New Beaded and Wire Wrapped Earrings

Okay, I TOLD you I did something more than eat this holiday weekend right??? ;) Click to enlarge any of the images and excuse my poor photography.. I try.

These are a pair of beautiful Chalcedony drops which I strung up with oodles of Iolite chips and silver 1mm beads for some sparkle. They hang just about 2 inches long from the top of the earring hooks to the bottom of the beads. These and all of the new items below, are listed in my Etsy shop now, so please... DO SHOP! :)

These are fun for the holidays which I might be getting into the mood for. Normally, if you can believe...
I'm a 'Bahumbug'. Yes, true. ;)



My fave stones and some of the last that I have. These are some luscious Larimar drops in sterling silver. Hard to see in this image, but the stones are a bit 'deeper' then they appear here. There are four bands of 21g square wire around each of them. One secures the back, two wrap the sides and the first band secures the front of the stone. I'm not sure if I mentioned this for those new to wire, but ... many of us, I'd bet to say even most, secure the stones without adhesives. This is what makes them so wonderful to be hand made. The wire is the only thing holding them in place. To wrap a secure stone and make it attractive to show off the stone is always part of the goal for me. I've only been doing wire wrapped jewelry for the past couple of years off and on. I'm ready to get back into the groove of it and continue my learning. I added a link to JewelryLessons.com which I encourage you to check out! There are many wonderful, affordable tutorials there along with oodles of free tutorials provided by many wonderful artists. I hope to get my tutorial writing skills along with my wire techniques up to snuff enough to contribute there sometime soon. Meantime, mosey over and have a look. OH WAIT, go to my Etsy listing and shop for these amazing earrings first! lol! ;)



Amber's Twist...
Have I ever told you about liquid band aids? The best dang thing you will EVER discover if not. Wire people need this.. it's in the 'ouchy' section of the grocery store. Get the store brand it works just as well as the 'cost more' brand. I know this to be true. :)

Great for when you're a crazy wire worker and even when the fingers are poked, you continue...

Die hards we are!






This took hours and hours of loving care... most of these dangle bracelets do but they are so worth the time. I love the way they feel, the beads hanging in such a beautiful cluster at the wrist! I did the wire spirals myself which added all kinds of time to this, but... such as the pleasure of things. The spiral frames are done with hammered 18g sterling wire and then coiled in 26g sterling also. The beads are 1mm sterling silver and there are a mix of bali dangles and a Swarovski clasp. This Baltic Amber has a wonderful 'cognac' color which I think blends quite well with silver. It's a very 'rich' look in my opinion, warm and natural.
I love it.

And then here's something cool about Amber....


Wiki:
As reported by the Ancient Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus around 600 BC, charge (or electricity) could be accumulated by rubbing fur on various substances, such as amber. The Greeks noted that the charged amber buttons could attract light objects such as hair. They also noted that if they rubbed the amber for long enough, they could even get a spark to jump.

Amber can be used to make electricity.... who knew? \@shurgs@/
But I dig that little fact-toid, so I share it. :)


Last but not least...
MAW SIT SIT. I love the name of these stones. The black drops are Onyx, but the wonderful little green ones are called Maw Sit Sit and I love them for the name alone... and then yes, they're most beautiful also. Very similar look to Malachite... sick expensive... at least when I bought them. I hope not so today.

the whole strand of beads are 3 to 6mm beads. The ones that I WANTED that were two strands of 8 and 10 mm beads was... well, a four figure number to the left of the zeros... so I went 'cheap' and got a lovely small strand of them instead. Who has $3400 for a few stands of beads??? I'm convinced it was a typo on their site... but don't know for sure. Was long ago that I bought these and if I can find them again for something reasonable, I'll look to shop for more. Sometimes stones get expensive for a minute because they become popular. Sometimes it's because they're rare. These are more on the rare side.

