Shop Categories
Your Reviews
Read More
Trade Account Login
REGISTRATION
A Lesson in Wire Wrapping
A Lesson in Wire Wrapping
Over the last couple of years I have picked up some really fabulous gemstones, that have not been beads, with the idea of making some stunning jewellery pieces.
In that time I have looked at several U-Tube videos and pinterest pins to find the best way to wire wrap these gemstone babies.
But no matter what research I did I never worked out the best way to achieve the right free form wire wrap gemstone look for my gemstone jewellery pieces.
Earlier this year I came across a beginners wire wrapping course at the London Jewellery School, and immediately booked on it.
I was really excited to add some new skills to my design aesthetic, allowing me to offer something new to my customers, even though it meant a 5am start on Friday 30th June 2017 in order to get to London for the course.
It was great to be a delegate rather than a trainer, and it was interesting to see how others can deliver a hands-on course, although I knew that it wasn't 100% what I was after, I was going to keep and open mind and make the most out of it.
I arrived for the course with 10 minutes to spare and was joined by Nikki, Heather and Irina and was introduced to our trainer Penny.
The course would consist of wire wrapping projects of 2 styles of rings and a pendant.
Unfortunately as with these courses plated wire is always used, which means I would not be able to wear my creations, but on top of that the beads was just cheap plastic beads of limited designs and colours, again restricting the creative ideas of the pieces, but hey, I'm really hear to learn the basics and then I can let my creativity run riot when I get back home.
So the course starts, and we make our first project, a wire wrapped ring, as per usual I'm a slow starter, as the tutor is moving a little bit slower than I like, maybe down to nerves, as I'm a typical bull in a china shop, and I just want get going and make stuff!
As you know my designs are always about the gemstones, so the amount of wire I like to use is minimal, so that I can showcase the centre pieces, so the whole over the top coiling and swirling style that you see on most wire wrapped pieces was not happening, sometimes less is definitely more!
By the end of the day I managed to create these wire wrapped fabulous pieces, even though the raw materials where cheaper to what I'm used to, which is a shame.
As the course projects was completed earlier than planned, I was able to get Penny to demonstrate how I go about free form wire wrapping an undrilled irregular shaped gemstone, which was always part of my little evil genius plan, and then that's when my creativity really went into overdrive, and I could see how I could modify this method to create something more that I had in that scary place I call my mind!
Here are some of my first attempts, as I am about showing off the gemstone, I just wanted enough wire to secure the undrilled and sometimes rough gemstones:
What do you think?
Joolz xxx
2 Comments