Chaos Earrings: Before and After

I wrote about the Chaos Earrings in an earlier post and this week made several more in preparation for a show this weekend in Omaha, Nebraska. I usually make them one at a time, but wanted to be able to work while watching the Vikings game on Sunday, so I did all the prep work for several pairs of earrings in the morning before the game. I thought the resulting bundle of wire and gemstones was quite attractive!

Chaos Earrings

I began making this style of earring last winter on a whim, almost, and have become quite enamored of the style. I make the frames by soldering (yes!) a ring of wire (18 or 20 gauge) and then shape it into a teardrop shape. The bottom of the teardrop is then wrapped - chaotically, for me at least - with 26 gauge wire on which I've strung a variety of gemstones. Both ends of each piece of 26 ga. wire are balled with a torch. The top photo shows a pair made with faceted carnelian, red agate rounds, and faceted "pineapple" quartz. The most recent ones I made, shown below, were done specifically for a monthly challenge being run for members of the Minnesota etsy Street Team, in recognition of October as Breast Cancer Awareness month. This pair is packed with freshwater pearls, faceted rose quartz, and faceted pink sapphires. I really like how they turned out and am inspired to make a companion pendant and necklace. I should have time to work on that next week and will post photos when finished!

Both of these earrings, and others, should be posted in my etsy shop by the end of today (Wednesday)!

Spring Mix of Pearls

I made this set last weekend and find, again, that I adore these pieces!  This is the first time I have done a nearly random mix of stones (three colors of freshwater pearls, in this case) in the Viking knit section.  I wish that I also had different sizes of each color so that I could have the piece larger in the center than at the sides.  I find it immensely difficult, however, to find pearls that are of the same dye lot that are in different sizes, and more specifically, in smaller sizes.  I need pearls that range from 2 mm to 5 mm.  I can find white pearls more easily so I am considering the possibility of dying my own pearls.  Has anyone done this?

The other new thing about this necklace is the hook and eye.  Well, the eye portion, really.  I needed to make sure the eye was truly secure, so I soldered it closed.  Nothing earth-shattering, to be sure, but a new addition for me!

I already know what the next two (TWO!) necklaces will be; I have had the pearls for months and now know that I was waiting for this design to emerge.  I also think I shall make matching bracelets.

Turquoise Set

I made this set last week and used my new photo studio set-up for the photography. I must admit that I am thrilled, THRILLED, with the result. I think I am getting close to figuring out how to configure my lights in order to get this look. I have two more photos of older work ready to post, but I think I will spread it out over the next few days, so come back to see the pretties!!

This necklace is 5-stitch Viking knitting with the turquoise chips worked into the weave. I didn't make it long enough, and so had to add the links on the ends. I thought the result would be awful, but I find that I like the effect.

Tutorial for Viking Knitting

After the crazy show schedule of November (three four-day shows in a row is exhausting), I thought that my life would slow down. Silly me! After I returned home from Chicago, I had to readjust to being home, which meant grocery shopping, cleaning the house (both abandoned in early October), and retrieving my pets from their gracious hosts (Thank you Darcy, Paul, and Audrey!). Then came Thanksgiving cooking! Strange to think that was only last week! Since last Friday I have spent about 70 hours working on the computer, updating the website, writing a tutorial, taking photos, uploading photos, editing photos in Photoshop, continuing to work on the tutorial, updating the website again, taking and editing more photos, and preparing a portfolio for a professional art consultation. It really does feel like the past week has lasted an entire month.