They are similar in look to Malachite, but are a bit 'glossy-er'. Not for buffing, but there's a deeper or more 'neon' glow or something to the green. I'm not sure the image does them justice. Look em' up... you might enjoy them. If I have some time, I'll add some links here soon.
Mean while - I don't have time just now :)
I have to tend to me store else I make no money to shop for beads with!
Huggles you.
Til next time.
xo

Distractions...
I put this here because I KNOW you can tell how large he is by the count of bins he covers...
My Beast KC (Kitty Cat) in the formal. ;) ~click for a lifesize image... lol. And then there's some tail that you can't even see still! 22lbs of 'I rule the house'...
MAW SIT SIT:
Okay, I'm back... here are a few great reads on Maw Sit Sit...
http://gemologyonline.com/mawsitsit.html
http://www.nordskip.com/mawsitsit.html
http://www.penoir.com/stones/MawSit.html

Here's a quick clip:
Maw-sit-sit is an aggregate of numerous minerals found in the famous jade mining region of Tawmaw in the Himalayan foothills of northwestern Burma. The six main components are:
Chromite, ureyite, chrome-jadeite, symplektite, chrome amphibole, and a matrix of lighter minerals. This material is opaque to translucent with flowing veins of green and black. The matrix is dark green to black in color. Veins that are emerald green to intense neon green have occurred. http://gemologyonline.com/mawsitsit.html

Wire Wrapping Tutorial: Beginner: How to Make Beaded and Crystal Wire Hair Spirals

This one is really fun and very easy to do. They are completely decorative so don't expect them to actually hold any hair. These add decoration to the hair, a little sparkle, a little pearl, a little crystal... great for party hair or wedding hair or just fun to make with the girls. You wear them by 'twisting' them into a lock of hair. This is an amazing look to decorate an 'up'-do for a wedding or night out. These are small, so you wear several of them, strategically placed for desired hair blinging. Great to sparkle up braids also.  Enjoy!

It's a basic, very wide spiral, using a thick gauge wire and adding some fun beads. Click the images to enlarge.






You Need:
1. Round nose pliers
2. Flat nose
3. File
4. Cutters
5. 4 inch long, round, 18 gauge, soft wire. (hard is fine too)
***You'll need one wire per each of these you want to make.
6. 1 foot of 26g, sterling, round, soft wire.
7. 1 foot of 28g, sterling, round, soft wire.
8. A bunch of small, fave beads, 3 to 5mm.



1. After you cut your wires, be sure to file the ends to get the rough edges off.

2. Then using your round nose plier, create a loop at one end.






Preview: You can create the spiral first and then attach the beads, or you can leave the wire straight and create the spiral as you go. Take a look at the images ahead and get an idea of what will work best for your design.

In this project, I am coiling around the gold, so this for me, is easier to do before I spiral the gold.







4. After creating the first loop, anchor a 6mm Swarovski crystal (or your fave bead) to it using the 26g silver wire.

For something that's going to be in hair, something that catches the light and gives a little sparkle is nice. Wrapping the gold fill wire with silver adds to this also.

5. To anchor the bead: Make a bend in your 26g sterling wire, one inch from the end, bringing the short end together with the long end. Thread the entire wire through the center of the bead. The loop made by the wires coming together will form a 'kink' at the end of the bead and keep it from passing through. Anchor it to the gold loop by wrapping with the short end of the silver wire.

6. Using the long end of the wire, coil around the gold in a consistent and even wrap. Stay close and tight to the gold and coil until you are about 2 inches from the other end. Make sure to tap the end of the silver wrap with a flat nose so that it's not sticking out. Taking a minute to tuck the ends in, makes always for a nicer project.



7. Using the 28g sterling wire now, anchor it to gold loop under your bead. Make a couple of tight wraps and then add a 1mm silver bead. Make a couple of tight wraps, moving 'forward' and add another bead. Work like this until you add as many as you like. In this case, I added 11 of the 1mm sterling beads.




8. Thread a 4mm crystal bead and begin to move in the opposite direction, back toward the spiral center. Add another 4mm crystal, wrapping around the main wire to anchor each time.

9. Add a couple of pearls or some other silver beads or some seed beads... have fun with it.








10. I added two small freshwater pears and then finished it up by anchoring the end of the wrap wire under the main center bead. Neat and clean.

11. Take your round nose and create a loop at the unfinished end of the wire. Gently 'pull' and create a spiral by moving around the center cluster. Adjust with your hands until you get a neat spiral.

12. Push the bead cluster forward just slightly from the end. The next image shows the finished project.

That's it... Twist into a lock of hair and be beautiful. :) Make many of these in fun ways using many types of wire and beads. I used gold and silver but you can use craft wires and copper for more casual hair wear.

Enjoy! Thanks for visiting here.