Sea Glass Earrings

Every year my other half, the children and I head down to Cornwall to spend some of the summer holidays with his family, and every year we go to some of the amazing beaches and collect lots of lovely beach treasures, which inevitably (what with me being a hoarder) end up coming home with us and being put into the "one day I will do something with all these lovely bits" box....

The Contents of the Box

So this year I decided I really need to start using some of these treasures and what better way to start then by making up some earrings....

Making Waves Earrings

To make these earrings you will need

• A pair of sea glass pieces (mine are 15mm x 10mm)
• 8mm/20gauge sterling silver wire (The amount of silver you will need for this project will depend on the size of your sea glass and how long you like your earwires. 1/2 meter should be enough to make two or three pairs of earrings).
• 2 2x1mm sterling silver crimp covers 
• Wire cutters
• File
• Flat nose pliers
• Bail making or round nose pliers
• Hammer and anvil
• Easy solder paste
• Soldering equipment (including safety goggles and apron)
• Safety pickle

Optional

• Tumbler
• Dremel with a 1mm cup burr

Making the Back of the Earring

Cut two lengths of wire long enough to wrap around your cabs and then shape them so that they are ever so slightly smaller then the sea glass, trim and file the ends so they fit together perfectly flush these will become the back of the earrings

Forming Waves

Take approx 3 inches (more if you are using large sea glass pieces) using your pliers form tiny waves, this can be a little fiddly at first. Once shaped gently hammer your waves so they are flat and cut off and file small sections to fit neatly inside the back sections you just formed (they must be touching each side).

Soldering in Place

Cut 4 small pieces of wire, they need to be twice the height of your sea glass and file one end perfectly flat. Arrange your pieces on your soldering block/charcoal block as above and apply small amounts of easy solder paste to all of the joins.

Soldered in Place

Gently solder. I use solder paste as I find it a lot easier then flux and solder pillions which all ways pop apart when I heat them! Once the solder flows wait a few seconds to cool slightly and then using your soldering tweezers place in the safety pickle after a few minute rinse and give them a brush over with a wire brush and check that your joints are strong.

Trimming the Bezels

Using your flat nose pliers gently bend your prongs 90 degrees making sure that your sea glass still fits snugly inside. Trim the wires so there is enough to bend over the top of the glass to hold it in place and then file the wires flat. I use a 4 sided nail file for this as I always have one laying around.

Forming Earwires

Cut x2 three inch long pieces of silver, file one end flat and using your bail making/round nose pliers form a neat eye pin. Heat two small scraps of silver to form little balls. Open your eye pins and thread on the prong settings, close the eye and place them onto the soldering/charcoal block. Place a small amount of solder paste onto the join in the eye pin and place the ball on top, very gently solder (it will not take long at all but be careful not to heat any of your other joints) cool for a few seconds and place into your solder pot (using tweezers of course) after a few minutes remove from the pickle and wash in bicarb and water.

Finishing Touches

Give your pieces a good brush over with the wire brush and shape the eye pins into ear wires using a pen and a pair of pliers. At this point I like to use a cup burr to neaten up the prongs. I tend to use a blob of blue tack to hold my piece on a stone while I use the cup burr in my dremel so my fingers don't get too hot, then I pop them into the tumbler for an hour so they come out beautifully shiny and then carefully using my pliers I bend the prongs over the stones and they are finished!

Finished Earrings

You can also use the same technique (and a bit more patience) to make the following bracelet....

Summertime Challenge Piece

And now you are left to wear your wonderful holiday memories!

Etsy shop - Niky Sayers Artisan Jewellery

Bird on the Wing Pendant with Embellished Chain - Free Tutorial

Birds are a perennial favourite with bead makers and buyers alike and this easy tutorial can be adapted to work with your own favourite examples.

Supplies

1 bird bead and wing(or similar) pendant.

1 flat/curved/disc bead

2 x 15" lengths of chain with link large enough to thread a double strand of waxed linen through.

8" 20 gauge wire

2 x 30" lengths of waxed linen

Seed beads (larger than chain links)

Charms and/or Czech glass flower beads
Headpins and jump rings
Round nose pliers and cutters

Step 1

Using the wire and round nosed pliers create a wrapped loop to attach the wing pendant.

Step 2

Pass the tail of the wire through the flat/curved/disc bead and the bird bead and make another wrapped loop to create a bail (add a seed bead to stabilise if required).

Step 3
Attach a length of chain to the bail either by opening a link in the chain or by adding a jump ring.

Step 4
Double up one length of waxed linen and attach it to the bail using a larks head knot.

Step 5
Thread a seed bead onto the double strand of linen and pass it through the second link of the chain. Add a second bead and pass the linen back through the chain skipping one link as you go.

