Ooh...the colors!

This is probably my favorite one so far.

I think it needs no explanation. So here's some eye candy for you...

My first try fusing metal

Eek! I was so excited to try this, and believe me, I've been waiting a while for the tools.

I finally got a Micro Torch and some Paste Flux. I already had some solder. It would have been nice to just use solder paste with flux in it, but in time. So as soon as I got home from the hardware store, I got working. I didn't have a soldering board (I have a vision it will be coming soon), so I used a piece of particle board, and was careful not to catch it on fire.

My husband actually did most of the work on this one, and he did a great job! I then put it on a sterling silver jump ring and put a wire-wrapped bead on the jump ring and strung it on an 18inch 1.5mm sterling silver plated ball chain.

A note about the wrapped bead: The wire I used it not sterling silver wire. I wish it was. In fact I do have sterling silver wire that I could have used. But it's expensive. And since I don't have any Fire Coat (a product to prevent Fire Scale, and needed in order to ball up the wire with a torch), or Fine Silver Wire (you don't need Fire Coat), I couldn't make a headpin. FYI-I have no problem accepting gifts. So, I made my own poor man's headpin (which is what I actually used in THIS necklace). I always need more tools! That's the way it goes with any hobby, craft, or project-right?

So without further adieu...

Let me know what you think!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

And this one is sure to shine with this hammered look.

I absolutely love this necklace. I haven't even tapped into the vast amount of things I can do with metal stamping yet. I've just barely started, and so I'm still practicing on copper. I love the look of copper, but thinking about Sterling Silver pendants like The Vintage Pearl has just makes me giddy. And when you layer copper AND sterling silver, my head just starts to spin!

So, the star is complete with a sterling silver jump ring and 18in. sterling silver 1.5mm(tiny) ball chain!

Things I like:

1. I put my initial on it. This may sound silly, but I don't think I have ever had a necklace with my initial on it in my entire life and I always wanted one. But names, dates, and other design stamps work too.

2. The hammered look.

3. I domed the star.

Things I don't like:

1. You see the R? Can you tell my stamp bounced? That is why it is important to have a good hard work surface. My steel block was on my card table that has kind of a padded top.

2. The hammered look. I know I said that I like this part, and I do. But when I started hammering it, I realized that the dimples were too small for what I wanted and liked. Next time I will use my bigger ball pein hammer.

My most precious piece of jewelry

In 1995, a 12 year old boy made me this necklace at summer camp. He didn't even know me yet. In fact, he didn't meet me for another ten years. In 2005, that not so boy anymore became my husband. Is this my favorite necklace? You bet!

Tuesday's Tutorial

I am in love with this necklace...don't tell my husband!

This is actually the necklace I taught my sister Rachel to make. I recently took a trip to Utah, and let Rachel look through my pictures of jewelry I found that I wanted to make. This necklace I found at The Work Room. She decided she wanted to make this one- and so your tutorial for the week was born (or something like that).

Items you will need:

1. 20 or 22 gauge wire (I used 20)

2. Jump rings (I used 16, but that could change, depending on the length). I made my jump rings out of the wire

3. Some sort of clasp (I used a hook and eye clasp that I also made out of my wire)

4. Cutters, chain nose pliers, and round nose pliers.

Step 1: Cut your wire. I cut mine into almost two inch pieces. I cut 13 pieces of wire. You will also want to cut 2 pieces of wire about an inch longer than the others (so 3 inches). These pieces are for the ends that will attach to the clasp. You don't have to cut the wire at 2 inches. You can make them shorter if you want your beads to be closer together, or longer if you want them farther apart. But remember that if you make them closer together, you will want to use smaller beads, or your necklace will look cluttered. The pieces of the wire that Rachel used were shorter than two inches.

Rachel's necklace was longer than mine. Mine hits just below my collar bone, so she obviously used more pieces of wire. Adjust the number you cut accordingly.

Step 2: Using the two longer pieces of wire, you want to make a wrapped loop at one end of each. Then set them aside.

Step 3: With your 13 other pieces of wire, you need to take your round nose pliers and make half of a loop at one end of each piece.


Step 4: Next, you want to use your chain nose pliers to bend/squish the loop together.

Step 5: Using your cutters, you will need to cut most of the loop off so that you just have a small bend at the end instead of a big one.

Step 6: a. On one of your wrapped loop wires, put on a jump ring first, then a bead. Then you need to make the loop at the end of that wire as shown in steps three through five.

b. Next you need to take one of your other wires, stick a bead on it and stick the unfinished end through the jump ring, so it looks like the picture below.

You will continue to do steps a and b until you get to the end of your necklace and need to put on the other wrapped loop wire. To put this one on, you just put it in the opposite way through the jump ring, then put the bead on, and then make your loop.

Step 7: In the picture of the necklace, you can see that the wires are bent a little more than what you see in the other pictures. So, what you need to do is take the wire in both hands (my other hand was taking the picture), and with your thumb under the wire, make a small bend downward. Be careful not to bend it too much. If you do, you can just bend it back. But if you totally slaughter the wire, cut if off and make a new one, it's that easy!

Here is just a few pieces put together so you can see what it looks like.

Step 8: Attach a jump ring to each of the wrapped loops and the clasp. And then you're done! If you are using a clasp that opens, then you don't need a jump ring.

Okay...I really need your feedback. I want to know if this tutorial makes sense. It's one thing to show someone how to make something in person, but completely different to write it out and hope you get it. The most frustrating thing for me is not understand directions. Just ask my mom about that. So... Do you understand it? Do I need more pictures? Do I need better pictures? Do I need better instructions? Do you think that this tutorial would make it easy to make the necklace? PLEASE TELL ME!

Lia sophia Knock-off

If you like jewelry as much as I do, then you probably like Lia Sophia.

I've been to a few Lia Sophia house parties, but DANG, their jewelry is just too expensive for me. That's when I decided to make my own Lia Sophia knock-off. I also made a pink and black one as well, but they both sold already.

I added my own little touches,

and here it is...

$20-sure beats an $80 pricetag.

Excuses Excuses

Yes, I know you are all impatiently waiting for my tutorial. I was out of town from Sunday to Tuesday night and just couldn't motivate myself to post anything. But, you'll be glad you waited for this. This gorgeous piece (and one my sister Rachel made) is coming next Tuesday. So watch for the tutorial.

Since I am going to be posting tutorials every Tuesday, I've made a lot of work for myself. I've decided to seek your help. If there is a piece of jewelry you've seen that you are dying to make (say at the store, online, in a catalog, etc.; or a technique you'd like to learn, please email me or leave a comment, and I would be happy to post a tutorial about it!

$20

*Come back and see my product review of the Coiling Gizmo from Beadalon and a Tricks of the Trade post about choosing the right kind of wire*