Cheryl St Pierre's lovely wire swirl and pearl earrings tutorial caught my eye.  At first glance, I wondered how she managed to get the pearls into what is a 20 G wire design! As you know, the holes in pearls are tiny!  A closer look revealed a clever integration of fine wire to hold the pearls in place!

I like how she worked both earrings together to ensure a mirror image and even designs.

One suggestion for beginners - try holding the wrap wire close to the work. This reduces unwanted wire kinks. This instructor is experienced in wire work so she is able to hold the wrap wire further away.

Cheryl doesn't show how to patina the copper wire .  If you wish to do so, I suspect dunking the earrings quickly into Gun Blue (see link below) will work. I've tried doing this successfully to other porous gemstones like turquoise but I have not actually tested it on pearls. (Makes note to self for a future post!)

Gun Blue is a lot easier and less smelly to use than liver of sulfur. The copper will turn dark in just a few seconds. Rinse well and then use #0000 steel wool to shine up the copper leaving the recesses darker.



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