Step 6
Continue adding seed beads and threading through alternate link of the chain until you get to the end. Check the tension of the linen and that the beads are evenly spaced.

Step 7
Add a final bead and tie of the linen to secure and then trim.

Step 8
Repeat steps 3 - 7 on the other side of the bail to complete the necklace.

Step 9
Add a clasp and jump ring.

Step 10

Use the headpins and seed beads to create charms with the Czech glass flowers if required.

Step 11
Using a jump ring attache the charms to the wrapped loop of the feather pendant.

And that's it - your necklace is fnished!

By changing up your beads and charms you can vary the effect you get with this design... Here's another example of the design that was published in Jewelry Affaire in 2015.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial - happy creating.

Bird and leaf set from THEA elements

Enchanted by enamel - an earring tutorial

Sometimes my Muse takes me on a scavenger hunt. Dropping little clues in front of me until I piece it all together. This happened recently at Bead Fest spring - let me take you through the process.

It started with these delicious enameled discs by Anne L. of Gardanne Beads. She had posted them in her FB sales group and I loved them - but what to do with them? So at Bead Fest I go to see them in person...

enamel discs by Anne of Gardanne beads

In my travel jewelry tote - because OF COURSE you pack really cool stuff to wear when vending (or attending) a bead show - I had these earrings by Melissa Manley. I met Melissa as I took her classes at Art Bliss a few years back. We have been friends and kindred spirits since that night! (Note to self - do not stay up too late drinking wine with your new friend when you have to be hammering in her class the next morning...) I adore her sense of color, and use of translucent enamels.You may have seen her book, Jewelry Lab?  

Inspiration earrings by Melissa Manley

Hey - Muse lights the light bulb! THIS style earring construction with THOSE enamel discs. OK! And it suits me - I like the inside of the discs where there are subtle color variations. You could use these discs facing either way... hang on. I will show you what I did. Its simple and ingenious!

(Thanks Melissa!)

Materials: 

20 gauge sterling wire

torch/green scrubby/polishing pad

miscellaneous beads: spacers and gems

size 8 seed beads (matte black)

size 2 crimps/pliers

bur cup tool thingee

chasing hammer/bench block

marker

To engineer the earring.... 

1. Cut 6" lengths of wire. Ball the ends. Pickle and or polish as you normally do... 

2. Play with possible arrangements. I wanted to have a pop of interest inside the disc, but not take the attention away from the enamel. And not cover too much either...

Endless opportunities: (from top left) copper flower spacer, vintage Lucite flower, turquoise, hematite flat rondelle, sterling bead cap, copper and mother of pearl heist bead. 

I have a motley collection of leather bits and pieces - from Lindsay and other friends that work in leather. I love a little piece as a contrast, and a new texture. Now - using this amount at a time I have enough to last me a dozen life times...

Leather scraps

3. Decide on your combinations and thread them all together on your balled wire.

first batch ready to go

scraps of leather for a visual contrast

4. Slide on an 8 and a crimp, snug against the disc. Squeeze it flat with pliers. Hard. This secures your pieces against the head pin.

ingenious! 

5. Shape your ear wire. Hammer/ work harden the ear wire at the bend with your chasing hammer. Now your ear wire will maintain its shape during wear. 

6. Trim wire to desired length - leaving a bit long as the counter balance to the earring. Smooth wire end with bur cup so it will be gentle on you ear.

Form the ear wire shape. Get a manicure!

Now - my local gallery had been asking me for more enameled earrings... so this is very timely. These pretties are off to The Palette and the Page this week! Its a pleasure to work with such gorgeous components and I hope you find this informative and/or inspirational. Until next time...

Ready to deliver to the gallery

Dimple making pliers - a tutorial

You know when you are scrolling through the Internet and you see a cool tool/thing that you would love to have a play with so you add it to your amazon wish list and then you add a million other things that you don't want to forget about and then Christmas rolls up (and in the same week it's your birthday too) and surprise, you get some very random gifts!!?? No, just me then?

Well this year I got a wonderful collection of eclectic items that left my family some what perplexed as to what they were for. One of the items I got.... Dimple making pliers!

Dimple making pliers

I had seen them used in beautiful designs like this stunning "Fire and Ice" ring that the talented Jenny Davies-Reazor made in an Art Bliss class taught by the amazing R. Salley and thought they look cool, I would like a pair of those!

Jenny's beautiful ring

The first thing I did when I opened these was to head straight to YouTube to see how to use them/what to do with them, and here is what I found....

Looks simple, so now to turn this into a cool design!

Dimpled Earring Components

What you will need....

