Wire Jewelry
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Lipper Divided Bamboo Tea Box with Clear Lid $23.66 Handsome tea box for gift giving or making guests feel welcomeSturdy bamboo construction with warm, neutral-colored finishHinged, clear-paneled lid; 8 compartments with removable dividersWipes easily clean; rub with mineral oil (not included) to maintain lusterMeasures 7-1/2 by 12-1/2 by 3-3/4 inches Product DescriptionDelight a friend or tea-drinking enthusiast with this handsome, gift-worthy tea... |
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Oregon Scientific AW129 Wireless BBQ Thermometer with Probe Thermometer and Remote $39.99 - Oregon Scientific wireless BBQ thermometer - Know when thefood is fully ready to eat even from up to 100' away- No need to have to wait by the grill to find out when dinner is ready; this wireless thermometer alerts you when the meat has reached the perfect temperature even if you’re in another room entertaining guests- Digital LCD screen- Remote wireless probe to identify temperature/read... |
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Hb Stand/hand Mixer $47.94 Powerful Hamilton Beach® Hand Mixers focus on versatility and ergonomics. You'll see evidence of Good Thinkingâ"¢ throughout their thoughtful design. Most hand mixers have convenient snap-on storage cases, which keep attachments (and sometimes cords) together so you don't have to search for them each time. A variety of attachments are available with different hand mixers, from traditional bea... |
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Basic Wire Work for Bead Jewelry by Kate Drew-Wilkinson ... |
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American Terminal AT-31604 60-40 Rosin Core Solder (4 Ounces) $3.94 ALPHA FRY ELECTRICAL REPAIR SOLDER *60% tin / 40% lead solder with rosin flux core *4 oz *.062" dia. *Melting point: 374 deg F *For wires, motors, radio, TV, VCR and stero repairs... |
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Whitmor 6486-1746-WHT Over-The-Door Shoe Rack, White, 36-Pair $27.50 Holds 36 pairs of shoes and provides a nonslip door pad to prevent scratching and hold the unit in place. Durable white resin sides with nonslip coated steel bars. Easy, no tool assembly. 8.00 x 21.36 x 76.50... |
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Command 17067-VP Small Wire Hooks Value Pack, 9 Hooks 12 Strips $5.95 3M command strip 17067; 9 hooks 12 sm strips [PRICE is per PACK]... |
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Creating Wire & Beaded Jewelry with Linda Jones $29.94 Follow along as Linda Jones, the author of 5 wonderful books on wire and bead jewelry (also available from Amazon.com) takes you on a journey of how to use basic tools and wire to create clasps, jump rings, spirals, squiggles, heiroglyphics and much more! Linda has taken a workshop normally offered over 2 days and condensed it down to 2.5 hours of easy to follow lessons for the home viewer. Al... |
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Double Knit Viking Weave $28.00 This class DVD provides professional instruction on the procedure & art of Viking Weave, a beautiful, traditional wire-working technique to shape wire into a woven tube for bracelets or necklaces. It is clear, concise, foundational training that enables beginners to craft their first Viking Weave jewelry. It teaches the handheld dowel method, straightforward to learn & portable for travel witho... |
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The Absolute Beginners Guide: Stringing Beaded Jewelry $19.95 Learn the basics of making beautiful jewelry! This video class is a friendly and thorough demonstration of some of the most common skills you ll need. Presented by Karin Buckingham, author of three books on crafting and jewelry making, and former associate editor of BeadStyle magazine.This DVD covers: Materials & tools: Find out what you need to get started, from flexible beading wire and crimp tu... |
Wire Jewelry Tips Of The Week January 11Th-17Th
Question:
How do you have your supplies organized in your workshop? I am trying to decide how to organize my supplies and can't decide if it would be better to organize by type, size, color, gemstone or some other method. Could you provide advice on this?
Answer:
Loaded question! As you asked how I have my supplies organized, thus this answer: I use hardware organizers for my beads, which are separated into crystals, gemstone, metal and others. Each category has its own hardware cabinet and they are divided by color, where one row across is all pinks, one all blues, etc, and arranged from clear/white down to purples and then blacks, according to the order of a rainbow.
My metal beads and findings are in another hardware cabinet and divided by color and size heading down. First drawer is 2 and 2.5mm, the next 3mm and so on; clasps/toggles and ear wires, etc have their own drawers divided by color. For findings & metal beads I have small pieces of card stock labels taped to the front, inside of each drawer. (Beads I just look for the color through the drawer fronts.)
