The Beading Gem

I really love finding adjustable ring tutorials.  It's the only way to go to maximise the chances of handmade rings fitting the greatest number of people!  I simply love this adjustable wire wrapped focal ring tutorial by Rena over on her blog, the Jewelry Making Journal. It resembles the ever popular wire wrapped ring design except that the ring band is open. Clever!

Dandelion clocks are much more fun safely encased in resin than out in the garden getting their seeds blown all over the place!  The clocks are easy enough to find.  Drying them was a piece of cake too as you can see from the previous tutorial on how to dry flowers with inexpensive crystal cat litter.  I also shared some tips on how to embed dried flowers in resin as well as how to use bezels.

Making real dandelion and flower resin jewelry is not technically difficult.  But as they say, one learns by doing. I was inspired to try by Shireen Nadir (The Blue Brick), a Canadian resin jewelry artist I featured before.   In the previous tutorial, I experimented with using silica gel - crystal cat litter - to dry dandelion clocks and flowers. The next stage is embedding the dandelion and flowers in resin and finally turning them into jewelry.

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The Little Windows' large cabochon mold (which I received for review) can be used to generate a whole bunch of round resin cabochons in different sizes.  I thought dried dandelion clocks and flowers embedded in these half spherical shapes will capture them in 3D fashion as opposed to flat pressed flower creations.

Waxed linen cord is not a popular material for jewelry making.  But one artisan who makes really lovely and colorful waxed linen jewelry is fellow Canadian, Leslie Howchin of Moth Jewelry.  She makes mostly bracelets with multiple cords, adorned with different buttons, beads and other metal accents.

A lot of the excitement for last week's fabulous giveaway from Elements of Antiquity came from readers who love the antiqued look. The pewter designs were right up Aurora López Cancino's street. She explained, "I am an archaeologist, so her products are just my cup of tea :-)". She recently bought 4 connectors and a pendant from Suzette and was able to make a beautiful necklace with blue pearls which she called Atlantis.

Fran Valera of Little Windows is back with another fabulous resin jewelry supplies giveaway and a special discount for all (see below)! This time I got a chance to review one of their latest products - a large round silicon cabochon mold which yields many half spheres of different sizes.  It's just one of a number of great products from Little Windows.

There is an absolutely necessary step when working with leather strip bracelets (those which do not use glue-on end caps. Usually a rivet is used to hold the folded over leather together.  But not everyone wants to rivet. So check out this clever tutorial by Caroline Dewison over on Art Jewelry Elements where she used headpins instead of rivets to finish leather bracelets.

With Halloween just days away, you might want to whip up a pair of quick earrings so you are rarin' to go for some ghoulish fun.  This easy wire wrapped spider web earrings video tutorial is by Abbi Berta of The Bead Place (they sell the kits for this too). It is important to use the right gauge wire for this project - hard wire for the spokes and soft for the wrapping.  The hard wire spokes are less likely to bend.

My jewelry making friend Aims and I have had a long standing discussion on whether ball chains cheapen jewelry designs.  I, for one, like ball chain. I wear them and I have seen others do so. There is something delicate about them. You also see them used a lot on selling sites like Etsy. Aims herself used them....until this year.

Resin Dragon Pendant Necklace with Ball Chain

Last week's giveaway of Kassie Shaw's Beadweaving Beyond the Basics book attracted both beginners as well as those who love the right angle weave stitch.  The author being left-handed herself added many tips for lefties which was certainly appreciated by a number of readers.  Danielle hoped to win and added , "I know a young left hander who is learning too." 

Making your own bails surely ups the ante on unique jewelry designs.  I usually make them from wire but I did have enormous fun designing a square knotted one for this tagua bead and button pendant a while ago. So you can imagine my delight when I came across this tutorial by Fabienne over on the Terra Deffa blog, a  simple but beautiful leather bail for polymer clay pendants.

You've got to admit sometimes components, like plain discs, are simply underwhelming. Especially if there is no other redeeming element like texture or shimmering colors.  Check out Italian beader, Sara Spolltore's easy peasy solution with her video tutorial on how to cover a plain disc with beadwork.

There are many jewelry designers who do beautiful work. But only a few excel at creating amazing work which stands out above the crowd. Romanian artist, Alina, of Rocktime on Etsy, excels at wire wrapped ear cuff artistry! It is an incredible niche as she makes wire work creations which delight not only  people who appreciate her skills but draws in people who like nature, steampunk and fantasy.

Wire work is daunting to some.   But fear not!  It is a very sculptural technique which improves with practice and with the aid of good instructions.  Last week's giveaway for a most encouraging and doable class,  Kathy Frey's Dimensional Wire Wrapping Techniques Class. Kathy is a superb teacher.

Suzette Bentley of North Carolina had a life long dream of becoming an entrepreneur. But she never really attempted to realize her goal until after she got into jewelry making, a creative niche she enjoyed. Her creations were inspired by her interests in nature, antiques and in people. Soon she wanted to design the kind of components which appealed to her.  It didn't take long to move to the next step which is to offer the same creative possibilities to others.  And Elements of Antiquity was born.

Elements of Antiquity Giveaway

Wire wrapped rings tutorials are always popular!  So here is a collection of my favorites from Instructables. First up is the traditional style ring tutorial by a wonderful wire artist, Rhonda Chase. The use of square wire and the twisted wire accents do add to the design.

You could easily buy charms to make themed jewelry.  But why not craft them yourself using polymer clay?  One wonderful designer and instructor is Irina Ivanitskaya whose video tutorial for a polymer clay Halloween bracelet is a delight in more ways than one. A must see!

