I suppose the title to this blog entry should really read When the Copper Turns to Silver since that’s the change I made today. I’m just too much of a tight wad to work with gold right now. They don’t ever seem to have any at the recycling place!

Color, Earrings, Metal Work, Techniques, Torch Work, Wire Work

I Think That I Shall Never See . . .

October 4, 2010 Karen

. . . an earring lovely as a tree. I must certainly apologize to Joyce Kilmer whose original work compared a poem to a tree. Didn’t many of us have to learn to recite those verses in school?

The last few days I’ve been working with tree shapes. It may be the anticipation of the changes soon to occur with the leaves on the trees or simply an inclination to get away from things that are circles. For whatever reason, I’ve been working with the shape of some trees, triangles. This is always a bit of a problem since triangular shapes in jewelry mean you must deal with three sharp corners, but I decided not to let that deter me.

The first trees are a bit large, yet interesting looking. These earrings are copper triangles sweat soldered together to imitate firs. The liver of sulphur patina seemed appropriate on these. I also made a smaller, upside down pair. fir large

The next pair is made of copper that spent several days turning blue. The household concoction worked well and I didn’t want to spoil the color; therefore, I chose not to solder them. That would have removed the blue patina. I made them into pretty good swingers by using the copper rings.

The last pair of earrings initiated with a picture of a pair that a friend gave me. I intended to use silver circles as part of the embellishment, but the bottle caps sitting on the work bench begged to be used. The star in the cold connection adds a little western flair to this pair. Yes, I do realize that this tree shape is upside down, but it seemed like the way to go.

Maybe the next tree shapes should be rounded at the top – I’ll have to give that some thought.

In the last line of her tree poem, Kilmer wrote:

Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.

I could certainly say the same about these silly earrings.

Dreamcatcher Designs