Minty Sweet Necklace

AJE Component of the Month Reveal

Once a month Art Jewelry Elements hosts a component giveaway and reveal.  February’s components were made by the talented Francesca Watson of Francesca Watson Designs.  Each member of the Art Jewelry Elements team, plus five other artists were given an enameled piece that Francesca had made for us.

I received a minty green enameled piece.  I love it because Francesca did multiple firings; adding several layers of color.  It adds so much interest and depth to the piece.  She also added 3 fine silver “pebbles” which are such a pretty accent.

I received the green one on the right.

You may remember that in January and the beginning of February, I was taking an online wire working class from Kerry Bogert.  She had a new project for us, every day for 30 days.  Like many of the students, I didn’t have to the time, then, to keep up with all 30 projects, but I am slowly working through the projects, as time permits, now.  So I decided that, for this necklace, I would make one of the cool bails that Kerry taught us.  I have to say that I am just tickled pink with how it turned out!  Thank you Kerry!

Minty Sweet Necklace

I discovered that Francesca’s enamel matched beautifully with some faceted free-form chrysoprase that I had.  I placed 2 of the chrysoprase beads near the pendant.  Then I added 4 etched lampwork beads by Beads and Botanicals, that also have wonderful layers of color.

Minty Sweet Necklace

I sprinkled in 2 smoky brown and 10 transparent green Czech faceted glass beads and some copper spacers.  The necklace finishes with patinated solid brass chain and a lobster claw style clasp.  I’ll be adding the Minty Sweet Necklace to my shop later this afternoon.

Minty Sweet Necklace

Hop on over to  Art Jewelry Elements and discover what everyone else has created with their gorgeous enameled focal beads!

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.

Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry

New Wire Coiling Tool

 News Day Tuesday

Welcome to News Day Tuesday –  the day for jewelry updates and snippets of life.

Wire Coiling Gizmo

Last week I shared a wrapped wire bangle bracelet that I learned how to make in Kerry Bogert’s e-course, Aspire To Wire.  The wires in that bracelet were wrapped around a core wire by hand. The hand work is necessary when creating a long coil.  When 5 inches or less coiled wire is needed, then you can use a nifty tool called the Wire Coiling Gizmo.  Kerry included a little video showing how to use this tool and I got one right away.

wire coiling gizmo

It’s a deceptively simple tool.  Its the kind of thing that makes you think:  “Why didn’t I think of that?!”  The deluxe model comes with an attached  C-clamp, otherwise you have to use a separate clamp.  You clamp it to a table and choose the size mandrel you want.  Those metal things on the left are the mandrels.  I chose the thinnest mandrel, because I wanted a wire coil that I could use with earrings.  I selected some 20 gauge purple wire and wrapped the tail around the crank handle to stabilize it.  I unrolled a bunch of wire from the spool–you can see the wire hanging down below the table.  And then I started cranking, around and around.  Viola!  A purple coil!

Wire coiling gizmo with purple wire wrapped evenly around the mandrel.

Well it wasn’t quite that easy.  I learned a bit from this first attempt.  You have to apply an even, moderate tension on the wire and angle it “just so” to keep the wire wrapping evenly.  If I held it too tight or at the wrong angle,  then either the wire had gaps between the wraps or, more often, several loops of wire piled up on top of one another.  Then I had to unwind them, smooth them out and try again.  I imagine this gets much easier with practice.  When Kerry demonstrated the Coiling Gizmo, she wound that wire so quickly and it was perfect!  I also think that when using the small mandrel, it would be better to use 22 or even 24 gauge wire.  The 20 gauge wire was so thick that it tended to bend the mandrel.  I’ve got several ideas for using this purple coil.  I’ll show some of them for the next AJE earring reveal in 2 weeks.

