Dalila Caria

Stacked beads earrings

2011-12-20T12:46:00.000Z

I wanted to use gemstone chips to make some earrings. The simpler way is to stack them onto a simple ear wire with a hammered end.
Unfortunately, most chips have very small holes and the garnet chips were the only ones that would fit. The other option is to wrap them around the ear wire like some previous earrings I made with small rondelles.
In order to prevent the beads from slipping out the other end, I hammered the curve slightly (after I took this picture).

The stacked chips idea didn't quite work but I liked it, so I made a couple more earrings with the same feel but using glass rondelles.

These two examples have a different feel because the rondelles are all the same size and shape, creating a much tidier par of earrings, unlike the chips that give the piece a rougher, more natural and casual look. They still look good, though.

The red ones are my favorite of the two. The underside of the beads has an AB coating so they change color between a lighter or darker red according to the light.

Silver rings

2011-12-20T12:32:00.000Z

I've been working on silver rings. The first one was made with thick D wire, standard for rings, but with the ends hammered and filed round. I used D wire instead of round because this way I can have the inside of the ring flat while the outside stays rounded. I could also hammer round wire to make it flat (like in the next ring) but then the outside would also be flattened.

This ring was made much in the same way but using round wire. I hammered it in the center to make it flat and then hammered the end at a 90 degree angle and filed the ends round. This wire was longer to allow the ends to overlap creating the 'bunny ears'. A variation on this theme would be tying a knot at the top - something I'm planning on trying as well. The dowside is that with a knot the ring is no longer adjustable, so this model is more versatile, especially when you don't make it for yourself.

This ring I made for my husband using silver sheet. After cutting the sheet I filed the ends round and then texturized the surface using a hammer, screw-driver and a greed scrubbing pad. I stamped the letters and then I oxidezed it with liver of sulfur. The letters didn't come up as dark as I wanted (probably because I keep the punches oiled to prevent them from rusting) so I used a permanent marker to darken the grooves.
After shaping the ring I polished it with steel wool, leaving the dents dark to accentuate the texture.
The texture and width give the ring a masculine feel and I was pleased with the result.

For this ring I just expanded on the previous. I used the same silver sheet base with rounded corners but made a more subtle texture and didn't oxidize. Then I soldered some wire ends with a ball tip along the front of the ring. After pickling and cleaning it, I weaved thin silver wire with amethyst chips around the wire ends, using them as supports. When the front was covered I bent the wire tips into an arch so that the ball ends were touching the base of the ring and then polished it with jeweler's rouge and a dremel. I should probably do the polish and even bending the tips before attaching the beads, but I was improvising a bit so the order of steps didn't come out quite as perfect as it should be, but the end result is quite striking and next time I'll find an easier way to do it - for example: it would have saved time to solder a single wire across the base instead of two tips but I didn't think of that until I was halfway through. Silly, hum?

Going Victorian

2011-11-15T11:53:00.000Z

I love to get inspiration from history when it comes to making jewelry and, after trying out egyptian, celtic and medieval inspired pieces I decided to try making some victorian-looking ones. To make the dainty flowers that serve the purpose of focal beads on the first few necklaces and earrings, I used flattened bead caps as backing to support small beads and crystals wired together to make little flowers. This gave me the oportunity to finally use some of the multiple seed beads I've collected over the years but rarely use. I used thin wire instead of beading floss to make these flowers because I hate the way beading wire tends to strech or come undone so I don't trust it to last. Wire can also break, sure, but even if it does you don't usually lose all the beads in one go like you do with beading floss.

I started working with purples because I had a wider selection of beads in those tones and it suits the time of year but I'm also thinking about making some pieces in black for a more gothic feel and in red, possibly with coral beads.

Seed bead hell

2011-11-05T14:08:00.001Z

Well, I guess you can tell from the picture what the problem is.

When I started making jewelry I got a good collection of sed beads. I made a few simple pieces with them but I soon figured out I had no patience for it. I'm a bit of a klutz so I kept finding new ways to spill all the beads over myself or the floor and then taking hours trying to find them all again. And even if I didn't drop them, the beading needle or stringing material would just fling a couple of beads across the room once in a while or the beads would stick to my hand and fall off at inconvenient times. It just got on my nerves.

I stored the seed beads in boxes with dividers and never looked at them again. Then I moved, and somehow the beads escaped their dividers and got all mixed up. I let them sit another year because I just couldn't face the task of untangling that mess.

Now, however, I started making designs that call for seed beads. Not entirely in the conventional beading way, where you use nothing else, but as smaller beads in flower designs, for example. That means I finally had to open the boxes and start organising thee beads by color and size so I can quickly figure out if I have what I need while i'm working on a new piece.

The first part wasn't too bad. Since the deviders proved to be unreliable, I decided to store the beads in little plastica bags instead of having them loose. It also reduces chances of spilling a whole box full of beads - learning from past mistakes is always a must, right?

Soon enough, though, I got to the bigger mess: the beads that got all mixed up. This part is going to take me days, I'm sure. Oh well, enough procrastination. Lets start sorting...

Spring berries bracelet

2011-10-26T16:05:00.000+01:00

It's been raining all day so I made a colorful bracelet to cheer me up. It's more appropriate for a spring collection than fall but I don't really care :)

The design has a nature theme, kind of like a berry bush or a creeper plant and I chose carnelian beads for the berries, perdidot and aventurine for the leaves and rhodochrosite for the small flowers. The wire is silver and I thought about oxidizing it at first but I think it might be too dark after all so I'm leaving it shiny for now.

I love these plant-type pieces and had made a necklace in the same line a few years back with brass wire and glass leaves. I used onlye blues and greens and the space between the beads was much wider, making it look lighter but the basic idea is the same. The necklace also had a leaf-inspired clasp that I still like. I didn't do that for the bracelet because it looks better if it's a wide uninterrupted band all around the wrist instead of having a big gap for a clasp.

There are many possible variations within this nature-inspired model - using small pearls for a bridal version, making side branches of different lengths, and so on - and I plan on making more along the same lines.

Tumbling small beads

2011-10-25T21:46:00.001+01:00

Someone gave me some old necklaces a while back that I hadn't used for anything else. Most of the beads were damaged but they had some nice bead caps and small metal spacers that I could reuse so I took them apart. As would be expected from used jewelry, these small metal items were rather dirty and oxidized so I decided to clean them in the tumbler. It worked fine and a couple of hours later I had clean shiny metal beads and caps.

