Friday, June 27, 2008
How time flies! It's Ornament Thursday!
Wow, the month of June totally got away from me. Between Grand Cities, vacation, and an exciting family announcement (congrats to my wonderful daughter Bree and her fabulous finace, Nick!!!), I've just lost track of time.
Not to be defeated however, here are a couple of fun and easy projects that fit right into the Ornament Thursday theme: Independence...just in time for the US July 4 holiday!
And of course, the other OT Gals are right on top of things, with a great variety of Independent projects that are fun and fabulous! Check them all out:
Strands of Beads Melissa sees stars this month while considering the meaning of independence
Look for RED HOT themed projects in July!!!!
Labels: beads, beginning jewelry making, bracelet, crafts, earrings, free instructions, Ornament Thursday, Swarovski, wire working
Friday, March 28, 2008
Great idea for personalizing your earring cards!
My talented friend Barb Macy has posted a wonderful tutorial on her blog for making earring cards. Not your run-of-the-mill earring cards, either...these are pretty, personal, and STURDY!
Check out
Barb's blog entry for full directions!
Labels: displays, earring cards, earrings, jewelry business
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Moving to Wire Work - Getting Started with Beading!
If you've been following my posts for beginning beaders, you've now figured out what you need to get started, how to make a
stretchy bracelet, and you've graduated to making
jewelry with clasps.Next up, learning a few tricks with
wire! Making
loops or wrapped loops is essential to making earrings, and once you've mastered that skill, you'll probably be itching to try something even more challenging!
Wire is a great medium to play with - even with copper wire you can buy at the hardware store, or craft wire from a floral store, hobby store (like
Michael's or
Hobby Lobby), or fabric store, you can make easy rings. Again, no special tools necessary - if you don't have a ring mandrel, use a wooden dowel or even a marker barrel to shape your ring! I love working with wire because it's so versatile - alone, it can be twisted and turned into so many shapes and designs...add a few beads and you've got a unique work of art!
So to get you started on wire, here are a few projects that even beginners can easily master. Have fun!
Simple Dangle EarringsSimple Wire RingLampwork Wire RingLabels: 30-minute projects, beaded jewelry, beginning jewelry making, earrings, Hobby Lobby, michael's, ring, wire working
Friday, February 08, 2008
The BIG Announcement!
Wow, I'm so excited!
Beading Help Web's next Big Deal is up and ready for you! If you LOVE our projects, but don't have time to shop, you can now purchase everything you need in a single kit, complete with instructions.
We're starting out with one of our most popular projects -
Amanda Earrings! Sparkly, sexy, fun, and elegant...in trendy Colorado Topaz and Light Rose Swarovski crystals. Special intro pricing for the entire kit is just $9.99, with FREE shipping!!! Simply click on the button at the bottom of the
project page, and you'll be directed to place your order through Beading Help Web's parent company: Consumer Help Web. Within a short time, you'll have everything you need (tools not included) to make these gorgeous earrings for yourself!
Check back as we'll be offering more kits soon...plans are in the works for more of our great projects to take the plunge!
Labels: Amanda earrings, earrings, kits, Swarovski
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Wire Coiled Earrings and Pendant
One of the things I like best about learning a lot of jewelry-making techniques is that I can switch between working with
PMC one day, wire work the next, and make a quick stringing project the next day. I also find that I start almost craving working with certain techniques if I haven't done them in some time.
Earlier this week, I really wanted to do some wire work, specifically coiling, and tried something new when making this pendant and earring set.
Usually, when I coil, I create the base form first, then coil my thinner wire around the form, adding beads to the coil as I go. While this technique works well for larger pieces, smaller forms (like my earrings, which are less than the size of a US dime) get tight, and the coils aren't as consistent as I'd like.
With this project, instead of coiling directly on the form, I used a section of straight wire in the same gauge as my forms. I coiled 26g wire, adding beads every 5 coils, making sure that the beads were all on the same side of the coil. I had measured the forms to find out how long the coil needed to be, and when the coil was long enough, I slipped it off the straight piece of wire and onto the curved form.
You do have to be very careful not to crush or distort the coil when removing it or putting it on the form. Using a slight twisting motion will help, as will holding on to one end of the form with a pliers after the entire coil has been slipped on the form.
After completing the coiling and finishing up the wire work, these pieces were
oxidized, using
Liver of Sulfur.
Labels: coiling, earrings, jewelry making, Liver of Sulfur, oxidizing, pendant, wire working
