al's creations

Rediscovered - seed beads

2010-08-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

Seed beads have been with me since I was a little girl. You grow up and forget about them. Suddenly you want them again, for a collage work or enticing bead embroidery and lastly for jewellery. Making pieces in the French beaded flower technique is something wonderful to learn, but translating this to jewellery is quite challenging.

Today I will show you just one of the pieces I just made - others will follow because the muse bit me!

Summertime - Berry time

2010-08-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

When summer comes around I miss the delicious, juicy berries found in temperate climates. Here in the tropics none can grow! So this year I played "pretend" and sat down to use my beads to create fantasy berry clusters as earrings.

Well, we can't enjoy eating them but wearing them instead!

A Moving Story!

2010-05-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

No, I do not want you to start shedding tears - it is not that kind of story. What I want to tell you is about moving house. In a way it is sad to leave after almost twenty years in the same house, but at the same time it is like anew beginning. All the girls had grown up, got married and moved to their own homes. So it was time to think of downsizing, the house was simply to large for just two of us. Not only that, but my daughters found it very convenient to leave behind all the things they did not need or could not accommodate in their houses. So, just after Christmas packing up started in earnest. We had twenty wooden crates made by a carpenter, hoping they would take all our stuff. Not so, we still had to buy lots and lots of sturdy bags to stow everything. This goes to show that all my family are pack rats - we never throw anything away because we might be able to use it again. Oh, but there was serious discarding of completely useless things. Still, some of my daughters' belongings still found their way to the new house. On the brighter side, we unearthed some long forgotten things or items which we had been searching for in vain.

Now in our new house there is really little space for everything, especially my beloved books and kitchen equipment, but we will get used to that. But I am most pleased that the contents of my two crates, five bags and eight large containers from my workroom have found space in my new "Studio"! Mostly beads, wire and tools, a few work related books. I never knew the quantities I had before the move - amazing! As soon as I had put my table in I started bringing out my supplies and resumed making my jewellery. And to prove I will post just two pictures today, promising more shortly!

Beautiful Brass

2009-12-14T08:06:00.004-08:00

Since I was little I loved brass. In those days usually all door fittings were made of the stuff and it was my job to polish them once a month. To be honest, I did not cherish this work at all, but - and here comes the contradiction - I loved the end result, when everything was sparkling and shiny again! And I loved the colour - the look of ancient gold.

So when recently I found 18g brass wire I just went wild and bought all of it! And a good thing I did, because when I went back to get some other gauges, the manufacturer had added something to give the wire a different colour!

Here is my first project in this beautiful wire, a bracelet in the full Persian weave.

The design for this bangle comes from the book "Wire Wrapping" by Linda Chandler & Christine Ritchie. Only that I did not have square or half round wire, but this does not really matter. I just used my round wire for the 5 lengths required (original says 7) and hammered an additional length flat to do the wrapping with! The beads are Chinese crystal rondelles.

Here is the same design again but with silver beads instead - I do like mixing metals.

If you never tried this type of work before I can recommend the book, there are lots of beautiful projects - all worth practicing!

Anniversary Special

2009-11-21T10:16:00.000-08:00

This set was custom ordered by a very lovely lady for her upcoming silver wedding anniversary. Criteria were: to match the gown she is going to wear, quality and originality (that is, not common everyday stuff). It is a chainmaille weave called Helm chain which I adapted into flowers. To make them stay round the AR is very important. I used 18g sterling silver wire and Swarovski CAL crystals embedded in the flowers and as the dangles. For these and the earwires I used 20g Sterling silver wire. It took 569 rings to complete the set and I have the blisters on my fingers to prove that all was handmade!

This particular set will never be made again by me as it is. So my customer can be assured that she really has got " one of a kind" jewellery. And I hope she enjoys wearing it as much as I did creating it!

Till next time.

Many Apologies

2009-08-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

To all who enjoy my page I apologize for my lengthy absence.

This was due to my crashed computer. So I got a so-called "expert" to recover all my lost data. said expert put the contents of my harddrive onto his own and then put everything back on my new computer. Now I spent time to investigate what was there and what was not. Surprisingly I had now acquired all the stuff that this guy had on his harddrive and my own files were practically gone! Like a demented woman I searched and ransacked every possible corner in every file to locate the missing items. No luck - 90% of my work is lost including all the pictures of the last 3 years, tutorials etc. The rest of all the stuff translated itself into computerese which the system does not recognize. I feel I have been robbed!

On top of this I acquired a new camera and I have to learn how to operate it. So it will be a bit longer before I can put up more photos of all my latest creations and I have not been idle!

Its good to be back and thanks for understanding.

A little disaster

2009-06-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

After my last post my computer went down. That was Saturday evening. By Monday I got it repaired, not knowing that it will get worse. Next I lost sound and finally my PC crashed completely! And I did not have any recent backup, which taught me a great lesson. It took the rest of the week to recover the data from the hard drive. And finally today the reloading on to a brand new computer.

Now I just have to sort out the jumbled files and put them back into folders. And I have to find all my pictures which seem to have disappeared! Not to talk of downloading all the software which has taken leave of absence as well. Oh, what a delightful job!!!

So, please be patient and bear with me. New creations have happened and I will show them as soon as I can.

Heavy Metal

2009-06-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

I found some heavy gauge wire the other day and I decided that it would have to be a chainmaille creation. The wire is 1.5mm thick (between 15 & 14 g ), hard to cut jumprings, as well as hard on hands, wrists and tools! But I just love the result. The rings have an ID of 5.5mm, almost 6mm after springback, which gave me a bracelet of a whole centimetre thickness. Very substantial!!!

Now I plan to go back to the shop and buy up their supply of this wire, because I have already planned what other weaves I can do. Not to talk of some serious sculpting. We shall see!

In Praise of Wig Jig

2009-05-31T13:10:00.000-07:00

This is a lovely necklace set done in 20g copper wire with flattish oval beads. Just a pity I did not have more of the beads for a bracelet!

