It's never too early to get ready for Christmas and to help get you organised ahead of time this year, I've put together an easy bracelet project that will really put you in the festive mood. This bright and cheery Christmas Tree cuff in traditional red, green and gold is easy to put together and easy to wear. Just slide the memory wire cuff onto your wrist and you'll be set to rock this festive season!
Here's what you'll need to make a bracelet of your own:
Memory wire is made from steel so make sure you always use memory wire shears for cutting it. Regular flush cutters/side cutters are designed for aluminium and copper wire and their blades will be severely damaged if you try to cut memory wire with them.
String a 4mm bead and the Christmas tree onto the eye pin and bend the eye pin at a 90° angle just above the top of the tree. Trim the eye pin to 10mm (3/8") and turn a simple loop.
Cut two 1 1/2 coil pieces of memory wire using the memory wire shears. Turn an outward facing loop at one end of each coil using the round nose pliers.
Place the two loops together and string a 6mm bead. Next, separate the two coils and string a curved tube on each one. Then string a 4mm, 6mm and 8mm bead on each one.
String on a green wave bead, a semi-circle spacer, a wave bead, a spacer, a wave bead, and a 6mm bead on each coil. You may need to gently flatten out the curve of the wire whilst you slide on the wave beads.
Thread the top loop of the Christmas tree component onto one coil and the bottom loop onto the other.
Then finish stringing the other half of the bracelet in reverse order.
Push all the beads along the wire, making sure there are no gaps. Trim the wires with the memory wire shears to 10mm (3/8").
Leather has really come into it's own as a jewellery style in recent times. I just love the way that it works equally as well for the country girl as it does for the city girl. Today I'm dressing up a simple strip of metallic leather with acrylic pearls and rhinestones to give it an urban chic look. Don't you love how well pearls and crystals go with leather?
Decide on the layout of the rhinestones and pearls for the cuff according to your assortment. Download this placement guide to help you. The guide will help you work out how wide your leather strip needs to be. Place the components directly on the guide ready to transfer to the leather when the time comes.
Trim the width of the Metallic Bronze Leather Trim piece so that it's wide enough to accommodate your pattern. I've cut mine 2” (5cm) wide but cut yours to suit the pattern you've laid out on the placement guide.
Place the leather strip on your wrist to determine how long you need to make it. You need to allow for an overlap of approximately 26mm (1") at the ends where the studs will be. That's 13mm (½”) extra on each end. Round the corners with scissors.
Place the leather strip on your work space in the landscape position. Measure in 13mm (½”) from the top and right hand edges and place a mark. Do the same at the bottom edge of the cuff. Repeat at the left hand end of the cuff.
Punch a hole at each of the marks that is slightly smaller than the shank of the studs.
Following the package instructions, set a snap at each of
the holes on the right hand side (wrong side of the bracelet facing up with the cap on the metallic side of the leather) .....
.....and a snap base at each of the holes on
the left hand side (right side facing up with the post sitting in the anvil). Double check before you set them that each component is
facing the correct direction.
Find the center of the leather and transfer all the rhinestones and pearls from the template onto the leather. Once you're happy with the positioning, attach each flat back, one
at a time with a small amount of adhesive and place them back into position.
Leave the adhesive to dry overnight before wearing your new bejewelled cuff!
Today I'm sharing an earring project from my book Fabulous Jewelry from Findings. If you haven't heard about this book, then you're in for a surprise. There's something very unique about the jewellery designs in the book... there's not a single bead in it!
Every piece is made solely from jewellery findings and to show you how versatile findings are, this earrings project is made entirely of daisy spacers!
Finished length: 1½"(4cm)
Daisy Spacers come in a vast array of sizes, so you can piece them together in various ways to create bead-like shapes, as with these Shadows earrings.
String three 3mm, one 4mm, and one 5mm bright silver daisy spacers onto a head pin. Then string on one 5.5mm, one 6mm, and three 7mm silver spacers. The second 7mm spacer is the center point of the earring.
String the second half of the earring in reverse to match the first half.