The only trouble was separating the beads from the steel shot since they wer pretty much the same size and some even a similar color. After rinsing, I picked out the ones on top and then spread out the contents of the tumbler onto a frisbee (my favorite tray for small items since the rounded edges make it very easy to remove even the tiniest beads or jump rings) and picked out all the beads I could see. When I couldn't find any more I picked up a spoonful of steel shot at a time, examined it carefully and when I was absolutely sure there were no beads in it, tossed it back into the tumbler. It took a while but I found the last few beads and after adding water and some barrelbrite to the shot to keep it from rusting, I was finally done.

In the end it was worth it because some of the tiny beads look brand new and will come in handy, I'm sure.

New bracelets

2011-10-25T19:51:00.001+01:00

Since I'm waiting for client feedback on two of the custom pieces I've been making, today I started working on Christmas stock. I should have started by now but nearly a month with my daughter sick at home set me back a bit.

Aside from the more elaborate pieces I love to make, I always try to have a few simpler ones. The bolder pieces are great for special occasions but for everyday wear people tend to go for jewelry that's pretty but subtle.

With that in mind I made a couple of simple bracelets, one golden and one blue. To keep them from being too ordinary I added a nice wire wrapped S clasp with some metal beads in the center. I feel that sometimes it's not necessary to make something terribly flashy for it to stand out as long as you concentrate on some nice details.

The first bracelet was made with brass wire, glass beads with gold foil inside, honey yellow rondelles and gold plated metal beads. I started with the larger focal beads and added the other elements and metal color that seemed to fit better. The S clasp is wrapped in thinner brass wire with some gold plated beads in the center.

For the second bracelet I used the same basic model but added four rondell beads in the center rather than just one focal bead, then used smaller crackle rondelles on the sides and some spacers to add a little texture.

I used steel wire for this one and wrapped blue wire around the clasp to make it match the rest of the design and also to avoid leaving such a large of steel color. This way, even if the bracelet moves on the right and gets turned around, there's always blue all around. I thought that was a nice touch.

Cleaning with Pickle

2011-10-24T13:09:00.000+01:00

I bought a pickle pot and safety pickle over a year ago, when I started experimenting with my torch. At first I didn't bother because I didn't solder much or make that many head pins and I could cleans them quickly enough with steel wool or using a silver bath cleaning fluid that is also acid but not as strong as safety pickle.

As i got more interested in working with the torch I finally decided to get the pickle pot, but then I got pregnant and didn't want to risk using chemicals anywhere near my baby, before or after birth, so it's been sitting there for ages.

I've since moved and set up my studio in a room with a lock on the door, the baby is now in daycare and I have to make some earrings for a friend's wedding. After making some head pins I finally had the chance to try out the pickle pot. Since I was only cleaning about 26 head pins and made the pickle for the first time I barely even to plug in the unit because the mix is supposed to be done with warm water and it cleans fast enough that it didn't have time to cool.

I was pleased with the result. Some of the balls have tiny pits that are still dark and I will have to use some steel wool and possibly a file to get rid of the remaining black but on the whole the pins came out clean and shiny, not as white or discolored as they did when I used the silver bath cleaning fluid in the past, and it's certainly much faster than cleaning the whole batch of pins with steel wool.

I'm storing the pickle in a glass jar for future use. I could probably leave it in the pot but I'm afraid it'll corrode the plastic and since I don't use it very often it would be a waste to ruin it before it's even worth what I paid for it.

I had a bit of a problem fishing the pins out becase the liquid isn't entirely clear and I couldn't see where they were. The brass tweezers I bought to use with this are not long enough if the pot is full and fishing around for tiny pins with tweezers is more truble than it's worth. I finally opted for emptying out the pot and only then removing the pins. I'll have to work out a more practical solution for when I just want to see if they're clean enough.

New facebook page for my Jewelry

2011-10-08T21:49:00.003+01:00

I've created a Facebook page for my jewelry where I've added some of my recent projects. Check it out!

New studio

2010-12-23T10:32:00.002Z

I moved recently to a larger flat and that means I now have a room all to myself where I was able to finally set up a proper work room for my jewelry, computer, sewing machine, etc.
It has one really long table on one side (actually 3 tables side by side) and the opposite wall is intended for storage cupboards although it only has one at the moment.

For the first time ever I'm able to leave beads on the planning board without fear of my son or cats messing with my unfisnished work because I can just lock the door. I've dreamed about this for ages.

The one think that's still missing is an area for photographing my jewelry. In summer that won't be such a problem because I can take it outside to the balcony and do it there. But when it rains I need an indoor alternative. I'm going to try and figure that out today because I made a lovely pair of earrings that are meant as a Christmas gift and i want to take a picture before wrapping them. i feel it's important to document my work for future reference and because it's fun to look back and see how I've evolved.

Happy holidays everyone.

Working with sheet metal

2010-02-08T12:19:00.002Z

So my experiments with sheet metal were put on hold for a while because I couldn't find the drill accessory for my dremel. I finally got tired of waiting and decided to improvise and managed to make the necessary holes to attach the knitted front.

I really like the end result and it was an easy ring to make. The only difficulty is figuring out the right size, especially since the knitted portion tends to strech a bit, so it's always better to make the ring a bit smaller than the measurements seem to indicate.

The beads in this ring are faceted sapphire rondells that I bought especially with this design in mind.

I made a second ring using thick half-round wire. It's a bit harder to work than the sheet metal and also harder to drill because it's a lot thicker.

The end result is a lot more delicate and in my next attempt I think I'll use more beads but I also like the lightness that I got from leaving some 'holes' in the knitted wire portion.

My favorite thing about this ring, however, is the gorgeous colour from the apatite beads.

You can see more pictures of these rings on Flickr and other new silver jewelry on my store.

Experimenting with sheet metal

2009-10-08T14:27:00.003+01:00

I ordered some sheet metal to try and make some rings. I've only worked with wire up to now and felt it was time to try something new.

My first project is a ring with a sheet metal back and a knitted front with sapphire rondelles. I knitted the front some time ago and was waiting for the sheet metal to arrive to finish the ring. Unfortunately I'm missing a Dremel accessory to be able to drill the holes I need in the silver sheet so it'll be a few more days until I can get it done.

In the meantime I decided to try another one of my purchases - number and letter punches. Since I use both 835 and 925 silver I wanted to use the number punches to mark the pieces I make so I can tell them apart when they're done. It's not an official hallmark, obviously, but it's useful to me. Unfortunately the number set I bought was too big - I knew I should have bought the 1mm set instead of the 2mm but I was influenced by a negative review. Damn. I hate wasting money like this.

