The Unknown "Blue"

This is last weekend project - a Twice Around the World (TAW) Wire Wrapped Bracelet. 

Unfortunately I don't know the type or name of this stone. Each of them measures about 1cm in diameter and I got them from New Zealand. Beautiful shade of blue.
Any idea what stone is this?

TAW Bracelet by WireBliss Design

Now, a bit or marketing :)
If you like this bracelet and would like to learn how to make it yourself,
Click here for the TAW Bracelet Tutorial
There is also a tutorial for a TAW Ring
Click here for the TAW Ring Tutorial

TAW Bracelet by WireBliss Design

I thought I'd like to ask another question but let's leave that for another post.

What Would You Do? | Fossilized Coral Pendant - Wire Wrapped and Woven

Today I would like to ask a question and I'd love to hear what you have in mind.
Do leave me comment if you have the time.
Here is the question.

What would you do if you discovered that a piece you just completed looks similar (maybe 95% similarities) to someone else's design?

However, you cross your heart and swear to die you have never seen hers/his design before?
Do you....

• remove all pictures of the piece you have posted? 
• give credit to the other person? If yes, how do you give credit in this situation as you have never seen his/her creation/design before hand? --- ehm..."thank you for the inspiration but I have never seen your creation before?" --- sounds very fake and insincere right?
• offer an apology?....for what ya?
• believe in coincidence and explain how you come up with your design?
• or accuse the other person for copying (if he/she is accusing you for the same)!
• or let me know your experience...........

Another question will be coming in the next post.
Meanwhile, here is sharing with you my recently completed wire wrapped fossilized coral pendant.

Thank you for your time.

Two Wire Wrapped Rings

Here are the two rings I made last weekend.
This first one here is a wire wrapped Jasper ring. This stone has two holes on it.
Because of that, I spent quite some time figuring out how to wire wrap so as not to get one messy wrap.
Chipped one stone in the process....the preferred color by the lady who comissioned this.
Now I am not sure if she likes this color.
If she doesn't, I will keep this for myself :) Love it.

Another fruity wire wrapped ring. Made this one many times before.
Learned how to make this from one of the Yahoo Groups.
If not mistaken, it's Beadingholics but I maybe wrong.
Searched for the tutorial but can't find it there or other groups.
Maybe it's removed.

Have a great weekend and happy wrapping.

Wire Wrapped Ring - Steel Rose

Made a few rings last weekend but my camera ran out of battery after only a few shots of these wire wrapped rose rings.
Battery is now fully charge but I have to put off taking pictures of the other two rings - emm...busy with other things :)
Maybe tonight!
Anyway, here's for your viewing pleasure.

If you are curious about how to make this wire wrapped rose rings, check it out here - Wire Wrapped Rose Ring Tutorial at Etsy
Its in the low cost tutorial category (USD3) and caters for beginners in wire jewelry.
Relatively easy and a quick project. Great for last minute project/s :)

Shall be posting some pictures from our Penang trip on the next post and then ...
....a free wire wrapped jewelry tutorial, still in the making...give me a bit more time...

Till then, have a great week all.

She Did it Again! - Wire Wrapped Cross Pendant & TAW Bracelet

Hi all. I am back but been feeling tired for the last three days.
Not enough sleep and lots of work to catch up with.
Have not been touching my stones and beads for a couple of days and I am missing them already.
But weekend is very near.
Since I don't have anything to share for the time being, here is sharing with you what the very talented Emily of Emily Secret Passion been up to <3
This time around she made the Swirly Wire Wrapped Cross Pendant based on this Wire Wrapped Cross Pendant Tutorial.

and the TAW Bracelet based on the TAW Bracelet Tutorial.

Like many of us, Emily is self-taught and she is very very talented.
Just look at her pretties on her blog here - Emily's Secret Passion.
Thank you for sharing Emily and I am very proud of you.
Happy weekend folks :)

Back to Basic Wire Wrapping

In the next few hours we will be flying off to Penang.
For what? Lets just say to meet the relatives :)
We will be there over the weekend + Monday and Tuesday.
Lets see, the last time I was there was about 20 years ago when I was still a student.
Now you can guess how young I am...LOL.
That trip was an unforgettable one but I leave that story for another time...
ahhh...you know how students life was...so innocent and curious...happy and carefree...
At that time, I didn't know that one day I will have relatives in Penang...that's life...

