Merry Christmas

I am slowly wrapping up Christmas shopping. The rest is to make items for family members. I had a Guardian Angel this season. With out her my holiday would have not existed. In November Mark was let go from his job.

And this looked grim for the holidays. I will have two to three more blog posts before my year end review.  I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season!

Handmade Componets.

I am not by far the best handmade jewelry designer. I am not exactly new at it, I have had beads in my possession for nearly 10 years. I got serious about jewelry making when I met my Husband, four years ago. He poured money in to "my" company and still stands beside me with support. I am steadily working on a way to store my jewelry and beads/supplies.

But this post is about making components yourself. I have always admired artist who made their own components. And wished I would follow them in  their knowledge. A new friend Patti Vanderbloemen mailed me a few directions on making simple components. And I made a pair of ear wires. She also suggested that I look for free E-courses online and last night I finally did. With my copper wire and basic tools, plus a bail making pliers. I sat on my uncomfortable couch and watched videos. After the first run, I restarted and followed along. My first attempts were a bit wonky and rustic looking. But after awhile I managed to crank out some decent looking clasps. I even embellished a few with crystals and glass pearls.

I made a few with out watching videos and them the ideas started flowing. I am again nowhere near being able to do anything fancy with wire wrapping. But I am pleased with my work. And will use my new clasps, and continue to hone my wiring skills. 

Below you can see my various clasps. :)

All I need to do is hammer them.

Resources: The following websites are where I found the videos. If you know of anymore, please let me know. :)

Beaducation and Beadaholique,