Silver Viking Weave Necklace With Pearls

Just finished this - making two identical for a friend to give as Christmas gifts.  The second one still needs the clasp.  This is approximately 60 feet of 26 ga sterling wire, woven around a dowel and drawn through a draw plate through successively smaller holes until it is tight.

The pendant is fine silver, dapped, with a freshwater pearl dangle.  The clasp is pewter, sterling, freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystals.  I'm very happy with it.  I think I'll make the pearl jump ring a little smaller so it dangles instead of hitting bottom.  :)  When my e-commerce site goes live in January, I'll have professional photos and these will be for sale on a commission basis, with choices of metals and stones.

Silver and Rocks. My Two Favorite Pieces

These are two pieces I made a few years ago.  They are both sterling silver and the ginkgo leaf was made from using an actual ginkgo leaf I found as a template.  That piece is set with brown labradorite.  The other piece is my take on Danish Modern, and is a simple shape that my saw just decided to cut.  It's set with a rhodochrosite.

I love both of them.  I want to get back into a studio that has appropriate equipment so I can make more!

The photo below is of the brooch prior to actually setting the stone.  I had not pushed the bezel into place on the stone.  

Another Viking Weave Bracelet

This is another Viking weave bracelet that I've just finished.  I made my own ends by coiling 20 ga dead soft wire around bail making pliers that match the size of the bracelet, and then used the wire tail to create a spiral "cap" to cover the ends of the bracelet.  The beads are chrysocola (sp?) and a 4mm sterling bead, and the bracelet is finished with an S hook clasp.  I need to re-do the jump ring attachments - was trying for a look that didn't succeed, so those are on the list for a do-over.  :)

Silver Filled Wire vs Sterling Silver or Fine Silver

As a rule, I've always worked in sterling silver or fine silver.  With the price as it is right now, it's affordable, but if what I've been reading is any indication, silver is about to skyrocket and by 2014, will be unaffordable for the average artisan.  Silver filled wire is an excellent alternative.  It wears the same as sterling, it works just as well, as long as you don't use abrasives to polish or buff it.  You have to be careful with that because in polishing and buffing, you will wear away layers of silver and base metal may start to show.

People who say they can only wear gold or silver can also wear silver filled or gold filled jewelry.  It lasts very well, is a fraction of the price of the precious metal, and if taken care of, will last just as long.  I have gold filled pieces that are more than 100 years old and still have the luster of high karat gold, so don't let your customers think they're getting any less for their money.

Silver filled metal and wire is made according to the diagram graciously provided by Rio Grande, pictured below:

I intend to start using this for all my head and eye pins and ear wires.  I will always have sterling on hand for those customers who absolutely insist on sterling earwires, but if a customer is willing to be educated, they will see that this is a fabulous alternative and it makes the jewelry affordable to them.  If silver goes higher than $50 a troy ounce, as it's predicted to go - some say as high as $250 a troy ounce, who will be able to afford to buy it, and/or buy pieces made with it?  I don't know about you, but my small sales are the bread and butter of my business.  The earrings I currently sell for $20 would wind up being more than $100 a pair and I don't think my customers would buy.  They can't afford it.  

Give it a try.  It works just as well as sterling or fine silver.  It solders well (use silver solder) and it patinates just as well as sterling or fine silver.  

Viking Weave In 26 Gauge Sterling Wire

I did this last night - it's my third attempt at this technique and it came out much better than the one in the photo below.  Practice makes perfect.  I'll turn it into a bracelet, as is.

Viking Weave Bracelet With Freshwater Pearls

Just finished this today.  The bracelet is viking weave done with 30 ga dead soft fine silver wire, and the pearls are 3mm freshwater gray pearls wired to the weave.  This is my first attempt at viking weave with precious metal - I practiced once on some nasty brass wire, got the hang of it and made this.  The chain came out a bit too flexible for my taste, so I decided to wire the clusters of pearls to give it some strength.  I used grape leaf motif bead caps to finish the ends, since the pear clusters reminded me of grape clusters.  I don't like the black crystals on the ends, so will probably take them off and just use the sterling beads. I think the grape leaf bead ends are a bit heavy for it, both aesthetically and weight-wise, but I didn't have any others in sterling at this point.    It's not perfect, but not bad for a second try!

Blue Swarovski Waterfall Earrings

Made these yesterday.  Silver plated square wire and graduated sizes and shades of blue and aqua Swarovski crystals.

More Head-Pin Making

This is a more advanced method of making a headpin. She's a bit more comfortable with her torch - While I'm fine with holding my torch straight up like that, and putting the entire pin in the flame, you MUST know where the end of the pin is, because that's the ONLY part of the wire you want in the hottest part of the flame. If you leave the wire in too long, it will melt away, and then you'll have something to toss in your broomstick casting pile. A video for that later. :)

Always, always, quench your metal once you've put it in the flame. I'd dump it in pickle after quenching to help remove any fire scale if I were using sterling silver - fire scale is the dark spots that rise to the surface when silver is heated. It's the copper in the silver and if you're making anything bigger than a head pin, you will need to spend a lot of time polishing this out and it's a pain in the butt.

Bracelet By The Seat of My Pants

So I decided to do some wire wrapping tonight. I thought I'd make a bracelet. I started 5 hours ago, with no clue what I was going to do, so I made a clasp end and went from there. It's all sterling and those are mother-of-pearl flat beads. The MOP frames are 2mm sterling beads. This is as far as I've got with it and I'm putting it up for the night.

It just sort of morphed along, taking shape as I watched (listened to) three movies. Such a socialite I am - at home on a Friday night, watching movies and making a wire-wrap bracelet by myself. Snort.