Wire-Decorated Pumpkins for Fall

A couple of pumpkins I've decorated with craft wire for autumn:

Pumpkin decorated with spirals made from 18g copper, silver, and gold craft wire, by Sweet Freedom Designs

Small decorative pumpkin wrapped with 18g orange, chartreuse, and dark green Artistic Wire, by Sweet Freedom Designs

Before I go any further, these are NOT my ideas - I bought the book where I found these ideas at least 7 years before I discovered beading. I saw it in a bookstore, bought it, and put it on my craft bookshelf at home, and never touched it again. (Sound familiar?) Then, 2 days ago, I still was looking for book I have been trying to find for about 3 weeks, and decided I might as well look on the craft shelf, and though I didn't find what I was looking for, I did discover this black book with "Halloween" written on the spine in white in a really cool font. I pulled out the book, and the spiral-decorated pumpkin was on the cover, and I knew I wanted to make it! If you like Halloween crafts, you might want to check out halloween, 101 frightfully fun ideas. The book has a wide spectrum of Halloween crafts inside!

So, back to my wire-embellished pumpkins.

Another view of pie pumpkin covered in craft wire spirals, by Sweet Freedom Designs

This started as a pie pumpkin, about 10 inches high and 10 inches in diameter. The book recommends using silver solder to create the spirals, but that's crazy talk! I don't know where they get their silver solder, but around here, it's expensive!

I decided 18g craft wire was a better idea, and even better? I could combine gold, silver, and copper to decorate my pumpkin! Y'all know how I love to mix metals.....

I started out small, and precise, and was hammering my spirals as I created them. And then my OCD and perfectionism kicked in - I got all worried about where the different spirals would go, and fussy about what colors were next to each other (I didn't want a whole cluster of silver, or copper, etc., sitting there - I wanted the colors arranged so there was never a spot with 2 of the same color next to each other! Yeah ..... that didn't happen. LOL.) And I wanted the spirals evenly spaced, and all sorts of other pickiness kicked in. So while I should have probably completed this one in an hour or so, it took me over 8 hours. Yeah, that's right: Eight Hours.

I was going to wrap some green artistic wire around the stem, and create some wire leaves, but after the 8+ hour of creating spirals, I. Was. Done.

Time for the other pumpkin!

Small decorative pumpkin wrapped with 18g Artistic Wire, by Sweet Freedom Designs

This cute little decorative pumpkin won my heart at the grocery store: its shape is perfect, and I loved it's freckled complexion! It's about 4 inches tall (not counting the stem) and about 6 inches in diameter.

The book called for "plastic coated wire" - I didn't have any of that, but I had 18g Artistic wire in bright orange, chartreuse, and dark green. The little pumpkin had an even number of grooves going around it, so I decided to alternate the orange and chartreuse wires for the wrapping on the sides. Then I added the dark green to the other 2 for the stem, twisting all 3 colors together and coiling them around the stem, then turning the ends into coiling tendrils.

The plastic-coated wire in the book shows up a lot better (could be because it is bright pink!), but it is also much thicker than my 18 gauge wire. If I were doing this one over again, I would probably bundle 3 pieces of each color together to wrap in each groove around the sides of the pumpkin. (Full disclosure: in person, the wires on the sides of the little pumpkin show up very well; they just don't look like much in the pics!) I also want my tendrils to be longer, so I will probably go back and wrap in a few more tendrils when I get back to work next week. I may even make a few wire leaves ... who knows?!

Happy Fall, y'all!

3 views of the pie pumpkin covered with craft wire spirals, by Sweet Freedom Designs

Let's go to the beach!

This piece is one of my favorites! 

I used a piece of my own dichroic glass, one with lots of vivid, swirling blues, aquas, and teal. Looks very watery, right? Then I did some freeform wire-weaving around it, occasionally adding a freshwater pearl as I went. It reminds me so much of the beach!

I hung it from a simple silver chain so that all the focus is drawn to the beautiful pendant.

Green Swiss Cheese

And...now you know why I rarely name my pieces - I'm just not very gifted in the "clever name" department!

