Saturday Share...Ball Chain End Loops

Earlier this week on Facebook, a dear friend and fellow artist, Carol Myers, asked if anyone knew of a tutorial to make wire loops for the end of ball chain.  After several folks chimed in and googled and left links, we found several links to mass produced findings that would add a loop to the end, but not any hand-made ones.  

The standard connector for ball chain...boring!

I took this as a challenge and vowed to come up with a workable solution for today's post!  I had actually toyed with this before and never really got it worked out...the wire has to be sturdy enough to actually function as a hook for a clasp, but flexible enough to twist around the tiny wire between the little balls.

Some early attempts...pretty pitiful!

My first attempts were not pretty...but surprisingly functional.  I originally thought I would start about 3 balls from the end and wrap the wire around each ball until the end one and then make a loop, bringing the wire back down to wrap around the same 3 balls in the opposite direction.  That actually works and I am going to try it again with bigger chain and making it cleaner.  My next attempts utilized larger wire structures that were wrapped on with smaller gauged wire.

Here is what I finally liked.  You will need:

wire - 26g soft 6-8 inches
wire - 18g soft approx 3 inches
round nose pliers
flat nose pliers
butane torch
steel block or anvil
hammer
a bit of perserverance!

• Cut 18g wire into 2 pieces
• Using your torch, ball the ends of each piece.  You may go through a practice period to get 2 finished double ball pins the same length (I neglected to take a photo of that, sorry)
• Wrap the pin around the base of your round nose pliers
• Using flat nose pliers, right next to the ball ends, make a sharp bend to straighten.

• Using your steel block and hammer, gently harden your loop.  I put mine back over the round nose pliers and straightened out the legs a bit.
• Attach the end of the 26g wire to one of the legs of the loop.  I wrap around once just so it won't come off.  Then you can place the end of the ball chain where you want it and begin weaving the wire around.  It is hard to see the actual wrapping in the photos, as I was taking my own photos and only have 2 hands!!

The actual weave is an over/under, like a figure-eight, but with a third wrap...here is a crude diagram I drew that hopefully will explain it better.  I am sure there is a technical term for this.  The dots are the legs of the structure with the ball chain in the middle, and the arrowed lines are your 26 gauge wire...clear as mud?

• Continue wrapping until you feel the structure is secure...usually about 3 or 4 passes. Snip the wire and tuck it firmly so that it won't snag later.  You can straighten your wraps with your pliers or your fingernail. 
• Attach clasp of your choice.
• Optional: Use desired patina and give it a whirl in a tumbler for strength and polish.

I know you will do a better job of getting your wraps neater and more symmetrical!!

So there you go... would love to hear of ideas or methods any of you have played with finishing ball chain ends!

Happy Saturday! I am off to BeadFest for the afternoon!

Melissa Meman

Melismatic Art Jewelry

Art. Life. Love.

Component of the Month and Giveaway - September

Hello - me again...

I'm back today to show you the goodies for next months component challenge - a little earlier than usual but since I have to ship from England I want to get them off to the rest of the team and our guest designers (wherever they may be) in good time.

And this is what they get to play with...one of these THEA Elelments bronze clay 'bursting seed pods' which feature lovely textured motifs and are patinated in a range of rich autumnal shades.

Each team member will get one of these to incorporate into a design and share the process and finished piece at the AJE blog hop on September 30th.

 And as always you have the opportunity to join in with the fun just be leaving a comment on here.

Do you fancy joining the September design team...well here's how the giveaway, challenge, and blog-hop will work (please read all the information carefully!)...

• I will give away 1 component to each of 3 winners selected randomly from those who leave comments below this post by midnight,  Sunday 25th August eastern time. 
• Please include your EMAIL address in your comment so that I can contact you ASAP should you win. 
• Please (PLEASE) only leave a comment if you can commit to creating a finished piece and blogging about it on the reveal date. 
• The names of the 3 winners will be announced on Tuesday 27th Monday 2013.
• The blog reveal will be on  Friday 30th September 2013. 

Good luck!

Lesley
The Gossiping Goddess

It's Oh So Quiet...

Shhhh Shhhh...

The tumbleweed is blowing around the AJE HQ today as so many of the team are well on their way to Bead Fest, some as vendors, some as helpers and some as lucky shoppers. I however am stuck on another continent feeling much aggrieved that I can't be there to meet up with all my stateside beading buddies. It's on my bucket list though and I will get there - one day...

It seems they didn't want me to miss out altogether so before they left they very kindly send me lots of photos of the beads they would be taking with them...torture me why don't you! But they are very lovely beads and rather than keep them to myself I thought I'd share them here so those of you who can't make it either can suffer bead envy with me and those of you who are going can get a little preview and plan what you want to make a beeline for.

