Dreamcatcher Pendant or Suncatcher

I've made similar items before, but only used the designs in my suncatchers. This is a very good tutorial for beginners - and she's got a very good method for closing the gap of the circle of wire you start with. Unless you're willing to solder it shut, her method is excellent. I make mine completely from wire. I make my circle, and I solder it closed and then I wrap the entire circle with wire. She used ribbon, which is a very cost-effective way of making a pretty pendant or suncatcher, depending upon size.

When I make my dreamcatcher suncatchers, I use all kinds of beads, mostly Swarovski, because, after all, they ARE suncatchers. Here's a picture of one that I made recently, and please be aware - when you click on the photo it doesn't open in a new window, you'll have to click the back arrow on your browser to get back here. If you do click the photo, you can then click it again and it will enlarge.

It's not a very good photo, as it was taken as an afterthought and the item is now hanging in the gift shop a block over, for sale. I didn't do a tight weave through the center of the circle at all, I simply did whatever the wire wanted to do. I didn't worry about keeping mine a perfect circle - I rather liked the asymmetrical look, but this is what I mean by taking the basic techniques and applying them in your own way. :)

Have fun and again, please post photos of anything you make.

Here's the vid:

Wire Wrapping A Cabochon - Viking Basket Weave Design

I found this tutorial on You Tube and it's a good one. Given the price of silver these days, I'd say practice first with copper or brass or craft wire, but it's an easy wrap to do, and one that shouldn't take you much time to master at all. It lends a beautiful accent to your cabs without obscuring the beauty of the stone.

It's also a technique upon which you can build with your own creativity as you become more comfortable using it. Thanks to CamilleSharon for posting this tutorial on You Tube. I'm going to share a few more of her tutorials here in the coming days.



Hope you enjoy the tutorial and if you try the technique, upload a photo here so I can see what you've done!

I'm not sure why there's so much space between this post and the one below it but I can't seem to make it go away. Hmmmm.....

Everything's an Embellishment

I started collecting vintage jewelry when I was in my early 20's. By the time I hit my early 40's, I was selling it online. I have tons of it. Don't throw any of it away. Clasps, settings, components - almost all parts of vintage jewelry, particularly if it's ornate, can be used elsewhere. You can do a lot with it to make it new and different. I took a floral component from an old broken vintage necklace, cut the attachment ends off either end - I used a jeweler's saw, because this is soft base metal, but you can use a rotary tool, and sometimes, if it's soft enough, just use your snips.

I filed the edges smooth - I did it by hand, using jeweler's files and sandpaper, but if you have a rotary tool, you could do it in a jiffy by simply grinding the rough edges until they are flush with the piece and then using a finer abrasive to smooth and polish.

Then the fun began! I changed the color of it using Alcohol Ink. The inks I choose to use are Tim Holtz's Adirondack Alcohol Inks and for purposes of simply showing you what it can do, I chose Cranberry, since it would show the complete difference in look.

Below is what the piece originally looked like:

And this is what it looks like after applying Adirondack Alcohol Ink in Cranberry. I just swabbed it on using a felted stamp applicator. It needs another coat and I'll have to use a small wrapped toothpick (or you can wrap the end of a file in felt) to get to the inside edges. This is simply for demonstration purposes, so it's not as neat and tidy as I'd normally do it:

It took about 30 seconds. It's dry, and it's permanent. I'll probably spray it with some Krylon Make it Last! just to give it a nice scratch-proof finish and to seal it, just in case.

Easy peasy. You can do this on any of your metal findings - change the color if you don't like it. If you need something to match beads, or a scrapbook entry, or something pretty for a notecard, recycle! Use found objects, broken jewelry, or anything you might just toss in the trash.

I'll post some more of my color-changes later today.