• Copper sheet (I used different thicknesses from 0.8mm - 0.4mm all worked well but the thiner was easier to add the dimples to but some what flimsy)
• Some form of cutting the sheet metal Disc cutter/saw/sharp scissors (I used all of these)
• Silver jump rings (you can make your own or use pre made)
• Soldering equipment (although you could just use a hole punch in the top of the shape if you don't want to solder them)
• 400 Sand paper and a nail buffer
• Vintaj metal paints
• Sponge
• Metal spray sealer

Cutting your shapes

• First cut out your desired shape, here I have made discs but I also made tear shapes, bars and holly leaves (hearts would look super cute, but I ran out of metal).
• If you are making your own jump rings do that now, I make mine on bail making pliers and just saw them off as I need them.
• Sand the edges of your metal shape so there are no sharp edges and so that the metal is all clean for soldering
• Using solder paste (and all your health and safety equipment) carefully solder the jump rings into place. If you are not using jump rings make a hole in the top of the shape with a hole punch or drill bit.

Sanding 

• Using your 400 grit sand paper key up/clean the surface of the metal ready for painting
• Use your dimple making pliers to add texture to your shapes (I rather like the half off the edge ones)

Painting

• Cut up a sponge into inch sized pieces
• Apply the paint to the sponge (here I use two different colours on one sponge for a nice blended look) 
• Dab the sponges onto the metal making sure you get a good coverage and wait for it to dry throughly before painting the back of the piece

Removing the paint

• Set the paint with a heat tool and once compleatly dry remove the paint from the high spots using some of the sand paper and then buff with the nail file for a beautiful shine
• Seal front and back of the piece with several layers of metal sealer and once fully dry make into earrings....

Earrings

There are so many different shapes, colours and designs that you could make with these, you could also leave out the paint and set small colourful stones on them.

Bits By Niky

Niky Sayers Artisan Jewellery

Beaded Wreath - Christmas Ornament Tutorial

Today I'm sharing with you a tutorial for a beaded wreath Christmas ornament that I devised by adapting my design for a silk macrame bangle - please excuse the fact that it's displayed on a laurel bush but my Christmas tree is not up yet. For this ornament I've used 15mm organza ribbon and 10mm glass pearls but you can literally use anything you like to create an ornament that suits your own decor...ribbons, cord and even fancy knitting yarn can all be combined with fun and funky results...just let your imagination run wild.

Materials
To make the ornament as I have you will need:

1  1/4 coils of memory wire

48" length of 15mm organza ribbon

12" length of 15mm organza ribbon

16 10mm glass pearls

1 10mm jump ring

1 charm or beaded dangle - I used ceramic birds from Blueberribeads

Round nosed pliers

Memory wire cutters

Scissors

This design is worked with a simple macrame square knot but the nature of the ribbon I used makes it a little tricky to see the technique so if you need clarification you can find a diagram here.

Step 1
With the round nosed pliers turn a loop at one end of the memory wire.

Step 2
Take the 48" length of ribbon, find the centre and tie it around the memory wire adjacent to the loop.

Step 3
Thread a bead onto the wire.

Step 4
Create the first part of a simple macrame square knot by taking the right hand ribbon and passing it over the memory wire which acts as your core. Then pass the left hand ribbon over the right hand ribbon and under the core wire and pull though to secure the bead. Don't pull the ribbon too tight - you want to aim for it to drape nicely around the bead.

Step 5
Add another bead. Create the second part of the macrame square knot by taking the left hand ribbon and passing it over the memory wire then pass the right hand ribbon over the left hand ribbon and under the core wire and pull though to secure the bead ( the reverse of the process in step 4).

Note
Because memory wire is springy this process can feel a little awkward at first but once you have a few beads in situ it becomes easier. I found I got more control by tucking the free end of the wire under my little finger.

Step 6
Repeat steps 3 - 5 until all the beads are threaded and the circle is completed. Tie an overhand knot to secure the ribbon.

.

Step 7
Make sure the beads are snug up to the first loop then trim the spare end of the memory wire and turn a second loop.

Step 8
Thread one of the ribbons tails through each of the loops pull together gently to close the wreathe then knot to secure.

Step 9
Wrap the tails around the loops a couple of times to hide them and then tie in a bow.

Step 10
Attach your charm to the large jump ring then take the shorter length of ribbon and pass it through the jump ring.

Step 11
Place the ribbon and charm under the bow and bring it up around the front and back of the bow making sure to centre it carefully. Knot the ribbon so that it creates a neat finish (not too tightly) to the bow and knot again to secure.

Step 12
Tie the shorter ribbon at the ends to create a hanging loop.

Step 13
Trim the tail ends of the bow and there you have your finished ornament.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and are inspired to have a go at creating some ornaments of your own.

Happy holidays.