Metal Vine Thin-Cuff

Metal Vine Thin-Cuff

Supplies:

*2 strands of metal brackets (only have 2 on a strand)
*tube of translucent white beads (or which ever color you prefer)
*Square metal gem spacers (4)
*Magic stretch wire
*E6000 glue
*needle nose pliers
*wire cutters
*Measuring tape

*Tip 1- Plan It Out* As with all jewelry designs I laid out the design on my bead board before I started doing anything. Had to try out different style gem stones to see which one matched best, as I did not buy any of the beads at the same time. This also includes making sure the clasp and clamp beads match the color pallet.

*Tip 2- Measure* Always measure for each project to make sure the lengths that fit best are correct. This is important when making items for other people. Once you have done them enough times you will know the required lengths and can skip this step.

Steps:

- Measure out the length of stretch wire you will need to fit around your wrist comfortably and then give yourself about 2 inches to tie together. Use wire cutters to cut correct length. Do this again.

- Take one length and stretch it in sections and then stretch the whole length. This will help the wire to be longer and not to break when you actually stretch it to wear. If you skip this step the cuff will be loose when it does finally stretch out.

-Thread on the brackets, beads, and spacers, in the order of the design you picked ahead of time (see *Tip 1* )

-Continue this until you have the length you determined earlier. (see *Tip 2* )

*Tip 4 - Consider Material and Purpose* You must always be aware of the type of give and strength your supplies have or you could end up with breaks, scrapping, and no flexibility. The heavier the wire the less bend and flexibility it has. String the beads too tightly together and some will rub together and break. String them too tightly and the beads will bunch and not bend well around your wrist. Some times you need to allow for "give room" with bracelets in order to get the bracelet to wrap.

-Once you have finished your design for the length, make a knot as close as possible to the last bead. Also make sure that the whole wire is tight together, or gaps will show.  (see *Suggestion 1* and *Tip 4* )

-Take some E6000 glue and put the glue around the knots to help them stay together.

 -Take a wire cutters and clip off the extra wire as close as possible.

 -That will finish off the bracelet.

Metal Rose Cuff

Metal Rose Cuff

Supplies:

*2 strands of meal brackets (only have 2 on a strand)
*tube of translucent white beads (or which ever color you prefer)
*Magic stretch wire
*E6000 glue
*needle nose pliers
*wire cutters
*Measuring tape

*Tip 1- Plan It Out* As with all jewelry designs I laid out the design on my bead board before I started doing anything. Had to try out different style gem stones to see which one matched best, as I did not buy any of the beads at the same time. This also includes making sure the clasp and clamp beads match the color pallet.

*Tip 2- Measure* Always measure for each project to make sure the lengths that fit best are correct. This is important when making items for other people. Once you have done them enough times you will know the required lengths and can skip this step.

Steps:

- Measure out the length of stretch wire you will need to fit around your wrist comfortably and then give yourself about 2 inches to tie together. Use wire cutters to cut correct length. Do this again.

- Take one length and stretch it in sections and then stretch the whole length. This will help the wire to be longer and not to break when you actually stretch it to wear. If you skip this step the cuff will be loose when it does finally stretch out.

-Thread on the brackets and beads in the order of the design you picked ahead of time (see *Tip 1* )

-Continue this until you have the length you determined earlier. (see *Tip 2* )

*Tip 4 - Consider Material and Purpose* You must always be aware of the type of give and strength your supplies have or you could end up with breaks, scrapping, and no flexibility. The heavier the wire the less bend and flexibility it has. String the beads too tightly together and some will rub together and break. String them too tightly and the beads will bunch and not bend well around your wrist. Some times you need to allow for "give room" with bracelets in order to get the bracelet to wrap.

-Once you have finished your design for the length, make a knot as close as possible to the last bead. Also make sure that the whole wire is tight together, or gaps will show.  (see *Suggestion 1* and *Tip 4* )

-Take some E6000 glue and put the glue around the knots to help them stay together.

 -Take a wire cutters and clip off the extra wire as close as possible.

 -That will finish off the bracelet.

Metal Mirror Clover Bracelet

Metal Mirror Clover Bracelet

Supplies:

*2 strands of metal clover brackets
*tube of translucent turquoise beads (or which ever color you prefer)
*bead wire (.18mm in silver)
*Slide-in clasp
*jump rings (4)
*clamp beads (6) #1 (silver)
*needle nose pliers
*clamp pliers
*wire cutters
*Measuring tape

*Tip 1- Plan It Out* As with all jewelry designs I laid out the design on my bead board before I started doing anything. Had to try out different style gem stones to see which one matched best, as I did not buy any of the beads at the same time. This also includes making sure the clasp and clamp beads match the color pallet.