The design for the wire links is found in the booklet "Jewelry with Wire" and according to instructions was made with roundnose pliers. Beautiful and perfect! But not in my hands; all the links turned out crookedly and of different shapes and sizes. So I decided to try my trusty wig jig, arranging the pegs in the correct order, then draping the wire around them. No problem, but the loops were not closed up as in the original. Again no problem, then I used my roundnose pliers to squeeze them shut. For good measure I hammered the links before joining them with jumprings and linking them to the wired beads, and this is the result. I hope you like it!

Kumihimo in Wire

2009-05-31T12:47:00.000-07:00

A while ago I posted some colourful kumihimo braids. Then someone commented how they would like to see a wire version. Here it is! Done in 28g sterling silver with just 8 single strands. For this I used the square braid pattern; to me it is preferable over the round braid which I think is more attractive in different colours.

If you want to try it go easy on your hands! I braided a whole metre of this in one day which was very foolish, given the gauge of wire I used. For the following three days my hands were so swollen and sore that I could only do the something very easy, like coiling wire on a mandrel and no use of tools!

As I was told later by someone much more experienced than myself I should have used 30g wire or finer. Well, we live and learn! As it turned out the necklace turned out just the way I wanted and never mind the pain.

BUT: I would not do it again!

Easy versatile chain links - tutorial

2009-05-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is another variation of the famous U-shape. For this project I used 19g silver wire, quite tarnished. To start you need your wire, which can be 18 or 2og, they work equally well. You also need a 6.5mm mandrel to shape the U, wire cutters and stepnose or roundnose pliers. The rest is up to your fingers! To join the links I used 3.5mm ID jumprings. The size of the jumprings is a personal choice. To start straighten your wire and flush cut on each side a 4cm section. For a necklace one needs about 40 to 42 pieces. Shape all of them over the 6.5mm mandrel, making sure the ends of the wire are of equal length.
Now take the stepnose pliers and make a loop on each side facing inside the U using the smallest step . If using roundnose pliers, mark them first, so all the loops have the same size. When all the links have been completed that way
hammer them flat. Usually the loops will open abit at this stage, so make sure to close them up again.
Now you form the links with your fingers, pushing one side over the other so they overlap completely. Make sure the overlap is always in the same direction. Left over right or right over left does not matter as long as you do them all the same. Sometimes the overlap is not perfect, as shown on the left link above. When that happens insert the stepnose or roundnose pliers into both loops and tweak to adjust.
Here you see a complete bracelet with the links in the same direction.
This bracelet shows the links as opposite pairs. And both of them have been tumbled for 1 hour to remove the tarnish and wrkharden them. Now they sparkle!
These last two pictures show you the option of inserting beads between each pair of links.
The look will be quite different, but all the links are the same!

If you come up with more ideas, let me know.

Rings Galore

2009-05-18T13:25:00.001-07:00

A few days ago I had an offer to take part in a show at the beginning of June. So it was full steam ahead to increase my inventory, starting with rings. And since I love coils of all manner I decided they will form part of the design.

Apart from the pink one on the right. I will do more of them as soon as I can get some more gorgeous colours of Swarovski crystals (it seems one can never have enough!).
I was too lazy to take all pictures individually, so I just grouped some of them together for this display. Starting from top left there is black onyx with black craft wire, next is tigereye with copper, blue handcut glass bead with 30g aqua craft wire, erinite Swarovski crystal with leaf green craft wire, orange quartz in copper, olive cat's eye with light leaf green and finally another tigereye but without the added coil.

A visitor who saw the rings got quite excited and was asking if there could be earrings and pendants to match!? This will need some figuring and re-designing. If I succeed I will show you the results!

Back to the Ancients

2009-05-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Jewelrylessons.com has a monthly theme to create an item pertaining to the subject given. For April it was "Cleopatra's Jeweler". I decided it would be fun to participate and came up with this design. Truly ancient, because the coil or spiral has been found in all cultures from earliest recorded time.
The design is old, but when worn it is the latest! There are things that never age. This is one of them! And best of all it is not difficult, just a bit time consuming. So go ahead and try your own!

Still in macramee mode

2009-05-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

After completing the copper bracelet I repeated the pattern in two shades of leaf green. The purple bracelet uses only a half (square) knot and therefore spirals. Similar to DNA with it's double helix!

I want to be more adventurous with all the macramee knots and today tried the beautiful Josephine knot.It turned out alright but was a bit lumpy - why I used 10g wire I don't know. Therefore no picture.

By the way, macramee in wire is easier on the hands than any done in string, rope or cord. Using the latter one really needs force to keep the knots from sliding or opening, but this problem does not arise with wire, because once bent and knotted it just stays in place, even when one uses multiple strands. Hopefully I will show you an example next time.

Macramee - Another String Art

2009-05-10T04:14:00.000-07:00

Macramee is another very lovely string art, invented by sailors as history tells. There are just a few basic knots with loads of variations. I find that for wire work the square knot works the best. It is also one of the simpler ones, once learned never forgotten.

So here I show you a bracelet done in square knot with copper wire, 20g for the core and 24g for the knotting.

You should try it, it's fun!

Wire - String Art Embellished

2009-05-10T03:50:00.000-07:00

Playing some more with frames for stringing the wire it occurred to me that the wriggly frame is actually quite nice when embellished with 4mm Swarovski crystals. Gives a little bling to the set! I will definitely make more, in different shapes and colours as well as changing the pattern of the stringing. Just had to share this one. Enjoy!

Correction

2009-05-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

Reading through my last post again I realized that I made a mistake!

If you want the clasp to look like the links you have to attach it last (with single or double jumpring, even though I said there are no jumprings in this chain), so it will hook into the first link. If you decide to place the hook at the beginning you will have to complete the chain with an eye so it can close.

I am sorry for the mistake!!! Next time I vet what I post properly, so that there will be no confusion.

There is also a big THANK YOU to Lisa of http://abeadaday.blogspot.com for featuring my work. Go to her blog and see the inspirational thing she has to offer!

