Getting Out of My Comfort Zone

I still consider myself quite the ‘newbie’. I have been trying to branch out with the kind of metal I use with wire-wrapping.

Star Pendant Foiled Glass Design

I started with copper then gradually progressed to fine silver. I finally got the courage to use 14K yellow gold filled wire in a piece.

Blue Dichroic Glass Pendant

Since then, I’ve pushed myself further. My wife loves 14K rose gold, so I ordered 14K rose gold filled wire. I also have experimented with dichroic & silver foil glass as well.

Rubies in Fuschite

Here are a few pieces that although far from perfect, I'm very Happy with while attempting the design!

Contest Giveaway for a Free Wire Wrapped Pendant

In Celebration for passing 600 Likes on our Facebook Jewelry Page here is our Free Giveaway drawing for all those who helped us get there.
You could win this beautiful Copper Patina wire wrapped Dragon Vein Agate Pendant !

All you have to do is  "Like" our Adams Handcrafted Jewelry Facebook Page to enter. Please pick a number between 1 & 3000. You must go to the post on our Jewelry page and enter your number under the Contest photo in the comment section in order to be entered to Win! The winner will be the one closest to the # generated via https://www.random.org/ without going over. Giveaway will end Monday June 8th at 10pm Central Standard Time.

A screenshot of the winning #  from Random.org will be posted on our Adams Handcrafted Jewelry Facebook Page once the contest ends. We are only able to ship to the United States, US territories & APO addresses. We sincerely apologize for any who live outside this area. A free cord of the color & length of choice will be added to the pendant if desired. So come on over to Facebook and let the fun begin!

Wire types for Wire Wrap Jewelry

Wire types for Wire Wrap Jewelry

There are many types of wire from Stainless Steel, Copper and Aluminum to Gold Filled and Solid 

Silver wire.  The most popular is Aluminum craft wire which is available in a variety of colors

usually coated with clear vinyl and comes in different diameters. It is made for durability and flexibility and is used for beading or wire work. It will usually not fade or tarnish and is great for the beginning wire wrap artist due to its wide availability and inexpensive cost.  There is also solid or thick single strand stainless steel spring wire used for a lot of popular bracelet and necklace designs. On occasion I use gold filled and solid fine silver wire for some of my work.  But my favorite, which happens to be the most popular for a variety of reasons, is Copper wire. Sterling and fine silver are the second most popular wires used for making jewelry.

 Wire for Wire Wrap Jewelry is available in many shapes like oval, triangle, square, and half round and round profiles.  Each profile has certain uses for the type or style of wire wrapping involved with the design.   Wire also comes in different thicknesses or gauges and hardness levels, also known as malleability.  For wire wrapping, Wire gauges range from 6 gauge to 30 gauge with 30 being the thinnest, which is about the thickness of human hair. Hardness levels range from Dead Soft (DS) to Half Hard (HH) to Hard.  Dead Soft and Half Hard are used more often because it’s easiest to work with.  Dead-Soft wire does not hold its shape well when used for wide looping without first hardening it, but works great for elaborate designs right off of the spool.

Fine, Sterling Silver and Copper wire can become tarnished over time due to oxidation. You can keep the wires luster by storing it in plastic zip lock bags before use.  This is a nice way to keep your wire shiny or to preserve the luster for a longer period of time.  Air and oil on the skin of your hands are the biggest culprits of oxidation causing that brown dull luster on the wire. Have you ever looked at an old penny versus a new one?  As people handle the penny, the oil from their hands along with exposure to the air cause the penny to tarnish over time. The same is true of copper and silver jewelry. There are ways to prevent this which I will share in another post.

I use dead soft copper and dead soft fine Silver round wire for 99.00% of my work with the majority falling between 18 and 28 gauge wires.  I simply prefer round wire, and it happens to be the easiest to obtain.  Half-Hard and Hard wire are difficult to work because it is hard to bend and requires a strong hand and tools.  The Half-Hard and Hard wire nicks or damages easily as well because you must firmly clamp down on it to get the wire to bend correctly.  However, I still prefer dead soft wire because once it’s bent, it’s done, and will usually not get damaged through normal wear and tear.  It is both durable and lasting. These pieces should be around for generations and even become heirlooms.

The wire I use for pendants spans a wide range and is dependent on the size and shape of stone or other material that I am wrapping.  But I mostly use 18 and 20 gauge wire as the base and 24-28 gauge for the weaving on the pendants. Although I plan my designs, they very rarely come out the way they are drawn as I usually let the stone or focal point dictate the style and flow of the design as I'm weaving.

