Friday, February 19, 2010

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!

13 comments:

  1. This is beautiful! Wirework is definitely something that I would love to get into and you've done a great job here!

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  2. Thank you BJ! Just jump straight in, I say...you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. My fingertips aren't that bad, honest... ;-) LOL

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  3. Beautiful necklace, I love the combination of colours.

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  4. Beautiful work!I am trying also with wire,but it is sooo nothing comparing to yours :)
    I admire moms who find a hour or two in busy schedule to create such a lovely things.
    Danimirka-Daniela.

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  5. Ohhhhh I am so impressed with your wire work. I stay away from it. Mine looks awful. My brother told me it looked like wire work on Prozac.

    Nicole/Beadwright

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  6. Lovely piece. Lots of character. I agree, Jewelry Lessons is a great place to learn and drool!!
    Lois
    http://copperwirejewelers.ning.com

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  7. Thanks Sarah! I love the combination of copper with blue/green too :-)

    Thank you Dana! I'm sure your work is beautiful, and we all have to start somewhere! With a little practice, I've finally graduated from wrapped loops...that was about the extent of my wirework repetiore just a few weeks ago! LOL Yes, it is difficult to find time to create things with two kids under three years...but creating is my outlet so I HAVE to make some time (usually late at night when the little ones are asleep!)

    LOL Nicole! I love the 'wirework on Prozac' comment ;-) I can't imagine you being bad at ANYTHING!

    Lois, thanks for the lovely comments! I wish I'd found Jewelry Lessons sooner, it's a great place and the eye candy is amazing :-)

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  8. Hello Belinda, this is a beautiful work... i can understand, that you like it... i too ;o)
    i do´nt can work in wirework... so you have my absolutly respect and applause..... many greetings Andrea

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  9. Thank you Andrea! I'm only just starting out, so there is a whole world of wire to learn about. Beadweaving is still my first love, but I'd love to be able to combine the two mediums :-)

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  10. Very nice. Doing great job.
    I love wirework, but my hands hate it..:)))
    I wanted to tell you about great classes and teachers on Beadeducation site. Are you familiar with it? http://www.beaducation.com/classes/?p=classes One of the teachers there is Barb Switzer, very nice lady, and for me the best wire master-Dallas Lovett. I absolutely love his work and him! I was lucky to take few classes with him in Alaska..
    Anyway.. Keep up great work. As always pleasure to visit your site.
    Greetings from Brisbane.

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  11. Thanks Joanna! And thank you so much for the link, I've just had a look at Beaducation and there are some great tutorials on there :-) Dallas Lovett's work is AMAZING! You are so lucky to have taken classes with him!! It's a shame your hands don't like wire, knowing how talented you are I'm sure you would create something beautiful ;-)

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  12. Заходите на мой блог за наградой! :-)

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  13. You did such a great job with this Belinda... you seem to adapt to any type of beading!

    I have wanted to try more wirework but I just find the tools really fiddly which is a pain as there are so many gorgeous techniques out there. Gorgeous work as always ♥

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Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a comment!

B.
-xo-