Wire Sculpting Jewelry

The art of jewelry making traces its roots back to thousands of years ago and it has evolved into much more sophisticated techniques originated by man which is now called wire sculpting. In wire sculpting, it is apparent that the basic element and material is a wire and wires are really versatile elements in any jewelry making activities.

One great jewelry making technique which is wire sculpting allows you to manipulate wires into amazing end result projects with the use of other elements like gemstones, beads, and other materials possible for making jewelry.

Jewelry based on wires inspires a more fashion forward sense of style but in a lesser price since wires can be bought reasonably low. You only need to know basic wire sculpting techniques to make great pieces to start with.

Wire Sculpting Tools And Techniques

Tools are necessary for any type of artisan work, you live by tools and materials alone to create amazing pieces of artwork, and so is jewelry making. Among these tools are:

Pliers And Wires

There are different types of pliers for different techniques of wire sculpting procedures, and given enough time and practice these techniques will make you an expert on this field. Wire sculpting is a tedious and meticulous but fulfilling jewelry niche, that is why you need to know the basic functions of your pliers when it come to wire sculpting.

Check out this article on wire sculpture tools and techniques and know more of pliers and their usage, wire gauge sizes, and definitions that will clearly state the basic function for your wire sculpting projects.

Techniques

To any jewelry making projects, techniques are important to create fabulous designs, look at this gorgeous pair of spring earrings, isn’t it just stunning specially when you use a gold plated wire? The technique of coiling the wire around the mandrel and open up “the coils to form a flower like design. You can see that the design is really simple with only the wire to use as your material but the result if excellent!

This video also shows how to make a Roman cuff wire bracelet that is splendid on its own. Watch this.

Another technique is to incorporate some gemstone to your wire sculpting activities and make a gorgeous wire-wrapped stone jewelry. A video on wire wrapped rings using semi-precious stones is shown below.

The coiling gizmo technique! This is an exciting technique with the use of a coiling gizmo and you can incorporate coiled beads into your future jewelry making projects like the one showed at the end of the video.

For every wire sculpture design you can imagine, there is a specific technique and tool that you can use. And though the steps and tools are really simple to follow and use, it takes hard work to create one of these wire sculpting projects. What’s really important is how you put your mind and heart to it to make an exciting piece of jewelry.

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Stone Jewelry History

Stone jewelry has been a favorite to many jewelry artists; the rustic and cool effect that it brings to a certain piece of jewelry makes it even more appealing to customers. These natural wonders of the earth are more beautiful with its natural colors, texture, and charm that long history of processes made it possible.

The fact that stones have been in formation ever since the pre-historic ages begun, makes you connected with the earth and all its history. A single stone has its own history, be it an agate, tourmaline, opal, amethyst, Garnett, or even a simple pebble.

These stones have been in use whether in fashion accessories and the supposed healing effects that it brings to the one wearing it. One question though, which is more appealing to you, natural stones jewelry or synthetic made?

Stone Jewelry Making

There are four main methods of using a stone component to your jewelry, check below:

Bell Cap

With the use of some strong crafting glue and base metal bell cap, an ordinary stone or gemstone can be turned into an amazing jewelry that anybody can admire.

Wire Wrapping

Wire wrapping the stone for a pendant is a great project too, here’s a YouTube video on how to do that.

You will see that it’s pretty easy to do that and it just takes some determination and creativity on your part to be successful on this jewelry making project.

Drilled

For drilling stones, a good gem drill will be your best tool to do this. It ensures proper and sturdy placement of your jewelry wire and keeps all components in place too. Some great pictures of drilled stone turned into a magnificent set of jewelry.  All of these pieces are from Etsy, take a look!

Silversmithing

Silversmithing is a lot of hard work but with precious stones, it will be worth it to preserve the stone’s beauty and maintain the history the stone comes with. Here is a link to one blogger, silversmith, and jewelry maker’s tutorial on her silversmithing project.

Making your own stone jewelry using these techniques no longer is as hard as you think, armed with your interest in making these kinds of project; you will all be set to making your own stone jewelry collection soon.
Not only do you celebrate the long history that the stone has, you also celebrate the process of how a particular gemstone came about polished, “machine-cut” like, or how vibrant the colors came to be. It is a wonder how these pieces remain on the earth for our use and eyes, but one thing remains true, it is a beauty to behold!

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Care For Silver Jewelry

Silver has been used since ancient times for jewelry and other ornaments, even for flatware, and containers. Up to this day, silver has been used for making jewelry, mixed with other elements to make it really pretty.

But one thing about silver is that it is really soft, too soft to use for jewelry items, see this article for more information on sterling silver. The main problem really is tarnishing because of the presence of copper, which is why caring for your silver jewelry is very important.

How To Care For Silver Jewelry

There are certain harsh chemicals that should be avoided when using silver jewelry such as hair spray, perfume, cosmetics, and chlorine. This will immediately tarnish your silver piece as soon as there is contact to the substance.

