Famous Jewelry Collections: May 2012

Thursday, May 31, 2012

THE BEADING GEM'S JOURNAL

Book Review - Making Wire and Bead Jewelry and Free Tutorials

Posted: 31 May 2012 04:00 AM PDT

There are already a number of wire work jewelry books out there. So when I received Janice Berkebile and Tracy Stanley's new book for review, I was curious what these two artisans and instructors could offer that's innovative to wire jewelry lovers out there.

Making Wire & Bead Jewelry: Artful Wirework Techniques is definitely photo-rich given that there are just 24 projects. It's very clear that this book was indeed written by experienced teachers as the wire technique and finishing section at the beginning of the book has many tips. I particularly liked their neat solution on how to mark a round nose pliers so you can make a consistent wire coil. A round nose pliers and simple rods will suffice for people who don't have a lot of jewelry making tools

Cascading Waterfall Gemstone Pendant by Janice Berkebile

The first part of the book covers simple metal work like how to make and use flattened wire (paddles) in jewelry designs. Many of the projects at the beginning could be tacked by determined beginners.

Moving a bit along, there are also a number of lovely spiral, coiled and wrapped wire projects. One of my favorites is the Cascading Waterfall Gemstone Pendant. These projects will require some experience with wire. As Tracy said in an interview, "After all, it's all about practice. Pick a technique and practice, practice. The more you have the tools and wire in your hands, the easier it will come."

One of the free pdf tutorials is for Tracy's Cascading Spirals bracelet design

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The latter part of the book is a joy. The instructors cover wire weaving to produce innovative frames in order to showcase beads and gemstones. One design I liked is the Cage It design by Tracy which does a fabulous job of forming a spiral bezel for a cabochon. The weaving is done behind the gemstone. It also works well for rings.

Cage It by Tracy Stanley

The wire weaving technique is obvious for the other free tutorial, the Wire Pod pendant. It's a great way to encase gemstones, beads and perhaps other fun objects.

Wire Pod Pendant by Janice Berkebile

The pièce de résistance is indeed Janice's Bloom Pendant, a delightful informal piece which can be adapted in so many other ways once the basic technique of form making is mastered. It's well worth the effort.

Bloom by Janice Berkebile

Disclosure

Some of My Favorite Books:

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

THE BEADING GEM'S JOURNAL

Quick Leather Jewelry Tutorials to Try

Posted: 30 May 2012 04:00 AM PDT

Leather has been really popular these days for jewelry making. There are a number of good reasons why leather is so cool to use for jewelry making. Firstly, it's not too blingy like crystals. It's also comfortable to wear and best of all, you could also consider recycling unloved leather belts, jackets and bags for some designs.

The leather cut-out statement necklace by Love Maegan is just stunning and yet easy to do. If you don't like the ribbon ties at the back, you could punch holes for jump rings and a regular clasp.

Precision cutting so not you? Then hop over to Erica's inkblot inspired leather and chain necklace tutorial over at Honestly WTF. It's her take on a Sachin + Babi design.

Even if you only have scraps of leather, you could still put together some of them as Kolleen did for her leather earrings tutorial. Using a variety of shapes, sizes, colors and textures is very effective.

The use of large crimp beads and strips of leather in Ornamentea's Leather Duster Earrings tutorial is highly imaginative.

The leather from old belts can be really thick so you could just make simple shapes from them as this jewelry set tutorial from Craftbits. Textured leather ones will make eye-catching focals. Also check out my own tutorial on how to make recycled jewelry from a leather belt.

Lauren at The Perfect Pear came up with this clever leather wrapped ring tutorial. It reminds me of the armature wire bangle design that I wrote about a while back. The leather will make wearing the ring very comfortable indeed.

If you are at your wits end trying to find a unisex style that guys like, try the easy leather and thread wrap bracelet tutorial by Flax and Twine. Anne made them for her nephew and sons.

Anne also has the beaded version with a leather core.

This super easy leather or really any kind of cord tutorial featuring a double length of chain is by Studs and Pearl. It was inspired by a high end bracelet - her way is simplified and quicker to do.

An even easier friendship bracelet inspired chain and leather wrap bracelet DIY is this video tutorial
by anneorshine.

I also loved the asymmetrical bracelet tutorial by Beverly over at Flamingo Toes. The leather makes the pearl less girly!

Just a tiny little bit girly is the really easy leather coil cuff by Tricia over at Leafy Tree Top.

This wrapped and studded leather bracelet tutorial is stunning yet so quick to do that it took Alicia of Dismount Creative only 15 minutes to make!

Via

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips