Handmade Monday: Copper clay creations

This week I've been messing with copper clay. I once used the silver clay but as the cost of silver started to escalate, making sizeable charms and pendants just became prohibitive. The bronze clay fits much better with my antique bronze phase, but up until recently, it had to be fired in a kiln. So when I saw a starter kit with both bronze and copper clay which could be fired with a gas torch - well, that was my birthday present sorted!

Of course, if you know me well, then you know it's not my birthday yet, so technically the pack should be hidden somewhere unopened. But I never was any good at waiting...

This little heart pendant is my first creation and a collaboration. Not wishing to set the house or district on fire, I persuaded my lovely hubby to operate the gas torch for me. He did a splendid job - no-one's hair was even singed and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Here it's set on a chain made of mobius flower links and chocolate pearls. As I don't do copper jewellery very often, all the findings had to be hand made from wire, so this is really a labour of love. But there is a lot of satisfaction in thinking that the whole thing started life as a lump of clay, some copper wire and some pearls!

Hope you like the necklace and if you're in the UK are having a lovely extended Bank Holiday weekend.

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Handmade Monday: Weaving wire tutorial

Fossil bag charm sold

Butterfly key ring sold

This week I've been busy with an article for a magazine (watch this space for further details!) and a couple of sales, and today I'm in a competition. But I managed to fit in finishing a necklace and earring set using hammered and woven wire.  I've always found it tricky to get fine wire secured when starting off - this design solves that problem by having the links hammered first so that the thick wire is flattened which really makes it so much easier.


Here's a tutorial if you want to try it - a very straight forward if fiddly technique.

You'll need:
Thick wire - I've used 1m (18 gauge) here
Thinner wrapping wire - 0.4m (24 gauge) here
Pearls
Chasing hammer and block
Chain nose pliers

Step 1: Make the connector shapes in wire and hammer.  If you're making earrings, make sure you make and hammer two at the same time so they are identical and a mirror image of each other.

Be careful hammering the coloured and coated wires.  Try to tap them gently with the hammer covering the surface as evenly as possible.  More taps are better than a couple of hard knocks - you're less likely to scratch the coating.

If you have curves on your designs as I have here, you may need to readjust them after hammering.  Be careful using the pliers on hammered wire as the wire has been work hardened, but this means it is also more brittle.




Step 2: Get your thinner wire ready for the weaving.  You can work off the spool here to minimise wastage.  I've threaded on enough of the pearls for both earrings.

Look at the state of my steel block!  Really must give it a clean.  But like all tools, it seems to work better in the 'used' state ;-)That's my excuse for slovenly home economics anyway!

Step 3: Start to weave with the fine wire.  Leave a reasonable tail.  The more the thick wire connector has been hammered, the easier it is to make the thin wire stay in place.  Decide how many coils you want between each bead, but you may need to do a couple more for security at the beginning and end anyway.

Step 4: When you're ready for it, move the first bead or pearl up and gently manipulate the wire so that it's laying in the correct orientation. Continue the weave after the pearl in the same way

Step 5: Continue.  If you want to be really neat, make sure that you always keep the same pattern around the pearl.  So if the wire was coiled in front of the connector before the pearl, coil it back in front of the connector for the first coil after the pearl.

Step 6: When you're finishing off, make the same number of coils as at the top and snip your wire.  Neaten the ends of the coiling wire with the chain nose pliers so that the ends are tucked in at the back of the component.

 There's one done. Here are the finished earrings and necklace.  Can't quite decide which earrings I like best.  Some of the lovely folks on the Jewellery Maker facebook page helped me with designs, so they should get the credit for them really!

Earrings 1

Earrings 2

So which do you prefer?

Here's the link to see what others have been doing this week

Handmade Monday: Recent jewellery makes and bag charms, more bag charms!

Poor neglected blog.  Not sure why I haven't been posting, I have been busy making and listing, and have had a few sales on Etsy (and one on Folksy) which is always good for morale. I treated myself to a new gizmo - the 'deluxe' version with five different thicknesses of coiler, so had some fun with coiled wire jewellery. 

Wire coiled gizmo bracelet

This bracelet has double coiled 'beads' with pink crackle agate and smoky quartz cubes.  It's a bit of a big statement piece, but I'm very pleased with it.

Coiled wire earrings

The earrings are a bit more manageable for everyday wear, and they've been nicknamed 'Around the Globe' because the mosaic turquoise stones look just like a map of the world!

