Inside Jewelry Stringing Magazine : Bead Crafts, Chain Maille

Make These Wintry Stamped Earrings

Dblair — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Even if you've never stamped on metal before, you can make these shimmery earrings in just a few easy steps.

Here's what you'll need:

Circle pendants or blanks (I used 20.5mm antique silver-plated blanks from FusionBeads.com)
Star or snowflake charms (shown here are 6mm sterling silver starburst charms from Nina Designs)
Jump rings
Ear wires
1/8" or 1/16" metal alphabet stamp set
Bench block
Hammer
Black permanent marker, such as a Sharpie
Extra-fine steel wool, or a polishing pad (I like the Pro Polish pad from Beaducation.com)
2 pairs of chain- or flat-nose pliers

		Place the pendant or blank on a steel bench block. Hold the letter stamp perpendicular to the blank and strike the stamp very deliberately with the hammer. Do not strike the hammer more than once because the stamp will move ever so slightly and your letter will be blurred. Continue in this manner until your entire word has been stamped.
		Darken the letters using a permanent marker.
		Buff off the excess color using a polishing pad or steel wool, leaving the impressions black. Use jump rings to attach the charms to the blank, then attach the ear wires.
Get creative! Metal stamps come in a variety of designs and fonts. Some of my favorite sources, not only for stamps but for tips as well, are Beaducation.com, PJ Tool Jewelry, and Artbeads.com. Happy stamping! Debbie Blair, Managing Editor

Coral Multistrand Necklace How-To

Kate Wilson — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:00:00 GMT

I've been saving back several hanks of coral-colored Czech seed beads in various sizes for a rainy day. Today it didn't rain, but it was a quiet day at the office and I decided to give the bead spinner a go and put together this chunky necklace. Awhile ago, Danielle Fox and I tried the bead spinner out for the first time and found that it takes practice to use efficiently. So I decided to start with the bigger beads until I got the hang of it.

I placed a bead stop on one end of 3' of thread, strung 24" of beads, then placed a bead stop on the other end of the thread. I ended up stringing 4 strands of large beads (size 8/0) and 10 strands of small beads (small 9/0). Then I tied one end of the strands together in groups to make the strands more manageable.

Next, I tied one end of all the strands together with an overhand knot; then I strung the loop of 1 eye pin and tied another overhand knot that attaches to the loop (and repeated on the other end of the strands). I dabbed the knot with clear jewelry cement and let it dry.

Then I finished each end with a cord end and wrapped loop, and attached jump rings and the clasp. Voila! To wear, twist the necklace to create a spiral before clasping the closure.

Bead chic!

Kate Wilson

Project Editor

Resources
Blue Moon seed beads: Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores; FireLine braided beading thread in brick red and paprika: Sparkle Spot; Cord ends: The Bead Cache.

Haute Hardware

cchatenever — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:00:00 GMT

The latest handmade jewelry craze? Hardware jewelry! Nuts and washers abound in the latest posts on DIY craft blogs and online creative communities. Eager to get my hands on some hardware to play with, I headed to my local home improvement store last weekend and picked up some goodies...

Above (from left to right): solid brass 3/8 inch nuts from McGuckin Hardware, silk ribbon available at Artbeads.com, polyester ribbons from Michaels, assorted chain maille jump rings from Michaels, flat size #10S brass washers from Home Depot, denim and tan braided ribbon from Ornamentea, and multi-purpose cabled-cotton twine from McGuckin Hardware.

My design plans are still in the development stages, but you can see a couple different ideas I have been playing with in the above picture. Can't wait to start playing with these!

Following are some of the hardware jewelry projects I am itching to try (click through to see full posts/tutorials for each):

The first three are from Honestly...WTF (she has a ton of other great DIY projects, too!)

DIY Gretchen Jones Necklace

(made using brass rings and pink mason's line)

DIY Rope Bracelet

(utility cord and a brass S hook)

DIY Box Braid Necklace

(micro-fiber faux suede and brass washers)

Don't Buy, DIY: Hardware Necklace from Chic Steals

(ribbon, nuts, and couplings)

Hardware Store Necklace from Made By Lex

(painted washers, chain, and wire)

Have you experimented with hardware jewelry yet? Share your tips and tricks!

Until next time,

Chloe

Assistant Editor

Simply Charming

Stringing Editorial — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:00:00 GMT

A part of my job that I really love is that I get to be creative almost every day. I am lucky enough to work with people who know the value of getting your hands dirty every now and then, and we all dedicate ourselves to making time to share our hobbies with each other. This week, fellow Jewelry Stringing editor Debbie Blair (who you might recognize from her recent blog post) and I led a charm bracelet workshop for some of our coworkers who were relatively new to jewelry making.

We knew that we would have participants with varying levels of experience with jewelry making techniques, so we designed a bracelet that we hoped novices and pros would both enjoy making and wearing.

In the end, we settled on:

- a variety of antiqued, silver-plated heart charms (with Valentine's Day right around the corner, we guessed that heart charms would be a real crowd pleaser),

- silver-finished steel chain (we selected unsoldered chain so it would be easy for everyone to customize the length of their bracelet by adding or removing links, and we chose steel so that the bracelets would still be sturdy enough to withstand wear and tear),

- and a silver-plated hook-and-eye clasp.

We liked the idea of making a charm bracelet for a number of reasons: all of the materials that you need to make one are fairly inexpensive; charm bracelets made with all silver components look great, so we didn't have to worry about choosing a color palette that would suit everyone; those who wanted to add a splash of color to their bracelets could easily weave a ribbon through their chain (for tips on how to embellish chain, see the Technique Focus in the Winter 2011 issue of Jewelry Stringing); even though we all created the same design, anyone who wanted to add a personal touch could replace one of their silver hearts a sentimental charm or token (a few of our participants added cute little angel charms to their bracelets).

The design ended up being very simple - there is really only one technique that you need to put it together - but it served as a good reminder that a piece of jewelry doesn't need to be complicated in order to be a success.

Aside from being a perfectly charming afternoon (horrible pun entirely intended...unfortunately), I found that our workshop was very illuminating from a personal standpoint. For the first time in years, I had to revisit the basics of jewelry making in order to coach our participants through tasks that I do without even thinking about them, like opening and closing a jump ring, and holding pliers properly. It's been a long time since I learned these techniques myself, and teaching others how to do them really gave me perspective on how far I have come since then.

I was also surprised how much I was able to learn from our students. So many of them had their own approaches to constructing these bracelets that were different than the techniques I usually use. Some decided to count out all of their jump rings and open each one before they assembled their bracelet. Others left their bracelets flat on their work surface while they attached the charms to make sure that the chain wasn't getting twisted. As nice as it was to see that I have learned a lot since I started making jewelry, I also like the idea that there is still room to improve.

Overall, I think everyone involved, including Debbie and me, had fun. The workshop was easy to organize, a great way to meet some of our fellow employees that we don't get to interact with very often, and a perfect way to share our craft with other people.

Any project suggestions for our next workshop?