Here's how this pendant developed:

19g annealed steel from the hardware store 

I wrapped some annealed steel wire around my fingers to form a roughly oval shape, using the ends to secure the oval and created a bail for the pendant (the bail is at the top, but it is somewhat hidden in this pic):

annealed steel ready for firing

The torch has to be really hot, and because the piece is so large only a small segment of it gets hot enough for enameling, so the piece has to be immersed in small sections in order to get good enamel coverage. Multiple coats were applied - but don't ask how many! I lost count as I slowly rotated the piece round and round to get it covered.

after firing

Don't ask me what colors I used - sorry! I had 3 different colors on the table, and would dip into one, then switch to another, and now I have no idea what 3 I used - and this actually comes back to haunt me!

I really liked the shiny blue-green pendant, but the large open space in the middle was calling to me - can you hear it? "Fill me!" "Embellish me!" "Don't leave me naked like this!!"

So, after a week or so, in which I experimented with wire, wire and crystals, and other ideas to embellish the pendant, I hit on the idea of suspending something in the middle.

I cut a smaller oval from sheet copper, and then drilled it to achieve an open, perforated look:

perforated copper disc

And while this would have looked interesting on its own, suspended in the middle of the pendant, I decided to color it to go with the beautiful blue greens on the enameled oval.

Except that I couldn't remember what colors I had used. Arrrgh! So I had to spend some time experimenting with different colors to try to get something close - and I didn't hit the nail on the head, but I got close enough! (And then forgot to photograph the disc after it was enameled - sorry!)

Then it was time to attach it to the pendant, and this called for more experimentation. I got really lucky here, in that I had some 26 gauge artistic wire that was almost a perfect match for the pendant (and since I only had 6 colors of 26g artistic wire in my stash, you can see what I mean by lucky). But I wasted a BUNCH of wire trying to get an attachment method that suited me!

And here is the result again:

I absolutely love this piece! But now Barbara Lewis has challenged me to try to make it all in one fell swoop - shape the annealed steel into the form, attach the perforated copper with copper or steel wire, and then enamel it all as an assembled piece! I'm saving that challenge for a long, rainy day!

So here is a challenge for you - please, please give me a better name for this piece - then I can list it on Etsy with a clever moniker!

Custom Mixed Metals Wirework Necklace

One of my regular customers requested a necklace combining copper and silver. She came into the shop and selected some beads she really liked, and then gave me carte blanche to come up with the design.

This was a really fun piece to design! I wired some of the beads to other beads, or inside of large connectors, and then hooked everything together into this long necklace.

Detail:

And best of all, my customer loves it!

Wire-wrapped Earrings

These earrings combine 2 of my loves - geometry, and mixed metals.

I'm often inspired by geometry, and I like to incorporate different shapes into my work. These earrings started with wire circles (in sterling), broken up by the addition of graduated, slightly curved, linear dangles in gold. Then another dangle with a mixture of gold and silver round beads - Simple, elegant, and visually appealing (to me, anyway!)

Sterling Silver and Copper Wire Bangle

Newly renewed on Etsy - this sterling silver and heavy gauge copper wire-wrapped bangle bracelet. Good for what ails you!

Wire-wrapped Copper Heart Pendant

I'm going to dedicate a few posts to describing how I made the focal pendant and clasp I sent my partner, Kate, for this round of BSBP (Bead Soup Blog Party).
This is the copper wire pendant I sent Kate:

It's freeform, in that I had no pattern to follow. I was basically flying by the seat of my pants, with just a rough idea of where I wanted to end up. But that's what makes it fun!

I started by drawing an abstract paper heart, the size and shape I wanted the pendant to be, on some scrap paper. Then I cut out the paper heart.

Using a tape measure, I (roughly) measured the circumference of the heart I'd drawn, and added about an inch. I believe my measurement was about 6 inches, so I cut a piece of 14g dead soft square copper wire that length. If you don't have 14g, 12g is fine. And if you don't have dead soft, you'll probably have to anneal the wire before proceeding. (Which will lead to having to pickle the wire to remove the firescale - which is why I love dead soft!)

I knew that wherever I started forming the heart would also be where I ended, in other words, I needed to pick my starting point carefully because that's where I would end up doing some wire-wrapping to join the ends together. (I could have soldered them together, but this was a wire-wrapping project, not a soldering project!)

I chose the center top of the heart, figuring that adding some binding wires there would result in the best balance in the finished design. I started my design about 3/4" from the end of the wire, and laid the wire on top of my cut-out paper heart. Using my thumbs, I gently bent the wire to follow the various curves I had drawn, with the except of the 90 degree bend the heart takes at the bottom right - here, I used my flat nose pliers to put a 90 degree kink in the wire, before continuing to curve the wire along my paper template.