We can learn a lot from watching jewelry designers. Each has his or her own way of making jewelry. Australian artisan, Soham Harrison is one of those who shares many tips as he demonstrates how he makes his simple yet innovative designs.  In his first video tutorial, he shows how he makes his spinning hoop earrings.  It is a clever way of using short lengths of wire tubes. The hoops are soldered to these tubes which rotate freely around the bottom end of the ear wires.

Struggling to take decent jewelry photographs?  If so there are a few spots left for the next How to Photograph Jewelry Webinar which will be at 2pm EST on Sunday October 25.   The webinar teaches you about the different kinds of cameras and the most important settings you need to know so you can quickly get going. It also covers all sort of tips to get great pictures for your online shop and for promotion on social media.

Right angle weave (RAW) is one of the most versatile beadweaving stitches out there. It is also a very easy stitch suitable for beginners. I particularly love using two needles which allow the threads to "cross weave" through beads which makes the process quicker. But it can also be done with a single needle.  This weave is so named because the beads sit at right angles to each other, forming a square or diamond shape.

You've got to love it when beads just fit in the right way.  Check out this half tila circle beaded jewelry tutorial by Monica Lopez on Caravan Beads.  Two of the Miyuki seed beads on the outer curve just countered the single beads in the inner one.  Perfecto!

The biggest thing about handmade jewelry is the ability to make adornments not in the slightest bit like store bought ones.  And when the artisan can make miniature jewelry, my admiration grows. Paris based artisan HoKiou makes delightful miniature polymer clay dioramas underneath hand blown glass domes.

Many of you were indeed keen to use leather and were wowed by the different kinds featured on last week's Endless Leather giveaway.  Thanks too for the lovely comments about my designs. The stunning stainless steel findings did catch a number of eyes.

Wire is often termed as a sculptural medium.  It's not hard to see why with Kathy Frey's Dimensional Wire Wrapping Techniques Class over on Craftsy.  This wire artist teaches how to use wire to form 3D structures which add considerable body to bold, modern designs.

Thin bracelets with a single line of gemstones are called tennis bracelets.  They weren't known as tennis bracelets until Chris Evert, the US pro tennis player halted a match because her delicate diamond bracelet clasp had broken and she needed time to look for the missing bracelet.  (Update : apparently, this story is incorrect - the name tennis bracelet was already in use before that incident.)

If you like the look of narrow bracelets then these 3 tennis and skinny beaded bracelet tutorials are for you!

Beading does lend itself to some wonderful lace inspired designs if one has the time and patience. The three tutorials here remind me of handmade lace, tatting or crochet work. The first tutorial from biserok.org reminds me of old fashioned lace collars.  This tutorial does not need to be translated as there is a diagram. Not sure what is going on with the clasp area, though.

One of the most innovative wire jewelry artisans I have had the pleasure to come across is Andreea Boloiloi. The lead photo in the feature designer post about her wonderful work inspired this tutorial. What I did was to create a wire wrapped crystal leather necklace with crystals on both sides of the cord.  This contemporary style design is easy to do!

This post is so not for arachnophobes. But not to worry, this large bead and wire spider necklace need only come out for Halloween. The tutorial is by the folks over on Doodle Craft on Instructables. Not only is the beaded spider a spectacular focal but interestingly, it is dangled with chain from a beaded choker.

Sautoir necklaces are certainly trending.  This classic design has been around for well over a century. There are actually 2 styles of sautoirs - a rope kind with tassel ends which is simply knotted in the front. The long version with a focal and a tassel is what is popular today.  I had a go with making a sautoir before with adjustable chains.

It's not what you use but how you use that counts!  One artisan who demonstrates this is Velislava Dimova of Bulgaria. She is the designer behind Twine Jewel. She also has a shop on Dwanda.   The humble twine becomes lovely contemporary jewelry in her hands.  Her imaginative use of hemp combined with beads or leather is so unlike what others do!

Barbara Lewis's Torch-Fired Enameling: The Immersion Method class certainly intrigued readers! Some said they were more than willing to dive into torch fired enameling. For others, fans of her book, it was a chance to be taught by the instructor herself.

Endless Leather is really well named.  This Germany based company has an incredible array of European leather and cord in delicious colors, textures and patterns.  Rounds, flats, metallic, snakeskin effect - you name it, they probably have it. All superb quality items.  One lucky winner of this giveaway will find out for his or herself!

Magnetic clasps are wonderful - especially the really strong ones - but they also have their downside.  They stick to metallic objects and hey presto, your bracelet becomes undone! And not everyone can wear metal clasps either due to allergies or other skin reactions.  So Marion of Jewels in Fiber, who sells kumihimo bracelet kits, demonstrated in a series of blog posts how to bead a peyote tube to cover magnetic clasps. Problem solved.

Don't have time or prefer a simpler style of beaded necklace?  Then you should check out Bead Diagrams' tutorial for a lovely twin beaded necklace with a side drilled crystal focal.  Two needles with a combination of twin beads and 11/0 beads make short work of this design!

Wire wrapped bat jewelry is uncommon.  So I was especially delighted when I came across Jocelyn D.'s wonderful wire wrapped Halloween bat earrings tutorial over on Youtube. These are about 1 ¼ inch at the widest point i.e. wing tip to wing tip.  Well scaled for earrings but will need time and patience to make.  A really elegant pair to wear for Halloween!

It`s that time of year again.  The fall season running up to Christmas is the biggest time for year for jewelry makers.  So if you are one of those taking part in craft fairs, check out this quick and easy wire work earrings display tutorial. It is by UK artisan Donna of Delicate Sparkles.