First Tutorial - Easy Chain

2009-04-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

Today I want to show you how to make a lovely chain without jumprings. It is ultra smooth, because the cut ends of the wire do not touch the skin, so no scratchy feeling. To make the chain you will need the following: flush cutters, stepnose pliers (or roundnose pliers), chainnose pliers, 20g wire. When you have made this chain, you can use larger gauges for a chunkier look.

Step 1: Cut 5 or 6 pieces of wire 4 cm long, each end cut flush.

Step 2: Using the largest step of the stepnose pliers bend the pieces into a U-shape, making sure both legs are level.
Step 3: Use the smallest step to curl both ends of the U into closed loops. Make sure the ends sit flush with the main link. In this picture you see the ends poking out. If that happens use the chainnose pliers to adjust. If you do not have stepnose pliers use the roundnose pliers, but mark them for the larger U and the smaller loops for consistency.
Step 4: Squeeze the two loops together with your fingers. Insert another U-shape through the two previously made loops, form two loops again, squeeze together etc. etc. Pay attention in which direction to coil the loops; if you make a mistake that link will be lost! When you have joined 5 or 6 links together measure the length so you will know how many more pieces of wire you need to cut for your project.
This picture shows the right side up.
Here you see the reverse side.

When you are done attach a clasp of your choice. On the other hand you can make a hook in the same U-shape but use a longer piece of wire and after forming it bend it over to make a hook. Then you build your chain from there. The hook will easily fit into the last link to close.

It also looks lovely if you hammer all the U-shapes flat before forming the loops, the choice is yours.

I hope you enjoy playing with this design!

More Variations

2009-04-28T12:56:00.001-07:00

Okay, I said I would still play around with more variations. The blue set is an upside down version of the previous blue I posted. My daughter says it reminds her of the Eiffel Tower!
This pink and champagne set is the same wrap but with an additional overlay.
Now, while Mei was working on her square, beautifully adorned with beads, I made this diamond shape using silver and pink. But I am not too happy with it, because after wrapping the silver first from right to left I had to wrap the pink from left to right to give me this design. So there is a height difference where the two colours meet and they look like holes! Have to work on that.
In this oval pendant I first wrapped burgundy wire around every second coil, then overlaid it with silver in the alternating coils. This looks much better in person, changing the colours as you move. I will try this with three colours!

But now I have to concentrate on developing different frames to be able to show the more intricate patterns of the original string art.

Variations on a theme

2009-04-24T10:50:00.000-07:00

After posting the first set of wire string art I really got bitten by the bug to try variations which would show the beauty of the patterns. Now I am getting carried away by the endless possibilities.

The first is done in navy/light blue with a bead to match the design.
Instead of using the coil I decided to make this zig zag shape to hold the wraps. Here I used three layers to add to the structure. They do not show as such because I used the same colour wire, but I like the result.
More playing around with frames to hold the wraps. For this I used roundnose pliers to shape the coils, fairly small, so in a way they act like the nails used in the original string art from decades ago.

I like these variations, but will still work more on them for some refinement! What do you think?

Play on Coils

2009-04-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

This happens when one is bored and has nothing better in mind! I had some coils lying around and started pulling them open and realized that the pulling increased their strength. Floppy to start with, now they were rigid. Okay, so I decided to bead them up with these very irregular orange mother of pearl beads. To work them together as a whole I used tigertail left over from a while ago (I do not use it any more) to complete the design. Amazingly, it looks stunning with an off the shoulder dress. Sorry for the picture quality!

String Art in Wire

2009-04-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

The last few days, on one of the groups I belong to, saw a lively discussion about Peruvian Thread Earrings. Looking at pictures they reminded me of string art which was quite popular in the late 70s - early 80s. But that was done in nails. Yikes. no good for jewellery.

Through a link provided I found Ganutell, an ancient art from Malta which is identical to the Peruvian Thread Art which again is identical to the string art of 30 years ago. I am sure that further research will bring up more sources.

When string art was popular I made loads of pictures to adorn my wall and even taught it to anyone interested, but this was a challenge to me! I felt that thread in jewellery might fade or disintegrate too quickly, so I wanted to use wire. My first attempt was made with 28g wire for the wrapping which became very bulky. Then I tried 30g wire which works beautifully.

The picture of this attempt is above. Now it remains to figure out layering of different colours and patterns. More will come for sure.

dreamcatchers

2009-04-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

Maybe this is a first! I decided to make a celtic star motif either as pendant or for earrings. But once finished the star was too floppy and could not hold its shape. Probably I used the wrong gauge wire or a wrong ring size. So once again I had to resort to make a circle to stretch them out and make them rigid.

That's how dreamcatchers are born!

Ancient Arts and Crafts

2009-04-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I came across a post by kokopelli about an ancient craft practised widely

in East Prussia, a former part of Germany. It is a weaving technique used to make bands

or straps, called Jostenbaender (Jostenbands or -straps). Reading about how those were made was intriguing because the same methods are

used here in Nigeria to produce aso-oke, a fabric strip of great length, which is cut to size and and the individual strips sewn together to make a larger fabric or various garments. And this industry here is very much alive and kicking! For now I do not have pictures to show, but as soon as I am able I will post some.

Going back to ancient and traditional arts and crafts there is also Kumihimo from Japan. This is not weaving but braiding and is equally versatile in application. The two pictures above show a few examples. It is not hard to learn, is very therapeutic when working it and always gives beautiful results.

Even though I say I work with wire, occasionally I take a break to do some braids, which of course will be used in jewellery making.

Have a try yourself, you will love Kumihimo!