Anyway, back to wire jewelry, its Back to Basic with this bracelet.

This involved mostly basic wire wrapped shapes. Anyone can make this.
Let loose, have fun with the wire and it will not disappoint you.

Two types of stones here - Amethyst and moonstone.

Love the hook and wire wrapped water lily attached to the clasp.
Been a while since I last made similar clasp like this one. This one is really sturdy as I wire wrapped it with 28ga wire so that it won't straighten due to wear and tear.

Simple wire swirls bent on the opposite directions to form a link. Use thicker wire for this - 19ga.

Lets see whats interesting in Penang after this.
Meantime, have a great weekend! I sure will :)

Blissfully White and Winding, Wire Wrapped Jasper Ring

There are many ways to wire wrap a ring and this is one of the methods (Winding Elegance) that got me wondering how on earth it's done?

I don't remember exactly when I purchased this tutorial (roughly more than a year ago) but I do remember being curious about the method. Very stunning indeed and original. Since then, I have seen many similar tutorials (both free and paid) but I just can't seems to find them at the moment (mental note: must bookmark these sites in future).

Here is my take on this method with a bit of modification as my bead has holes and I use all round wire. The stone is Jasper and it turned out ok :)

Sparkly and Wiggly Rings - Lapis Lazuli

Not so productive last weekend but managed two rings, only. Both are 8mm Lapis Lazuli wrapped with 20ga Sterling Silver wire.
I wish I have thicker wire for the wiggly ring.
With 20ga it doesn't feel that sturdy even after some hammering.

However, the one wrapped based on my Sparkly Crystal Ring method is just nice and strong :)

Headache been visiting for the last 24 hours and I am signing off right after this. 

Rest and sleep is the best cure for headache....so goodnight and sweet dreams my dear readers!

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 Flora with Hammered Edges

After the first one and after Shuku suggested more hammering for the petals, here is the new wire wrapped floral pendant.

I really hammered the petals off as you know 19ga stainless steel wire is quite tough.
VERDICT: I really love the outcome....LIKE! LIKE! Thanks for the suggestion Shuku.
This time around I added an additional petals, making them six instead, added a glass leaf  and tourmaline teardrop that looks like a leaf too.
This is mine for the keeping :)

Happy Sunday!

Revisited - Iza's Woven Bead Cap but (but flattened), Rose Quartz

There are many wire jewelry artists that I admire and get inspiration from since I got addicted to wire.
As some of you may have known, I admire Iza Malczyk tremendously and I dream (since 2007) to be like her one day (still daydreaming :)).
There are many pieces that I made inspired by her creations as well as her tutorials. 
And here is the most recent one. This is based on the Woven Bead Cap Tutorial but instead of a cap, its flattened to become a spiral.
Now that I am looking at it, I should have weave the spiral tighter i.e smaller gaps between the wires. Hm...but I think it still looks great this way :)

This is the wire wrapped pendant attached to it, giving weight to the woven spiral. Or else, the woven spiral by itself will be too light to hang nicely down the neck.
Its Cat's Eye with Cherry Quartz and dyed coral beads on both top and bottom.
I added some chain to the bottom of this pendant too because without it, the pendant look "incomplete". That is just what I feel :)

More chains for the back of the necklace, beaded clasp and wire wrapped 10mm Rose Quartz.
Somehow the pink of the Rose Quartz don't stand out in these pictures. They look too pale.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures and get inspired by this post.

The Spotty One (Leopard Print) - Double Abundance II

This is a rare (at least for me) spotty donut pendant as I have never seen a stone like this before.
Maybe you have come across this stone. Any idea what its called?
D likes it at first sight too, so this pendant is made for her. Now on the way to her.....

Our net connection was down last Sunday till Monday morning. Now, I have lots of catching up to do.
Just one day/night down and I am way behind in lots of things. This is like a full time job! Duh!
Must get organize again to reduce this dependency!!!
Have a great week all.