The letter punches are also 2mm but these will have other uses: I can write messages on the outside of the rings or the owner's name - text that's meant to be read so it's OK if it's a bit bigger.

I'll need, however, to practice getting all the letters in a straight line and spacing them properly. It's harder than it looks.

Wire wrapped rings

2009-09-29T16:43:00.008+01:00

Still in wire-wrapping mode. I've been making rings now. I usually try to make adjustable rings whenever I can but this time I went for a closed ring band because i wanted to try wrapping it in half-round wire. It makes all the difference because apart from giving the ring a more finished look it also makes it so comfortable to wear - square wire is quite beautiful and it allows you to do wonderful things but the edges can be a little prickly when you first slip the ring onto your finger.

At first I wanted to use some 4mm saphires at the front of the ring but the holes were two small to accomodate the half-round wire so I went for these round aquamarine beads instead.

I made a second ring using a very classical design to hold a cabochon. I've used a wire net in the past but I wanted a cleaner look this time.

This model works perfectly for what I wanted but the measurements still needs some work. This design uses square wire instead of half-round to wrap the sides because it make it stronger but it's much harder to keep the wraps perfectly aligned and close together. I guess I need some practice with that.

Also, the wraps should have been further apart to give the stone a little more room to breathe. As is is, the side wires work as a frame and give the stone extra support and protection - it really won't budge and it's not so easy to hit the stone if you brush your hand against something - but it also cover part of the oval shape.

The curving of the wires took some work and it's still not perfect - It's easy to see one of the top wires is still too loose, but it's an easy fix. When working with silver I have a little extra room to make mistakes because I know I can fix them - tool marks can be filed away and so I can make tiny adjustments that would be impossible with silver plated wire.

These rings have a very classic look to them that won't appeal to everyone but I like them because they look luxurious despite being made with just a bit of wire and some pliers. It takes a lot of practice to get it right but when you do you achieve a piece of jewelry that is both beautiful and sturdy, capable of lasting a lifetime - or more.

Peridot hoop earrings

2009-09-22T16:00:00.002+01:00

I love hoop earrings. They are not always in style but I don't really care - I make them anyway and wait until they come back into fashion :)
I finally gathered the right combination of beads, in the right shades of blue, green and gold, to make the hoop earrings I've been planning for a while. I should have made them sooner, since the colours are more spring than autumn, but, like I said, I didn't get the right beads until now. The peridot ovals are like leafs hanging from a branch and all the other beads (peridot, apatite and tourmaline) are wrapped as if by a vine around the hoop.
The best thing about the earrings is that they are incredibly light, since weight is sometimes a problem with hoop earrings and can make them uncomfortable to wear. These are light because the beads are small and the hoops are made from a relatively thin wire (hammered to keep its shape, obviously).

Wire wrapped bracelet

2009-09-22T11:52:00.005+01:00

I've spent some weeks making a new line of my less expensive glass and silver plated wire jewelry for the stores that carry my stuff, but then I received an order of really yummy natural stones and so I couldn't resist making a few sterling silver pieces as well.

Yesterday I finished a wire-wrapped bracelet with some chinese turquoise beads that I like a lot. I feel that I should have twisted a couple more wires but on the whole am pleased with the result.

I've also made a few new earrings using some of my favorite stones - aquamarine and peridot rounds and some orange carnelian faceted rondelles.

I'm completely in love with aquamarine beads, even without the supreme clarity of fabulous gemstone quality beads so I couldn't resist making another pair, this time using some faceted ovals framed by faceted rondells of aquamarine, peridot and apatite - another stone with an amazing blue color.

I wasn't sure how many pendants to add as a crown - should I go overboard, and add duzens of beads, like the cascades from some of the fabulous passementerie earrings or leave them a bit more discreet? I opted to add just enough beads to make the crown flare out a bit but to not make the earrings look too heavy. If I change my mind I can always add more later on.

I made the hooks and the headpins but didn't have the time to remove all the firescale before completing the earrings (incompatibilities regarding the noise of power tools and a sleeping baby). I did that today and took another picture that shows the finished pair looking much better than in the picture shown here.

Bending wire

2009-08-14T14:17:00.003+01:00

I've been working on designs for new rings. My coil rings continue to be popular and I can make them much faster now and without as much pain (calouses are your friends indeed) but I get fed up with doing the same thing all the time.

I love just bending wire randomly and seeing what comes out and I also had tons of sketches in my little sketch book so there was plenty to get me started.

I made all the rings on this picture in one morning, each taking about 15 to 20 minutes to make. They're all adjustable and have some hammered bits to make them more interesting. My favorite is the one on the right that makes me think of an octopus. I think that design may be the one I'll work on for further pieces. It's different from the rest because it's open on the side rather than at the back.

New knitted necklaces

2009-08-14T14:00:00.002+01:00

I recently sold the last of the knitted necklaces I had made last year so I started making new ones. This time, instead of scattering random beads along the necklace and adding a pendant for the focal, I had fun making a mosaic at the center of the necklace with some 4mm cube beads I've had for ages.

The blue necklace in the center was the first. I tried making the mosaic as a sepate piece and then weave it into the necklace later. I like the look of it but it has a more antique feel than the others. Since the other cube beads were all in very bright colours, I thought that making the mosaic part of the main knitted band would give it a lighter and more modern look.

My favorite is the one on the bottom right corner since it's the most colorful and shinny of them all. The one just under the shell necklace was made using optic fiber beads and was claimed by a friend as soon as it was done. It's also colorful but a bit more discreet because the colours are not as bright as the ones frem the glass beads.

The necklace on the bottom left corner was an experiment using a diagonal mosaic rather than a square one and I think it looks great on the neck.

Finally, the shell necklace. For a while now I've been trying to come up with a good way to use the shells in jewelry. I wanted a natural look but something more interesting than just stringing.
I felt that knitting might be the solution but the silver wire seemed too cold for use with the shells. One day I tried knitting with crochet thread and I liked the colour and texture of it but the shells were too heavy and they pulled the thread, deforming the pattern. The solution was to use both wire and thread at the same time. I'm really pleased with the result and am working on another one using pale blue thread.

The hunt for a jewelry price calculator

2009-07-07T10:17:00.003+01:00

I've always calculated the cost and pricing for my jewelry with pen and paper, by writing down all the components and lengths of wire used, figuring out the material cost and the amount of time it takes me to make a piece and then use some some common sense to get to the final price tag. I double or treble the cost value, add the time spent at my hourly rate and the tax and see what happens before deciding on the profit margin.