Pendants again

2009-04-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

This design gave me almost a sleepless night! I kept dreaming about it, how to shape the petals, how to make the frame to hold them, how to decorate the flower, etc. etc. By morning I had the answer and set to work. In all my dreaming it had not occurred to me how tough 19g wire can be; it does not like to be wrapped by hand in tiny little coils, even bending the petals was a challenge. But I did complete it, with a pearl in the centre and amethyst Swarovski crystals surrounding the pearl. The next challenge will be matching earrings! Can anyone tell me the type of pearl I used? I won several strands of them in a competition and have no clue as to what they are called.
Another flower pendant awaiting earrings! For the petals I used 24g wire, 2 strands twisted together and shaped over my own home-made jig. The bezel for the focal agate was made in 20g wire. After attaching the blue topaz Swarovski crystals to the petals I used the remaining wire to link the focal and the petals together,weaving across the back of the focal to make it secure.
This pendant turned out to be a dreamcatcher in Japanese weave. Purely accidental! I set out to make a cube, but found that I could not bring up the sides to join together, the size of the rings was too small and the tension on bending the sides up was so tight I could not insert another ring to join it all together. So I removed several rings to get back to a sheet. Looking at it I thought that I could stretch it over a circle and this is the result! I like it, but there will be no earrings to match! No way!!!

Inverted or Open Round Weave with captured Swarovski Crystals

2009-04-13T13:34:00.001-07:00

vFor the last few days I did not post anything because I was too busy creating this necklace and earring set which took almost 5 whole days. The necklace just kept going on and on, but I persisted and got to 45.5cm (18"), but the earrings were another matter. I intended them to be a full circle and joining the ends was not a problem; the problem was they did not look anything like circles, they were very lopsided. So I had to remove a lot of rings to just give me a half circle and then I created half hoops out of the same wire, hammered them flat and then attached them to the chainmaille pieces and finally put the earwires (same wire again) on. I must say I like the look of them, and they are not as heavy as a full circle would have been. What makes this set different are the captured 4mm Swarovski crystals, placed at regular intervals. Not obvious but sparkling here or there as the light reflects.

If anyone wants two know the technique how to achieve this look, please leave a comment and I will get back to you.

Chain (maille) Reaction

2009-04-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was a wonderful day. First of all it was my birthday, then it was the official opening of my daughters shop for children's clothes and accessories, designed and produced by her.

But the icing on the cake came from my sneak visit to the shop next door, a motivational bookshop. I was greeted by two young sales assistants in a very friendly, no, enthusiastic manner. When I told them I would just browse they discreetly busied themselves elsewhere. Eventually I had chosen what I wanted and went to pay. One girl was busy writing the receipt and suddenly the second one pointed at my ear and asked:"Is that 20 gauge?" To say the least I was flabbergasted, this has never happened to me before. I was wearing a pair of euro 4-1 drop earrings made of copper and yes it was 20 gauge. So I just asked her if she made jewellery as well. It turned out that both of them did and that they had seen chainmaille items before. But they did not know the name of this particular weave. So what ensued was like an introductory course to chainmaille and finally I just had to ask: "But how did you know that I made these earrings?" Very simple answer, they shop for their supplies in the same shop as I do and they have seen me there! Small world!

All in all a most satisfactory and delightful experience!

Surprise Award

2009-04-05T03:58:00.000-07:00

Working on my blog this morning and checking any comments, I was most pleasantly surprised to see that I was given this award by kokopelli. Thank you so much!

Please, check out her blog - http://kokopelli.blogmonster.de. I love going there because the posts are humorous and easy to read, and the jewellery is so unique! Best of all for me is that one can keep up with the German language, lovely.

To find seven unusual things I like to do is a bit challenging, but I will try:

1 I like trying unusual food, i.e. crocodile steak

2 researching ancient cultures

3 reading fairy tales from the Pacific island groups

4 hunting for unusual plants

5 trying to grow vegetables of temperate origin in a tropical climate

6 star gazing

7 sitting on the beach contemplating the Atlantic

The person I choose for the award is Wilma of wilmas whimsies. She makes some of the most outstanding beads I have ever seen. Go to her blog or etsy site for the most amazing eye candy!

Experiments

2009-04-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

The first experiment is a pair of ear vines. I got the free tutorial from

www.wiresculpture.com and worked two sample pairs, but the springi-

ness was not enough to hold the vine securely. After some playing

around I came up with this version which has a double coil to give

more spring. I also curved the earwire down before taking it up to the

top. In the original the wire came out at a right angle to the coil before

going up. Wearing it like this brings the coil below the earlobe, which to me did not look to attractive, but with my version the coil sits on the earlobe where it is meant to be and the entire piece feels more secure.
My second experiment is this necklace. Simple coils of 4 complete revolutions with loops at 12 & 6 o'clock, one horizontal and the second one vertical. Before completing the vertical loop I used 4mm Swarovski hotfix crystals, placed them in the centre of each coil and ironed them on, first from the top, then turned the coils over to give the crystals the final fixing. Then I completed the vertical loops and connected all together.

The idea came after having noticed Swarovski hotfix crystals on some of the most unusual items, so I decided to try it on wire and it works! But one thing is certain, to fix those tiny things is not easy, they are slippery on the wire, do not want to stay in the middle and if one is not careful in placing the iron they shift and end up where you do not want them. But the final result is worth it, even though to make the coils is much faster than the iron on process. What do you think?

Bracelets Galore

2009-04-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

My two totem poles with an array of chain maille and wire worked bracelets. From the top: a romanov variation, hourglass units, beez to butterflies and romanov.

The second totem pole shows you a euro4-1, byzantine with crystals, a wrapped bracelet with Swarkies and Mother of pearl , fancy wire links with crystals and another byzantine with Swarovski rondelles and bicones.

Necklace Sets

2009-03-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

At last! Finally I discovered that I had actually edited the pictures but did not resize them suitable to the web. So I spent the whole day doing that, including some more cropping, and giving each a name. Quite time consuming - the initial file was 153MB!

The first set is a euro 4-1 weave

with Swarovski AB rondelles

and Dorado crystals, done in goldplated wire.

Next is a herringbone

weave on beautiful 12mm pearls interspersed with Swarovski crystals, also done in goldplated wire.

Below you see a byzantine

weave with mother of pearl coin beads and a carnelian as focal point.

The focal in the next set

is V-shaped in two directions: head on view as well as from the side, filled with assorted Swarovski crystals and other beads. The wire used is copper 20g and the chain is a butterfly weave.

