Week 2 YOJ 2008 - Capricorn Astrological Sign

This weeks theme is the Capricorn Astrological sign, which is the Ram. I fashioned a rams head symbol out of 16 gauge brass wire around which I had coiled some 20 gauge black steel wire. I twisted three wires together to make the neck piece (two lengths of black steel and one length of brass wire - all 20gauge), coiled some black steel wire to make the hanger for the pendant and added some really pretty, sunny looking gold Czech crackled glass beads for color and balance. I like the impact this piece has - it's choker length and really looks good on.

There has been a lot of discussion lately about twisting wire - tomorrow I will share some pictures and my technique for doing this.

Week 1 YOJ 2008 - I Can Do This!

Having been hampered by a poor internet connection, I am behind on posting this weeks project to the Year of Jewerly blog. I apologize.

I created a coiled wire heart pendant (in memory of my beloved standard poodle, Lady MacBeth who was diagnosed at the end of her life with a "heart that was too big"). I used 16 gauge copper wire around which I coiled 22 gauge copper wire. I then fashioned a heart out of the the wire (using various items to wrap around and create curves in the wire)and added a spiral to the end. I added the hemimorphite heart bead - to symbolize her heart at the "right" size. I added some copper coils as end caps and a hand crafted copper "S" clasp as a closure.

YOJ Week 52 - The Promise of the Sun King

This is the last week of 2007's Year of Jewelry project and the theme is the Promise of the Sun King. After doing some research I learned that on the Winter Solstice the (new) Sun King is born and as he grows stronger the days grow longer and brighter. So, to help him fulfill his promise I created a very, very sunny piece - one that is shaped like the sun and colored as the sun is - so even if it doesn't help him, it very definitely cheers me out of the winter doldrums.
For this bracelet I used a gold chain and added some charms I crafted out of 20ga gold filled wire, flat square gold beads and topaz Swarovski crystals. I made a charm for every other link in the bracelet - and even though there are 28 of them the bracelet is not heavy. To make each charm, I cut a piece of wire approximately an inch and a half long, put a loop in one end, added a flat bead, strung the wire through the link in the bracelet, added the crystal and another loop then twisted the wire together over the link in the bracelet. And repeated it 27 more times! It's a fun bracelet to wear, has tremendous sparkle and really makes me smile - even if I can't get a tan from it!
Happy New Year everybody!!!

YOJ Week 50 - Ocean Floor

An experiment is what this cuff is - but I won't say it's a failed experiment as I really love it. The theme was the ocean floor so I found a great thermal image of the ocean floor from space - etched the image into a copper cuff and then set out to add some patina to the piece. I had just read an article in "the Blue Issue" of BeadStyle magazine for adding patina to copper - a blue patina at that, and I thought that would be just perfect for what I wanted to do. It is a bit involved but truly no more involved than etching the copper is. I followed all the instructions but as the instructions weren't very involved to begin with (just about 5 steps under two pictures)I am not sure if I messed up something or skipped something along the way. The patina is very definitely blue and though the color is very consistent along the piece, there are areas where there is no patina at all. I cleaned the piece thoroughly after taking it out of the etching solution - even went so far as to lightly scrub with a scotch brite pad to make sure no oils or solution remained on the piece. I wore latex gloves when handling the copper and moving it from one step to the next, so how the bare spots came to be I do not know. BUT, I really love the color that came out on the copper and am definitely going to try this again. When it was dry and cleaned, I buffed it with some wax to preserve the patina color - although the patina seems to be really set on there.

YOJ Week 49 - Jack Frost Nipping at your Nose

When I saw the theme for this weeks entry, and being that I live in Maine, I knew I wouldn't have a shortage of inspiration! In the end I decided to use the cold winter morning colors as a guide - and figured surely that would portray a definite Jack Frost feeling! I had some wonderfully sparkly round 2 holed cz's in two sizes that I paired with some 20gauge sterling silver wire that I curved to add some movement and interest - connected them all up and added a beautiful "color-changing" cz (both cz's can be found here )as a drop to the center curve. The colors in the cz drop are reminiscent of the colors I see here in the morning in the sky over the lake and the rest of the necklace reminds me of a very cold winters day. The necklace sits at choker length and is delicate yet supremely sparkly - perfect when paired with that little black dress. mrs beadsley