TAW Wire Wrapped Bracelet by Connie

Connie is so kind to share with me photos of her TAW wire wrapped Bracelet made based on my TAW Bracelet Tutorial. She made two of them but they are still without the clasps. Nevertheless, she did very well for a first try and I am very proud of her :)
Connie told me she would only be able to complete them in two or three weeks time as she will be away.
I can't wait that long :) so I said I will show them off first and will re-post the completed pieces later when she is done with them.

This picture is a bit blurry.
Have great weekend all.
If you are interested with the tutorial for the this Bracelet, click on this link below
TAW Wire Wrapped Bracelet Tutorial at Etsy

A Piece without Name

Took me many many hours to complete this one. This wire wrapped piece is still without a name.
Really dunno how to call or name it.
Maybe it will stay that way.
I am not good at naming my jewelry :(
A cross shaped pendant with combination of the following stones - turquoise focal, red dyed corals, garnet (faceted), tourmaline, and Swarovski Pearls.

Anyway, enjoy.

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?

Wire Wrapped Floral Themed Pendant

Have you been seeing flora everywhere?
I am seeing them everywhere, not only around the house but also the web.
People have been creating lots of floral themed pretties and I don't want to be left out.
Here is my version of a wire wrapped floral pendant.

Inspiration: Kristin of KS Jewelry Designs and wire jewelry community.

Netted Agate Pendant and New Tuts

New Wire Wrapping eTutorials:
1. Twice Around the World (TAW) Wire Wrapped Bracelet (click this link)
2. Twice Around the World (TAW Wire Wrapped Ring (click this link)
Purchase No. 1 and get No. 2 for FREE.
Offer end 12:00am, May 31st 2010
******************************
Back to creating, here is a large agate pendant wire wrapped with the 28ga wire (lots of them), netted style.
Been a long time since I last wrapped it this way - Beautiful Rubies 2008 and its very therapeutic I must say.
Unlike other wraps, I like this as almost the whole stone and its pattern is visible.

Another Wire Wrapped Fossilized Coral Pendant, Large

Although it took less than 2 hours for this piece, posted 2 days ago, this one here took me the whole Sunday!
It doesn't look that complicated but I don't know why it took so long.
But, I admit a lot of time was spent massaging the piece and the wires and thinking how to wrap the wire so it will hold the Fossilized Coral in place.
Figuring and re-figuring, bending and unbending, wrapping and unwrapping the wires couple of times actually.

Hope it doesn't show here..hehe....
Clean look at the front right.
You wouldn't want to look the back of the pendant

Custom order for a special lady and I am running out of Fossilized Coral. 

How to Wire Wrap Irregular Shape Stone

This is faster than I thought.
Got this tiger eye pendant done within two hours this afternoon.

Last week, I spent few hours wire wrapping the same piece with another method, which I abandoned when I remembered how Danagonia wrapped her giant nugget bead. Thanks Camilla for the inspiration!

The irregular shape of this tiger eye makes it difficult to wrap with the normal cab wrap.
That's what I did initially and I failed miserably.

With 3 wires, I formed the frame, holding the stone in place securely.
Wrapped them with 3 different weaving techniques as you can see from the pictures here.

Problem is (but not really a problem actually!), you will end up with a bunch of wires at the top.

A bit tricky to tuck them all in neatly, leaving two for the bail and still make it look good.

Overall, I am quite happy with the outcome and I can see a lot of potential in this technique especially for irregularly shaped stones. If you would like to learn how to wire wrap in similar way, check out Camilla's tutorial here.
Have a wonderful and productive weekend dear readers. 

Airport and Donut Jade Pendant - Pipa Wrap

Here I am at the KKIA waiting for my flight home to Kuching.
Been here for the last 2 hours and I have another hour to wait.
So, here I am posting another wire wrapped piece which I have been wanting to post the last few days but interrupted by this travelling.

This is a very tiny donut jade pendant.
The donut jade itself is only about 1 cm in diameter.
A custom order by a close friend of MIL.
Had hard time figuring out how to wrap it and in the end decided that the pipa wrap would be the safest besides adding size to the tiny jade.

All through the making of this pendant, I was worried that I am going to break the jade.
Its so delicate but thankfully it didn't happen.
Ok, got to go...see you in Kuching :)