Last but not least is a variation on the byzantine weave for the focal and plain for the necklace. For this I used champagne craft

wire with olivine Swarovski crystals.

And when you think

that the layout in your

post is what you are

going to see on the

blog, you are wrong!

Trying to describe

each item as it appears

seems to be futile,

because afterwards

all is in disarray!

How do others do it?

You see a picture

and the caption below

it, again and again.

So, what am I doing

wrong? I think I

need help!!!

Pendants

2009-03-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

Here are two new styles of pendant, that is new for me!. The first one is a faceted glass cabochon on which I tried my first ever netted bezel. I think it turned out quite well. The wire used is 20g and 28g copper and the cab is just 1.8 x 1.4cm.

The second was a bit of a challenge because of it's
asymmetry. The stone is a beautiful tigereye, different in pattern on each side. So I decided to keep the wrap very simple and made it a reversible pendant to show off the beauty of the stone all around. Now that I have done it once I am sure others will follow.

I also tried to upload some necklace sets as mentioned in an earlier post but it seems I have to re-edit them to a smaller size. ......so hopefully you will see them next time!

How to

2009-03-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

After thinking about it for a while I have decided that once in a while I will post a "how to" to show different designs or techniques in wire which could help others in their way forward.

There is just one challenge I face: I can't very well execute a particular step and take a photo of it at the same time. Therefore I shall post a picture of each step and describe it.

If anyone has a better idea of how to accomplish my objective, please let me know! In a way these instructions will be mini tutorials, but as of now they will be free because I myself have learned so much via the internet and so many helpful groups without paying anything, therefore it is payback time.

Let me know what you think!

More Earrings

2009-03-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

These are the remaining earrings which escaped posting last time. They are for casual fun and do not have necklaces to match, just single pairs. Next time I hope to show some necklace sets if I get some good pictures done.

Be Grateful

2009-03-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

Today I learned all over again to be grateful for all that I have and take for granted! A new member signed up to the wire wrap group I belong to. She is a great grandmother of the tender age of 73. She works her jewellery in copper and writes her posts in caps on her computer. WHY? She is legally blind!!!. For a person of this age and the handicap she has to deal with to do all this is utterly praiseworthy and all the rest of us should not gripe or moan about lesser problems!

Therefore I say, be grateful for what you have!

A glitch

2009-03-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

Now that I decided to post some pictures of my present earring collection only 4 showed up, yet the album (picasa) contains 13!!! It took me about two whole hours just to accomplish this. I ask myself, where are the other ones and what happened to their descriptions? It just means that either I learn much much more about the intricate workings of the web or I go back to upload photos one by one. This seems to be the better option because I do not have to wait an eternity for them to show! And not only that, but after all my struggles and nothing happening on my monitor screen I finally discovered that the same post was published THREE times, most bizarre! Sure, I deleted the extras and only hope my trials and errors will not put off my readers. Thank you all for your patience.

earrings

2009-03-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

Chainmaille Rings

2009-03-15T03:24:00.000-07:00

A question was asked in the comment box if I make all my rings for chainmaille. The answer is yes, I do. There are several important reasons why I do so. The first is cost. Goldfilled wire is pretty expensive already and to buy the ready cut rings would treble the cost. The second, equally important reason is that I can make absolutely any size of ring I want and when I want it in any type and gauge of wire which takes my fancy. To be able to make them I have complete sets of knitting needles from the tiniest to the fattest, both in metric and imperial measurements. So for me it's do it yourself!

2009-03-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

Too late for Valentine' day! It seems it's always after an event when I get the inspiration for it. Just like in the case of this simple copper heart with a Swarovski crystal and earrings to match. But I like the wavy links best, they look dainty. Well, mother's day is not far!

This bracelet is done in barbed helm weave with goldfilled wire in 22g. The rings used are 4mm and 3.25mm ID. Anything smaller, it becomes too tight and larger will make it too floppy and not hold the pattern.

This bracelet is euro 4-1 but woven lengthwise with 4 rings per row. Also made in goldfilled 22g wire with rings of 3mm ID.

Fond Memories

2009-03-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

As I was sitting today working on a chain in the smallest size of ring possible my thoughts went way back into the past, trying to remember where my love of beads stems from. And I did remember! I was either 5 or 6 years old when I was given a most exciting Christmas gift. It was a box of tubular beads, same length and width, in opaque glass. There was no plastic in those days!!! They came with a set of instructions how to make different shapes of doilies, diagrams and needle and thread. This was indeed a most wonderful gift. Forgetting everything else I proceeded right then and there on Christmas Eve(that's when Santa brought our gifts) to start on the first project which was a star shaped placemat or doily.

In those days our kitchen was what was called a living kitchen. All the family's activities took place there for the simple reason that it was the warmest room in the house as well as the largest! So I opened my box of beads on the large kitchen table, spread them all out just to admire the colours, threaded my needle and got the first segment underway. Then what: grandma came to announce dinner time and I sadly had to pack up again. But eventually I completed my doily, even though I remember that passing the thread back and forth was not that easy!

I think this is where my love of beads stems from. What about you? How did you start? I would love to hear your own fond memories.

Confusion

2009-03-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

Now, when I typed in my last post everything showed up underlined. Why? I don't know! Restarting several times made no difference. Guess what? I just decided to go ahead and publish and lo and behold no underlining was there! One day I will understand the workings of this thing called web, hopefully...

More pendants

2009-03-06T12:49:00.000-08:00

This pendant was made in copper wire e-wrap with a picture jasper and Swarovski crystals. And one day I will figure out why this post decided to be underlined!!!

Sometimes the intricacies of the net are simply too muchGrrrh.

Another filigree pendant in silverplated wire with malachite.

2009-03-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I uploaded three pendants but this one refused to show up. It is a beautiful 12mm pearl wrapped in silverplated wire, topped with Swarovski crystals.

