Back to Basic Collection - Swirly Wire Earrings

Rather slow this weekend.
Still working on one piece since yesterday when decided to divert to the Back to Basic Collection.
Here is sharing another piece for this collection - Swirly Wire Earrings.
Looking very well endowed...like pregnant and suddenly I realize how much it looks like my logo...LOL

Notice the uneven surface. Those are hammering marks.

I like to think they are added character :) 

(Just an excuse to cover up my inability to hammer evenly)

I know, some people prefer totally smooth surface.

These are tiny 3mm garnet. 

Added so the earrings don't look so boring :)

Somehow, I have problem taking pictures with dark/black background.

Pictures always turn out "unreal" or "off color".

Any idea why this is so?

Any suggestions on taking nice pictures on dark background?

Wire Jewelry - Back to Basic Collection

Maybe it has something to do with age as I am quite slow in recovering from last weekend trip.
Still feeling tired although I didn't do much there -- mostly walking, window shopping, chit chatting and lots of laughing.
Now my right leg and arm are hurting slightly.
Its like a tiredness that wouldn't to go away.
Thought I didn't get enough sleep so went to bed earlier than usual last 2 nights but still the same.

OK, enough about that and here is the pair of earrings made before I left last weekend.
This is my Back to Basic Collection - Simple three pieces of wires on each side adorned with tear drop glass beads. All wires were hammered to harden.

Sparkly Pretties, Time and Friends

How time flies when there are lots to do and learn. There are friends to keep in touch with, time for meeting, time for making new friends, time for work, time for family, time for play, time for yourself, time for blogging J, etc. etc. It is never enough.

Last weekend, I made these few pretties for a dear friend. They are mixture of colors of Swarovski crystals, wire wrapped with sterling silver wire. MH likes her jewelry to be as colorful as possible. According to her, colors make life more exciting, happy and not boring. Back in late 80’s/early 90’s, when we were still uni students….hmm….makes me feel old L, she gave me a batik printed nightgown -- with bright rainbow colors printed all over it…Can’t remember for what occasion but I still have it and it always reminds me of how colorful MH could be J

MH if you are reading this, the nightgown is still in good shape and colors, even after 20 years.

I am more of a black, gray and white color person but life is exciting and not boring at all. So, it’s not the colors is it? but more of how you view life and how you want it to be…exciting or boring regardless of colors…J what am I mumbling about?

……anyway…just enjoy the pretties and colors.

Somehow I couldn’t get nice pictures of them. Could it be the background?

Wire Wrapped Earrings, Tourmaline

One thing about wire wrapping earrings is that I have to create two identical pieces all the time. My biggest worry is that I will not be able to create identical pair- in terms of shape, size and the wire wrapping itself. It has always been like that.
That is why I kind of shy away from earrings especially those complicated ones :)
This pair is such kind.
Phew! Both almost exactly the same size :)
Or maybe it doesn't matter?

Studs oh Studs!

First the good news - at least for me :)

I got my Twice Around the World (TAW) tutorial pictures back!!!! :D

Haven't really look through them one by one but I think they are all there.

Not sure how it was done but I am a very happy woman since yesterday.

Now, I just need to find the time to write the tutorial.

Before that, got to finish few custom orders first. 

Finally in the mood to create again after the SD card incidence.

So, here are three wire wrapped stud earrings I completed this morning.

 

The tutorial for the two above is available at my etsy shop- Wire Wrapped Stud Earrings - Simple yet Elegant

The tutorial for the above top wrapped earrings is available at my etsy shop too- Top Wrapped Studs.

All earrings above are wire wrapped with 22ga wire.

Back to work and I wish you all a great weekend!

Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Valentine

Kong Hei Fat Choi! to all Chinese friends and readers.

Happy Valentine to all of you!
All the best wishes goes out to all of you this new year!

First Piece of Earrings for 2010

Just a simple pair of earrings to welcome 2010. A good start for 2010.
The 1st day of 2010 started quite well - sunny in the morning, overcast in the afternoon and raining in the evening. Its cool now. 
I stayed home whole day and got to do what I love to do. I only went outside in the evening to take pictures of this earrings in the garden.