It's always useful to know how much a necklace or a pair of earring costs in the area you sell your jewelry because that's your direct competition. In my case I've found the problem is that a lot of people don't appreciate the amount of work and time required to make a handmade piece of jewelry and they don't understand why they should pay extra for it.

Actually, I've found the reverse is true. People just assume that it should be cheaper than the mass produced pieces they find in stores because a lot of crafts people work at home and don't have to pay rent on a store, import the merchandise or pay wages to employees.

This makes it very difficult to price handmade goods fairly and I'm aware that many times I'm seriously underpricing my pieces. A lot of the pieces that take longer to make usually make no profit and many times I have to give up charging for the full amount it took to make the piece to get to a price that's not deemed obscene by buyers. That is very often the case with necklaces. Since they take more materials and longer to make they are rarely profitable.

When it comes to selling my pieces at stores I have to go through the calculations again. Usually I can't make it 50% less than retail price so I have to lower it as much as possible without losing too much money.

There are some pieces I know there's absolutely no point to selling in stores because their 50% markup would make them so expensive it would be ridiculous to think someone would actually buy them at that price. Others do very well.

But in the end I didn't have a simple way to calculate all this and it was always very time consuming, so I started looking for jewelry price calculators.

First I found one by Eni Oken that looked interesting but I didn't really want something based on excel, I wasnted a more flexible database. As I kept looking I found a free version of a pricing software at beading-software.com. I tried it and it's very complete but the free version doesn't let you save more than one item of jewelry at a time. It is, however, a wonderful tool to help you define hourly rates and overhead costs.

As I was looking at this program I started to think that I could probably make something like that myself - not the rates and overhead calculation, but the jewelry pricing bit.

I have a database software called filemaker, that I've been using for years for invoices and such, and so I started designing the layout for a materials database. That was easy enough so I moved on to a jewelry pricing template. It took longer to make - all day, in fact - but I think I finally did it. I can add a photo of the piece, a list of all the materials used where each item is entered automatically from the materials database so I don't have to keep writing the same thing over and over again, and then it calculates total cost, cost plus work minutes, wholesale price with a smaller margin and then retail price. I may still have to adjust the retail price at times if it goes too high but I can consider my wholesale price as the bottom value and go from there.

It was a bit of work but it was worth it. I guess I really am a DIY girl :P

Last night I started the tedious job of entering materials into the database and I hope to start trying it out today in case there are still adjustments to be made.

New wire rings

2009-06-05T15:33:00.003+01:00

I've decided to try colored wire to make some coil rings. The color surface is a bit fragile but the colors are so beautiful and shiny that's it's a really tempting material to use. I used colorful wood beads as a focal point for the rings and the contrast between the materials - rough and smooth - works really well.

I also used this wire to make a chain maille bracelet in a variation of the japanese weave. It took days and was really hard work because the jump rings were tiny but the result is quite lovely. I tumbled the bracelet after it was done, to work harden the wire a bit more because I was afraid the smaller rings would open too easily and to get rid of some burrs they might still have. I feared the tumbler would remove some of the color coating but it didn't.

There's a picture of the finished bracelet here.

I'm considering buying the colored wire in thicker gauges to make chain maille because I really love the way you can make patterns by using diferent color jump rings in a weave and it eliminates the need for beads as decoration.

Food miniatures

2009-05-07T18:06:00.005+01:00

Ever since I was a little girl I've loved doll houses. And the part that fascinated me the most was the miniature food. A few years ago I finally bought a proper doll house kit that I built and decorated. Some of the first things I bought were a miniature pie, bread and a plate of cakes.

When I was in college I tried to make some miniature food but I didn't have the patience or skill to do it properly. Over the years I've seen some amazing work in polymer clay and have learned a few things myself so I decided to give it another try. I had some projects in my sketch book for some time so I opened it up and started sculpting.

This time I had the full range of colors and all the necessary tools, down to the pasta maker, so it went a lot more smoothly and the end result was so satisfying that I kept making more pieces.

Instead of dollhouse pieces I turned these items into earrings because that way it becomes something you can actually wear instead of something you just look at once in a while.

I still have quite a few sketches left so this is only the beginning.

(more pictures on flickr)

Citrine drop earrings

2009-04-20T14:35:00.002+01:00

I used the handmade pins from the previous post to make these earrings. The focal bead is light yellow citrine quartz and the smaller stones are peridot, aventurine, tourmaline and mother of pearl.

I love the light citrine beads. I know it's more common to like flawless, color intensive stones, and I do as well but I also like the paler tones and the texture some of the inclusions can give a stone, specially on these really clear ones. I think it gives them a bit of character and makes it quite obvious, even to the untrained eye, that this is a real stone and not a bit of plastic.

I used wrapped loops to make the connections more secure. The wrapped wire spiral on top of each bead also adds to the texture of the piece and, as a bonus, allows me to use all the wire in the pins so there's no wasted silver.

The hooks are handmade from 0,8mm sterling silver wire.

Handmade head pins

2009-03-26T15:33:00.005Z

I made my first handmade headpins a couple of days ago and this is what they looked like when they were finished.

I used a torch to ball the wire after dipping it in solder flux. I was surprised how easy it melts. Not all balls turn out perfect and centered but for the most part I think it's not that hard to get a good result.

Since I didn't have a pickle solution I immersed the pins in silver dip to get the flux and some of the tarnish out. It seemed to work pretty well. I had read lots of comments from people saying not to use silver dip to clean jewelry because it pickles the silver so it seemed the logical thing to do to use it as a pickle substitute.

Normally I would put the pins in the tumbler to clean the rest of the oxide but since I used half-hard wire I didn't wanto to harden it any furthers in the tumbler. And I didn't make too many pins this time so it was easy to polish them with some steel wool.

The second picture shows the pins before cleaning, still dark and bendy. This was before the steel wool but after the silver dip.

I've made a second batch since and they turned out just as well.

My only problem seems to be remembering the pins are hot after removing the flame. I know it seems really stupid but it's such an instinctive reaction to just grab the pin to release it from the tweezers. I only actually did it a couple of times but I found myself almost grabbing the hot pins quite a few more before stopping myself in time. I guess I was so focused on the result that I didn't really think about anything else. There was no permanent harm done, though.

Viking knit

2009-02-20T15:29:00.003Z

When it comes to making jewelry I tend to like classic and elegant designs and seem to be very attracted to ancient techniques. From Celtic knots to Egyptian coils, chain maille or viking knit, designs and techniques that have been around for ages and are still just as beautiful as when they were invented, these are the kind of things that fascinate me the most.

