I was totally charmed when I came across Leonardo Martinez's video on Youtube on how to make funky art bead and wire earrings. That's because he used a cell phone as a mandrel! The cell phone has a great shape that's perfect for making wire wrapped frames. Pendants would be better unless you love big earrings.


I was so inspired I went around the house looking for other gadgets to experiment with. A remote for a fan and an iPod nano (2nd generation) also became mandrels as you can see from my trial frames above using 20G colored copper wire. The iPod makes small enough frames for earrings.




Here are some additional pointers :

Make sure you are using completely smooth wire. Any preexisting kinks are harder to remove after you form the frame. Nylon jawed pliers are indispensable.

If you are using a cell phone, avoid the buttons (if any) at the side of the phone. Also press the wire against the cell phone body and mold it around the four corners to set them.
Rather than twisting the wires together at the top like he did, you could make one of the wires perpendicular at the midway point using your chain nose pliers.

Then make a horizontal "hook" with the other wire so you can link them both together before doing a wrapped loop. This is a fine silver frame (99% silver) on the left. If you look at the middle gold tone frame in the first picture, you'll notice I moved the top wires closer together so the frame is no longer rectangular.

Once you have your frames, you are ready for some wire wrapping fun.  I used the cell phone frame to make this Tree of Life variation (check my past tutorial post on Tree of Life pendant for further details).


But my favorite has to be this fancy jasper pea pod pendant because it was made with the iPod!! Get it?


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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips