Do you want to add wire weaving to your skillset? If so, you’ve come to the right place because wire weaving mastery begins right here at Door 44 Studios. My name is Wendi, and I’m the wire weaver behind Door 44. I love to teach and I’ve found that the best way to teach wire weaving is through clear instruction using simple, modular designs. I strive to create designs that are both accessible for beginners and fun for intermediate jewelry makers. So, regardless of your background or your primary jewelry making discipline, you’ll learn useful skills and techniques here. You’ll also find lots of fun wirework components that you can blend with your own designs to create truly handcrafted artisan jewelry. So, but sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter below and let's make something beautiful!
What's Your Favorite Metal?
Hey there, Reader!
What's your favorite metal?
I'm a Leo, and I always have to chuckle when I read about how gold is DEFINITELY my color. 🙄 I've never liked gold or any other yellow-toned metal, for that matter. For the longest time, all I ever wore was silver-toned metals. That is until I started making wire jewelry and I fell head-over-heels in love with copper.
Lately though, I've found myself powerfully drawn to all the gorgeous graphic brass jewelry that I see. And it's everywhere! Brass is seriously trending right now, both in fashion and home décor. And for the first time in my life, I'm looking at brass pieces and thinking, I would wear that or I can see that in my house! So, I've decided to branch out and experiment with brass wire for a change. And the very first project that I made with brass is a super simple minimalist design that you can make in minutes.
In today's lesson we're going to make some lovely and versatile modern big loop ear wires. These ear wires can be worn unadorned for an everyday minimalist look. Or you can dress them up with beaded dangles, or even some beaded fringe. If you have bead weaving roots like I do, you won't want to miss the fringy goodness from Sacred Seed Designs. I follow this young designer on Instagram and her designs never fail to catch my eye. So inspiring! 🤩
So, go check out today's jewelry lesson. It's a quick one, but you'll want to go ahead and make some of these ear wires in advance because they'll be incorporated in next week's lesson as well. We're going to make some modern gemmy stick earrings next that I think you're going to love!
Want a little sneak peek of those earrings? Make sure you watch today's video all the way to the end!
In case you're wondering where to find brass wire, I bought mine from Creating Unkamen, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite sources for small spools of jewelry wire. Here's a link to the wire that I'll be using for both this week's and next week's projects: https://tidd.ly/2XcVPrO.
Rio Grande also has a limited selection of brass wire on small spools. They currently don't have 24ga or 28ga in stock in 4 ounce spools, though. So, do consider buying your brass wire from Creating Unkamen if you want to find all the gauges that you'll need in one stop. Of course, you can also make the ear wires and the stick earrings in copper or any other suitable metal that you already have on hand. Just make sure you use a solid jewelry wire.
Here are the wire gauges that you'll need for both projects:
- 20ga for the ear wires (dead soft or half-hard will work -- I used dead soft brass)
- Dead soft 18ga wire for the beaded stick
- 28ga for wrapping
- Either 22ga if you choose to use center-drilled bead dangle, or 24ga if you choose to use a top-drilled briolette instead.
I'll be using top-drilled briolettes on my stick earrings, but I'll also show you some fun variations that you can make with center-drilled beads as well. And since we're already talking about supplies for next week's earring tutorial, you'll also need some 3mm beads and some large (8 to 12mm) beads or briolettes for the dangles.
8/0 seed beads work beautifully for the stick earrings, but I'll be using some lovely little micro faceted peridot beads that I got from Stones Direct. Here's a link to the exact same beads that I bought for my own stick earrings: https://tidd.ly/3C9xUsD.
Aren't they gorgeous? Peridot is my birthstone, and it also happens to be one of my favorite colors. So I'm always looking for a good excuse to make myself some Peridot jewelry!
I'll also be using some sweet little Aquamarine briolettes from my own bead stash. They're very similar to these beads, in case you'd like to make your stick earrings just like mine.
That's it for today, wire weaver. I'll be in touch again just as soon as I've finished shooting, editing, and uploading the stick earrings tutorial. I'm anxiously awaiting some materials, but I hope to get that video uploaded by Friday so I can join my husband and daughter for a short road trip to visit family this weekend.
Until next time, go make something beautiful!
xo,
Wendi
Hey there, Jewelry Maker!
Do you want to add wire weaving to your skillset? If so, you’ve come to the right place because wire weaving mastery begins right here at Door 44 Studios. My name is Wendi, and I’m the wire weaver behind Door 44. I love to teach and I’ve found that the best way to teach wire weaving is through clear instruction using simple, modular designs. I strive to create designs that are both accessible for beginners and fun for intermediate jewelry makers. So, regardless of your background or your primary jewelry making discipline, you’ll learn useful skills and techniques here. You’ll also find lots of fun wirework components that you can blend with your own designs to create truly handcrafted artisan jewelry. So, but sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter below and let's make something beautiful!
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