I find it interesting to make something pretty much the same way it was made before electricity was ever invented and eventually finding new variations for the same ancient designs.

I had tried spool knitting some time ago and I liked the result but I didn't like working with the spool at all. Viking knit is not the same as spool knit even though it created the same kind of wire sleeve but the result is tidier and it doesn't require any specific tools. All you need is wire and a mandrel that can be anything from a pencil to an allen wrench.

Viking knit also allows the incorporation of small beads into the weave, something that I always find positive because I like a bit of color in my jewelry.

The hardest thing to figure out with viking knit is the length you need because since you pull it through a draw-plate at the end, it stretches a bit so it's easy to make it too long. But since you can always cut the excess, the only problem with that is some wasted wire (that you can probably use to start a new piece if you leave a longer tail at the end, so that's OK too.

It does take a lot of time to make a bracelet or necklace in viking knit but I think it's beautiful enough to be worth it.

New chain maille pieces

2009-02-20T15:18:00.003Z

I continue to try out different designs in chain maille. I've made some more byzantine chain bracelets, incorporating beads into the design, like the one pictured, and a pouch in european 4-1 that was great fun to make. It's like making a glove finger except that you close it on the other side instead of doing the whole glove.
There's a lot more I want to try but I'm running out of silver wire in the right gauge. Must buy more soon...

Tumbler and solder

2009-02-20T15:04:00.003Z

I've been making jewelry for a few years now and yet I didn't have a tumbler to polish it. I finally got a small one and am very pleased with it.

After reading up on the subject I settled on a Lortone 3A kit that comes with soap and steel shot. I also bought a polishing compound to add to the mix for extra sparkle and so far I can't complain about the results.

Since I don't have much experience on the subject I'm a bit afraid to over-harden the silver so I don't let the pieces tumble for much more than an hour. I have to study a bit more on that subject to figure out how much time is OK and how much is too much.

I've also started soldering recently. My first soldered ring was fine, the second melted and the third had too much solder on it so I spent ages filing it all away. The main problem was that I used a solder strip instead of solder paste, much more appropriate for jump rings. I've since bought the solder paste and the second try went much better. This time I also used a charcoal base so I managed to solder at a lower temperature that didn't melt the rings.

Hooked on chain maille

2009-02-05T15:05:00.002Z

I've loved chain maille for a long time but it wasn't till recently that I really set out to learn how to make it.
I love the way metal can feel as soft and flexible as fabric and how you can make such elaborate designs using nothing but little jump rings.
The very first time I tried to make byzantine chain I didn't realize you needed a specific ring diameter for a specific wire gauge, so that attempt didn't turn out so great. The rings were too big and so they wouldn't stay in place when you bent them backwards. This time I had a bit more time to read up on the subject before actually making anything and it all turned out much better.
I used a jeweler's saw to make the jump rings and started with silver plated wire in case something didn't go according to plan because I didn't want to ruin all my lovely sterling silver wire.
After the first bracelet was complete I made a couple more and some earrings in byzantine chain and then started on European 4-1. I was convinced this pattern would be easy but I was wrong. It's not that it's a hard patter to understand but if you're not paying enough attention it's easy to place a ring the wrong way and that happened A LOT at first because the whole thing moves in your hands and if you don't know the pattern well yet, it's hard to keep track which way the rings are turned at first. Sometimes you really do have to try something before judging its complexity cause you never know.
In the end, the more I do chain maille, the more I enjoy it. Making the jump rings is a bit boring but it's worth the effort because you create a piece that is entirely handcrafted and you can always make rings the size you need and they never run out. I can't wait to try new patterns and variations and include beads in the pieces I make, for a splash of colour.

Silver cabochon rings

2009-01-23T11:17:00.004Z

I bought a few cabochon gemstones at a crafts fair last year and it took me a while to decide what to do with them. The stones felt too small for pendants and so the obvious choice would be to make rings. I struggled with the ring design for a while until I found the right one.
The frame is made from 0,8 square silver wire and I used the same net technique from the previous beach glass set to secure the stone. I used fine silver wire instead of sterling for the net and I know it's not as resistent or as hard as sterling silver, but it worked pretty well and it doesn't unravel as easily as I had feared.
The ring frame has the added advantage of leaving the back of the stone completely uncovered, allowing the light to shine when you look through the stone.
You can see the other rings and more pictures on Flickr or my store

Beach glass ring

2009-01-23T11:10:00.002Z

After making the previous necklace and bracelet from beach-found glass, I was asked to make a matching ring and this is the result.
I used an adjustable ring frame to support the net that holds the glass piece and then wrapped the frame in the same 0,3mm wire to give it extra texture.

Branch necklace

2008-11-13T11:49:00.005Z

After making the branch earrings it was only a matter of time until I could make a matching necklace. It took a bit longer and my fingers were very sore from coiling all that wire but I'm proud of the result. It looks different from anything I've seen and it's pretty and elegant (I'm not being very modest, I know :))

The necklace is fairly flexible so it can be adjusted to any neck size or shape and it's not particularly heavy. My only concern is the usual problem with using teardrops with wire: if you try to bend the wire by pulling on the glass drop it can break. I guess it's a necklace that needs to come with a disclaimer :)

Beach glass necklace and bracelet

2008-11-13T11:36:00.005Z

A friend asked me to make a couple of pieces out of some glass she found at the beach. It's broken glass from some bottles that has been smoothed by the action of the sea and the sand - a natural tumbler: it may take a bit longer but gets the work done.

Since these bits of glass were irregular in size and shape and some were very small I wouldn't risk drilling them, so the obvious choice was to make a wire net with a thicker wire at the back to link them together.

It took quite a few days to get these pieces done but I love the technique and feel the outcome is worth the work. I didn't bother making the nets too even because the irregularity of it matches the random shape of the glass making it a much more organic piece.

For the bracelet I simply added a lobster claw clasp to the last link. For the necklace I added a chain that has big enough links to make the length adjustable so that it can be worn longer or shorter, as a choker.

I actually liked these pieces so much I feel like making one for myself if I ever get the time and materials.

Silver knitted necklace

2008-11-13T11:16:00.003Z

On my previous post I mentioned a silver knitted necklace so here is the finished piece. The thin wire is pure silver and I used carnelian, peridot, garnet and amethyst chips to give a bit of color to the knitted necklace. The handmade clasp is made out of 835 silver.
The pendant is a carnelian nugget bead, knitted like the stone chips and then wrapped in a wire net.

It was a fun piece to make.