When I reached the beginning/end of the design, I left about another 3/4" of wire, and then cut off the excess.

It's important to point out that during this whole shape-forming process, you have to be very careful not to twist the square wire while you are bending it. You want the same surface of the square wire to face upward during the entire process.

Where the beginning and end of the wire met at the top of the heart, I crossed them over each other and then used just enough 24g round copper wire (also dead soft) to form a binding wrap that held the heart shape together. Then I used my round nose pliers to form a loop in both the free ends, bending them around to meet the inside border of the top of the heart, using care again not to twist the square wire. Then I wrapped around these loops and the outside frame of the heart again, until it was secure, and carefully tucked in the ends of the binding wire. No sharp edges!

Then I used a chasing hammer to texture the copper heart frame, resulting in this:

I could have added a bail or jumpring to this and called it a day, but I felt like it needed ... more. So I went searching for suitable embellishments, and chose turquoise blue matrix jasper.

I played with this a little on the paper heart template first. I had already decided against wrapping the jasper directly on the frame, encircling the heart with beads, because I really wanted to fill the wide-open center that was staring at me. I wanted to see how to best wire the jasper to the heart on paper before proceeding, because I didn't want to mar my pretty, shiny, textured copper heart. I really wanted an odd number of "strands" of jasper crossing the heart, because there is something so right about odd numbers in jewelry design. But 3 wasn't enough, and I couldn't make 5 fit. Until I hit upon the idea of having the 5th strand just cross one of the shoulders of the heart!

I used the 24g round copper wire again, securing it to one side of the heart, stringing on some jasper rounds, and then taking it across to the other side. I had a few false starts - one too many jaspers, one too few, attaching in the wrong spot - but I finally hit my rhythm, and got the 5 strands on there in a way that was very pleasing to me.

Next, I cut a 14g jump ring on the largest mandrel I had, and placed it in the top shoulder of the heart. It looked a little plain, so I wrapped it in more of the 24g round copper wire to give it a little texture. Then I put the whole piece in the tumbler for 2 hours to shine it and harden it, and here it is again:

I like the texture that is mirrored by the wrapped jumpring, the joining wrap at the top of the heart, and the wraps that attach the jasper wires to the frame. Very unifying!

Ruby in Zoisite Wire Wrapped Bracelet

New listing in my Etsy shop - I actually made this awhile back, but somehow never got around to photographing it and listing it, apparently. I looked for it in my Etsy shop yesterday, couldn't find it - looked in Expireds, Inactives, everywhere - baffled. Then I searched for the photos on my computer, and ... not a one, anywhere. Weird.

So - it's listed now!

The stone is a gorgeous specimen of ruby in zoisite, which has only been lightly polished, so that the natural beauty of the stone shines through.

You can find more information about this bracelet here, in my Etsy shop.

Blue, Green, and Copper Freeform Wire Cuff

Here is another freeform wire wrapped cuff, this one with green and blue beads that were just screaming to be paired with copper!

I formed the frame for the cuff from heavy, 12g square copper wire, and then started adding the beads in random zigzags from one side of the frame to the other, sometimes connecting the zigzags with another piece of beaded copper wire. I used round 24g copper wire for the beaded cross pieces.

The beads are a mixture of kiwi jasper, turquoise, matrix jasper, and various blue and green glass seed beads, with several shapes of copper beads and spacers interspersed.

I love freeform creating - it's a perfect fit for my personality: outside the box, with no rules! I hate rules! But whether it is freeform wire work or freeform beadweaving, the challenge is to always be thinking a couple of moves ahead, because even though it is "freeform," a little bit of planning is required, especially if you have certain elements that you know you want to fit into the finished piece.

Now, if I only had more time to express myself freely!

Freeform Wire Wrapped Bracelet

I combined a bead soup mix of blues, pinks, and neutral colors with Vintaj Natural Brass wire to create this freeform wire-wrapped cuff. The bead mix includes aquamarine rondelles; freshwater pearls in peacock blue, pink, and off white, and a mixture of seed beads and small Czech firepolish beads in pinks, blues, and bronze.

