Jewelry Blog

Wire Jewelry Workshop: Techniques for Working with Wire and Beads by Susan Ray published by Krause Publications (US $19.99; CAN $21.99) packs a lot of wire information into its 128 pages, starting with some wire history and progressing through lots of techniques and projects. As the subtitle explains, this is mainly about wire, but it also shows how to incorporate beads with lots of the wire designs. And, how doesn’t love the combination of wire and beads?!

Ray does not present her workshop alone, either. She has a lot of help, especially from vendors who are known for their wire expertise like Gary Helwig from WigJig.com. As she explains various technique, many of these are also illustrated directly afterwards with projects to show how to incorporate the technique into a finished piece of jewelry. Some of my favorite projects include “Aquarius Necklace” designed by Sherri Chapin for Blue Moon. It is a relatively simple design but her use of materials and technique still made it stand out to me. “Cherry Cordial Cuff” designed by Cas Webber for Beadazzled was also a great project because, though it is listed an an intermediate level project, it had enough going on that I felt even more advanced wire workers would find it a little fun and challenging too. So while this book focuses mainly on the beginner, there is still something for those who have worked with wire to consider.

The only issue I felt I should caution anyone about, and this may not be an issue for some readers, is that there are a number of commercial products used in the text. Ray does provide lots of great information on using basic hand tools like wire cutters and ring mandrels, but there are also commercial tools like the Coiling Gizmo and various production jigs used as well. There is nothing wrong with using these tools. They were designed to make life easier for jewelry designers, which is great, and there is lots of “real” hand-work demonstrated, such as the “Pearly Swirly Bracelet,” which combines a lot of hand-crafted loops and “S” connectors. But, for those absolute wire purists, I felt I should point this out.

Here are some current discussions we are having on the Jewelry Making Forum:

Inventory – when is enough enough? What is too much? Can you have too little jewelry ready to sell for your next show?

Newbie jewelry making etiquette – What are some does and don’ts those new to jewelry making should known when attending shows and other elements of being a member of the jewelry making community?

A child’s wrist is obviously smaller than an adults, but how much smaller do you need to make a bracelet for a child to wear comfortably?

With the price of metals these days (though have gone down a little recently), it’s more important than ever to save and sell your scraps. One jewelry maker wants to do just that and asks for some advice.

Head pins, like wire, come in different gauges. So which gauge do you normally purchase for your earring making needs?

If you have ever considered selling your jewelry at art shows, then you’ll need to learn more about juried shows. What are they? Are they worth the time and effort to enter?

[Credit: allkpop.com]

This coming October 11, 2008, Ulsan MBC will celebrate its 40th anniversary. A concert called Big Music Festa will be held at Munsu Cup Stadium to celebrate the said event. The line up of performers for the concert includes DBSK, Wonder Girls, Big Bang, SNSD, V.O.S, and Jewelry.

DBSK and Big Bang on the same stage? Wow, I wish I could see this. Not that I am a Big Bang fan but just the fact that Seungri of Big Bang and Xiah Junsu of DBSK will see each other and perform on the same stage excites me. Junsu and his fanboy will meet again. I wonder what will happen? Will Seungri refuse to let go of Junsu’s hands again? LOL.

Selling of tickets for the concert will be on August 29, 2008 at 7pm via Interpark. Ticket prices range from 33,000 won to approximately 55,000 won.