And here it is!
The finished piece! I used a bit of light blue gilder's paste on the front to give it a bit of color. The design was cleaned up a bit more after this picture was taken, and was given to my mom soon after. I forgot to get a true final picture.
This one was a lot of fun to make, even with all the troubles. I had to saw the two pieces apart once after accidentally soldering it closed. There was also the frustration in getting the hinge properly attached. The two outer knuckles of the hinge had to be attached to one plate, while the middle hinge was attached to the other and yet they needed to be soldered perfectly in line in order to fit the hinge pin. *whew!*
I really want to try making one of these again on my own, but I'll definitely need to acquire quite a few tools before that can happen. Ah, well!
Oh, and I should mention... I got a great shine on this piece after putting it in a tumbler with stainless steel shot and some dawn soap for a half hour or so. Definitely an important finishing step if you want your piece to really sparkle!
I have quite a lot of catching up to do!
First up, is my first bezel project. I recently took a class at the local art studio and made this:
That is a lovely red orange carnelian in the center! Here is a
handy tutorial that is really informative for making bezel settings. It is the first part of a five part series.
What I have found to be the hardest part of making the bezel is getting the solder to flow where you want it to go. As a beginner it took me three times to actually get the ring attached to the flat sheet. *whew!* I feel like it does get easier with practice though.
May favorite part of making this bezel was actually coming up with a design for this necklace. My favorite shape recently has been the diamond, so I ended up with this:
I created the texturing with a dapping tool. Yay! Then it became a Christmas present for my amazing friend M. ;)
Next up, will be my mother's Christmas present.
Here is another wire wrapped labradorite pendant! This time I added in a bit of copper and I am really loving the effect!
Additionally I have been trying a new type of crafting. Recently my boyfriend has become interested in brewing. It is an interesting process, so I am going to try a bit of brewing myself. He likes to make beer, but I am interested more in wines and mead, so this weekend I am going to start the process of creating a Maple Mead. I found the recipe here. Should be interesting and I definitely can't wait for the taste testing!
Here are a few of my finished items using oxidization. I just love how it makes a wire wrapped piece look so elegant! I think I am going to keep doing this technique with future pieces I make. It gives them a depth that you don't see in a normal polished piece.
Found my camera! Yay!
So, first of all I finally put that copper wire pendant I made onto a chain. Also added a few beads. I really like how this one turned out and I almost hate to send it away.
This next one was made with picasso jasper beads with a few turquoise beads thrown in. I just love how every jasper bead is so different! Also, I got the idea for the clover head pin from this web page. Apparently there is a tool called a WigJig that is specially made to form wire loops, but it is quite easy to get the same effect using only a pair of round nose pliers.
Lastly is a necklace I whipped together using these pearlescent glass beads that have been sitting around in my jewelry kit for years. Quite a simple design, but I just really like these colors.
That is all for now. Just waiting for my new glass etcher to arrive in the mail! Yay!
Well, it's been a bit since my last post (bad me!), but now I have a few pictures to upload!
Managed to create a few necklaces, but sadly I realized that I have very few clasps... These are all in their final stages though! Just need to acquire a few different kinds of clasps.
So, here is the first one I put together. Didn't use any of the wire wrapped shell pendants for this one. I had a few pretty green glass beads laying around and since they looked so nice next to the copper wire, I had to put them together!
The next one I chose to assemble was one of the shell wrapped pendant necklaces. I also chose to attach a few hematite beads strung on wire as a few little accents. I really like how this one turned out in the end.
The last one I have mostly completed so far took a bit longer, but again I think it turned out quite well.
Yay! Still need a few clasps to finish these projects up, but I think they are turning out better than I had hoped!
Here is a handy tutorial I used to get the loops that I made using wire in order to string the beads on each of these necklaces. Using this technique it is easy to get near perfect loops every time!