Pendants

2009-03-03T13:30:00.001-08:00

Since my knee is behaving in a more agreeable way, my brain too is back in functioning mode. Therefore I was able today to take pics of my most recent pendants. I don't know why this happens, but if I get inspired to make one, many others want to be made! It often means I do only one particular type of jewellery for a whole week or more before that particular obsession leaves me! I wonder if this happens to other jewellery makers?

Now to the latest pictures!

2009-03-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

Throughout last week I made kiddies stretch bracelets (of all things), but then my daughters shop will open shortly! For the weekend I promised myself to tidy up my work room, so it will be ready for my new students. Then my knee took over! For one reason or the other it decided to be excruciatingly painful, so much so that I can hardly walk. That of course stopped my cleaning exercises as well as taking some new pictures of what I have created! That's life interfering with ambition.

Thankfully the students understand the postponement! Hopefully I shall be back on track within a few days.

2009-02-24T12:16:00.001-08:00

Last week I was busy making chainmaille bracelets, and when I was tired of that I turned to amethyst and citrine. I still need to improve in photography, but here are the results:

I have always wanted to do something 3dimensional in wire wrapping and my brain just throws ideas and pictures at me willy-nilly, but I never "saw" what could be done. Also I hardly ever sketch, unless I have a very concrete idea in my head. But after seeing the work of Huan Pham, which I showed in my last post, I decided to try my hand. And to my surprise the result was quite pleasing. Of course I cannot and will not copy outright, and how could I, since no details were given. So I just came up with this: 19g and 30g champagne wire encasing a marble.

Now the marbles are an issue because they belong (or belonged) to my daughters when they were little and now they all want one like this as a keepsake, forbidding me to use any for any other purpose whatsoever!!!

Seems I have to find my own marbles or other undrilled objects which are suitable, if I want to continue with this design.

2009-02-20T13:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I saw unbelievable eye candy! Through one of the forums I belong to I found the blog of an extremely talented wire jewellery artist. When I saw his work my jaw dropped, my eyes bulged and all my skin was tingling. Believe me, I have seen outstanding work before (not that I can do any of it yet) but this guy is by himself "one of a kind". If you are interested here is his blog: http://huanpham.blogspot.com

I will try and show you some of what he does, just to entice you.

2009-02-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

The big day has finally arrived. Everyone is up early to get prepared and help prepare. If the event is held in ones garden tents for the guests will be set up, facing each other with a good clearance in the middle. A smaller tent for bride and groom will be placed at right angles to the others to one side of the centre space. Chairs will be placed in straight rows facing the centre where a table will be placed to hold the dowry. A smaller table is put beside it for the celebration cake.

In one suitable corner the DJ will arrange his equipment. The decorator is busy and her helpers assist in blowing up balloons. Everything has to match the colour scheme of the day, which was chosen way back by both bride and groom.

To really treat guests well, the cooking will be done at home by women hired for the occasion. They will cook all night long in the backyard with firewood and missionary pots. The food will be outstanding, better than what one can get from catering companies. A long row of tables will be set up with tablecloths, plates, cutlery, napkins, drinking glasses, straws etc. As it is the serving station it will be kept out of view from the guests. People hired to do the serving are in charge of it as well as giant cooling drums holding drinks and water.

Meanwhile inside the house the bride will have a leisurely bath, lay out her finery and relax. By this time her friends should have arrived to keep her company. There will be much hilarity as will happen when girls meet who might not have seen each other for a while. They will all dress up in the bride’s room, since they came in their ordinary clothes.

Manicure and pedicure would have been done the day before as well as the hair. Now the make-up artist arrives and transforms the bride into a real beauty. She will also assist with the dressing, especially the intricate tying of the gele (headtie). For an additional fee she will also tie it for any other female who needs this service. All this will take a few hours.

Family members and friends will start arriving about an hour before the time set. They will mingle and chat, enjoy the music. Then it is time to sit down because the groom’s family is arriving. And they arrive in style! All of them together accompanied by drummers and the alaga. Now the alaga of the girl’s family takes over. After much ceremony they will be ushered in and seated in the opposite tent. Those carrying the dowry will place the items on or in front of the table. Again the visiting family will be asked the purpose of their mission by the alaga. Thealaga from that family will respond. In fact they are now the MCs. Introductions are made all over again and then it is time for the groom to arrive with his supporters. Mats are spread in front of the girl’s parents are spread out because the groom and his men are all expected to prostrate themselves flat on the ground as a mark of respect and to receive the blessings of parents and elders after which he takes his seat in the bridal tent.

Now the bride will be brought out, her head and face covered by a cloth, escorted by the youngest married woman in her family and her friends. She will be taken to the groom’s parents, sit on their laps in turn to receive their blessing. Then she will be taken to the dowry table where she is expected to pick out the bible/Koran and the ring. With these items she will be led to the groom and officially handed over. The groom will lift the cloth from her face and head and confirm that she is his wife to be. The bride will then give him the box with the ring which he will then place on her finger.

In days gone by that concluded the wedding ceremony, but has been changed to engagement now. They will cut the cake together and feed each other with a piece of it. Toasts will be made, food will be served, music will play and dancing commences. By early evening everyone is getting tired and goes home. Next day or the following week the legal wedding will take place after which the bride is finally carried to her husband’s house. And hopefully they will live happily ever after!

2009-02-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

The day of the engagement is now fast approaching. Final checks are made to ensure no detail was forgotten. If one did not have a videographer at the previous events, now is the time to hire one. Invitations have to be sent out and those well connected will also invite the media including television. The weaving of the aso-oke should be completed by now and has to be taken to a tailor for sewing.

A very important part in finalizing the union is the dowry the groom’s family has to pay. In most cases nowadays money is only a token amount. But the other items can come to quite a tidy sum. The dowry will be presented on the engagement day:

50 tubers of yam (each almost 2 feet long)

50 pieces of dried smoked fish

50 pieces of kola nut

50 pieces of bitter kola nut

50 pieces alligator pepper

1 bag of salt

1 carton of cube sugar

1 bottle pure honey

2 crates each of mineral and malt drinks

1 live goat

1 basket of assorted fruit

4 gallons groundnut oil

A bowl of adun (palmoil mixed with ground corn, chili pepper and salt)

1 50kg bag of rice

1 suitcase of native clothes, shoes and bag to match

A bible or Koran and engagement ring

Envelopes of money for the mother, the father, the children in the house, the women in the larger family.