Knitted wire necklaces

2008-10-22T13:07:00.005+01:00

Ever since I've heard of knitting wire I've wanted to try it. I never liked knitting wool much but wire is stiffer and can be shaped after it's knitted, so it seemed to me a lot more interesting and versatile.

I made a couple of knitted necklaces to go with a couple of pendants I had done: one is a butterfly pendant made from black drops with some crackle beads as the body and head, and the other was a crystal ball - another technique I wanted to try out.

I added the beads to the wire before starting to knit. I added more beads than I knew I would need because once you start there's no way to add more. It wasn't as hard as I thought to knit the necklace. I'd read about people complaining that it hurt their hands but I'm so used to bending thick wire that this actually felt like taking a break :)

The butterfly necklace turned out really well. It's very neutral and when you put it on it looks a bit like you're wearing a lacy scarf, the kind ladies would wear with empire-cup dresses.

The crystal ball necklace is more of an evening look. It's shorter and a lot more sparkly but also looks very light, as knitted necklaces usually do. I finished it with a fancy handmade clasp to give it a little extra interest.

I loved the technique and am already making another one, this time with pure silver wire and semi precious stones.

Aluminum braid bracelet

2008-10-22T12:52:00.005+01:00

I've never been much for recycling materials for my jewelry because I like to start with new, clean stuff but I had this braided aluminum sleeve that I striped off some coaxial cable and it looked so cool that I wanted to make something pretty with it. I washed it thoroughly and then used it to envelop some gold foil glass beads, dividing each one from the next with some brass wire. I also used brass wire as the skeleton for the piece, allowing it to keep its shape and forming the clasp and hook.

Tying and cutting the ends of the thin aluminum wire turned out to be a bit of a problem because it's not easy to cut all the wires completely flush and some would have this little end sticking out that could sting the person wearing the bracelet. I solved this problem by applying epoxy resin to the ends of the bracelet, thus covering the tips of all the little wires and protecting the wearer.

It was such a fun project that I made a maching necklace. For the necklace the skeleton wire ends in a loop at each end to which I connected 3 thin chains. I braided the chains to match the braided sleeve and bring together the design.

I'd never tried braiding chain before but it looks really cool and it's hard to tell how it's done just by looking at it.

Branch earrings

2008-10-22T12:41:00.002+01:00

I've been really busy making new stuff to take to the stores that carry my jewelry and while making a truckload of my coil rings, and getting a bit tired of doing the same thing, I had an idea of how to make matching earrings and was very pleased with the result. The coiling technique is the same, except I have to make caps for the beads in the end, and I use drops instead of round or square beads for this.

The design looks a bit like a tree branch, with smaller branches coming out of it.

I used only three drops but it can be made longer. The fact that the drops are clear makes the earrings seem lighter but I'm going to try the design with different colors to see if I like the result.

Colored wire would also be a fun alternative to use for this design.

The life of a blue necklace

2008-10-22T12:31:00.004+01:00

When I first started making jewelry for my online store I made several very simple necklaces because I like simplicity and because I needed more than a couple of items to start the store.

Some of those first necklaces never sold because they were not very original and so I've started recycling the beads to make something a bit more interesting.

One of these necklaces started out as a simple floating necklace with blue chiclet beads.

I love the color and rectangular shape of the beads and tried to use this shape as the base for the reincarnation of the necklace: I made rectangular links that work as spacers between each bead and mad wire frames for each glass bead to bring it all together.

When it was done I felt there was still something missing so I wrapped each of the frames in thin wire, adding shine, detail and texture to the neckcklace. I also used the thin wire to hold the glass beads in place, preventing them from spinning inside the frame. This supporting wire was supposed to pass through the back of the bead but I liked the result and made it the front instead, although it can be worn either way.

Web pendant

2008-09-04T10:31:00.004+01:00

After the mosaic pendant I decided to make something lighter in appearence, not so dense. I thought it would be fun to make a spider web shape so I chose an oval bead with some cut stripes for the focal because it looks a bit like a bug trapped in the web.

This time I used round glass crystal beads for sparkle and peridot, cat's eye and carnelian chips rather than beads for a more organic look.

Even though they are small chips, the natural stones add more interest than ordinary glass beads would and they work better and look better with the gaps between them - because of the way they catch the light - than they would if they were all packed tightly like on a mosaic pendant.

The frame is completely wrapped in thin wire to add some texture and give it a more finished look. It takes forever to do but it looks really good in the end.

I felt quite pleased at the end result. The piece is a bit gothic but it's also fun in a way.

Pendant available at Stuffed Squares.

Mosaic pendant

2008-09-04T10:15:00.006+01:00

I've been meaning to make a mosaic pendant for some time. It's a great piece for using left-over beads but at the same time it requires a careful selection so that the color and size of all the beads works together. It also needs one or two larger beads that work as focal points because otherwise the finished piece looks bland.

For this mosaic pendant I used blue and purple beads with a few silver plated round beads and bali metal beads in between to add sparkle and detail. The small round beads are great to fill up gaps where larger beads don't fit.

For the focals I used a large faceted blue bead and a shell/coil-shaped bead in a lighter blue. Together with the large oval purple bead, they form a triangular path for the eye. to travel through.

The frame is almost round but I tried to give it a bit of a lopsided look because I didn't want the piece to look two neat. The whole point of a mosaic is that it's supposed to be more organic looking than symmetrical. The frame is wrapped in the same thin wire that holds the beads in place. This allows for the bail to be made from the two ends of the frame wire wrapped together, making it thicker and more resistent than a single wire. It also looks cleaner than wrapping the bail with a thicker wire, in a more traditional wire wrapping sense. The coils at the ends of the frame wire also link visually with the coil glass bead. I find these little details important even if you don't really notice them at first.

The end result is perhaps a bit more chaotic than I would have liked and this kind of pendant works better with natural stone beads than glass beads but it was an interesting project.

Pendant available at Stuffed Squares.

Red earrings collection

2008-08-20T17:08:00.007+01:00

I recently posted a link to a collection of earrings I put up on Flickr but I didn't talk about any of the pieces in detail.

I like simple jewelry more than something extremely ornate so I constantly struggle with solutions to make interesting yet simple pieces. When it comes to earrings I find them difficult pieces to make because they usually end up looking too plain and something that pretty much anyone could make.
If I liked big earrings with lots of detail it would be easier to create interest but then I would end up with a collection of large chandelier earrings which are not to everyone's taste. So i took up the challenge, picked up my red beads box and decided to make a small collection of red earrings that had a bit more than just putting a couple of good looking beads together.