*Tip 2- Measure* Always measure for each project to make sure the lengths that fit best are correct. This is important when making items for other people. Once you have done them enough times you will know the required lengths and can skip this step.

Steps:

- Measure out the length of bead wire you will need to fit around your wrist comfortably and then give yourself about 2 inches to loop back through at the ends. Use wire cutters to cut correct length. Do this again.

-Take a pair of need nose pliers and open a jump ring. Slide the jump ring onto the ring of the clasp and close the jump ring. Do this again for the other ring.

-Repeat this last step for the other side of the clasp. Set aside once done.

*Tip 3- Tight Loops* Try and keep the loop as tight as possible to keep from having a big gap. This can be done by holding one end of the bead wire with a needle nose pliers and then taking the other end of the wire and pulling it tighter. Keeping it tight keeps the wire from rubbing. This is also why using a jump ring to attach to the clasp is important, as the wire attached to the jump ring is not going to move around much if its pulled tight.

 - Take a clamp and thread it on the bead wire; then slide the bead wire through the jump ring attached to the clasp. Loop the bead wire back through the clamp bead and then use the clamp pliers to clamp the bead in place. This should allow for a loop to hold the one end in place. (see *Tip 3*) Do this for both ends.

-Thread on the clover brackets and beads in the order of the design you picked ahead of time (see *Tip 1* ) Remember to do the same amount for each wire.

-Continue this until you have the length you determined earlier. (see *Tip 2* )

*Suggestion 1* Doing one clamp bead at the end to make sure everything stays tight and then another to create the loop is NOT required. You can choose to use only one clamp bead, just be sure to keep the beads together tightly enough to not end up with large gaps when you wear it. I do it for both ease and strength. Beginners can do this until they get better at re-threading the closure clamp.

*Tip 4 - Consider Material and Purpose* You must always be aware of the type of give and strength your supplies have or you could end up with breaks, scrapping, and no flexibility. The heavier the wire the less bend and flexibility it has. String the beads too tightly together and some will rub together and break. String them too tightly and the beads will bunch and not bend well around your wrist. Some times you need to allow for "give room" with bracelets in order to get the bracelet to wrap.

-Once you have finished your design for the length, slide on a clamp and use the clamp pliers to secure it in place. (see *Suggestion 1* and *Tip 4* ) (set aside for a second)

 - Grab your wire again. Take another clamp bead and thread it on first, then thread the wire through the jump ring on one side of the other end of the clasp. Then thread the wire back through the clamp. Now tighten the wire until you have a small loop. Be sure that the jump ring stays in the loop you create. Use the clamp pliers to close the clamp when you have the loop the size you want. (see *Tip 3* )

-Take a wire cutters and clip off the extra wire as close as possible to the last clamp bead. (If you didn't use two clamp beads you can do this next part.) If the wire is bend-able enough and the bead holes are big enough you can thread the extra wire back through the beads instead of cutting it.

-Repeat the last two steps for the other side of the clasp. 

-That will finish off the bracelet.

Mix on the Stone

Supplies:*Turquoise mixed stones
*Metal seed beads
*bead wire (.24mm in silver)
*Bubble clasp
*jump rings (2)
*clamp beads (3) #2
*needle nose pliers
*clamp pliers
*wire cutters
*Measuring tape

*Tip 1- Plan It Out* As with all jewelry designs I laid out the design on my bead board before I started doing anything. Had to try out different style gem stones to see which one matched best, as I did not buy any of the beads at the same time. This also includes making sure the clasp and clamp beads match the color pallet.

*Tip 2- Measure* Always measure for each project to make sure the lengths that fit best are correct. This is important when making items for other people. Once you have done them enough times you will know the required lengths and can skip this step.

Steps:

- Measure out the length of bead wire you will need to fit around your wrist and then give yourself about 2 inches to loop back through at the ends. Use wire cutters to cut correct length.

-Take a pair of need nose pliers and open a jump ring. Slide the jump ring onto the end of the clasp and close the jump ring.

- Take a clamp and thread it on the bead wire; then slide the bead wire through the jump ring attached to the clasp. Loop the bead wire back through the clamp bead and then use the clamp pliers to clamp it the bead in place. This should allow for a loop to hold the one end in place.

*Tip 3- Tight Loops* Try and keep the loop as tight as possible to keep from having a big gap. This can be done by holding one end of the bead wire with a needle nose pliers and then taking the other end of the wire and pulling it tighter. Keeping it tight keeps the wire from rubbing. This is also why using a jump ring to attach to the clasp is important, as the wire attached to the jump ring is not going to move around much if its pulled tight.

