So, i'm going through some old photos today 9nothing else to do at the moment and I found some items I mad a while ago. Thought you might like to see them. Okay it's really for myself that i'm posting them. I was really into wire work for awhile and I made this bracelet and earrings. All by hand!! What was I thinking?
The bracelet above was ALL handmade of shiny copper. The beads are a beautiful sky blue! my mom wanted it bad so I gave it to her along with the matching earrings below. I used sterling silver earwires because some people's skin reacts with copper to give the skin a really lovely green cast!! She wears it all the time and every so often she polishes it up with a polishing cloth.
The necklace below is in horrible "light". I made it one saturday night when I had no plans. Can't believe i sat down for a couple of hours and made all the copper rings. I had this lovely stone which i have no idea what it its. I wore this on Sunday morning and 10 ladies stopped me to tell me it was stunning!! I was so proud of it. Again, sorry about the light but the stone is a really beautiful blue color. If you can't tell, blue is my fav color. I keep trying to stop using blue but it never fails if i'm out looking for beads i gravitate to the blue ones!!!
So the two sets of earrings below are made with crystal briolettes and copper wire. This was when I first started trying to do wire work. You can kind of tell but I thought they were pretty good for a newbie. I still have both pair to this day. Notice of course one set is blue. Sorry the pics are terrible but i was really new!!! Give me a little break. I have to say that my photography is only slightly better these days but i'm gonna keep on trying.
I made the ocean inspired bracelet below for a lady who requested something beachy. She's a girl after my own heart who loves blue. I think i love it because i'm such a fan of the ocean. Lived in Hawaii for a long time and hope to one day move back. Probably only a dream but we gotta have dreams don't we?? Anyway I wired all the beads onto a store bought bracelet blank and voila! She loves it! I'm glad.
This orange bracelet was made using a copper bracelet blank and I hand wired all of these beads on and made all of the coils. This one took forever. I did not do it in one setting cuz I woulda went crazier than i am but i finally finished it and made the clasp too. I wasn't planning to sell it but a friend saw it one day and said she had to have it. So she now owns and wears it to this day. I am not a fan of orange but i got the orange beads for free when I placed a large bead order so i decided to use them. I'm glad someone wanted it. I had just learned to make some really wicked coils and wanted to practice making them. Boy did I get some practice with this monster. But now I can make a coil in seconds!! Practice makes perfect as they say.
As you can tell I had my copper period and the necklace below was store bought but the pendant I made. I wrapped it and then wrapped all of the beads on it. It took me a while to make it but I was determined to sit there until it was finished. I think I was sweating because it's not something you begin and come back to. Notice the BLUE beads! I'm such a chump for blue. The necklace is pretty long--almost belly button length. I gave it to a friend.
So let me apologize profusely for the pic below but i wanted to put these little earrings on my post cuz a really nice lady asked me to make some earrings for a party she was attending. Of course I used copper but i had just learned this technique and thought it would be festive. I didn't want them to look like Christmas trees so with the green i used gold. You probably can't tell but they really are cute. Sorry about that.
I made these earrings for myself and a friend at work wanted some just like them. Turns out they were too heavy for her to wear so i sold them on Etsy. I did put a disclaimer that if anyone couldn't wear heavy earrings not to buy them because of the weight. Someone bought them and i never heard back so i guess they were fine for her. They are magnesite and red coral with of course copper wire wrapped around the beads. I'm not sensitive to copper so I can wear it in my ears. I used sterling silver on the ones I sold.Always get complements when I wear them.
The gold necklace below is one of the first items i wired together. The pendant is from soe vintage jewelry that I got at a thrift store. I used gold glass crystals. I wore it once and a co-worked wated to buy it so I sold it. It took me quite a while but in the process I learned how to make wire wrapped loops like a pro. I used gold toned wire.
I love the black onyx and crystal necklace below. I bought the onyx pendant at Michael's on sale and hand wired it all together using silver-plated wire and I made the clasp out of sterling silver. I wear this necklace all the time. In addition to my love for anything blue i also love, love black. So this was a great wardrobe addition.
I was following a really talented lady on Etsy (and still do) who makes artist jewelry and I got the idea to try making something big and bold. These ceramic beads fit the bill. This is not a bracelet that I would wear to work because its BIG. But these colors are beautiful to me. Of course there's a bit of blue in it.
All of the copper wire is handmade and it was difficult because the wire is 16 gauge--which is really thick! I have never worn it. I made some earrings to match but would never wear them together. Too gaudy together for my taste. I don't really like matchy matchy. People ask me all the time for matching earrings and if they want that I make it but it's not for me. Isn't it fab?
And finally last but not least:
I bought these beads at a show and after I got them home I was like what the hell are you gonna do with these huge things. It was a challenge. So since they are graduated in size I went ahead and made the necklace below. The colors are so soothing which is why I bought them. I sat down and hand wired all of these beads together. It took awhile!! This is one that my mom keeps talking about but it's for sale in my shop. If it doesn't sell soon i will no doubt give it to her for a Christmas present. This one has matching earrings cuz I had some small beads left. It was wired together with gold plated wire.
Hope everyone enjoys my journey into wire working. Now that I have gone through all these pics i'm re-thinking wire again. I really love doing it but it is time-consuming depending on what you are making. I certainly don't want to lose the skill so maybe i'll start making some wire items again. If anyone wants something specially made i'm your girl!!
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