Make sure all the spacers are pushed firmly together. Then, create a wrapped loop after the last daisy spacer. You can see how to do that here.
Slip the loop onto the earring wire and gently close the hook.
Make a second earring to match.
If you'd like to see more clever and inspiring ways to create jewellery using nothing but jewellery findings, take a look at Fabulous Jewelry from Findings. You'll find it on Amazon or you can purchase a signed copy here.
For a neat and secure way of linking components together, the wrapped loop will give your handmade jewellery a professional finish. Wrapped loops are especially useful when using heavier beads such as lampwork beads. For a more organic look or homespun feel, you can make the wraps a little messy to add some visual interest.
Cut a piece of wire measuring 7.5cm (3"). Grip the wire with flat nose pliers at the 3cm (1 1/4") mark.
Bend the wire at a 90° angle.
Remove the flat nose pliers and place round nose pliers in the neck of the bend. Grip the tail of the wire with your fingers and wrap it around the top jaw of the pliers to form a loop.
Keep wrapping the wire around the jaws until the loop is complete. The wire should now cross in front of the neck and sit perpendicular to it.
Remove the round nose pliers and hold the loop in the jaws of the flat nose pliers. Using your fingers, wrap the tail neatly around the neck of the wire two or three times. If you find it too difficult with your fingers, use a pair of chain nose pliers.
Trim the tail away as close to the neck as you can.
Place the wrapped neck in the top hole of the crimping pliers and gently press the cut edge of the wire against the neck. Chain nose pliers can be used to do this but crimping pliers will round the cut wire better.
The finished wrapped loop should look something like this.
The Perfect Handmade Gift for the Geek in Your Life
Remember that iconic 70s and 80s arcade game, Space Invaders? For those of us old enough to remember, this project is a fun throwback to your teenage years. This resin Space Invaders coaster would make a great gift for the geeky person on your gift list.
Work out the volume of your mould by filling it with rice and tipping it into a measuring cup. Mix enough resin to two thirds fill the mould. Mix it well and then divide it between two cups. Colour one green and the other black. Pour the black resin into the bottom of the coaster mould and set it aside to cure.
Spoon the green resin into the trivet in the shape of a Space Invader. You can find pixelated pictures for this online. Make sure the Space Invader will fit inside your coaster mould. Use the toothpick to push the resin into every corner of the pixels, pop the bubbles and set the resin aside to cure.
Place packing tape across the back of the Space Invader and peel the Space Invader out of the trivet.
Trim the tape close to the resin. The unattached pixels can be repositioned when you place the Space Invader into the mould.
Mix enough resin to fill the mould. Pour a thin layer on the black and place the Space Invader on top. Top up the mould and then tease out any bubbles. Leave the resin to cure.
Gently peel away the silicone from the resin and pull the coaster out.
One of the easiest ways to turn your resin castings into jewellery is to attach them to jewellery blanks. You'll need to use a strong adhesive for a permanent bond. A lot of people recommend E-6000 but I've had only limited success with it, especially on bracelets and rings that get knocked around a lot when you wear them. I've found I get a much stronger and more secure bond with 5-minute epoxy adhesive. It comes in two parts, just like resin, because it IS resin and that's why it's such a strong adhesive. But to make sure that you get the best results with it, you need to mix it properly.
Start by dispensing equal amounts of each part from the tubes or syringe onto a plastic surface. I use an ice cream lid because the cured adhesive can easily be removed and the lid reused.
Take a paddle pop stick and begin mixing the two parts together. It's important that you scrape all the adhesive from the edges into the middle so it can be mixed in thoroughly.
Now keep mixing it with the paddle pop stick and you will notice it takes on a milky white appearance as you mix and the tendency is to think that it's going off and that you should use it at this stage. But not so... this is just part of the mixing process. Keep mixing! Mixing a small amount like this will take around 2 minutes.
It will become clear again and that's when you know it's ready to use.
Now apply it to the surface of the jewellery blank. You don't need to apply it too thickly or to spread it all the way out to the edges as it may ooze out in the next step.