The tutorial on which I have been working so hard is on the Viking knit technique. I have been wanting to put this together since last August, but well, if you've read this far you know why it hasn't been done. I finally got it done, however, and I must say that I think I succeeded in making it the most detailed and comprehensive tutorial on the technique in existence. The document has nearly 80 photos of every (EVERY) step, including how to get started, various stitch patterns, dealing with mistakes, how to maintain an even distribution of stitches, two ways to finish chains, and a short project (hoop earrings) that can be worked up quickly. It is the next best thing to actually taking a class from me. You can find the tutorial (for $10) at either JewelryLessons.com or on my website. Way cheaper than a class! If you have been intrigued by Viking knitting, I invite you to check it out. If you have taken a class already, but didn't have much success with the technique, this tutorial may help you succeed. I have been working extensively with the Viking knit technique for nearly seven years, and feel my years of experience and experimentation make me qualified to present this tutorial. Check out my website and see if you don't agree!

Posted by Jan Raven on http://wovenwire.blogspot.com. If you are seeing this on MakingWireJewelryBlog.com, know that this content is being lifted without permission or attribution to the real author (me!). Unethical at best and possibly a violation of copyright and of U.S. law (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act). If you really want to learn how to make wire jewelry, please go to JewelryLessons.com and support actual artists!

Hammered Hearts Earrings

I subscribe to two magazines that contain jewelry projects, Step-by-Step Wire and Art Jewelry Magazine, and I while I study the articles, I rarely do any of them. Here is an exception. The Summer Preview 2008 issue of Step-by-Step Wire had a nice project by Sharilyn Miller that I finally played with this week. I found immediately that I didn't like the way the heart shape as she made it flowed into the earring hook portion, so I substituted my current method for making fibula pins. I also did a lot more hammering of the heart shape.

The leaf background shows the strange way my sugar maple is turning this year. I have never seen this pattern of green/yellow/orange/red in a single leaf before. These beautiful leaves are dropping from a single branch of my tree; the rest of the tree is still dark green. Go figure!

Posted by Jan Raven on http://wovenwire.blogspot.com. If you are seeing this on MakingWireJewelryBlog.com, know that this content is being lifted without permission or attribution to the real author (me!). Unethical at best and possibly a violation of copyright and of U.S. law (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act). If you really want to learn how to make wire jewelry, please go to JewelryLessons.com and support actual artists!

Tornado Hoops with Turquoise

These are my version of a pair of earrings I admired on JewelryLessons.com. The artist's version is full of color and utterly delicious; I love them. I don't have many small gemstone rounds or rondelles right now, however, so I used some of the smallest turquoise chips that I have. The silver was oxidized then buffed. This is also the first time I have made closed hoops. I have no idea why it has taken me so long!

Project Three-Shelf Earrings

I didn't care much for the Shelf Pendant in Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet, but I could see earrings quite clearly, so that is what I did. I love how these turned out! I did a strange thing when applying a heat patina to the copper: I applied the butane torch flame horizontally to the copper sheet (as opposed to perpendicular) and then I quenched the metal in the nearest source of water, my cat's water dish. I suspect the organic material in the water caused the interesting green flashes of color. I don't really know if that is true, but I do know that the coloring on this pair of earrings is more interesting than for Project Two! I could actually read about applying a heat patina, but so far just playing with it is kind of fun!

The silver is Argentium, so no fire scale or need for flux when balling the ends of the wire. The twisted wires at the top are scraps from other projects which I pulled out of the refining bin.

Working through the projects in this book is distracting me from getting ready for my Oct-Nov show schedule! Must pace myself.....but it is so fun to explore new techniques!!!

Project Two-Folded Earrings

I actually began the Jewelry Challenge with this project, and not the Spinner Pendant. The copper sheet could have been heat-treated to make nice colors a bit more, but I am still learning! Anyone who is a fan of Battlestar Galactica might recognize something familiar about the front flaps....leave me a comment if you know what it is! The pearls (3/earring) were put together on headpins months ago for a design that didn't work out; they've been sitting on my desk ever since, waiting for their moment. I think the space I left inside the fold is a bit too small, but on the other hand, they ARE extremely cute. In fact, I am wearing them right now! I made the earwires a bit more "creatively" than I usually do, and I quite like them.

I have decided that they look like tiny purses with treasure tucked inside.