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 :)

Dead Hard Disk and a Little Teardrop Pendant

I have been rather quite the last few days.
That was because my laptop's hard disk died last Monday.
Just got it fixed this pm and now I am halfway personalizing my FireFox, files, menu, add-ons, etc. etc.
Lots of work there and just hope it will not die on me too soon. Touch wood! touch wood!
All was not lost as our IT person managed to backup all my files, mostly work related.
Backed up my hobby related files somewhere else.
Haven't been making as much jewelry as I'd love to but here is one completed last weekend.
Similar wrapping technique as the Fossilized Coral earlier but wit more swirls.
A rather clear and small stone.....

Wire Wrapped Fossilized Coral Pendant

Fossilized Coral! Fossilized Coral! (proper name is Agatized Fossil Coral)
Not sure why but I kept forgetting the name of this stone.
Most of the time, I only remember the coral part :)
This stone comes is several shades of colors - brown, reddish, gray, yellow, red as can be seen here.
The beautiful part of this stone is the flower like patterns in the stone.  Just awesome!

This pendant measures about 1in long and 0.8in wide.
I wrapped it in this particular way so that the "flowers" are all visible because that's the beauty of the stone.

Further reading on Agatized Fossil Coral (Gem Select) here.

The Lucky Number "8" - Pendant

If you are a Chinese, then you know that number "8" is considered a very lucky number.
If possible, you'd want this number in your phone no., house no., account no., car plates, special days, etc! etc! Some people are willing to pay high price to get this lucky number.
Why is this number considered lucky?
Well, simply because the word "eight" in Chinese (Cantonese in my case) sounds like the word "fatt" (read as in "butt") which means "to prosper/ prosperity". This refers to prosperity in terms of wealth most of the time :)
In jewelry, there are lots that represent this lucky number.
Maybe when it is worn against your body/skin, it is more potent. Hope so!
OK, to the point of this post, here is a custom made wire wrapped number "8" pendant.
This pendant measures about 5cm from top to bottom.
Embellished with natural seed pearls and a large teardrop smoky quartz.
The white (pearl) and black (quartz) represent the Ying and Yang of life.

I wish the owner, all the "fatt" after she wears this pendant.
Throw some spillover, over to me...LOL!

Jade Donut Pendant, Chinese Pipa

The last time I made a similar pendant was in April 01, 2008 - look at this post.
Exactly 2 years and 2 days ago! just notice the date when linking the post :)
How time flies.
Revisited, with a slightly bigger jade, unakite, red coral and agate (because its a custom order).

If you would like to learn how to make the pipa wrap with wire,
or Chinese Knots with wire, Corra has the tutorial/s. 

Corra is an expert in Chinese Knotting with wire.

(disclaimer - Corra's PIPA knot tutorial is for earrings and not this pendant

don't want to be blamed for misleading later on. Need a bit of modification for this piece)

Happy weekend and creating :)

Double Abundance and Time

How time flies. I didn't realize that its been a week since I last posted.
Office work been keeping me busy these days including weekends :(
Although I tried to keep work within the confine of "office hours", Monday - Friday, sometimes its just impossible. Not that I like to, but got to, as my line of work involves deadlines all the time.
Maybe my time management is not good enough. But I only have so much time right?
Will I do it better with a citizens watch?
That also explains why I have been a bit slow in the wire jewelry creations department.
By the time work is done, the mood for creating is not there anymore. Not only that, I have been out of touch with facebook friends and tweetering as well.
Most of the time, I'd be surfing here and there, aimlessly.
It is during one of these surfing session that I came across this site - of all sites, a watch site, gold mens watch, you name it, there is a long list there. Guess they know I have been thinking about time a lot these days. Not that I am planning to buy watch but I was attracted to the jewelry and the site layout.
You know I have been working on my site layout.
There are items and links I want to put up there but still no time to work on it.
This watch liquidator site is an inspiration.
I'd like my site to be like that one day - minimum clutter, easy and fast navigation and their shipping info, payment terms, F&Q are clearly explained in straight forward fashion.
Yeah! Lots of work needed there and clutters to clear up. What more, blogger now allows you to create your own templates design. Now I need more citizens watches!
Hopefully after this week, I'd be 'freer' to create.
I have said this hundred of times but its mid-March now and I am still behind.

Ok! not to bore you more with my rambles, here is a wire wrapped double donuts pendant I managed to complete after a long long time. Sorry Bi to have kept you waiting for a while :)
This is really a special pendant and the feeling it gives me is - ABUNDANCE!
Isn't it great?
I wish for abundance of time.
How about you?

 

Happy Chap Goh Meh, Caged Pendant and Whimsicalnquirky

Happy Chap Goh Meh! the 15th night of Chinese New Year. It is also known as the Chinese Valentine's Day and marks the end of the Lunar New Year. In places like Penang, the celebration is associated with young single women tossing tangerines into the sea with the hope that their future life partner will pick it up. Not sure if they do it here in Kuching though.
We celebrated quite simply with family dinner, fired a few firecrackers and took the boys for a spin around town, watching firecrackers lighting up the city's skyline.
The moon is brightest tonight and people are still lighting up the sky with fire crackers as I am typing this. Tomorrow, it is time to go back to life as usual, back to work, back to business and no more long holidays.
I didn't manage to make any wire jewelry today but am sharing one that I completed yesterday - a caged turquoise pendant, similar to this one.
Used 22ga wire for the wrapping.