 

Stones used for this earrings are garnet, peridot and green agate. 
I hope you have a wonderful 1st day of 2010 as well.

No Wonder, its Winter Solstice Festival with Wire Wrapped Fruity Dangle Earrings

While taking shower this evening, I kept wondering why my fellow colleague left home early today. Normally they stay till 6pm or later. But this evening all left before 6pm. By the time I left, the office was empty. It only occurred to me during shower that its Winter Solstice Festival today. They left early to make sure they are on time for dinner with families. See how hardworking we are that we forgot about talking to each other except about work...hehe...
More on Winter Solstice Festival here. But then, we did have our festival family dinner (small scale) with our favorite soup as well as the Tangyuan (glutinous rice balls). The Tangyuan was a last minute purchase and preparation. Just before dinner, I walked to the nearby hypermarket to purchase 3 packets of the ready made tangyuan, boil them, add in gula melaka (Palm Sugar) and serve. Very simple and easy to prepare. My mom always say, once we have taken our tangyuan, we are one year older. That is why this festival is considered as the most important festivals of the year (some may not agree but that's what mom says) :)
While rushing for all this, I forgot to take photos of the tangyuan. Nevermind, but here's another type of tangyuan for your viewing pleasure :D More fruity....

Woven Earrings

Sometimes I find it a bit difficult to start on a project. This woven earrings is one of them. Maybe it is because it involves lots of coiling :) Although I use drill to coil the wire, the thought of the heavy drill, recharging the battery if its been sitting idle for a while and setting up the vice clamp can delay things a bit :) 
Don't get me wrong as I don't mind complicated projects but when there are simpler projects at the same time, I will start with the simpler projects first.
How about you?

 

P.s, this woven earrings was completed on time though ;)

Wire Wrapped Rose Earrings and Brooch

Back when I just started with wire jewelry over 3 years ago, one of the first people I got to know is Kulli (Karnaaks) from Estonia. She especially love my Twice Around the World Bracelet. :) Be patience a bit ya Karnaaks! I should get started with the tut soon.
We lost touch for a while, then we got connected via Facebook. But then I just don't get to read all the fresh feeds each day. Most of the time I missed out on these feeds and happenings, including hers.
Recently though we got in touch again when she shared with me her wire wrapped rose earrings and brooch. She did them her way and they are some beautiful variations.
Here are some pictures of her creations. Hope you got inspired by them.

New Wire Wrapped Stud Earrings

It feels like a long time since I last made these studs.

Finally two new pair of pearl stud earrings based on my top wrapped and simple but elegant methods.

They are wire wrapped with only a piece of wire (each side), no soldering or gluing.
They are really fun to make and will make great gifts...especially last minute gifts.

These two pairs will soon be heading to their new owners :)

Amber Wire Wrap Post Earrings

Kerri of Beadworks by Kerry recently shared with me her Amber Wire Wrap Post based on my Top Wrapped Stud Earrings Tutorial. Here are pictures of the wrapped post by Kerri. There are more pictures at her Etsy Shop.
This beauty makes my hand itchy again....got to go make some studs soon.

While you are at Kerri's Etsy Shop, do check out here awesome bead works. I especially like this Beadwoven Cobalt Blue and Emerald Green Necklace. If you would like to find out more about  Kerri 's journey, she also has a blog - http://www.beadworksbykerri.blogspot.com/

Kerri, thank you for sharing.

Happy weekend all! 

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34907560

Visitors to the Garden this Evening

After yesterday, I got some time to clear the book shelve in the room and discovered that I have more than 10 books in there collecting dust. These books have been collecting dust since I bought them, some from few years back. I don't even remember I have them...duh!
Looks like I have to allocate some time for them. First task is to wipe off the dust and its done. Secondly to find the time to read them...that is the difficult part.....
And hey, look who visited the garden this evening?

Wire Wrapped Rose Earrings & Rings by You

Here are some feedback I received on the Wire Wrapped Rose Earrings Tutorial:

I love it! It's so easy and the results are gorgeous! - Dana of Colors of the Wood

Not a day has passed from buying tutorial and I have a new pair of earring already! Such fun to make and very easy instructions to follow,thank you :) - Theresa's Crafty Place

Excellent quality easy to follow instructions and photos. Thank you - Carol'sStudio

Here are pics of the earrings by Dana and Ginny:

Dana been working hard and created several pieces of them - rose rings and earrings.

