Adventures in Handmade Jewelry

Now if that doesn't date me nothing will! But I'm not going to write about soda. I'm talking about knowing when to take a little break if things aren't going well. So here's the thing. I had an idea rolling around in my head. It often goes this way when I wake up in the night and don't get back to sleep right away. Design ideas occupy my thoughts and most of the time I try them at the bench the next day. All well and good. But this particular design was really fiddly and difficult. I had to wear my 2.50 magnification glasses just to see what I was doing. Then I had to use a loupe to see the really fine detail. Crazy!! And it wasn't working. I messed up something and got quite frustrated at my inability to make it work. Rather than force it and continue on, feeling bad the whole time, I put it down and walked away for a little while. I can't remember what I did, but it had nothing to do with the business or the bench. Not every idea is g...

A quick story (with video!!) of how one necklace got made. I imagine this happens with other artists, not just jewelry makers. You buy materials that you love right away, but don't use right away. You keep hoping an idea will come to you. If none do the item sits. Waiting. Especially if it's something really stunning - a one-of-a-kind piece. Will you do it justice? Do you dare? Is your work good enough for that marvelous thing? Well this is the story of one such item. Here it is, along with the things I'll use to make the finished product. Next to the beads. That's it. A handmade glass pendant, 2 1/4 inches across. It's basically a long tube with a bend in the middle, but the colors are amazing. And the depth of the texture just knocks me out. I've had it for like 10 years. Picked it up at a bead show when I lived in New Hampshire. Loved it, but hadn't been brave enough to come up with a way to wear it. It was like when my mom gave me beads fr...

Since I'm going to be gone during the last part of April, I'm running a Mother's Day Sale now! While supplies last, I'm giving away free jewelry items from my secret stash. Things I've had for a while that I liked and didn't put up for sale, but hadn't worn either. It's the way of it with making jewelry. And now you benefit! Head over to www.thewiresmith.etsy.com before your favorites slip away. Oh and take a look at my latest shipment! Starting on the left, the straight up and down bracelet is made of some gorgeous barrel boro beads, handmade by an artist in Texas. The design is one I'm tinkering with and it's just done in craft wire to test how wearable it is. Not especially so I'll be remaking it in a different way. Still with those double hinge links though, just not as many of them. Moving on and taking it from the top I got - faceted peridot (5 mm) faceted iolite (5 mm) star cut agate (6 mm) tumbled aqu...

There must be a torch! UPDATE - this baby is sold! Gone. Woo hoo! Spent a few hours at the bench today. For a while now I've been wanting to fire up my torch and see if I could still wield it with any skill at all. Before I went on hiatus I had just begun fine silver fusing and found I really liked it. But I was hesitant. I hate wasting wire and I hate disappointing myself. I finally got my butt in gear and here's the result! Amazonite & fine silver bracelet I'm sort of amazed at how well it turned out. Oh sure, I have a few goofed links, but not as many as I feared. With each dud I learned what I did wrong and fixed it though, so it wasn't a total waste. The ones I used are nearly all perfect. One or two have a bit thicker side to them, but not so awful that I pitched them. That's the beauty of handmade, right? It's the thing we're all going for. At least what I'm going for. Quality pieces, even fine pieces, but without that assembly lin...

As you develop your craft, brand and artistic style, tailoring and refining designs is as important as coming up with new ones. I have a small library of wire jewelry making books and sometimes I use a design straight out of those pages. Often I make it as is, using the materials and measurements specified by the author. Sometimes it works perfectly like that, but sometimes I need to modify it to meet my own standards.  Recently I went through a few different variations with one bracelet trying to make it more wearable.  I love the smooth ribbons of sterling wire, but the original specs just didn't lay right. At least not on my wrist, which admittedly, is pretty small. It's possible that the piece with the longer ribbons would work on a larger lady and for that reason I have it in the shop (bottom one with the orange beads). But as I played with the pattern, I found that flat beads work better because they don't break the plane of the wires. They help t...

Partly a sneak-peek at what will be in the shop, partly a wrap-up of what's already there, I'm pleased to bring you a little Spring Collection showcase! Click the picture for a larger view It's a little hard to do with an Etsy shop, so I set up this curated selection to show how beautifully coordinated these pieces are. Plus I had a lot of fun setting things up in my travel jewelry case. Don't you just want to take them all home??!! Very hard for me not to just keep everything. That's totally my fault though. I don't make jewelry I wouldn't wear myself, or, for that matter, wear with my "good jewelry". Handmade doesn't have to be cheap or tacky and we all know that when we see it. My work is different if I do say so myself. Yes, as the name states, I use wire, but I work hard to produce high quality pieces with designs that stand out and wear well. I'm too darn picky to do it any other way. Lots of pearls up there, and kyanite, am...