Freeform wire work is my preferred way to work with wire, because wire is not my friend! Wire likes to bend, break, and just generally be uncooperative when I work with it, so creating formal, structured pieces is a real challenge for me. I get better results when I either let the wire do whatever it pleases, as with this cuff, OR when I beat the wire into submission with hammers. Either way, I win!

Wire-wrapped Briolettes

I was lucky to find some extremely vividly-colored ruby in zoisite (one of my favorite stones!) - these were briolettes, which is a difficult shape for me. These stones were the perfect size for earrings, so I did a coiled wire-wrapped cap and loop for these stones, and hung them from earwires.

Bird's Nest Pendant

I created this cute copper bird's nest, and filled it with blue and green "eggs" and embellishments for springtime!

I hand forged sheet copper to create the base of the nest, and used my brand new wire twister (actually a very old cast-off tool from my Dad, but this was the first time I've used it, so it's new to me!) to twist a long length of copper wire for wrapping the nest's edge. A speckled and striped 14mm blue and green ceramic bead is wired into the nest, along with lots of sparkly olive green Czech fire polished beads.  This cute pendant is only 1 and 3/16 inches in diameter! Wouldn't it look great on a piece of leather or ribbon?

And it's available in my Etsy shop!

Worth every minute!

Sunday was Metal Studio Day again, something a small group of us try to do once a month. Often we go in 12 different directions, and just do our own thing, but this time we decided to tackle one project together.

The project on the cover of the Oct-Nov 2011 issue of Step by Step Wire Jewelry had been calling out to us ever since we received the issue in the shop last month. The colors are "my colors" - seems like I am always returning to blue and green when I make jewelry, and green and blue look so fabulous with copper!

This necklace was a mix of cold connections and wire work, and we knew it would take a large chunk of time to create, so we gathered at 9:30 Sunday morning, and started to create.

I have to say that this project was unusually poorly written for a Step by Step Wire project; I can't recall ever seeing such vague instructions in a Step-by-Step project. To begin with, rather than telling you how much wire to use for the base piece, the instructions call for working directly off the wire spool, and coiling until "you have the right size". Yet the "right size" is never specified, and when a group of people are trying to create a project where they are sharing one spool of wire, they can't all "work off the spool" - an approximate length, and a template, would have been very helpful. So we spent quite some time on this step, futzing around, and wasting a lot of wire.

The size of this coiled wire base - its width, the height of its coils, and the number of coils - is critical to all the rest of the steps in the project, and determines the number and size of the beads and domed copper cups that will fill in the design. Without any clear measurements provided by the project, we sort of worked in the dark, cutting and doming our copper cups ("Make as many as you like.") while the base coil tumbled, not knowing really how many or what sizes we needed. But we made several different sized domed cups, and then had fun rummaging through the shop looking for green, blue, and brown beads to add to our project.

I decided to patina some of my copper cups using a method described in my brand new copy of Jewelry Lab.

This is an exciting book for metal workers - loaded with tips, tricks, and project ideas. I am particularly excited about the patina section right now, and after my success with the colored pencil & gesso technique, I can't wait to try more ideas from this book.

These are my colored-pencil patinated discs - I really like how they turned out, and it was so easy!

Assembling the necklace was tricky, as we discovered that getting the beads and copper cups to wrap tightly was not going to work as described in Step 6. We each attached 4 or 5 units according to these instructions, and they slid and wobbled on the base, so we figured out how to use some 24g wire to stabilize their attachments, and then we modified the attachment instructions for the rest of the units, to get a nice tight wrap onto the coil.


We finished the project, attaching the copper chain and S-hook as the last step, at 7:30 PM. So from start to finish, 10 hours. And worth every minute. Though some measurements and a template for the base coil would have saved us over an hour - but, to use my very least favorite colloquialism, it is what it is.

I am absolutely thrilled with my finished necklace, and now that I have completed the project and worked out the kinks, I am ready to make another one!


Edited 10/24/11 to add: In respect to the Step-by-Step Wire project instructions: A customer came into my bead shop on 10/22/11 and perused this particular article after noticing the project picture on the front of the issue. After about 4 minutes, she commented on how badly written the instructions were, and asked how she was supposed to know how much wire to purchase in order to make the project? Good point - I had only looked at it from the aspect of making it as a group; as a bead shop owner, I had not even considered the difficulty a customer would encounter if trying to purchase supplies for this project.