 

Ginny added bead dangles on them. I think they are really sweet.
Thank you all for sharing.

If you are interested check out the tutorial at my Etsy Shop -

http://www.wirebliss.etsy.com

Wire Wrapped Caged Earrings - Painful piece, almost gave up

Yeah! I almost gave up on this one. I was wire wrapping this pair when headache strike again last Sunday. Managed to finish it before the full blown pain. Maybe because of that I decided this is one of the more difficult and painful piece. Yeah! Blame it on the headache :)
Anyway, headache is gone now and the world is so very BEAUTIFUL again!

Secondly, these are really tiny heart crystals....heart shape not very visible due to the wrap.
They are less than 1cm. Had hard time holding them down with my "temporary" clumsy fingers while trying to secure the loops/wraps at the front. The crystals kept slipping away to the sides or out the cage.

I hope the pain doesn't show on the earrings :)
So, here's happy non-headache days ahead and wishing you will never ever get any headache in your life.

Wire Wrapped Earrings Day

Editted 4th Oct 09.
Not sure what happened to the pictures uploaded previously. Thanks Heather for informing me.
Here they are again.
__________________________________________
Here are couple of wire wrapped earrings completed yesterday and today.

Been playing with jump rings and here are the result.

Very simple and quick projects.

 

 

Pearl Earrings, Rose Earrings & Rose Ring

Another simple earring design to go with the pearl bracelets made yesterday. Opps! I should make another one for the blue pearl bracelet..Duh! I love this pair of Rose Earrings. They are easy to make. However, you will need to know how to make the Rose Ring first though. The ear hook is not separate from the rose. They are all in one piece of wire :) Maybe I should come up with a tutorial for this pair of earrings. What do you think? The Rose Ring Tutorial is available at my Etsy Shop if you are interested.

Stringing Projects

Sometimes I wonder why I don't do stringing projects more often. They are much! much! much! easier than wire wrapping. They are much faster to complete. I can complete one necklace under half and hour. On the other hand I need at least 3 to 4 hours to complete one wire wrapped necklace or 1 to 2 hours for a wire wrapped bracelet. Much more hours needed if the wire wrapping is complicated. But then I realized stringing is just stringing. All you need are string, clasps, pliers and beads or gemstones. Put them all together and you are done. Of course, a bit more creativity will create one of a kind stringed piece. Wire wrapping on the other hand still requires all the above except the string. But then of course lots of patience and load of imagination and creativity. With wires, I can manipulate them into various designs and shapes which string can't do. You can't make a clasp out of string do you? Or you can? At the end of the day, completing a wire wrapped piece gives me more satisfaction and sense of accomplishment than completing a stringed piece of jewelry. Hmm.....maybe you don't agree with me. The above necklaces, bracelet and earrings turned out quite well but I am still crazy about wires and wire wrapping jewelry ;D Have a happy wrapping day!

Wire Wrapped Dangles

Been a bit slow in the creation department and bit slack in posting. Should be picking up soon. Still warming up and for a start, completed these two pair of wire wrapped dangle earrings last night. Something simple and uncomplicated for a new owner.

Don's Bow Earrings - Wire Wrapped Stud Earrings

Louise and Don are very talented wire artists that I got to know from one of the jewelry forums that I joined. I feel very honored that they are interested with my Wire Wrapped Stud Earrings Tutorial :) The amazing thing is Don came up with his own version of the stud earrings with the addition of "LITTLE BOWS". Very cute aren't they?! Louise said:

"You know Don, if he can tie a knot, he will"

Louise and Don also write tutorials. I have both and they are both a hit! If you have the time, do check them out at their FB - Kingfisher Designs. Their tutorials are very well written, easy to understand and I can assure you that you will be able to create the projects taught with flying colors. Here are their tutorials: Woven Wave Ring - Adjustable and versatile. Very popular! My version, quite a few of them and here are just some of them. Tucuman Bracelet - Very unique and one of a kind. My versions here and here. I should revisit these two designs. Been a while. WireBlissMei