Position the cabochon onto the adhesive.
Then flip the piece over and make sure the jewellery blank is centred on the back of the cabochon. Hold it for a couple of minutes until the adhesive has grabbed. If you set it down too soon, the cabochon may slide off centre.
I like to leave pieces for several hours before wearing them to give the adhesive a chance to cure. But refer to the directions on your adhesive which will tell you how long it takes until the bond reaches full strength.
Resin art is a fun way to create a piece of contemporary art that you can proudly display in your home. And it's not difficult to get started with pouring resin. If you've been admiring all the incredible fluid art pieces on Pinterest and want to know how it's done, then this tutorial is for you. It shows you a simple technique for creating resin cells in your artwork. The black and white colour scheme makes the cells even more dramatic!
I've put together a shopping list of all the supplies you'll need to make your own piece of resin art:
Before you get underway, protect your work surface with a plastic painter's drop sheet. Resin is really sticky stuff and you don't want to get it on you. Wear goggles and gloves at all times and work in a well ventilated area.
Elevate the art panel on some cups and then level the canvas. Resin will always find the low point so if your canvas is not level, the resin will flow in that direction, which can spoil your artwork.
Before you begin, tape the back of the art panel or painting panel with painter's tape and burnish the edges. This will make it easier to remove any resin that overflows.
Mixing and Colouring the Resin
Measure out 125mls (4oz) of Part A and 125mls (4oz) of Part B of EnviroTex Lite in the same cup. Mix the resin thoroughly, following the mixing instructions included in the resin kit.
Pour 30mls (1oz) of resin into each of two small cups. Colour one with silver and one with gold. Use enough powder to make them opaque.
Colour the remaining resin with enough black pigment to make it opaque.
Pour the black resin across the art panel in large bands of colour. Keep some large open spaces for the white resin.
Mix another 250ml (8oz) batch of resin. Pour half into another cup and colour it with enough white pigment to make it opaque. Set the rest aside. (It can be coloured later with either black or white to fill any gaps as needed.)
Creating Resin Cells
The magic ingredient for creating cells is demethicone. It behaves like a repellent and disperses the resin. Add 5 drops of the dispersion media into the white resin and stir through very lightly. The amount of stirring you do actually determines the size of the cells.
Pour the white resin in the open spaces on the canvas alongside the black. You will see cells developing where the two colours meet. If the cells don't begin to form, pick up the painting with your gloved hands and tilt the panel just enough so that the resin begins to move. This should open up the cells.
Drizzle the thickened silver resin along some of the edges where the black and white meet. You don't need to add too much, just to add some highlights.
Learning when to STOP!
Use the heat gun to move the resin out towards the edges of the canvas. As the white resin moves across the surface of the black, even more cells will open up. Pushing the resin around is fun to do but it's easy to get carried away and you need to STOP!! If you overdo the heat gun, the colours will mix too much making the patterns overly busy. You really want to keep some solid bands of colour. If you still have gaps around the edges, pour more resin from the cups to fill them in.
Drizzle some thickened gold resin wherever you would like gold highlights.
Use the heatgun to soften and spread out the gold a little. Keep the heatgun moving at all times and take care not to over heat or burn the resin.
Brush the sides of the canvas with the resin that has fallen onto the dropsheet.
Now your canvas is finished... but the resin will keep moving until it reaches gel stage. Once you're happy with how the canvas looks, pass the butane torch across the canvas to pop any bubbles. You may need to do this again a couple of hours later. Leave the canvas to cure overnight.
Clean off any residue from the dispersion media thoroughly with a soft, dry cloth. If any silicone oil remains on the surface of the resin, it will repel the resin top coat.
Mix approximately 375mls (12oz) of EnviroTex Lite (do this in two batches) and pour it across the art panel. Pop the bubbles and leave the resin to cure 24 hours.
It's almost time to hang your masterpiece. But wait.... there's still tape and resin drips on the back to remove. You can see how to do that in this short video:
Pin this project!
Now that you've removed the tape, go ahead and hang your masterpiece.
