How to Make a Wire Danish Love Knot - Free Tutorial

I owe many thanks to Blue Forest Jewellery for this wonderful and informative tutorial!  I've been searching the internet for clear instructions on how to make the infamous "Love Knot" also known as the "Danish Knot" and today, I found it!  Please, take the time to visit this delightful and talented artist.

This is the link to Blue Forest Jewellery's blog and the tutorial:
 http://blueforestjewellery.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/handmade-monday-how-to-make-danish-love.html ...
This is a link to Blue Forest Jewellry's Etsy store:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlueForestJewellery

I spent the morning creating these and wanted to share the measurements with you because I came to find that getting those 'right' for a nice tight, clean looking bead, took the most time.  After that, it was just a  matter of great patience :))

Click each image to enlarge

For these 10mm  knots, I used 
22 gauge, dead soft, bronze jewelry wire
5 mm mandrel
each coil contains 5 loops, between each cut
3 coils per bead



For these "20" mm knots, I used
20 gauge, dead soft, bronze jewelry wire
10 mm mandrel
each coil contains 8 loops, between each cut
3 coils per bead

You'd think the math would work out to be 10 loops per coil, but when I tried that, the coils were simply too tight to get linked together.  The bead you see on the left contains 8 loops each, between the cuts, while the on the right contains 7 loops between each cut end.  You'll notice that the one on the right, while it doesn't look bad, is definitely not as tight or neat as the one on the left.  One extra loop per coil makes a difference, in my opinion.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy and again, I encourage you to give the Blue Forest Jewellery tutorial a try.

Learning to Weave Jewelry Wire - labradorite pendant

This beautiful labradorite stone has an amazing amount of electric blue flash when in natural light and I think is one of the most beautiful stones to work with.  Labradorite is called the stone of Magic and awakens mystical abilities and psychic powers.  It wards off negative energies and can be used as a form of 'protection' from ill will.   It brings the wearer a renewed energy for excitement and adventure.  I hope you enjoy the wire works I put to it and I hope you look for it in my etsy store... coming soon!  In the meantime, if you are interested in this piece specifically, please email me at izzyzgumbo@gmail.com

  Click the images to enlarge

Learning to Weave Wire - Latest Projects

I'm working the weaving into some new pendants, trying on a new 'style' if you will... I've enjoyed them and I hope you find inspiration in the images and I hope you enjoy the different wire wrapping techniques!  Try them all! ;)

Happy holidays.  The stone in the copper pendant is a fossil coral, one of my favorites and the coloring is natural.  The silver pendants contain a blue Kyanite stone and the other contains a red chalcedony gem.  Enjoy!  Soon to be in my etsy store... yes, I'm holding out until I get better at this ;)  Meantime, if you are interested in any of these specifically, email me at izzyzgumbo@gmail.com and let me know.

 
 

Learning to Weave Wire - A Healthy Apatite

Apatite is one of my most favorite stones, these have a beautiful deep electric blue color.  It's not commonly found in the jewelry world and is often misunderstood for being precious beryl, topaz or tourmaline and the word Apatite comes from the Greek word "apate", meaning "deceit" because it is so often confused as being something other than what it is.

It is known for it's positive powers to assist in achieving goals, it clears away confusion, apathy and negative thinking while stimulating the intellect to expand knowledge and truth.  It enhances creativity and flow of thought.  A beautiful stone to become familiar with.   I hope you enjoy the wire treatment I've put to it and I hope you look for them in my etsy store ;)

 

Learning to Weave Jewelry Wire - Mystic Faces

I've been busy the past few days trying to find creative ways to use this new technique I'm learning.  I have these wonderful porcelain faces that I thought I'd put to wire.. I think they turned out pretty well.  I hope you enjoy the view!  Look for them in my Etsy store. ;)


Click the images to enlarge

Cleaning Sterling Silver Jewelry Wire

So I moved and while my jewelry supplies were packed, much of the silver wire I use for wrapping took on a nasty tarnish... needless to say, I should have stored it better prior to moving, but such as life, I didn't.

An easy and chemical free way to clean silver wire is to use aluminum foil, baking soda, salt and hot water.
1.  Line a heat resistant pan or deep baking dish with aluminum foil, shiny side up.
2.  Boil a gallon or so of hot water and add a table spoon each of salt and baking soda.
3.  Pour the mixture into your foil lined pan and put your silver wire in, to soak.
4.  Make sure the silver wire is laying on or touching the aluminum foil for this to work.
5.  Remove the wire from the dish, run under tap water and give a light buff with paper towel.

While I'd like to say it took only seconds and that the wire came out 'perfectly clean'... truth is, depending on how tarnished your wire is, this might take up to 10 minutes of soaking time and for best results on some deep tarnish, it might take repeating the process after the toughest layers are removed.  Provided you have patience to do this, it works quite well and best of all, cost next to nothing and doesn't use a nasty chemical cleaner.

Here are some images for reference.  Enjoy and remember, you can also clean your silver jewelry this way, provided it doesn't contain any natural stones that might be damaged by the heat or treatment.  This is also great for tarnished findings that are hard to use paste cleaners on ;)

  compare!

Learning to Weave Wire - Egyptian Choker

I have to say, I love this piece.  Using the techniques I shared in the previous posts, along with some wire sculpting, I created this simple pendant, encircling the focal bead with a three and two loop weave and coiling.  Adding porcelain green beads and matching red accents on wire links, I think this makes a great choker.  The simple clasp finding, I also created myself.

I hope you enjoy the images and  that they inspire you in your wire craft.
I might come back with some simple tips on wire sculpting as well as creating your own findings.  Click the images to enlarge.

Yeah... you notice right, I changed up the bead combinations a bit and added some silver foil glass beads near the focal bead and at the ends.  Makes for a great accent. ;))