More adventures in wire

My love affair with wirework continues!

Here is my first wirework necklace, completely hand fabricated by yours truly.

I have used copper wire in various gauges (from 24 gauge for the wire wrapping, to 16 gauge for the neck wire - which I hammered, shaped and tensioned) and an assortment of glass beads in shades of lime and teal and turquoise.

This entire necklace began with a fantastic (free!) tutorial by the master of wire, Eni Oken. I recently joined the Jewelry Lessons website (where you will be treated to great information and tutorials, and very knowledgeable and supportive teachers) and came across a tutorial by Eni for creating a wrapped briolette with a coiled bail. Did I mention it was free?!

The tutorial was easy to follow (and free!) and after I had made two coiled drops following Eni's instructions, I devised my own variations to accommodate rondelles and round beads...and even a large bail for the pendant!

Still being enamoured with Emily Gray's creations, I was inspired to throw all of the coiled drops together to create a dingly, dangly pendant:

Combining what I had learnt from Eni's tutorial, and the 'S' clasp from 'Alexandra' (from 'Seed Bead Fusion' by Rachel Nelson-Smith), I created my own clasp. Here she is:

It's not perfect...but I love it! :-)

I am grateful to Eni and Rachel for sharing their knowledge and expertise, and to Emily for creating such awe-inspiring jewellery! Collectively, they have opened my eyes to a whole new world... and I shall forgive them for my calloused and bleeding fingers (if somebody is selling steel fingertips, please let me know), because I'm having so much fun!

Thanks for looking, and be well!