First up some fabulous lampwork focals from our esteemed leader Jen. If you've read her post from  yesterday you'll have seen how Jen plans to display these striking beads and I think they're going to look just fabulous....

Jennifer Cameron - Glass Addictions - Booth 559

Jenny has obviously been working her socks off to put together this lovely collection with loads of depth and variety - just how cute are those little Matroshka dolls..?

Jenny Davis Reazor - J Davies Reazor - Booth 461

Sue Kennedy also posted about her preparation this week and it looks like she's going to have a really stand out booth with all these gorgeous colourful lampwork pretties...sigh!

Sue Kennedy - Suebeads - Booth 463

Diana will selling these richly coloured daisy pendants and a new design of double sided leaf beads in some of my favourite copper and root beer glazes...hold on to a couple for me please Diana...!

Diana Ptaszynski -  Suburban Girl Studio LLC - Booth359

And last but not least, Karen has been working hard on some new designs including these adorable owl beads and pendants... I bet there are none of those left for me at the end of the show! You'll also find Woolywire at Karen's booth which she is sharing with her daughter Nellie - creator of this innovative  wire and fibre mix.

Karen Totten - Starry Road Studio - Booth 373

Well ladies - you've certainly put on a great show between you and even though I can't be there I wish you every success with your beads and hope you have a great time and a lot of fun. I will actually be going to a bead show on Sunday - a much smaller affair admittedly but I'm sure I will find some goodies to console myself with so all is not quite lost.

Lesley

The Gossiping Goddess

Secrets Revealed...the Mission for the perfect bead display in an imperfect World

I haven't done a "bead show" since I first started making beads about 7 or 8 years ago. My set-up then was literally cobbled together with bits and pieces. And it was definitely NOT ideal.

Fast forward to 2013. And my last minute decision (June!) to vend at Bead Fest (August!). When you read this, I am probably already on my way to Pittsburgh to pick my handsome husband up from the airport before we continue on to Philadelphia (yes, you read that right....it's kind of complicated).

My jewelry display from a show I did in April. 

And I literally went shopping for my bead display stuff yesterday afternoon. Because I work better under pressure. Also, I procrastinate. So it's sort of still a cobbled together display. 

I went shopping with the thought that I would buy cheap wood trays from the craft shop and fill them with something to create a nice soft bed for my beads...rice? seed beads? coffee beans? Definitely NOT sand. I did that the first bead show. It was a disaster. 

I stopped at Kohl's first so I could buy some jeans for hubs. And I took a quick look in the cookware department. And I found the perfect solution to one of my major problems....small inventory. 

The small square bowls are very simple, elegant, and only about 3" or 4" across. Because I mostly have focals, each bowl will be a perfect showcase for a focal bead. I bought 3 trays of 3 bowls. So I only need to put out 9 focals at any given time. I can add a few to the long rectangular tray as well.

Because my deep dark embarrassing secret is that I just don't have very many beads. It's been a crazy summer (I long for kids whining about being bored and me not having to drive miles and miles and miles every single day) and I signed up late. Oh well. Call this a learning experience and have fun. Meet new people. Buy beads.

I decided I wanted a black or dark brown filler. There are several reasons I went that direction. Because my entire set-up is black, white, wood, and metal. Also, it would have driven me insane if the white rice was "off" from the white of the dish. So I ran next door to Walmart to look for something black. Black beans? Black wild rice? I decided on the rice.

 But I was worried about my glass headpins being too heavy for the rice to keep upright in the 8 oz. canning jars I had put in the cart. I bought 4 bags at $5 EACH to try (which seems kind of expensive for rice! But what do I know? I rarely eat rice and have never eaten this kind.)

The next stop was Michaels (just a few doors down from Walmart) where I found...sand. Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to use sand. But PEOPLE! This sand is coarse. And black. With a little bit of sparkle. And it didn't stick to the sides of the plastic bag it was in...a very good sign.

And at only $3/bag at nearly twice the amount in the bag as the rice, I was certain this was my answer.

I rushed home to try everything out.

This particular style murrini really needs to be seen top down. Laying on their sides on my table looks pretty unimpressive

And in the jar:

An additional benefit of the jar of sand...easy to pack away:

I'll be returning that wild rice when I get back from Bead Fest.

Check out the postcards we ordered to give out:

Stop by and say hello if you're going to Bead Fest. If not, say hello in the comments below.
Have a great week!

-Jen Cameron
Glass Addictions