Just beads – oh and thread and findings to string them together – but if you prefer to work just with beads and no wire, then these holiday ornaments and jewelry projects are for you.
Filigree Star Ornament
Filigree stampings can be used to make quick holiday ornaments that you can either hang from your tree or attach to a gift for a little extra adornment. In just a few minutes, you can add a little wire and beads to complete this simple star ornament.
You’ll need:
1 filigree star
1 lampwork bead
2 4-mm beads
copper wire
round nosed pliers
bent/flat nosed pliers
wire cutters
1. Cut about 3 inches of copper wire. I used 22 gauge.
2. Using the wrapped looping technique, make a loop on one end of the wire, slip the filigree star into the loop, and finish by wrapping the wire around itself.
3. Thread on one 4mm bead, the lampwork bead, and another 4mm bead onto the wire.
4. Make a loop and wrap the other end of the wire.
5. If desired, add a piece of ribbon through the top loop of the ornament so you can hang it from a tree or just use a wire hook.
The filigree star is available from Guyot (guyot@tp.net), and the red, speckled lampwork bead was made by DD Hess.
Here’s a printer friendly copy of this file.
All graphics created by Tammy Powley.
I just wanted to show off some resin cabs I made recently. Considering I’m learning as I go, I think they turned out okay. I’m getting there at least and will have a project up soon about them.
Waiting for Inspiration
My brain went numb for a few days and I stopped making earrings just as abruptly as I started making them-dunno if the success went to my head or the fear did…Will I be able to make more…Have to wait and see..
What have I been doing with my time? Been put back into work-reluctant but happy…Did a bit of shopping for a sofa and at the Valluvar Kottam Craft Bazaar.
Thought and thought a lot about what project I should post- I have a very bad habit of having my fingers in quite a few pies at the same time-Then I got this brilliant idea-why not post about ideas and the things that inspire us?
So I put down what I do when I need ideas for jewelry:
- I read my Google reader feeds
- I google”beads” (Very obvious, I know)
- I search for colour schemes with a Color Scheme Generator
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I pull out clothes from my wardrobe that do not have jewelry to match and just find beads from my stash that match with them (Necessity is the mother of invention isn’t it?)
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I play with my beads-I take out some eye pins(gold and silver and then just sit and stack different beads from my box in as different arangements I can come up with
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I love to use the Virtual Bead Board, an awesome feature in www.FireMountainGems.com that lets you play around with thousands of beads all just after signing up for a free membership with them….While you’re there, you can check out the video tutorials and their “Gem of the week” section.
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I mind Map http://www.mindmeister.com/
How do you get ideas for jewelry? What inspires you? What are the techniques you use? I’d love to hear about them…Do drop by and comment on this..
Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
Image:William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) – Inspiration (1898)