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)!

Copper and Silver Riveted Heart Pin

Last winter (!) I attended an online workshop with Robert Dancik on making cold connections -- wire and tube rivets, among other techniques. It was great and I was fired up to try something new. I also bought a jewelers saw (finally) and sheet silver and copper to add to my stash. I worked away on a heart shaped pin and then completely lost my momentum. So it languished for 8 months, needing ONLY two rivets to finish it. I even saw it every day! Still, it sat there. Until today! I finished the rivets and polished it up (well, I want the scratchy matte finish, actually) and here it is with all it's imperfections.

I had originally envisioned the center portion as being more of a regular weave, but was having a hard time engineering the attachment, so I just put a bunch of bends in a long length of silver wire with round nose pliers. I cut both heart shapes with my new saw and did not break a single blade, so I guess my years of experience with a carpenter's coping saw paid off! The rivets were meant to be flush on both sides, but I did not do a good job of drilling through the silver without reaming out the hole, making it too big for the 16 ga. wire, so I balled the wire for the silver side instead. I think I like it better. The weakest part of the entire piece, in my mind, is the latch mechanism. I did this last January and right now I don't know what I was thinking! Fortunately, this piece is mine and I don't mind how the back appears, I just know it looks good on a sweater!

Viking knit bracelets

Well, it certainly has been a while, hasn't it?!?  I began making these bracelets over a month ago and have only just now gotten around to posting them!  They are basically miniature versions of the necklaces I made earlier this year.  They look rigid and triangular, but actually sit comfortably on the wrist.  The Viking knit portion stays on top of your arm and the other segments are strung on flexible Accuflex wire that curves around the wrist.  They are easy to put on by yourself and stay put once on.   I am having a hard time deciding which one I want for myself!

More Heart Pins

I love my new photo studio so much I want to take new pictures of everything! Here are some wire heart pins, made with 16 and 20 gauge Argentium silver wire. One has been oxidized. The first pin I made like this was back in December. I feel like there are too many spirals, so I am going to try something new for the next one. I will post a photo, of course!

Viking Knit Necklace with Woven Links

I am using my new photography studio to take photos of some work I did in January. This piece is definitely one of my favorites, so much so that I may need to keep it for myself. The center piece is 5-stitch Viking knitting with faceted rounds and rondelles of Spinel and Onyx. I made the two side links by fusing Argentium sterling silver into oval shapes that formed the frame for the weaving. The chains at the top are 4-stitch Viking knitting in the same mesh pattern that I use for the centerpiece. The one thing I would do differently next time is to make the center section a bit shorter, so that the links are more visible, and to weave the spinel rounds onto both sides of the the links so that there is no "right" side or "wrong" side. I just love this piece!!

A Tale of Two Hearts

The most recent issue of Art Jewelry Magazine contained a small teaser for the next issue, which will feature a simple wirework heart pin by Sharilyn Miller. I don't usually recreate any magazine projects, but I HAD to make this pin. And I had to make it for Christmas! As usual, I used the photo as a guide and made my own version with no further instruction.

I wanted to post these photos when I finished making the pin on the 24th, but didn't want to ruin the surprise just in case the intended recipient decided to read my blog on Christmas eve (Hi Mary!). I am sure I'll make another (or three or four) when the March issue comes out.

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!

My First Rivets

The title for this post sounds like the title for a children's book, which I think is appropriate since my first project made me jump up and down with child-like glee. I couldn't bear to wait for my new tools to arrive, so I rummaged around to see what I could do with what I had. Basically, I have a lot of wire and a lot of construction materials.

I found a scrap of thin wood, drew a somewhat random pattern, and cut out the rough shape using a coping saw. I dragged out my new and unused Dremel with a flexshaft attachment, added a sanding drum, and had a blast refining the wood shape. I wanted to try putting some flush rivets of copper in the wood base, but decided I better just start with an ordinary rivet with mushroom heads.

My woodworking dowels have an interesting spiral groove (for holding glue). I resisted the urge to lay in some wire (too obvious for now), and decided to rivet this to my wood base after flattening the bottom on sandpaper first. I had issues attaching the dowel to the base. I wanted to use 14 gauge copper wire (that is all I have) with a balled head on top of the bare wood, but I could not get the copper to ball up. I switched to Argentium wire (balls up just fine), then decided the color contrast with copper would be nice, meaning making copper "washers," and why use plain copper when heat-treated copper yields such nice red-pick colors? So my washers are randomly shaped pieces of heat-treated 28 gauge copper sheet. They kind of look like leather.



My drill bit died, so I couldn't drill holes in the copper, but I managed to make holes by using an awl to deform the sheet, file down the bulge, push out again with the awl, file again. This worked extremely well! I love creative problem-solving!! The part of the project that made me jump up and down was the tube rivet at the top. This was just the coolest thing ever! I think these will start showing up in my work.

I have been "absorbing" information about riveting for several months now, but I have to thank three sources for finally pushing me to actually try it: craftcast.com, Robert Dancik, and Janice Fowler. Craftcast.com hosted the live online workshop with Robert Dancik that I wrote about yesterday, and last week I bought a very nice tutorial on tube rivets from metalsmith, Janice Fowler. All great sources!!

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!

Woven Set

Just showing a set. The earrings are based on some doodling in a sketchbook, the pin followed, and I made a pendant last week. I don't know why I love the earring shape so much, but I do. I also really enjoy this weaving pattern; very mesmerizing.

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.