I'll cover how to protect your wire and jewelry in my next post.

Artist Prayer

For those of you out there who have a religious background and are Christians and in celebration of our Lord and Savior and remembrance of his sacrifice on this Easter Weekend, I wanted to share the little prayer I came up with many years ago when I started drawing portraits. I have this posted on the wall in my studio and I look at this often before I start many of my art projects including my recent jewelry making endeavors.  It helps to give me focus and calms me before I start. At the end of reading it and before I start, I always tell myself,

"Let's Make Something Beautiful"

So here it is...

The Artist Prayer

"My Lord God, guide my hands this day and allow me to see what I must

in order to create this work of beauty in your honor.

For my talent, patience, perseverance, experience and hope

comes from the Holy Spirit within me

and through your Glory shall it manifest itself

in my mind and through my hands."

Amen

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

An Ode to Wire Wrapping

So I was thinking poetically recently about what it means to be a wire wrapper and how I get lost in the wonder of the stones, beads and wire. How we as people can create such beautiful and awe inspiring jewelry from what nature and the almighty has provided, which can take us away to far away lands, times or places of fantasy and mirth. So, I came up with a little poetry to express my thoughts.

An Ode to Wire Wrapping

Wire is my only true passion.

Wearing beads and metal with exuberant pride,

it certainly makes me incredibly happy inside,

letting stones and gems become my fashion.

Creations from my heart to my hand,

come forth dreams of green Malachite,

and hidden treasures in my mind of, oh, so sultry Labradorite,

wrap and link, mysterious wire demands.

That handcrafted jewelry unfolds,

those strange weavings through strife,

to adorn that beautiful neck and lobes,

and with great effort comes to life.

For those who so much do agree,

that wire wrapped jewelry holds true,

our wonder of things unknown but new,

like the pattern of a leaf on a newly budded tree.

So with much shouting and wailing,

I do boldly profess my love,

for those shiny sparkly things we find most of,

wire wrapped jewelry with it's ever clever unveiling.

All righty then, that's food for thought, Hey!..that reminds me, it's dinner time and I'm starting to get hungry.Onward to the kitchen and sandwich. AWAY!!!!

New Store and Website Design

Take a look at our new Store and Website design, we have recently integrated the two sites for a more seamless experience. Now www.adamshandcraftedjewelry.com will take you to our blog and from there you can click on the "SHOP" button at the top of any page or the menu link on the right side of any page on our website to get to our store. You can also get to our store directly by going to http://adamshcjewelry.storenvy.com/ , please remember to bookmark the page for easier access.  We will be offering exciting new features to our website including a Gallery, Tutorials, Videos, Articles and of course our on-going blog for the latest projects and happenings at Adams Handcrafted Jewelry.

Write Up on Jewelry Making Journal .com

Hi all,
So my wife has been canvassing the Internet looking at jewelry websites for design inspiration and happened to run across jewelrymakingjournal.com and was moved to contact the site owner about my jewelry making efforts. The site owner, Rena Klingenberg was most gracious in her assessment of my jewelry and offered to post a short article on how I got started along with a few photos of my work. I don't really think my work is good enough for such a venue, and I said so to my wife before she and Ms.Klingenberg  posted the article that I wrote up. I just don't feel like I'm on the same level as most other great jewelry artists out there, but I had to defer to her rantings about my talent as I shoved a finger in each ear while shaking my head.

That being said, I want to thank all of those who commented about my jewelry on this website,  and as always, I welcome constructive criticism which only helps me to get better.

I, also, want to thank my wife (Michelle Adams) for her tireless efforts in promoting my work, answering emails, responding to Facebook posts and posting on my behalf on other sites like Tumblr, Pinterest and Twitter, tracking down cabochons, shipping/tracking sold items and every other small thing she does on a daily basis. I wouldn't have come so far, so fast without her.

As time goes on, I hope to get better and perhaps turn this into a full time job once I retire from my day job, but for now I will continue to make jewelry as time permits....and of course I won't quit my day job just yet, as I really don't want to be a starving artist at this early stage of the game.

For those interested in a quick read, here is the link to the article.

Self-Taught Jewelry Artist Inspired by Deviant Art

If you have some time, check out all this website has to offer, as there are a lot of great articles along with a ton of jewelry making information.

Until next time, Happy weaving!
Daryl