Commissioned work with new materials

I heart figuring out a new jewelry method by mistake or chance encounter. Actually, no - fewer things make me happier than when people ask me to make custom jewelry to celebrate a loved one. Wait - no, I am happiest when I have returning customers asking for more. Scratch that - I am happiest when a returning customer asks me to make jewelry for their loved one and I learn a new technique in the making!

Recently, my friend Nilsa's husband Sweets contacted me with a simple request: leather. Apparently this is the traditional third wedding anniversary gift and Sweets wanted to go traditional and romantic, yet stick within his wife's tastes and aesthetic, which he knew I knew. I was up-front with him: as a vegetarian, I will admit that I have never really worked with leather before. Oh, and did I mention that the necklace was needed in less than 4 days? :) He asked me to go for it and see what happens. 

After doing some "research" (i.e. browsing around the internet for inspiration) I had an idea of the type of necklace I wanted to do (i.e. no hammering or welding required - heck, I prefer to stay away from glue, too) though knew that leather string is thicker than your average beading wire and would thus require beads with very large holes. The only beads I had on hand with large-ish holes happened to be some beautiful gemstones and crystals I purchased from Arizona and LA. So, after some playing around, we had this:

The little white beads are especially cool... my mom purchased them for me from a Native American craft vendor in South Dakota. Apparently they are hand-cut glass beads that are over 100-years old. When she gave them to me, I thought to myself, "Where the heck am I going to use these?" It makes sense that I used them with leather! I also avoided having to use glue thanks to some gold crimp beads. 

But then came the real challenge - closure. How dost one secure leather strings with a clasp? After tying the strands in two large knots, I played with all kinds of methods of getting a clasp on there. I even gave in and used glue to make sure that the leather wasn't going anywhere. Then it dawned on me - duh - free-style wire. Thanks to that pesky glue, I know this closure is there to stay.

Nilsa was tickled when she received the necklace: "You are so sneaky! I cannot believe you worked with Sweets to make such a GORGEOUS necklace for me! I absolutely love it and hope that your first go with leather wasn't too painful. =) We went to a concert last night and I picked an outfit that ensured I could wear the necklace. LOVE IT!!! Thank you so much for turning it around so quickly!" See, this is why I love working with returning customers who want to make something for their loved one while I learn a new method in the process...! 

Meanwhile, I was sitting on another piece that was quite overdue. At one of my shows, a client noticed that I had a porcelain Chinese bracelet on display. She bought it, then handed it back to me: "I would like a necklace to match a pair of earrings that I own which feature the same beads." Her earrings seemed simple:

But then I realized - though I have wrapped beads before, I have not necessarily wrapped rounded beads, let alone such smooth and glossy beads! I sat down at my work table and just stared at my material: a bracelet that I made which I will have to cut apart, and some wire. I played and played with the beads and wire with no luck - that wire was movin' everywhere and would not stay in one place. Then I noticed a Sharpie marker nearby and LIGHTBULB! I first wrapped the wire about the Sharpie to create a coil, then popped the bead inside the coil to get it to stay in place - rather than trying to make the coil around the bead itself. After some working, I finally had this: 

Not quite what I had envisioned, but it worked and resembled the inspiration earrings. Now that I know how to work it, I think I will play with this method more often! 


What are some new materials that you have worked with and ended up loving?

Busy Bead Up

It seems appropriate that I post some of the jewelry I have been creating on Mondays since lately it seems like I can only get around to setting time aside to create in the first place over the weekend! Here's what I managed to pump out this weekend: Last Christmas I gifted one of my dearest customers, Nilsa, a thank-you necklace on the house. Nilsa said that she really liked the necklace I custom made for her friend for Christmas (read all about it here!) and that she would like something kind of similar that she could wear to her upcoming beach vacation. For some reason a long, brown toned dangly thing came to mind, something that could go with a dress and a swimsuit :) Nilsa looks great in browns and oranges and especially likes pieces with an unexpected color combination. I knew that I would want to eventually blog about the piece, since the piece itself would be unlike anything I have ever posted on Etsy before, so I asked my artistic brother (the one who is currently -- still -- living with us) to draw a dress form of a person on which I could sketch the necklace concept. After looking at a few pictures of Nilsa, he drew a, uh, rather artsy figure, on top of which I drew my idea of what the necklace could look like (made of shells, pearls, and crystals, knotted by the torso): When I showed Nilsa the sketch, she replied: "Those drawings are awesome. Thank you to your brother, for making me have a banging body. =) I love the idea of the necklace. I love the design. Gorg! Can I make a teensy request for a pop of color. A turquoise or aqua marine???? I think that would seal the deal for me. My oh my. Love" Turquoise it was! After a few hours of conceptualizing and creating, I came up with this: I am really happy with the result and know Nilsa will be, too! I have thought about putting the item on Etsy, but the piece itself pretty much depleted my fall-colored pearl supply and I don't know if I want to reinvest in more (it was kind of nice to feel like I really - and finally - got use out of them!). I can't wait to post pictures of Nilsa in the necklace and on the beach! I recently (and randomly?) got 4 orders for the wire wrapped birds nest necklace I created a few months ago. All of the orders were for mommies-to-be, except an order I got from a loyal client who has a friend who recently had her 4th bebe! At first I thought that making the necklace with 4 pearls would be harder than making it with 2 or 3, but it proved to actually be easier since the pearls formed a circle naturally (I usually have to heavily manipulate the wire to get a line or triangle of pearls into a circle shape). I have since updated my Etsy listing to include a picture of the nest with 4 pearls -- I heart it! I also met with a client who asked me to make her June-wedding jewelry for her bridesmaids. I had a blast with her and can't wait to blog about it after the pieces are finished! I'll keep you updated! :)