Ancient world bag charm

Meanwhile, I've been having an ancient world inspired season.  This bag charm with the lovely yellow and green agate vase bead sold on Etsy for a mother's day present. 

And this charm bracelet has a similar feel about it, I think.  So many of my creations these days look like they could have been dug up - perhaps I should bury a few in the back garden!!

Love knot bracelet

Finished off this love knot bracelet - the matching earrings sold so this is the last in the series.

Flower necklace

And finally, a little flower wire woven with tiny pearls and pale blue sari silk necklace.















Hope you like the creations.  Let me know if you have a favourite.

Here's the link to see what other crafty folk have been making this week.

Handmade Monday: Simple stud earrings from wire

Bea, one of the lovely guest designer on Jewellery Maker, showed this method of using wire to make stud earrings a few days ago.  I always like to have a go, and a couple of folks who missed the programme asked for a tutorial, so here it is.  This would work best and was demonstrated with a flat backed bead or gemstone but does work with the rounds I've used here - Brazilian jade beads. Similarly, I've used 0.8mm wire (20 gauge) but the original demo used 0.6mm I think.  You just need to check whether the thickness of wire will go through the butterfly backs you're using.

You will need:
A length of wire about 6 inches or so
Wire cutters
Chain nose pliers
Round nose pliers (optional)
Cup burr or file
2 beads
2 butterfly backs

Step 1: Pop your bead on the wire and bend the wire around the bead.  One side will form the stud back and the other will circle the bead twice, so leave a short end for the stud and a longer one for the circling.

 Step 2: Work the longer end of the wire around the circumference of the bead, pushing the wire gently and keeping close to the edge, going in front of the shorter end of the wire.  You might want to push this shorter end out of the way as you go past it.

Step 3: Keep pushing the wire around until you have gone round the whole bead twice.  The wire will be just at the hole of the bead where you started winding.  At this point, you can choose to simply snip the wire and push it gently with the chain nose pliers so that it lies flat to the bead. 

Step 4: I've chosen to add a loop for a small bead dangle.  You need to snip the wire, leaving just enough for the loop....

Step 5: ... and gently form the loop with the round nose pliers.

Step 6: Go back to the other shorter tail of the wire now and bend it gently round the back of the bead to half way down the bead.  A bit fiddly now with a round bead, must easier if you are using a flat back bead.

Step 7: Use the chain nose pliers to make a right angle bend in the wire as shown and you've made the stud post.

Step 8: Tidy up the end of the stud post - you can use a nail file if you wish.  A cup burr like the one shown is a very useful little tool and will give you a nice rounded end and won't remove the plating on the wire either.

Add your butterfly backs and additional bead drop if required.

You need to be quite careful putting the backs on and off not to pull the stud post away from the bead.  You could try using a spot of glue on the post. 

The finished earrings, with a little faceted red jade bead added. The others are faceted peridot with pearl drops.






Enjoy making!  And don't forget to sign up to follow the blog for more tutorials, crafty stuff and photos of my dog!

The dog's blog: All four paws in the air

This may be my last jump now that I have been diagnosed with arthritis.  I'm trying to get used to a quieter life!

Handmade Monday: Dragonfly

Last week we were away visiting family, so I had limited access to my beading stuff - always difficult to decide what to take, knowing that you'll have some time but can't take the whole stash as we'd need two cars for that!  Anyway, I had some wire, some glass beads and some sunshine, and this dragonfly was the result! Hope you like him.

It was a bit of a strange holiday.  Normally we spend a lot of time with the dog charging round the beach, chasing balls in and out of the waves and playing football with my OH.  The week before we went away, Lucca had a limp and went to the vets, and to our horror was diagnosed as having arthritis.  At 3 and a half years old, that was not good news.  So restricted walks on the lead on the beach, and the poor boy looking at us so confused.  Despite the limp, he still wants to do everything he always did.  Today he's at the vets for x-rays, so more worry and a house that feels so quiet and empty.  But at least we should know more this evening.

Much better news - a jewellery magazine in the US is going to feature my wire flower necklace in September!  This will be the first time Blue Forest Jewellery has been in print.   How exciting is that!  It's a long time to wait, but they need it sent in the next couple of weeks, so that's something else to distract me today, which is what I need.

Here's the link to see what other crafty folk have been making this week.

Wordless Wednesday: Does my bum look big in this?

Does my bum look big in this?

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