Delving into wirework

So this week the lesson was about wirework jewellery, the most anticipated part of the course for me. I have been dying to learn how to do this properly, having tried with a previous piece I made. This time we used quite high gauge wire which means it should keep its shape a lot. I just need to gain a metal sheet and a rubber mat to be able to do some hammer designs (I like the appearance of flattened wire work). Well here are the pieces anyway :)

This network evolved from an experiment with different shapes. I was quite pleased with the outcome when I combined it with chain and beads. I keep looking at it as I'm very pleased with how the coiled eyepins came out, the neatest I have done yet I think!

The starter piece was actually the item below where all links were created in wire work, connected with jump rings. 

A little free time...

So I have has a little free time today, kind of unexpected as I was intending to do lots of marking but realised that I had left most of it at work. All ready for tomorrow so decided to make some jewellery instead. I bought some necklaces of the market yesterday, didn't like the combinations but liked the variety of beads so didn't feel bad about destroying them :)

It seems the more I am doing this the more I am working with pink - which is weird considering I don't even really like pink!!

I decided to start with using some cord as I was really pleased with one necklace I made which incorporated both chain and cord. I had some similar discs from the dismantled necklaces but this time they were gold so went for a more vibrant cord this time, paired with pink and blue beads.

So this was the first piece and I have to say was really pleased with it. I think the colours go very well together, kind of has an antique feel to it with the tarnished gold.

I then used beads from the same necklace along with some gold tiger tail making a 2 strand necklace. I am still unsure of this style even though I think it came out well. Probably because it only uses one technique and I seem to like the effect of combing them, cord with chain, eyepin links on their own and with chain, ribbon with beads....

Looking back over pieces I made before starting the course its nice to recognise my own development. I'm glad I was able to discover these other techniques as it really has developed my own designs.

Next lesson...

Its my next lesson this evening, looking forward to it as it makes Mondays that little bit more bearable. I have to get straight home after shopping to cook dinner and be out by 7 - no small feat.

Tonight I think we are going to be working with chain, eye/head pins and split rings. Hopefully this will mean I can get to grips with the technique I want to use in my bridesmaids jewellery.

In the mean time I was looking around for ideas and was doodling again. I quite like the idea of combining ribbon with chain so plan to take some along this evening. Be interesting to see how that comes out.

I also went mad on ebay and have ended up with 700 meters of tigertail - should keep me going for a while! :D

Driftwood

This was probably the piece I have been proudest of so far :D

This next one was another attempt to make a 2 strand cord necklace. I'm not sure whether its any good or not as I don't really like pink lol.

Indian Delight

I decided to keep going on the cord front, the only way I can find my style and improve was to keep going so I tried this time to make a two strand cord necklace. I love red and black so decided to use those colours, making use of beads from necklaces I had purchased and then broken up.

Green pendant cord necklace

As I didn't like the other one I decided straight away to give it another go, intending to improve the things that I didn't like. I had the pendant and wanted to create something with a subtle effect. I wanted to insert a bit more texture than I had with my first attempt and so decided to use spacer beads and bead surrounds in silver tone.

I much preferred this second attempt to create this style of necklace and I think its because of the use of the spacer beads to add texture. 

Pink cord necklace

So the next skill I have been learning is to work with waxed cord, leather and cotton. I already had the heart pendant in a stone and had decided to use this for my necklace alongside some larger beads I had set aside previously. I chose the pink leather cord as the beads were clear and I felt this would showcase the beads and cord quite nicely. 

I’m not too sure on the effect of this type of jewellery and I found it quite difficult to do. A couple of times I discovered I had made a mistake, once forgetting a knot and another with the distances being uneven, correcting these errors was more time consuming than with other techniques attempted so far. 

Dark Magic

I decided to use more than just beads in this piece, using some tibetan silver discs, I called it dark magic as it had a mysterious feel to it which I loved. This is only short and probably more of a collar necklace than a dangle length.

Koh Tao - two wire necklace

For this piece I wanted to use two contrasting colours as I was interested to see how they would actually work. I decided to use the orange colour as a subtle colour as I felt it could overpower the whole piece. I actually had in mind a picture I had taken on a scuba diving trip to Koh Tao. In the picture its a deep blue background with 2 yellow butterfly fish about to meet over the brow of a large undersea rock. Although they were yellow, for some reason in my mind I had them as a vibrant orange. Here is the result:

I also made the bracelt to match the necklace this time, I felt very proud of this piece :)

Ivy - Two wire necklace

When designing this piece I was thinking of natural, calm greens. I wanted to make something that looked random and envisioned the greens melding into one another, without standing out from each other. I had ivy in mind all the time I was making this necklace.

Practice wire necklace - citrus

For this piece I decided to try and use a tropical set of colours inspired by my wedding colours. I was thinking of vibrant orange flowers with green leaves and so decided to use some small daisy charms. Im not too keen on this one to be honest but friends have commented that they liked the nice bright colours :)

Second piece

When doing this colour scheme I wanted to do something in cool colours. I had no particular thoughts in my mind but I have always liked the combination of green and purple so was using that idea as a basis. I wanted to add something as an extra dimension so I decided to include some blue. I like the combination but cant decide on what it makes me think about....what do you think? What could I call it?

My first piece

This was from the first week of my course. We were given some memory wire to work with to make a necklace and a ring. I chose a light selection even though it was against my normal colour choices. I have to say although this was a quick method I'm not particularly a fan of the style. Hey who.....at least I gave it a go, learnt a new skill :)

Steampunk Bracelets

Watch from DeviantArt

From another blog

From Trendsupdates.com

Bracelet from DeviantArt

Jewellery thoughts....

So...I basically started off on this course as I wanted to make my bridesmaids jewellery for our wedding next year. This is still the intention but I am finding that I am enjoying it so much that it is kind of what I am thinking about a lot of the time. We were watching a film last night (Social Network for anyone interested) and I was doodling ideas at the same time. Im no good at drawing but hopefully I will draw some jems :)

My first love in jewellery is always leaning more towards the Gothic but on a research assignment I discovered steam punk, what can I say but wow? Fantastical, mysterious, right up my strada.

So Im interested, anyone reading this and want to tell me their likes in terms of styles?

And so it begins.....

I have always been interested in making things, whether it be on the computer or something more physical with real items. I recently decided to develop a skill I had already been practicing by undertaking an adult education course in the evenings. I plan to blog here about my developments throughout my jewellery making course, hopefully you will give me your views on what you see :)