Also, if your grandmother or some old folks havetold you to use toothpaste to clean your silver jewelry, think again. Toothpaste has anabrasive substance that will leave a dull scratchy finish on your jewelry. You wouldn’t want that to happen to your silver pieces, wouldyou?

It would help if you wear your silver jewelry as often as possible such that your body oils will prevent tarnishing so sterling silver doesn’t have to be cleaned as often.

For quick cleaning, you can use a mild dish soap and warm water to avoid ruining your silver pieces. Silver is fairly a soft metal and it can easily be scratched when you use abrasive materials to clean it.

One way of cleaning your silver jewelry is with asilver cloth. A material made of 100% cotton flannel that will definitely aide you in maintaining a scratch-free silver jewelry.

Storage

First rule, never store your silver jewelry wet or moist since humidity and open air can hasten corrosion on the silver piece and therefore will result to a yellowish tint on your jewelry which is not pleasant to look at.

If you must keep it for a long time, make sure that you store it in a container that is free from humidity and if you are to store in a Ziplock, then take out all the air inside the bag to prevent air and humidity mixing in the silver jewelry and avert tarnishing.

And if you are to use stackable containers for your silver jewelry storage, one thing to remember is to make sure the jewelry pieces has been dried carefully not leaving any residue. This will help slow the process of oxidization from your silver jewelry.

Taking care of your jewelry and finding appropriate storage can be really easy if you know the basic how-to’s in making your silver pieces stay as beautiful as it was first bought. How you take care of your belongings will reflect on how you take care of yourself and business, so keep your jewelry pieces clean and make your life less stressful.

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Jewelry Making Tools

Any jewelry artist cannot be as efficient as they can be without jewelry making tools, some really expensive gadgets, others can be your trustworthy pliers. Whatever that is, tools are all part of jewelry making and not a single thing is less than the other when it comes to functionality.

List Of Jewelry Making Tools

Aside from the beads, thread and wires used for jewelry making, there are more equally important tools that are being used by artisans, and that includes:

Pliers

Whether crimping beads or cutting a wire, pliers are essential tools for jewelry making projects, there are approximately 10 pliers used for jewelry making and that includes, bent nose, crimping, flat nose, precision round nose, ring bending, side cutter, split ring, stone setting, and wire wrapping pliers. Take a look at this list of pliers from Wire Sculpture for more information.

Tweezers

It is used to bend or give shape to metal wires and comes in many shapes to serve different purposes.

Wire Cutters

This will help you in cutting excess wires that are not possible with pliers. Different wires require different wire cutters, so it is imperative to know the type of wires you are using to prevent damage on the tool.

Measuring Tape

This too is an integral part of jewelry making tools. Measurements are being done to properly string in beads and make some really good ends on the jewelry.

Needles

Needles, needless to say will help you sew in the thread and make some knots to end a current jewelry project. Just be careful and store it in a place where no other people have access.

Crafting Glue

In just about anything on jewelry making, crafting glue is really significant for holding together beads and threads, making sure everything is in its place tucked to last. But you must have the knowledge to use certain kinds of glue for different materials, here’s a crafting glue chart that will tell you which type of glue is for this type of material surface.

There are actually many more jewelry making tools in the market today, but these are the basics. Depending on your jewelry niche, other jewelry making tools can be bought along with the knowledge that you have on a certain level.

If you are planning to make some of those lampwork beads, then you may need to have a torch to melt those glass rods. So basically, the more training you have on jewelry making, the more it is that you acquire sophisticated tools for jewelry making.

Good pieces of jewelry are imperative to the kind of tools you are using. Store them in a place that’s not so damp or humid and not so cold that it hampers the performance of the tool. Have some wooden box or some improvised cardboard to carry all your tools.

Store it in one corner and always place it on the same spot where you put it the first time. Have some order when it comes to this activity as jewelry making is a demanding hobby. But if you get the hang of it, jewelry making will just be really easy for everybody armed with the perfect jewelry making tools.

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Alphabet beads are also known as letter beads. They come in plenty of forms, even pewter and sterling silver to make them look more sophisticated. These can be used to create and personalize just about anything from beaded friendship bracelets to key chains which makes them a great project to do with kids.

Alphabet beads make for a great design on jackets, bags, and key rings. To work with alphabet beads you would need beading elastic, scissors, and a selection of other colorful beads. Make sure that you take your kid with you to the crafts shop and bead stores so they can choose the alphabet beads that they want. They should know beforehand what it is that they want to spell. They can spell their name or even a short sentence such as “I love Mommy”. Here is a simple way to create a bracelet out of alphabet beads.

Choose the type of string or elastic to make your bracelet with. There are many different kinds of stringing material available so make sure that you choose one that is easy to work with. When buying your alphabet beads, select those that have contrasting background and letter colors so that you can see the words you spell out better. You would need six 27-inch strands of material to make the bracelet with. Clip them on to a clipboard to secure them while you are making the knots. Wrap three strands over and under the last three strands to create a single knot. Keep doing this until you reach the middle of the bracelet. Once you have done so start putting the beads in, spelling out the words or name that your kid has chosen. Make the remaining knots, ending with one final knot to finish the bracelet.  As easy as that and you are all beaded up.