The money for the children and women will be shared equally, mother and father each keep their own. The suitcase, bible/Koran and ring are for the bride. All other items belong to the parents who will share among the larger family according to seniority. Some will also be given to the bride after she has settled in her new home.

I will keep the last and best part for next time.

Happy Valentine’s day!

2009-02-12T10:40:00.001-08:00

Before I embark on the last part of this saga I want to show some of the pictures, i.e. the various baskets and an example of the all important letter. Relish!

2009-02-08T11:51:00.000-08:00

Yes, letter writing is serious business. The person entrusted with this task must be able to produce a well written document using the best calligraphy. Of course with computers it is much easier, but people who demand quality still insist on a handwritten letter.

What is this letter all about you ask? Actually there will be two. The first one is from the groom’s family to the bride’s family. It is the official proposal of marriage stating all the details like full names, date of birth, place of origin etc. of the groom as well as the details of the girl, signed by the head of the groom’s family. The second letter is the official acceptance of the proposal by the bride’s family, equally detailed. These letters are a work of art in themselves. Usually large, at least an A4 size, they can take different outlooks, such as a scroll on parchment or a big fold open card with the letter affixed inside. Whatever style is chosen, in each case they are highly ornamental. But this is not all! Each letter will be encased in some way to make it more presentable. That could be a wrought iron carriage or a beautiful silk flower arrangement, the options are endless.

Next a date is arranged to receive the proposal letter. This entails a larger contingent from the groom’s family, together with their alaga. And they do not come empty handed. Baskets with fruit, wine or other drinks and biscuits, sweets and chocolates are presented. After snacks and refreshments are offered and taken, the letter of proposal is read out and handed over to the head of the girl’s family who will tell the visitors that a reply will be sent to them in due course.

When a date for the reply has been fixed the girl’s family will pay a return visit to the groom’s family equally with their alaga and the obligatory baskets of fruit etc. The procedure is much the same as the previous one.

Generally, these two occasions are much fun. But in all of this neither bride nor groom are present. Once I asked why this was so and I was told that it does not concern them! That the marriage was for the families and not just the two individuals involved!

After the letter carrying to and fro has been accomplished another date is fixed for a final meeting between the families before the big day. This is called “Introduction” and takes place in the girl’s family home. An agreement is reached on how many members of each family should be present, often not more than twenty, making a total of forty, but usually this number is exceeded because nobody wants to feel left out.

Preparations for this event start early in the morning. Seating has to be arranged, food has to be cooked and drinks chilled. Finally members of the household need to get dressed up in time to receive first their own family members and then those of the groom’s family.

When the groom’s family arrives, several female members of the girl’s family will go out to meet them to find out the purpose of their visit. They have to state their case but cannot enter yet. A wrapper is spread before them on the ground which they may not cross until some money has been placed on it. All is done in good humour because it is the tradition. After finally being allowed to enter, everyone is made welcome and seated according to seniority and importance. Drinks are served to start with, small chitchat is made for a while and then the visiting family start to introduce themselves, again in order of seniority. Then the girl’s family will do the same. Generally by this time everyone is much at ease, especially if the visitors brought along traditional drummers to liven up the occasion. Food is served and now the conversation becomes lively and a good time is had by all. Eventually the guests must go, but the extended family members of the girl stay on a bit to discuss a little more before finally taking their own leave.

What a long day! Now its back to the chores; tidying up, put furniture back in the proper place and get out of the finery, not necessarily in that order.

I forgot to mention that this visit too is accompanied by more baskets of fruit and what have you. As you can see the toing and froing is much. In the last few years the letter carrying, the reply and the introduction have been done in one go to save time and money, which is a good idea because life in the city is pretty stressful and hectic. So instead of three separate events only one is held. But to compensate this one event usually becomes a bit more lavish as to the hospitality offered as well as the gifts being brought. The main intent is for everyone to have an enjoyable time!

Now the big day is approaching and I will tell you all about it next time.

2009-02-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

I am a
Sunflower

What Flower
Are You?

What a surprise! I am a sunflower according to the quiz.

2009-02-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009

Continuing the saga of Yoruba engagements/weddings. Before I dive into the next chapter I want to explain why I always say:"engagements/weddings". In days gone by it was the accepted way to get married according to the traditions of the Yoruba people. That was prior to registry or church wedding. Now this event and all which leads up to it is regarded as the official engagement. But as an engagement it is slightly nonsensical, as it is usually held the day before the "real" wedding, at most a week before. No matter, traditions like this should be kept for the sheer joy of the occasion.

The first hurdle has been jumped. Now the girl's father is informed, who in turn will inform the head of the extended family, who is the most senior male. Then a date for the wedding will be considered and eventually agreed upon by all. Now the girl's family too will hire an alaga to represent them in the meetings ahead.

Next of course there will be discussions on what to wear, what colours should be chosen. The traditional dress for women consists of iro and buba, gele and iborun. That is a full length wrapper, blouse, headtie and an additional length of fabric to be worn around the waist. The first two items are usually made out of Swiss lace, the others could be brocade or damask. But more and more people choose aso-oke, which is a traditional handwoven fabric made on a narrow loom. Because the demand is high for wider fabrics a lot of weavers are now using wide looms in addition.

Having decided on the colours a reputable weaver has to be found. Apart from colour the pattern and the yarn has to be chosen. Now the weaver will produce a sample which when satisfactory will be ordered in full. And that will be lots! It is expected that each female member of the extended family will want at least one of the items and the men use the narrow fabric to make their caps. The wearing of the same headtie / cap is known as aso-ebi. Thus on big occasions everyone immediately knows who belongs to which family!