Mission: Wedding Jewelry - Accomplished

Let's be honest. Sometimes you are allowed to be super proud of yourself. Exhibit A: I am SO thrilled with how the jewelry for Kelly's wedding turned out, especially considering the story behind it. Kelly asked me several months ago to make necklaces for herself and her bridesmaid sisters. I have been blogging about how I had been going back and forth on ideas for each outfit, and finally allowed the lack of time left to be my final deciding factor. Based on the pictures of Kelly's dress (as posted here), I figured that letting the very lacy and beaded dress do the talking would be the best route to go. This meant sticking with a simple design that could coordinate with a somewhat antique-looking gown. While in San Francisco, I bought a few strands of super cute and dainty 2mm fresh water pearls (that I also used in the bridesmaids necklace, thus achieving some sense of cohesion). My plan was to wire wrap these and bond them between wire wrapped 4mm pearls. This would have worked marvelously if the holes in the 2mm pearls weren't so stinkin' teeny tiny! I couldn't even get my 24 gauge sterling silver wire into them. Darn. So instead I tried out the 4mm pearls along side larger 6-7mm pearls, wrapping them in Sterling Silver wire and positioning them two 4mm for every one 6-7mm pearl. After wrapping about two 7 inch-long collections of mentioned pearls, I connected them together and ended them with wire wrapped freshwater pearl coin disc beads. I remembered Kelly mentioning that her dress had a dramatic back, so I added about a dozen more of the 4mm pearls to the back of the necklace and ended the addition with a larger pearl. The necklace finished with a sterling silver clasp and wire ring. I was grateful that Kelly said she liked the necklace when I gave it to her at the rehearsal dinner, though still didn't know if it would go well enough with her dress. When I saw her before the wedding ceremony, I literally cried - both because she looked so pretty, and because the necklace turned out so well! The bridesmaids necklaces turned out perfectly, too, if I do say so myself. The girls even said they would wear them again, as they seemed to fit their style.

Wedding mission Accomplished!

The anatomy of a Cluster Bracelet

One day I was looking at all the beads that were accumulating in my craft room and noticed that I had ALOT of lime green beads. I originally bought them for this project, but never really sold enough of the item to justify having as many green beads as I (optimistically) purchased! Looking at my massive supply, I got an idea for a bracelet that would not only look fun, but also help me use up the daunting supply of beads! The result: my Green with Envy Cluster Bracelet. Though I was happy with the end product, I was even more happy with it's reception! The item sold right away, and soon thereafter people were asking me to post it again! I was hesitant at first since it took me 2 full nights to make the cluster bracelet, but, seeing how many of these beads I still had laying around, I caved and listed it again. And again. And again. This time around, I figured it would be a good opportunity to show the steps behind the bracelet, since I think it looks more complicated than it really it! Hopefully this can inspire you to make something new with materials laying around your craft space, too! First I had to empty out my Beadsmith design board (it's amazing how I allow stray beads to accumulate on this thing!). I really like this extra long felted workspace as it allows me to see all my supplies for any given project while keeping them organized. It also works as a tape measure and ruler, which I will admit I don't use as often as I just eye things :) I bought all these green beads from a variety of sources, including a flea market in Beijing, Michael's, Beadnicks, and Ritual Adornments in Santa Monica... 5 types of seed beads, several shell beads, glass beads, and even some green pearl beads. I wired each bead on bright silver Beadalion stringing wire. All each of these tools (crimp tool, nose pliers, cutting pliers, bent chain nose pliers, flat nose pliers) came in handy, too, as you will see below!

I first cut a 7" piece of Beadalion wire. To secure its end, I put a 2mm crimp bead (image 1) on one end and looped in through itself (image 2). Then I took my crimp pliers (image 3) and flattened the crimp bead until it was secure and tight on the wire. The loop will later serve as a means to connect the strand to the ending clasp. (sorry about the blurry images - I was working on my ottoman in my poorly-lit living room!) Next was the most tedious part - beading (image 5) 15 of these strands! Thankfully my husband was close at hand to help me pick up many of the beads I accidentally dropped - those little seed beeds can be frisky! I ended each strand the same way I started them with a loop and a crimp bead (image 6).

Next I needed to create a means to hold all the strands together. Since I was going to use a long bead cap at the end, I couldn't just end with a standard jump ring. I therefore decided to make my own jump ring with some 22 gauge silver wire. I started by taking my nose pliers and clasping the wire toward the bottom of the head.

Next I turned the pliers 360 degrees until I had a bit of a circle at the end of the wire.

Nice, smooth end - but I needed to even the remaining wire out.

I took the same pliers and forced the remaining wire to turn 90 degrees. The result: a perfect eyepin (these things can sell for $.25 each - how much more fun to just make them yourself!

Next I took the 15 strands of green assorted beads and strategically (in terms of texture and color) ordered and strung them on the headpin.

I took my nose pliers and smushed the end of the eye pin together so the strands can't go anywhere. Stay put, little guys!

After repeating the process on the other end, I was ready to attach the bead caps and toggle clasp.

I got these filigree bead caps at Michael's for $.50 each. Bead Caps are great for covering up ugly finishings and ends!

I cut off the extra wire I didn't need, leaving about 3/4 an inch of wire in which I would create my end loop.

My nose pliers finished the eye loop.

After making the eye loop, I opened it up with my flat nose pliers in order to get the toggle clasp on.

I used the same flat nose pliers to smush both sides of the eye loop back together and thus secure the toggle clasp.

Repeat on the other end. Viola! The super fun finished product! I might just have to wear it for the day before I send it to it's buyer, my buddy Nilsa! (Thanks again for your patience with this product, friend, you're the best!)