A Thank You Card

There are a few other creative pursuits that I enjoy, in addition to designing jewelry.  I like floral arranging and making my own cards.  My daughter’s boyfriend thoughtfully gave me a pretty flower stamp and ink pad for Christmas, (along with an awesome bottle of brandy!).  So naturally I used the new stamp to create a Thank You card for he and my daughter.  I stamped the flower  on ivory colored card stock.  Colored the center with a yellow pencil and cut out the flower.

Thank you card

I pressed a little sticky square of foam on the back of the flower, so it would be raised a bit from the surface of the card.  I added ribbon and some stick on cork letters and it was good to go.

Completed card

Did you know that I am always delighted to read your comments?  I am!  Hope to hear from you.

Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry

Its A Wrap

 Tuesday News Day

Welcome to News Day Tuesday –  the day for jewelry updates and snippets of life.

Wired Bangle Bracelet

To follow up on last week’s post, I finished the wrapped and twined bracelet I was making for my friend’s birthday.  I was complaining of sore hands from the wire work, last week, but then I got the idea to use one of those gripper things you have in the kitchen to open jar lids.  It gripped the wire much more firmly than my hand could.  That enabled me to lighten my grip on the wire.  The next day I was able to complete the bangle without any pain!

I started out with over 8 feet of wire!  It looked like this to start.

Wire Bangle in progress

I’m taking an e-course from Kerry Bogert to improve my wire-working skills.  You can see that its my first attempt.  There are patches where the wire wrapping has gaps, but there are also spots where it looks pretty good.  Practice makes better.

Wire Bangle in progress

When I finished the bangle, I decided to add a matching bead dangle.  Here’s the finished project.  My friend loves it and told me she was proud of me for always striving to broaden my skill set.

Twined Wire Bracelet

I’m excited because the next project that I’m going to attempt in Kerry’s class is a variation on this bracelet, that also includes an artisan focal bead that is wired onto the bracelet.  I’m hoping to be able to get started on it, on Wednesday.

Twined Wire Bracelet

Green Spindle Earrings

I gave a sneak peek of these earrings a couple of weeks ago, but I’d never gotten around to listing them in my shop–till now!  The Green Spindle earrings feature lovely artisan-made ceramic dangles by Marti’s Buttons and Beads.  These earring have a fairly simple design, but I love the graceful shape of the ceramic dangles with the pretty glass beads that are accented with tiny pink rosettes.

Green Spindle Earrings

Green Spindle Earrings

View these earrings in my shop here.

Did you know that I am always delighted to read your comments?  I am!  Hope to hear from you.

Linda

This And That

Tuesday News Day – One Day Late

 

• Sad to say, but I haven’t made a single piece of jewelry this week – not that I’ve been a slacker though!  Here’s what I’ve been up to.
• My nephew and his girlfriend from California came to visit and we all got together in Seattle for a nice lunch and visit.  I actually hadn’t seen him since he was a little kid.  So grown up, bright and interesting to talk with now!
• The Art Jewelry Elements Blog is hosting an Earring Challenge for 2013.  The planning of this was fairly time-consuming as we sought to make it motivating and inspiring, as well as making it a doable challenge. If you are a jewelry designer, it’s not too late to join up for challenge.  It is too late to be part of the first quarter Pinterest board, but it’s not to late to join the Sunday earring reveals and link ups!  If you love jewelry, but don’t make it yourself, you’ll undoubtedly enjoy seeing all the cool earrings that we’ll be creating this year.

 

art jewelry earrings

• I work part-time during winter and spring quarters for the University of Washington and went back to work this week.  I supervise master degree students who are doing internships as teachers.  I have 3 students this year that I will be meeting with weekly.  Two of them are doing their teaching internships in 5th grade and one is teaching 1st grade.
• I’m taking an online wire-working class from Kerry Bogert, which started on Monday.  I was working on a wire bracelet earlier this evening, but I had to take a break, because the wire work was making my hand joints ache.  I hope it is just a matter of building up strength in my hands.  I’ll show off the bracelet when I finish it.  I’m going to give to a friend of mine who has a birthday this week.

Wire Bangle in progress