AdornmentCraft

Jewelry Television, the cable-TV and online seller of jewelry, is now offering a series of instructional DVDs on making jewelry with gemstones. It might sound strange that these purveyors of fine and highly-commercialized jewelry would teach jewelry making. What you may not know is that in addition to finished jewelry, they also sell loose gemstones, including lots of cabochons - which, of course, can be handcrafted into pendants pretty easily.

Accordingly, the introductory DVD, Basic Wire Wrapping, covers basic techniques for wrapping cabochons with wire. The instructor is expert wire-worker Dale Armstrong.

Currently, the DVD alone is $24.99. You can also buy it as a kit with basic wire-wrapping tools and supplies for $99.99.

Example clips of the video are available on the Jewelry School website (a nice touch). From what I can tell, it looks pretty well put-together. I look forward to seeing what topics they cover in the next DVDs in the series - and how beginning jewelry crafters respond to them.

If you decide to give either a try, let me know what you think of it!

Artistic Wire Ltd. (who recently ran this add in Bead & Button), has some cute holiday wire projects to download for free on their site. (Now’s a good time to get started at least thinking about holiday projects.)

Here are the ones that caught my eye:

• Mini Tri-Colored Christmas Trees, by Ed Sinclair
• Holiday Tri-Fold Card, by Lauren Johnston
• Wire Snowflake, also by Lauren Johnston

Artistic Wire is permanently colored copper wire - which means the color doesn’t normally rub or wear off, and it’s very easy to bend and shape. (As with all colored wire, the color can scratch off however, so always be gentle on it with your pliers.)

By the way, if you’re a Bead & Button reader, get a free 8-yard spool of 22 gauge red wire with an online purchase of at least $10.00 now through December 31 using coupon code BB1207.

If you don’t have the energy to tackle anything major this season, consider using colored wire to make quick and easy ornament hooks.

Here’s my personal method:

Make Your Own Holiday Ornament Hooks

Enjoy!

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~ Shop for Artistic Wire on eBay ~

~ Just getting started? Learn the basics of jewelry wire-work with my book
Teach Yourself Visually: Jewelry Making & Beading ~

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For those of you who string beads - especially seed beads - there’s good news in the world of Bead Stoppers: they’re finally available in a smaller size. The new Mini Bead Stopper is about 1/2 the size of the original. The smaller size makes it lighter-weight and less likely to get in the way while you work.

I find Bead Stoppers especially handy for making multi-strand necklaces, bracelets, and beaded tassels. If you need to string several strands before finishing their ends, use Bead Stoppers to keep your beads in place until you’re ready to pull them altogether.

Get them on the Bead Stopper site or grab some on eBay.

If you haven’t visited BellaOnline.com Jewelry Making in a while, you may want to check out my latest articles:

• Labeling Jewelry Made in USA - Can you legally label your designs “Made in America” or “Made in USA?” Find out!
• How to Lengthen a Vintage Bead Choker and Change the Clasp - My approach to modifying a funky old beaded choker to make it more wearable.

Also see the November 5 newsletter to find out about some recent changes announced by two of my favorite suppliers, Rings & Things and Fire Mountain Gems and Beads. And, speaking of Fire Mountain, they’re now receiving entries for their annual Beading Contest (2008). Read all the rules and instructions for entry here.