Week 42-Lampwork and CZ pendants

I took a few days off from jewelry-making this week and it actually felt good to let my self relax and just read a book for a change. But I do have Christmas shows starting in a couple of weeks so yesterday I was back to work. These are made with lampwork beads by Brenda Hynes of Dancing Hedgehog Studio, lots of 26 gauge wire, and a cubic zirconia dangle. Thanks for visiting.

Week 41-Edwardian Period

I'm a little behind. I've been so busy lately with preparations for classes and restocking for Christmas shows that I haven't made many new things. The theme for this week was the Edwardian period. These have a vintage feel so I think they fit the theme. They're created in sterling silver with cubic zirconia drops for some bling.

Week 40-Druzy Pendants

I have a strand of these fun little druzy beads but they're 1/4" thick so traditional wire wrapping wouldn't work with them. I would end up with a gazillion wires at the top to deal with. So the idea for the woven bezel came from Dianne Karg Baron's celtic band ring. People are loving druzy right now and I get comments every time I wear this so I wanted to make something that would be saleable in a reasonable price range. So the new ones are set in slerling silver stamped and soldered bezels. I have them available in my Artfire and Etsy shops.

Week 39-Bowline Knot Pendant

This is something that I was playing around with this weekend while I was at a show. I have seen this knot tied with a single wire before but I wanted to try it with two wires woven together. I'm always impressed at how Corra can manipulate wire into knots and I wanted to see if this was doable. My problem was I had a picture of a bowline knot but didn't really know how to tie it. Fortunately the wire forgave me and I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. The wire is 20 gauge and 26 gauge and I used a 6mm snapset on the end. The total length is 1 5/8".

Week 38-Bead Crochet Bangle

I have to start by saying that I am not a beader. I truly am in awe of what some folks are able to create with seed beads but I never thought I had the patience. But I bought a tutorial from Studio Dax thinking I might be able to do it, and I sat down the other night to tackle it. The jig is genius. I had no trouble starting it or following the directions. I admit I did rip out more than a few rows when I ended up with a wonky bead or two sticking out. That was in no way the fault of Randi's instructions. That was me not insuring that the new bead was on top of the previous row. Once I figured that out, it went smoothly. I chose to make a bracelet with a clasp which is one of the variations that Randi gives in the tutorial and I love the result.

Week 37-Wigjig Earrings

The earrings weren't exactly made on a wigjig but I did make the loopy trim around these on a Wigjig Delphi. Bigger holes so much easier to attach than chain. The frames are 16 gauge wire that was soldered, then shaped and hammered. The earwires on the labradorite pair were inspired by Sheridan of Joslin Jewels. The posts on the apatite and amethyst pair were connectors. I cut off one of the rings and soldered a post on the back. I liked the way they echoed the loopy pattern of earrings.

Week 36-A Tale of Two Pendants

When I started to wrap this 20x30mm black CZ, I messed up on the first attempt and got the prongs too far apart. That afternoon this neat 32x15mm pyrite included quartz came in the mail from Greatcabochons.com. I pulled the first piece out of my scrap and used it to do sort of a combo wrap on the quartz. I think it turned out kind of cool. I love it when I can salvage pieces out of my scrap box.