I don't normally make many pieces in red for some unknown reason and I so had a few beads that I didn't have any ideas for and I thought this was the right project for them. First I used some long thin rectangles that by themselves don't look like much.

I had used the green version of these beads to make a necklace before but the interest was created by the way I worked the wires between the beads, not the beads themselves which are there mainly for color.

I had also made matching earrings for that necklace. I liked the result but once again it was the twisted wire that got all the attention and not the bead so this time I wanted to try something different.

By making a wired cap for the bead I gave the illusion of it being more drop-shaped than rectangular and the coil at the front adds interest to an otherwise plain bead and makes it the focal point of the piece. The twist at the bottom and the cube give it a little extra spark and allowed me to make the whole earring with a single wire instead of having to use a loop to connect both beads. I used a cube to complement the rectangular shape of the main bead.
I used the same cap for these half-red half-clear drops I had lying around but it wasn't enough to make an interesting pair of earrings so I added the oval frame and wrapped it in thin wire which adds texture to the frame and is also useful to cover the connection between the frame and the drop.

The cap and coil design was also used on these flat drops. Since the beads were larger it felt like I could leave them simply like that rather than complicate the design further.

What is a copy?

2008-08-19T21:46:00.005+01:00

I have a college degree in communication design which basically means I've studied and have had an interest in the visual arts for most of my life. And for as long as I can remember, whenever the students were supposed to do any creative work there was always someone talking about how wrong it was to copy and how much better it was to be creative and original. On the surface there is nothing wrong with that idea except for one small detail: in order to have the technique and experience required to create your own work you first need to study and indeed copy other people's work as part of the learning process. It doesn't mean you should simply profit from your copies and go no further. It just means it's part of the process. But unfortunately, not a lot of people will tell you this, preferring instead to make you believe that creativity is something that you either have or you don't have but it can't be taught.

Personally I think that's bullshit. You can learn anything you decide to learn if you take the time to practice and have the necessary drive to succeed. A large part of any art form is technique. And sure, some people have the 'inspiration' to take that technique and make something wonderful and some people simply become skilled but not artists in the true sense of the word. But when you look at it like that, not everyone can become a top surgeon, lawyer or plumber either, no matter how much you study. It doesn't mean they can't learn the basics though.

People have certain areas of vocation or preference that lead them into certain paths, but when it comes to art a lot of people stop before they even try because there's so much mysticism about artistic ability. There's talk of 'muses' and 'divine inspiration' which, in my opinion, takes a lot away from all the hard work the artists actually go through.

Sure, when you come up with a certain design, song, whatever, it's hard to explain how it came to you. It can be something you dreamt, it can come to you in a flash when you look at something or it can be something you were working on for ages but only comes together when you finally figure out the missing piece. And so, because we don't really know how our brain works, the words used to describe the process always fail to do it properly and end up sounding religious or new-agey.

But I digress. What I meant to talk about is the controversy regarding copies of other people's work. I started off by stating that in order to learn a certain craft or artistic technique you need to copy. Usually there is someone who's work you admire and you try and see if you can draw, paint, sculpt, play, write, whatever, just like them. Drawing is certainly a good example of this. Some of the best illustrators working today were kids who started off trying to copy their favorite comics and learned to draw in the process. They have also, in time, developed their own styles very often because there were certain things they could not copy exactly or could never quite figure out how to do and they had to come up with a solution that worked for them. This is where the copy becomes something else and where creativity finally comes into play. But until you go through the copy process for a long time this need to change and adapt the technique to your own needs and ideas doesn't even signify. To try and start off by doing something completely original the first time round generally results in disappointing work and is one of the frustrations that lead many people to give up before they had time to develop their craft properly.

If you don't believe me brush up on your art history. Historically speaking, artists would start off as apprentices to a master who would teach them to draw or whatever like he did. The apprentices would copy the master's style sometimes to a point where it would be difficult to tell exactly who had done the work.

Later we have artistic movements where the style of each artist is different but they have common elements and the artists influence each other (think cubism, impressionism, etc).

Today it's very difficult to come up with something new. Every time some artistic 'innovation' is talked about, if you look at it from a realistic point of view you are forced to admit that it consists on taking elements from the past and mixing them up in a different way. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that except that these days, in certain areas, it can become very difficult to say for sure when someone is copying someone else.

In this scenario we would need to limit the term of copy to something along the lines of a forgery - a piece that is identical to the original. There's certainly lots of that about in today's markets, from fake designer clothes and bags to bootleg CDs and DVDs. There's also people drawing Snoopy, Hello Kitty, etc which are recognizable and copyrighted characters without permission and that is a clear copy and copyright violation - actually I was recently asked to make Fimo pins shaped as the heads of Noddy or Bob the Builder and refused because it would be copyright infringement but I'm not sure the person who asked for the pins even thought about that.

I have recently found a curious case, however: having a small child I became reacquainted with certain cartoon characters like Musti the cat and then Miffy the bunny. I couldn't help but notice how similar the two characters were, to the point where I thought they must surely be drawn by the same person. They're not. Not only that but after doing a quick search on the internet I could find hardly any mention linking the two and none noticing the similarities between them. If such a thing is possible and not even questioned, then how is anyone able to claim that someone else's work is based on their own?

When you talk about a field like jewelry in which certain ergonomic rules apply and give you limited parameters in which to conduct your work, this question of originality becomes very difficult indeed. Unless someone uses the exact same design with the exact same signature beads and so on, it's probably very difficult to claim ownership of the design. I guess it must be easier if you are an established jewelry designer with a particular style to say that someone else is copying you. But even then, what is the difference between copy and following someone else's style in a legitimate way?

The bottom line is that people are afraid that someone will come along, steal their designs and make a lot of money selling them while the original designer gets nothing. They probably don't mind if they inspire someone else, but everyone needs to make a living and unfortunately you always have to watch your back and try to get ahead of the competition, especially people who prefer to copy exactly what is already done rather than have to think about how to make a certain technique or piece their own.

This fear leads to the necessity of placing warnings everywhere you show your work and reduces the will to share experience and knowledge that would benefit people who have a sincere wish to learn and to develop their own skills and creativity. The things people write on some websites for example - usually warnings about copyright or something to that effect - sometimes make them come across as arrogant or stupid (because if you put up your pictures, tutorials or other information online and then tell people they can't print it or share it with anyone else it makes you look naive at the very least).

I suppose you just have to take the good with the bad. If you want people to see your work you have to accept that some are going to buy it, some are going to be inspired by it and some are going to try and duplicate it exactly. All anyone can do is be happy about the first two and hope the last are few and far between or maybe consider it flattering that your work is interesting enough to steal.

