Apatite in the Cage

I bought an apatite as an amulet and I was looking for a way to wear it.

I twisted a wire, inserting a toothpick every few turns. I flattened it with a pair of round pliers. The same I did with the rest of the wire which would make the cage.

However, the wire was then fragile and I had like five messed tries before it finally didn't crack. 

I couldn't flatten the wire around the upper eyelet and at the ends that connect the cage wire toghether. These were the words places where it always broke during shaping.

The apatite necklace for good communication :-)

Wire Wrapping Adventure

I've been looking at wire wrapped jewelry pictures for a while and today, while procrastinating from other work, I finally found time to try out one myself.

Plus I'd made a copper bracelet recently and had nothing to match it with.

I chose a great beginner tutorial. I thought it would be tough, but it was quite a lot of fun instead, especially the wrapping :-)

I used a 0.8 mm wire that I bought in bead store and a really thin wire from an inductor.

The pendant looked a little wierd on a black cord, so I created a chain as well. Just figures eight, easy as it sounds, and it looks almost like a regular chain. I copied the fastening style from the bracelet. It's funny not to have to depend on bought components...

For the earrings, I made a little spiral, then I bent the wire a few millimeters from the spiral and threaded the bead on. I bent the wire along the top and made a loop. Earring hooks are made from the same wire. It's just important to file the ends. Even though I always turn the pliers to cut the wire with the less slanted part of blade, there is still always some sharpness left.

Wedding Earrings

A friend of mine is getting married on Friday - and I have golden dress but no jewelery. The wedding should be in white, yellow and gold.

The earrings are not very individualistic - I saw the design in the shop where I got the wings. They're very simple - just put a drop, wings and pearl to the little nail and make a loop at the end.

The necklace is more interesting - I was working with the crimps for the first time. I put one of them to each side of the pendant to hold it in place. Then I took the flat part of pliers and squished them flat. Crimps are also used to hold the fastening - they should be pressed really strong.
I measured the distances and drew with a permanent marker. I threaded all the beads to both sides, attached the fastening and then used the crimps again to hold the beads.

The little heart between each pair of wings is so cute for the wedding :-)

Wire Loops Necklace

I like this technique which shamely I don't know the name of in English, just in my language :-) It's used to make rosaries, maybe wire wrapping beads or something like this.
For the beginning, this is how I make the basic loop.

I make a loop, then a sharp break at the end and then I repair the loop to be symmetrical. This way I prepared stones with loops at both ends.

 Another component is a plain wire one.

 I make a small loop with the end of the pliers, then I add bigger loops made at the middle of the pliers. No templates, no need for them at all, just use the same parts of pliers every time.

Alternating the components, I added a red ball to the middle. I love it, but it's not very practical, this component is an eye candy and if it shifts from the middle of my neck, it doesn't look so good.