Alphabet beads are also a great addition when making friendship bracelets. Your kid can make one with her name and one with her best friend’s name. Or they can make double strand bracelets with both their names on it. Either way alphabet beads are a great shout out to their friendship.

Don’t think, however, that alphabet beads are confined to children’s jewelry. They also make great accessories for grown women. Just choose a more sophisticated material to make the bracelet with and maybe get beads that are made of sterling silver. You can spell out something that pertains to your personality or even the names of all your children. Be bold and express your identity with alphabet beads. Everyone has a lot to say and this is a great opportunity to do that.

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Even the most creative jewelry designer would most likely run out of ideas at one point or another. Although inspiration could strike from almost anything around us, we tend to forget one of the most useful sources that we have: our customers. Yes, your customers are indeed a rich resource of ideas for jewelry design. They oftentimes have a specific thing in mind that may unfortunately not be in your collection yet. Why not try to allow them to design their jewelry, custom-made especially for them?

You can get these ideas through feedback forms that you can include in your website. You can ask your customers to give suggestions for improvement and also recommendations on future products that they want to see from you. Another more concrete thing that you can do is to have an online system where your customers can virtually create their own jewelry. Present to them a selection of beads and wire styles that are already available and they can do their own mixing and matching.

It is not difficult to set up this type of facility, assuming that you already have a website in place. Just ask the person who developed your website to add a page where your customers will make their selections and you will automatically get an email with the results. If you don’t have a website then you should consider setting up your online jewelry store. The hosting costs are minimal and the increased revenue is always welcome.

The benefit of having this type of section in your website does not end with getting ideas for a new line. It could also set you apart from other jewelry designers because your customers will love the fact that having their own custom-made jewelry is made very easy and accessible. Just make sure that the page is as user-friendly as possible. So go ahead and experiment with this. Who knows? These ideas from your customers might even be the inspiration for a whole new line.

Is your jewelry making business a hobby or a business? If you are only doing jewelry making as a hobby then you will probably not be too worried about planning and designing your own jewelry as the designs that you make will be for friends and family. Don’t forget though that if you are getting great feedback from friends about your designs, you should consider selling your jewelry items and converting these contacts into customers.

As a start you only need to let friends, family and colleges know that you are now going to start your own business. You will be surprised at the number of people that are willing to pay for quality unique jewelry designs. Another great place to start to sell your crafts is at outdoor craft shows and exhibitions. Don’t be concerned about the competition out there, there as so many customers that will buy your creations if they are really exceptional.

Once you decide that you are going to sell your jewelry or are already running a jewelry making business, apart from getting some great inspiration from your customers, you should learn how to maximize profits using jewelry software. The latest developments in jewelry software will free up so much time that you can focus more on creating those custom designs that your customers are after.

The chances of working with beads aren’t restricted to jewelry. Beads are not just for necklaces or bracelets or earrings. If you’re searching for a new thing to use your beads in, why not decorate your bookmarks? First thing that you should do is to make sure you have what you need for making bead jewelry. Make sure you have all the necessary tools and materials on hand as it can be frustrating having to stop in the middle of a project.

Beaded bookmarks make for actually unique and wonderful gifts. The fact that you made it yourself makes it thoughtful and booklovers would find it truly special. Top it off with a gift of a book or subscription to a mag. Artsy crafty bookmarks are always appreciated as small gifts. The great thing about these book mark gifts is that each and every one is always totally unique.

If you are an ardent reader yourself, creating and employing a beaded bookmark would make your reading experience all the more fun! Having beaded bookmarks also adds a posh elegance to an otherwise one-dimensional shelf of books.

You can decide to make your beaded bookmarks in 2 ways. You can either get a ready-made one and create a beaded trimming, or you can create the whole thing from scratch.

You can decide to start easy and create a store-made bookmark first. Bookmarks can be discovered in just about any bookstore and you may even find some old ones around your house. Punch out a hole close to the top edge of the bookmark and fasten a tassel on it made of strings and beads of your choice. You may also use embroidery thread and charms to make it unique.

You can also create a bookmark yourself by employing laminated paper. This is special as you can choose to print on it an image of your favorite art or you can even create a collage for your friend. It’s better to use heavy paper when doing this in order that it becomes tougher. Do a similar thing as when you decorate a store-bought bookmark.

Paper bookmarks don’t always have to have fancy photographs on them. Occasionally you can decorate them with beads. Try to experiment with felt paper as it has that good fabric texture that you do not have to sew and most importantly it doesn’t fray. Play around with curls and other fancy lines. Finish it off with a beaded tail.

Another bookmark that you can make is a straightforward book thong. These are just cords and strings with beads tied in them. Decorate these the same way you would a tassel.

Whichever way you do it, making beaded bookmarks can be a really fun activity. It is something that even kids would like and would be ready to do. Not to mention the end products are useful, considerate, and actually special. There are tons of beading forums that you can find online that will give you some great design ideas.

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