-Thread on the beads and gems in the order of the design you picked ahead of time (see *Tip 1* )

-Continue this until you have the length you determined earlier. (see *Tip 2* )

*Suggestion 1* Doing one clamp bead at the end to make sure everything stays tight and then another to create the loop is NOT required. You can choose to use only one clamp bead, just be sure to keep the beads together tightly enough to not end up with large gaps when you wear it. I do it for both ease and strength. Beginners can do this until they get better at re-threading the closure clamp.

*Tip 4 - Consider Material and Purpose* You must always be aware of the type of give and strength your supplies have or you could end up with breaks, scrapping, and no flexibility. The heavier the wire the less bend and flexibility it has. String the beads too tightly together and some will rub together and break. String them too tightly and the beads will bunch and not bend well around your wrist. Some times you need to allow for "give room" with bracelets in order to get the bracelet to wrap. This can also mean you should use seed beads to give flex room in between certain types of stones, gems, rocks, and so on. (This will be important for these type of rocks.)

-Once you have finished your design for the length, slide on a clamp and use the clamp pliers to secure it in place. (see *Suggestion 1* and *Tip 4* ) (I almost always do this step just to secure my design and tightness of the beads.)


-Take another clamp bead and thread it on first, then slide on the other jump ring, then thread the wire back through the clamp. Now tighten the wire until you have a small loop. Be sure that the jump ring stays in the loop you create. Use the clamp pliers to close the clamp when you have the loop the size you want. (see *Tip 3* )

-Take a wire cutters and clip off the extra wire as close as possible to the last clamp bead. If the wire is bend-able enough and the bead holes are big enough you can thread the extra wire back through the beads instead of cutting it.

-Take a needle nose pliers and open the jump ring on the end you just finished and slide on the other end of the clasp (Or length of chain if you want to use that instead. This will allow for different tightness around the wrist. This can be very helpful if you didn't follow *Tip 2* and its not long enough to go all the way around the wrist.) and close the jump ring with the needle nose pliers.

That will finish off the bracelet.

Gift of Blue

Friday was one of my days off and I took the time to drop off the 3 bead bracelet I made for my friend Sarah. I mostly wanted to be sure it would fit her wrist. It fit perfectly, thankfully! While I was chatting with her my other friend Jennifer, who works with Sarah, came outside and I showed her the bracelet. Later in the day I felt bad that I had not made something for Jennifer, as she is my best friend. Plus we have been having a hard time making our schedules work out, so we haven't spent much time together.  SO... I did a bit of shopping and got a rough idea in my head of a project.

After work Saturday I sat down and planned out a neckless that I had in mind for Jenn. My original plan didn't work out entirely well, so I changed it up, but only a little. I found this great center piece, so I wanted to show case it. I changed the beads attached to it and added a few of my own. I wanted it to be bright, summery, classy enough for her to wear to work but not too classy that she couldn't just wear it whenever. My original idea was to string some smalled beads that matched the stones flanking the center piece, but the clamp beads rubbed alot so I decided against that idea. Instead I used cream medium pearls linked together with eye pins. I think the colors worked out pretty well.

This is the center piece and the main focus. I wanted everything to filter out from this piece.

I used two smokey blue stones to flank the center ring to draw more attention. 

I found these fire cooled gems in a light turquise that matched with the beads I had originally wanted to use in a solid string. I was going to match it against the turquise gems on one side for visual interest. The connector piece allowed for two strands and one on the other side and had a little detail to it that I thought fit with the center pieces detailing.

Since the strand of beads didn't work out as planned (I had it all finished, but when I tried it on the clamp beads rubbed more than I wanted, so I threw that idea out.) I decided to just mimicke the eye pin connected gems but with pearls for a more vintage look.

I have gotten MUCH better at makeing eye pin loops now, so this was a snap to do. I only screwed up once, but it was just too big a loop. Yay the practicing really worked! (I also picked up a "close edge clip pliers" to do smoother, closer cuts.)

I think the finished product looks pretty good. I really like the one sided detail look on necklesses.

I was rather proud that I got it done in one night and in about an hour and a half. (mostly because my first idea didn't work out as aspected) Jenn and I went to breakfast and hung out... and ironically I left the neckless sitting on my desk. I showed her pictures though and she loves it. I'm going to try and drop it off at her work on Wednesday since its my next day off.

What do you all think of my one sided neckless? Let me know!

As always if you have any projects of your own, please feel free to share!