Project One-Spinner Necklace

A few days ago I said I had some new work to post, and here it is. Last week I got the new book by Mary Hettmansperger, Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet, which is all about using wire, sheet metal, and cold connections. While the work in the book has a very different "feel" from the work I do now, I find it compelling. My work tends to be very orderly, controlled, and symmetrical; I want to push myself to create with a little less order, and to explore new avenues. It just so happens that right after getting the book I stumbled upon Deryn Mentock's blog, and the jewelry challenge she is involved in to work through the projects in Mary's book. Great!! I am thrilled to participate, so here is my first project.

I have actually used five different metals for this project. The gold-color discs are brass. The large square has been textured with a ball pein hammer, while the front round has been domed with a dapping block. The silver-color triangle is galvanized steel flashing (I have lots of that from my days in construction!); I will be buying silver sheet later this week. The steel has been textured with an awl. The spacers between the large discs are copper coils, the Bali beads are sterling silver, and finally, the silver coils and the main wire are Argentium silver.

This was fun! You'll notice, however, that I still felt compelled toward bilateral symmetry....

Look What I Found!!

I was rummaging around my cluttered basement last night and found this guy! I made this years and years ago, way before I ever made any jewelry! You see, it all started with just playing around with iron wire. I forgot about this lizard, but now he will sit on top of my computer.

Some Eye Candy

I keep thinking about posting, but life get so amazingly busy, that it drops off the end of the "to do" list. I have some new work to post, but no photos yet, so in the mean time, enjoy the Eye Candy!! Honestly, the gemstones look like real candy!!

Viking Knit set with green pearls

Here are the Viking knit pieces that won me First in Jewelry at the Amish Acres Arts and Crafts Fair, as I posted earlier. The necklace came first, and I originally intended to have all the smaller, darker green pearls to the outside and the larger, lighter green pearls together in the center of the piece, a graduation in size as I usually do with white pearls. Before I began weaving, however, the pearl strands sat around on my work table and while absentmindedly playing with them I saw the alternating size/color option and decided I might like that better. And I sure do like it better!

The bracelet also represents the first bracelet of this type. I have never liked bracelets made using the Viking weave, mostly because the weave naturally wants to stick out straight at the ends, making it extremely difficult to operate any kind of latch or hook. This open weave is a bit more forgiving, and the large "signature" hooks that I make allow one person (me, as the resident product tester) to hook the bracelet with one hand. It is definitely a bit trickier than my other bracelets, but still doable. These look nice on the arm and -Bonus!- the hook looks cool too so it doesn't really matter which side is showing.

Crazy about the spirals

Last week I was crazy about spirals, coiling, and weaving. The pair with the woven wire frames and a drop (beautiful AAA grade Amethyst marquise briolettes) has been floating around in my sketchbook for about a year. I thought the brios would sway when the earring is on, but they don't and I'm not entirely sure why; they can move freely but seem to largely stay put. This is good as they are less likely to become caught in hair. I leave some of these bright, but all the ones shown here have been oxidized and then polished to highlight the texture. These are lightweight and fun to wear and fun to make!

Bulky Viking knit necklace

Earlier this spring I finally made a piece I had been thinking of for quite a while. I have made Viking knit chains in which I strung a strand of seed beads, so that the color of the beads comes through in a subtle fashion. I had a strand of large faceted rondelles of amethyst, citrine, and ametrine which needed just the right project, and I had been wanting to put them into a Viking knit chain, but as I said, the rondelles were LARGE. Up to 1.5cm for the largest. I realized one day that the perfect mandrel for this project was a cut up pool cue that I use for making Turk's head rings (learned from Loren Damewood). First I had to choose the size I wanted to make the chain on the graduated pool cue. As you can see, this meant starting the chain in the middle of one of my pieces of pool cue. Very tricky!! The other photos show the work as it progresses, and the final necklace. I have to say that after all that work I am somewhat disappointed in the result. It did not occur to me (why not??) that the gemstones were not dark enough to show through the way I envisioned. The result is interesting, but a little TOO subtle. I am not sure what I am going to do with this piece yet.

FYI: The Viking knit chain is woven with 60 feet of 26 gauge Argentium silver, and took an elapsed time of 4.5 hours spread out over 5 days. The gemstones are strung on Accu-flex beading wire.

Actually, now that I am looking a bit more impassively at the photo, the colors come through just fine and I like the effect. Just goes to show that your expectations can affect your perceptions!

Playing with the Soumak weave

I have come across several examples of the Soumak weave (a tapestry weaving technique) applied to fine wire, most notably by Barbara Berk. I love the patterns formed and tried it, first with some simple earrings and then with a bangle bracelet. The bracelet took several hours spread out over three days, since there is only just so much hand-coiling the hands can withstand at any one time! I began work on a large neckwire to match, but ran out of steam/time to work on it mid-way through. I'll probably finish it some time in September and will post a photo then.

Keep it Simple...

Sometimes it pays to keep things simple. I keep a sketchbook around and will draw specific ideas, and sometimes just doodles of shapes. Earlier this spring I was having a slow Sunday at an indoor craft show and was bored with the work I had brought, so I opened up my sketchbook to look through ideas I had sketched months ago, and I found a page full of simple spirals. Hey, why not?! So I made some earrings and I loved them! They are super lightweight and cute, plus they dance nicely (especially when actually dancing!). I made a few more, each one slightly different than the last. Turns out that these ultra simple shapes are popular and I continually sell out of these earrings. Fortunately, I am finding them fun to make. Of course, it is not in my nature to just leave the design, such as it is, alone, and have begun to explore new uses of this simple spiral, such as the three pendants shown. The bail is a fused ring of Argentium silver.

I have a sketch incorporating spiral links and viking knitting; I am just waiting to have some more "free" time to fully explore new ideas. This probably will not occur until September as my weekends are full of shows until then