Hey look what M of Whimsicalnquirky came up with - Rosy Bliss based on my Wire Wrapped Rose Earrings Tutorial :) While you are there, do check out her amazing works. 

Thank you for sharing this M :)

NEW TUTORIAL - Wire Wrapped Cross Pendant

Announcing my NEW TUTORIAL now listed in my Etsy Shop

Swirly Wire Wrapped Cross Pendant - $8.00

All this project requires is wire of 3 different gauges and a bead.
The cross in this project measures about 3 cm x 5.5 cm.
You will learn how to:

• Create a symmetrical cross frame
• Create the swirls
• Attaching the swirls and pearl
• Create a flexible bail

 For more details check it out at my Etsy Shop.
To purchase directly, click on the Buy Now button below.

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!

Another 2 days till Friday

Giveaway Ending on Friday - Check it out here to enter

For 3 lucky winners! 

So hurry if you would like to win a free Sparkly Ring Tutorial worth $6.00 at my Etsy Shop

**************

And here is a recently completed caged pendant...again! :)

Material:
22ga wire
12mm tiger eye (approximate.

Wire Wrapped Bird Cage Turquoise Rings (Triplets) and Mr. Spiky Pendant

Not as productive as I wanted to be the last few days. Some delayed projects and inability to meet deadlines. No hard feelings but I got time extension :) 

 

Here is my Triplets! Identical bird cage ring. These are tiny rings...size 7 done with 22ga wire.

This is an easy and fun project to make. Approximately 5 min each ring. These were done in between a very difficult project.

 

Meet Mr. Spiky. This piece is based on Carmen's tutorial - Spike Seahorse. Great technique and I can see many possibilities from this technique. Just haven't got the time to explore more. Next year maybe..:)
Talking about which, Have you list down your New Year resolutions?
Me, not yet - still thinking.

Simple Wire Wrapped Butterfly Pendant

While managing the sales last two days, I spent some time creating this simple wire wrapped butterfly pendant. This is similar to the copper butterfly created few days ago only that I use 19ga wire and this is smaller much smaller in size.
This is a potential low cost tutorial but we shall see.
Would you be interested?

Very tired now so good night (opps! morning) for now.

Getting Too Cagey Already?

Seems like I can't get enough of this wire wrapped cages :)
I'll let the pictures tell the story this time around.

This is Much More Easier

Another try on this caged pendant. This time around its a round tiger eyes gemstone of about 1.2cm.
I can only say this is much! much! easier than the heart pendant and earrings made previously (previous post).
As it is round, I don't have to worry about how it sits in the cage. Whichever way it turns, it still look balance in all direction...hehe..
Easy! easy!

Here's the Pendant-Wire Wrapped Caged Earrings

Alright! It's not the headache. It is actually quite difficult to wire wrap this tiny crystal.
It just didn't want to sit still.
I managed but its a bit "wai wai!" (off center)!
Glad that I completed this set as they have been with me for a while :) but
* Reminding myself not to wire wrap this kind of tiny crystal next time. Must be at least 1.5cm.

Catching Up - Wire Wrapped Cab

Got this done this evening. I thought it would be a breeze wrapping this piece but not really. I use 23ga wire for wrapping the frame and I have problem keeping all the wire together while fitting the cab in there.
A bit of flow there but if you look closely, the cab is positioned a bit off the center.

Special thanks to Bobbi for her tutorial.

Why Cathching Up? Because I have lots of catching up to do ;)

Wire Wrapped Butterfly Pendant by Emily

Emily did it again! I posted her other creations before - Wire Wrapped Tulip Pendant, Athena's Shield, Caged Herringbone Weaved Bead, Sparkly Ring and Rose Ring. She is getting better and better each day. Just look at her Wire Wrapped Butterfly Pendant below. Honestly, her butterfly looks prettier than mine :) Well done Emily! and thank you for sharing. Check out other wire wrapping tutorials in my Etsy Shop.

SATeam Treasuries - Wire Wrapped Butterfly Pendant

As far as I am aware of, I have never been in a treasury before. Tonight, to my pleasant surprise I found my tutorial for Wire Wrapped Butterfly Pendant in the SATeam Treasuries (blog post here). The tutorial pix is right at the bottom left. I see a lot of familiar names and tutorials there too. Check them out!

Click on photo to enlarge

NEW TUTORIAL - Wire Wrapped Butterfly Pendant

Finally its OUT! This one took the longest time to finish. Apology to those who requested for it and waited for so long. Not because it is difficult to make but because I got distracted by lots of things, happenings and responsibilities along the way. Anyway, Check it out at my etsy shop - Wire Wrapped Butterfly Pendant Although i categorized this project as an intermediate level project, it will be easy for anyone even a beginner. The clear and close up pictures together with description will guide you every step of the way to complete your first butterfly pendant :) Happy Sunday and Happy Wrapping all. Here's to Wire Wrapped Butterfly Pendant!

Muse, Organic Swirls and Eddies

I think my muse is on its way home sweet home :). Came up with this pendant this weekend and quite happy with the result. Lots of swirls and mixture of pearls, gemstones (citrine and peridot), dyed coral and Swarovski crystals. It measures about 6cm in length and 3.5cm across at its widest. WireBlissMei