Shopping is now very high on the agenda. The lace has to be found for dad and mom. The girl's outfit will be provided by the groom's parents, because they too have to wear the same fabric to denote their impending unity. Next are shoes and bag to match - very high priority!

Venues will be scoured if the bride's home cannot accomodate the guests (often in excess of 200). Caterers and decorators must be found as well as a printer for the invitations and programmes! A professional letter writer has to be sourced because this person is of vital importance!

More next time.

2009-02-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

As I said, time is against me. So the picture of the finished set did not show up. I am very sorry, but right now I will try again. All other posting will be left for the weekend when I have more time!

2009-02-03T12:48:00.000-08:00

Time and Internet are conspiring against me. When I have finished reading my emails and replying to them, very little time is left for posting anything!

But I did manage to take some pics of the bridal jewellery just completed. The continuing story of Yoruba engagement/wedding traditions will follow shortly, I promise!

Here is the picture of the jewellery for the traditional engagement/wedding of our bride.

2009-01-30T10:18:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all who have left comments; I appreciate it. No, I do not have an online shop (yet) but hope to in the near future.

As to my photos I have to confess that they were taken by my daughter who is very good at it. But now I was lent a camera together with instruction manual and told to try "my own stuff"!

And now to the next part of engagement / wedding customs from my part of the world.

The next part of the proceedings will differ from area to area. I will tell you now how typical Yoruba people go about it all.

First the grooms family will choose an alaga, who is a professional go-between for the family. Such a lady must be fluent in more than one language, she must possess humor, must have dignity, but above all she must know how to speak well and interestingly. She will gather all necessary information about the groom and his family in order to present their case to the bride's family. After such a person has been chosen, the family will then propose to visit the girl's family for a first informal meeting, after they (the girl's parents) have decided on date and time. This initial visit usually involves only the senior female members of the groom's family and the mother of the girl, sometimes supported by other females from her own family.

On this first visit a few gifts are brought like a basket of fruit or fruit juices or assorted biscuits or a mix of all of them. They will be made welcome, some refreshments will be offered and then they will be asked the purpose of their mission. Now the alaga will introduce the visitors by name and who they are in relation to the groom. Then their case will be stated which sometimes can be very amusing, because the alaga will tell of how boy met girl, how he cannot live without her anymore, how lean he has become pining for her. Extolling the beauty and virtues of the girl, proclaiming that it can only be her and no one else for their son! In short they have come to ask for the girl's hand in amrriage.

Since no father or other male is around, the mother of the girl or next senior female relation will assure them that the proposal will receive consideration in due time. That was step two.

Step three by tomorrow!

2009-01-29T10:09:00.000-08:00

Well, the bridal set I mentioned some days earlier is almost complete, just the earrings remain. When those are done, I get to practice taking pictures. That is one area which needs serious work to become proficient in producing quality photos fit for the web.

Coming back to the bridal theme, I will attempt to narrate some typical traditional wedding customs from my country. Today will be the first instalment.

Typically when boy meets girl they have to go steady for quite a while before they can broach the subject of marriage to their parents. First the parents want to know: "Who is he/she? Who are the parents? Is that person from a reputable family? What has he/she to offer you in married life? What qualifications/ income/ prospects?" When all those questions were answered satisfactorily, grudgingly the parents will allow the prospective spouse to be introduced in the home. More often than not the father will absent himself with the excuse: "This is women's stuff!"

The first meeting is arranged and spouse to be will be welcomed and then undergo some serious grilling as to all questions mentioned above and of course about his/her intentions regarding their precious child! After being accepted as serious and well-intentioned the next part for the proceedings will be planned by the parents. What is to come is most elaborate and time-consuming but also a lot of fun!

The second instalment will follow tomorrow! I hope you enjoy reading this post.

2009-01-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was too lazy to work with my wire. Instead I managed to read all my emails and then watched my favourite cooking programmes on tv, cooking being just on equal footing with jewellery making! After that straight to the kitchen to get dinner ready. I wish I could say it was masterchef class, alas the couscous was soggy and the chicken overdone! But it was edible.

Today was straight back to my bridal project at hand; the bracelet is almost completed. It took a while to figure out the correct ring size to do romanov on 8mm Swarovski crystals without the rings bunching up into a cupshape. The bracelet alone took 160 rings. Will see how many I need for the necklace, must be over 400. Which means I still have to coil 8 metres of wire by hand and cut the rings, again by hand. This is definitely not the most exciting aspect of the work! What is exciting is the finished product, when everything has come together as planned.

There is one romanov bracelet I made a while ago, so I post a picture of it for all those who have not tried it yet!

2009-01-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

Harmattan is back again! This dust haze from the Sahara really blankets everything including the inside of your house.To run around with a duster in hand will make someone dizzy because of the speed with which all is dusty again.

And it makes one sneeze! So when you work chainmaille the rings are flying off in all directions, seriously. Therefore I left the rings alone today, instead had a good time out stocking up on wire. Also made some macrame friendship bracelets for my daughters shop.

Now I am working the blog after finally having got the look I like! And for good measure I am adding another picture.

2009-01-22T13:15:00.000-08:00

As promised, some pictures of my earlier work.

Now a surprise! Bad economy and all, there are BRIDES and they want to sparkle and glitter on their wedding day. So I am delighted with a custom order of necklace, bracelet and earring set just for such a big day. When I complete the set I will post a pic or two.

Which brings home a point: there are always occasions for spending on luxury items like jewellery, eg. anniversaries, birth of a child, weddings, birthdays etc. etc.

So even if the market for regular jewellery is slow, one just has to find the market for the others!

And now I am off hunting for them!!!

2009-01-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

2009-01-21T10:43:00.001-08:00

Greetings and welcome to my blog!
Starting as a complete newbie in the world of blogging I am sure there will be mistakes which need to be sorted. But as time goes on I will become more proficient. So bear with me!

My involvement with jewellery and crafts in general goes back a long way (way too long). Today I show you my "Crazy Heart", one of my favourites, because it is not predictable, just like me!

More pictures by tomorrow!