Welcome!
I so enjoy doing my beaded crochet, but I have been doing it A LOT lately....so this past week I decided to put it down and try something new...
A few years ago I picked up these gemstone donuts at a local bead store that I really loved... in fact it is where I purchased all of my Turquoise since I do not trust buying it online (it never seems to look like the picture and is a lower quality when it arrives, not any other stones, just Turquoise). She had to close last year and I didn't get a chance to make a final visit which I'm still wondering what fabulous stones I may have missed out on....
OK...back to my gemstone donuts... So I've had them for a while, never used them because I wanted to do something different with them, I just didn't know what that was. Last year I purchased a PDF tutorial on wire wrapping donuts and it was VERY simple, I liked it, but wasn't drawn into it. I wanted something more...
Now I won't lie, I do go on Etsy and ArtFire and look at other people's work, mainly to see my competition and price ranges for similar categories of work, but I NEVER COPY someone else's work. There just doesn't seem to be any creativity or challenge in that, and it's not unique. I mainly am inspired by people's work, the pieces in my beading magazines and even the tutorials that I buy. I will get an idea from something that I see and make it my own unique design.
Now that I've explained that, a beading friend of mine on Facebook had liked a picture and it showed up on my feed, it was this amazing wire wrapped pendant, so intricate it was crazy! For some reason I was inspired to get out my gemstone donuts and try something, something new...
It was a combination of my PDF tutorial and this lady's work, when I combined it in my mind, I just started wrapping and let the wire do it's thing...bending, looping and flowing, this is what I ended up with on my first attempt;
OH MY GOSH!!! I don't even know what I think about it...it's...something new! New for me that is. The more I looked at it, the more it grew on me, so I had to try another one...
These were all done with 20 gauge wire and my poor little fingers were toast! Also my forearms were not happy with me either...
After a few days, lots of massaging later, I thought I would try some of my other gemstone beads. I have some larger beads that are great for chunky necklaces but sometimes make the necklaces quite heavy, so I thought why not try them as a single pendant? And why not try 22 gauge wire instead, it's just a bit thinner and would be easier to manipulate...maybe my forearms would last longer... this is what I created;
Then I thought, some people might like a brighter silver, maybe an antiqued gold look too...
So there they are! Just a few of my newest creations!
I was concerned that they would not all be unique...well no worries there because even when I tried to duplicate a wrapping pattern it came out different!
I'm on a roll, and will keep going until I run out of wire! There's no rush, I plan to have them available for my Annual Christmas Jewelry Show at my salon in December. I plan to sell them just as is, but I like the idea of having something to put them on available to my clients. I'm thinking I will have matching chain and some neutral browns of leather also. As far as length, long is really popular this season so I may have some at 36" and some shorter ones of 24" to choose from. I'm sure I will have some left over, so they will be part of my inventory for a craft show I hope to be a part of next fall. In the meantime, I will have to decide if I'm going to list them in my ArtFire studio or not...it's just that I have SO MUCH inventory!!!
But I do believe everything happens for a reason and God has a plan for me, and for all this jewelry he has inspired me to create, maybe it's for the many craft shows I will do in the future, maybe it's for my online studio as word gets out about me...who knows! Until then, I will continue to create and keep you posted about my journey :)
I so enjoy doing my beaded crochet, but I have been doing it A LOT lately....so this past week I decided to put it down and try something new...
A few years ago I picked up these gemstone donuts at a local bead store that I really loved... in fact it is where I purchased all of my Turquoise since I do not trust buying it online (it never seems to look like the picture and is a lower quality when it arrives, not any other stones, just Turquoise). She had to close last year and I didn't get a chance to make a final visit which I'm still wondering what fabulous stones I may have missed out on....
OK...back to my gemstone donuts... So I've had them for a while, never used them because I wanted to do something different with them, I just didn't know what that was. Last year I purchased a PDF tutorial on wire wrapping donuts and it was VERY simple, I liked it, but wasn't drawn into it. I wanted something more...
 |
| Picture Jasper, Agate & Unakite Donuts |
Now I won't lie, I do go on Etsy and ArtFire and look at other people's work, mainly to see my competition and price ranges for similar categories of work, but I NEVER COPY someone else's work. There just doesn't seem to be any creativity or challenge in that, and it's not unique. I mainly am inspired by people's work, the pieces in my beading magazines and even the tutorials that I buy. I will get an idea from something that I see and make it my own unique design.
Now that I've explained that, a beading friend of mine on Facebook had liked a picture and it showed up on my feed, it was this amazing wire wrapped pendant, so intricate it was crazy! For some reason I was inspired to get out my gemstone donuts and try something, something new...
It was a combination of my PDF tutorial and this lady's work, when I combined it in my mind, I just started wrapping and let the wire do it's thing...bending, looping and flowing, this is what I ended up with on my first attempt;
 |
| Dalmatian Jasper Wire Wrapped Donut |
OH MY GOSH!!! I don't even know what I think about it...it's...something new! New for me that is. The more I looked at it, the more it grew on me, so I had to try another one...
 |
| Picture Jasper & Agate in bright gold, Howlite & Snowflake Obsidian in antiqued silver |
These were all done with 20 gauge wire and my poor little fingers were toast! Also my forearms were not happy with me either...
After a few days, lots of massaging later, I thought I would try some of my other gemstone beads. I have some larger beads that are great for chunky necklaces but sometimes make the necklaces quite heavy, so I thought why not try them as a single pendant? And why not try 22 gauge wire instead, it's just a bit thinner and would be easier to manipulate...maybe my forearms would last longer... this is what I created;
 |
| Wire Wrapped Pendants of Ocean Jasper & Sesame Jasper in antiqued silver |
 |
| Wire Wrapped Pendants of Tiger Iron & Jade (Serpentine) in bright gold |
 |
| Wire Wrapped Pendants of Orange Carnelian & Conglomerate Jasper in bright copper |
Then I thought, some people might like a brighter silver, maybe an antiqued gold look too...
 |
| Wire Wrapped Pendants of Amethyst & Peace Jade (Serpentine) in bright silver |
 |
| Wire Wrapped Pendants of Picture Jasper & Red Flake Jasper in antiqued gold |
So there they are! Just a few of my newest creations!
I was concerned that they would not all be unique...well no worries there because even when I tried to duplicate a wrapping pattern it came out different!
I'm on a roll, and will keep going until I run out of wire! There's no rush, I plan to have them available for my Annual Christmas Jewelry Show at my salon in December. I plan to sell them just as is, but I like the idea of having something to put them on available to my clients. I'm thinking I will have matching chain and some neutral browns of leather also. As far as length, long is really popular this season so I may have some at 36" and some shorter ones of 24" to choose from. I'm sure I will have some left over, so they will be part of my inventory for a craft show I hope to be a part of next fall. In the meantime, I will have to decide if I'm going to list them in my ArtFire studio or not...it's just that I have SO MUCH inventory!!!
But I do believe everything happens for a reason and God has a plan for me, and for all this jewelry he has inspired me to create, maybe it's for the many craft shows I will do in the future, maybe it's for my online studio as word gets out about me...who knows! Until then, I will continue to create and keep you posted about my journey :)
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