Cabs are all inside glass topped, knife display cases, organized by color and gemstones are (unfortunately) everywhere! Some are in individual baggies in a hardware cabinet (organized by color and type so blue topaz is separate from white topaz, etc), some are in trays of individual little gemstone boxes with see through tops and others are in their own boxes in the safe.
If you scroll down to the last third of the article here, you will see some of the storage ideas our faculty uses in their own work spaces: http://wire-sculpture.com/wire-jewelry-artists/280/setting-up-your-jewelry-making-work-space/ And here you’ll see more ideas on how to organize, label and store supplies: http://wire-sculpture.com/jewelry-making-blog/533/storing-small-supplies-for-travel/
I’ll bet that while you are organizing, you will find some really cool things that you forgot you had (and new design ideas will pop into your head) so be sure to have a notebook nearby and have fun!
Question:
I have been struggling for years with holding bundles of wires together for wrapping. Tape is irritating and messy, waste wire does not hold well, and can let the bundle slip.
A few weeks ago, I was getting ready for a show, and being impatient, began using a pair of hemostats (the ones sold for fishermen to extract hooks) for their clamping action. I ground off the jaws smooth, put on tape, and they work well for wrapping up to four wires. Is there any tool I can buy that will clamp small groups of wire?
Answer:
Although I have rarely had issues using either 3M painter's tape or white quarter-inch quilter's tape, I know some folks like to use clamps to hold their wire bundles together. Wire-sculpture does have a small rubber clamp http://wire-sculpture.com/jewelry-table-vise/Small_Rubber_Head_3_Inch_Quick_Clamp_Pack_of_1-3491-0.html Another option would be to go to a hardware store and just look around. Sometimes you will be amazed at the new ideas you'll come up with!
Question:
How do you store unused wire to stop kinks?
Answer:
Hi folks. Well, this comes down to a bit of organization and preparation. If you recall back in September 2009 Sherrie Lingerfelt gave us a great video tip that showed us how she stores and organizes her wire. This little tip will keep you from getting the dreaded “wire kinks” in the first place. Watch that video here. “Organizing ALL of Your Jewelry Wire“
So, get those unused wires organized in a bag, in your envelopes and store it in a case. Don’t forget we have another video that shows you how to straighten wire with your fingertip.
Watch that video here. "Straightening Your Jewelry Wire"
Perhaps soon we can discuss in video on how to address a wire that is truly kinked. Do we cut it out and throw out the kink or do we get creative? To be continued..
Question:
I do a lot of chain maille projects. I make my own rings with a pro ring maker out of gold filled and sterling with a copper core. What medium works best in a tumbler to remove the burrs on the cuts? Should I use rouge in the tumbler?
Answer:
Under 'Caring for Your Wire', we have a newly updated article all about tumbling that includes advice from our chain maille friends: http://wire-sculpture.com/wire-jewelry-artists/269/tumbling-your-jewelry/
Question:
I saw your response about setup. Your outdoor setup only has a top but no sides. How do you handle the wind? I have a real problem with outdoor shows, even with sides to my tent. My displays, even when I weigh them down fly around.
Answer:
I do have sides, but as I prefer to let in as much light as possible, I only put the sides up when absolutely necessary and at night.
Question:
Is it ok to use a welding compound to put a tiny object on a wire design that is not one that I want to make with a part of the wire?
Answer:
By 'welding compound' I am thinking that you mean a substance like JB Weld. If you are good with the process of using this material and can do it in a neat fashion, give it a try and let me know how it works so I can share with the others here. Personally I prefer to remain a ‘purist’ in this art form and would figure out a way to use wire to attach the item.
Question:
Im not sure what thickness to use. I have a 22 gauge craft wire that is too thin.I want a thicker wire. Do I go higher in number or lower. I thought that the higher numbers are thicker but on this website (Wire-Sculpture.com) the higher numbers (say 26 gauge) are cheaper than the lower numbers (22 guage). So I am confused. Shouldn't the thicker wire be more expensive since it has more silver in it? Am I incorrect in thinking that the higher numbers are thicker.
Answer:
Wire sizes do get smaller as their gauge number gets larger. For example, a 12 gauge wire is 2.88mm or 0.11 inch across, whereas a 24 gauge wire is only 0.511mm or 0.02 inch across. Round wire will appear smaller than square wire because the distance that determines the gauge/size is measured across the center of the wire. Wire-sculpture does have a chart that shows wire gauge conversions: http://wire-sculpture.com/pages/All_About_Wire.html
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