Anvil at last!

2008-08-13T11:28:00.005+01:00

I finally found a small anvil for sale nearby. Now all I have to do is learn how to hammer the wire without marking it too much. Any tips will be appreciated.

New earring collection

2008-08-07T17:54:00.004+01:00

I've just put up photos of some new pieces on Flickr. It's mainly a collection of earrings and a new ring. I'll be putting them up in the store as soon as I have the time.

The picture shows a pair of wire wrapped citrine quartz earrings. The wire wrapping technique used is called a herringbone weave.

Wire rings part 2

2008-08-05T14:04:00.005+01:00

After making the coiled rings I decided to explore a new ring model that would be closer to the standard ring design and that would allow me to make simpler rings by trapping a single bead on top.

The common ring design, as explained in the previous post (wrapping the wire around a mandrel and then using the ends of the wire to trap the stone on top) is perfect for this but once again, the ring is not adjustable (Eni Oken has a beautiful example of a non-adjustable rainbow weave ring done with 4 base wires).

So I came up with a very simple variation: I wrap the wire twice around the mandrel and then bend back each of the two wires that cross at the base leaving a small opening that can be used to loosen or tighten the ring. The rest of the process is identical to the standard ring and you can add several beads and cross or wrap the wires at random for a sort of birds nest design or you can wrap the two ends of wire around a large bead or cabochon and secure them with a thin wire weave (sometimes called rainbow weave) as shown in the photo.

This ring design is particularly appropriate for making a bead stand out because there isn't a lot of distraction so the bead needs to be pretty. With the coiled ring design the beads don't have to be so special because the complexity of the design makes it stand out more.

Wire rings part 1

2008-08-04T14:04:00.006+01:00

Coiled wire rings are my most popular items right now and they've become kind of a signature piece for me. To say they are absolutely original would be silly because it's almost impossible to make anything original these days, and coiled wire is certainly not something I came up with. But I have created these pieces with specific goals in mind, trying to improve on rings I had made or seen before and I feel the end result is something very personal and that I'm proud of.

Unlike earrings or necklaces which can fit almost anyone, rings come in all sizes and need to fit the finger perfectly. So when you make a design in small quantities or unique items you can't expect to guess what size finger a random person who may like your design will have.
It was very important to me to find a ring design that was adjustable and therefore able to fit just about anyone's finger, big or small.

I had seen coiled rings that I liked and I wanted to try the technique but apart from not being adjustable most of them also used two sizes of wire: one thicker wire to form the shape of the ring and a thinner wire wrapped around it.

The typical ring design goes like this: you wrap a thick wire (1mm ou 1.5mm) around a dowel a couple of times and then use the ends to attach the beads or wrap around a cabochon. Then you wrap the thinner wire covering the harness wire and keeping it in place.

After making a few drawings and experimenting for a bit I came up with the design for my coiled rings. By using 0.8mm wire instead of a thicker one I was able to compromise and use the same thickness for the harness and for coiling. This simplifies things because that means I can make the whole ring with a single wire, working off the coil. I don't have to measure or cut the wire until I'm done which allows for more freedom.
Also, by having the wire go through the beads and then come back down the same way, coiling around the first wire, I can make the rings adjustable because they are open on top. They can be loosened or tightened by pushing the wire against the finger making them very versatile.

And as an added bonus, the person wearing the ring can change its shape a bit, personalizing it.

By changing the quantity, shape or color of the beads I can make several different rings that look very organic and modern - actually the rings remind me a bit of something by HR Giger.
The end result is sturdy and confortable to wear. It's flexible but maintains its shape pretty well.

Sterling Silver or Silver plated

2008-07-31T19:54:00.002+01:00

I'm struggling with the issue of what wire to use. I like silver rather than gold in terms of color and I've made pieces in both sterling silver wire - round and square - and in silver plated copper wire.

I know that silver plated is considered amateurish but unfortunately for me it's more of a necessity than a choice. The economy is bad and people can't spend much on non-essencial items. A lot of my clients want pieces to wear for a season or two and they care more about how the piece looks than what it is made of, so the extra cost of sterling silver means little to no sales. And since I need to make a living I need to make stuff that sells even if that means using less expensive materials.

I'm slowly moving toward using sterling silver and gemstones but it will be a long process. The design of the pieces has to be special enough to make it worth it and I have to accept that it will probably take much longer to sell those pieces.

The other issue revolves around the legal restrictions behind selling sterling silver jewelry. The silver needs to be stamped with the local hallmarks that state its degree of purity and I think you may also need a special permit to sell silver and gold jewelry. I expect, although I'm not entirely sure that these rules include silver wire pieces but I still need to explore these issues further. Marking the pieces are an added cost and getting a permit to sell silver items must be a bureaucratic nightmare if not impossible.

I have nothing against following rules, I just wish is was easier to figure out what they are. I found a website with the legislation but I have doubts about what I read and when I tried to send an email the adresses they provided didn't exist. And this is an official, state website I'm talking about! This country in unbelievable sometimes.

First post

2008-07-31T19:20:00.005+01:00

Hi everyone.
This is my first post on my brand new blog.
I usually write on my main site that has been around for a while but I decided I needed a site specifically for my crafts projects so that I can expand a bit more on each project I make - or at least the ones I find worth talking about.

I'm still learning and I don't do anything that hasn't been done before. Still, I believe that each individual's personality, experience and taste bring something personal to the pieces we make and that's why people develop a specific style.

I don't think I have developed a very defined style yet because I love experimenting with different techniques and materials and so I don't fully develop a single line of products until I have exausted all the possibilities in my head. I don't know if it's because I get bored too quickly or because I get too excited when I find something new I want to try. Either way it doesn't really matter much. As long as I have fun doing what I do and I keep learning new things I'm happy.

Among all the stuff I've tried my favorite thing right now is making wire wrapped jewelry. I love how something as simple as wire can be so versatile and can make such amazing pieces. And when I look back at the first things I made and compare them to the newer pieces I'm amazed at how much I've developed. I no longer mark the wire as much, I have a better idea of how a piece will turn out before I start, how the wire bends, etc.

There's still so much to learn and try and I really need to buy an anvil because I can't keep pretending that I can move forward without one. Some pieces need to be hammered to avoid distortion, for example. I've got the hammers - nylon, iron, you name it - but I haven't been able to find an anvil in any of the local shops and it's too heavy to order online since the shipping cost will be more than the item.