Handmade wire wrapped jewelry: wire wrapped triple daisy dangle earrings in blue and silver

I recently received a fun request from a customer: she found me on my kids' jewelery page, MayaGirl Creations and asked if I could make an adult-sized version of my double daisy dangle earrings. These earrings had large blue wire wrapped daisies hanging from smaller silver daisies. I made them based on the fact that my single daisy earrings had become so popular. So I was now going from one flower to three.

I gave her a choice of a silver-blue-silver combo or blue-silver-blue and she went for the latter. She also asked that the highest daisy be the smallest and the bottom flower, the largest -- and that all three fit into a 2 1/2 inch frame.

I've literally made thousands of these wire wrapped flowers -- seriously, I've had dreams of them -- but it took a couple of tries to get them to meet her requests. The small daisy kept coming out too big... which meant I had to make the other two even larger and then the earrings were too long. I finally solved my problem by adding only six petals on the smallest, while the other two have eight each.

I'm always tweaking my designs, but customers often beat me to the punch and come up with a good idea for my shop! These triple daisies make a great addition, especially for spring.

Check out the rest of my handmade wire wrapped, glass and enamel jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Handmade custom jewellery: Silver wire wrapped giant flower necklace with fancy wire wrapped clasp

I have a couple of "regulars" on Etsy who come to me every few months with ideas for custom orders. One customer, in particular, really likes pieces with fancy earring hooks or clasps. I'll admit -- I don't pay as much attention to jewelry findings as I probably should. I usually just create simple earring wires or a standard hook clasp for necklaces, so I've enjoyed her suggestions.

One of the latest pieces she had me design was this giant flower silver wire wrapped necklace:

I have many flower pieces in my shop, but they're all pretty small; the flowers are part of a ring, bracelet or anklet. She asked me to take my design and create a flower that's at least three inches across. She also wanted six petals instead of eight.

These probably sound like small requests, but I've made literally thousands of these tiny daisies and have it down to a science! Honestly, if a petal is slightly out of wack, no one will notice when the flower is stuck in the middle of an anklet chain. But with this big, focal daisy, the dimensions and petals had to be as perfect as possible.

I didn't want the petals to be "floppy," so I used extremely thick 14 gauge silver plated wire. You can't even cut this stuff with standard wire clippers; you need the industrial strength pair. I then worked on this daisy for a couple of hours, measuring out every angle. The petals are not 100 percent... but I'd say they are at least 95. Not too bad since I do all of this by hand and don't use a machine.

Next, I worked on the clasp. Even though she wanted something unique, she still wanted it to be practical and easy-to-use, so I made a variant on the hook clasp I usually do.

In the end, she was pleased with my design. Whew! I'm always a little nervous when doing a custom order. I'm confident in my skills, but I still fear that the customer won't like my final product. So I'm always relieved when they're happy! Still, I enjoy collaborations and am impressed with the ideas my customers think up.

Do you have an idea for a custom piece? Give me a shout at Naomi's Designs! Also, check out my kids' jewellery line at MayaGirl Creations.

Silver wire wrapped spiral daisy ring

Customers often ask me to tweak my already-existing items to fit their needs. I recently had a woman purchase one of my silver wire wrapped daisy flower coil rings.

However, instead of wearing it as a coil, she asked if I could redesign it with the daisy sitting right on the band:

Believe it or not, this ring is made with a single piece of wire. My main concern when designing it was to make sure it looked neat -- and that there weren't pieces of wire and wraps sticking out all over the place. Basically, I wanted the daisy to look as if I had been soldered to the band... even though it was wrapped.

It took some trial and error, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. The daisy is actually quite secure on the band and really cute! I made the daisy a little bigger than I had with the coil ring version so it would be front and center:

After successfully making this daisy ring, I played around with other designs where the ring's main feature was centered on the band. So far, none have turned out so well. I've tried using small Swarovski crystal pearls, but I think they're too bulky for this kind of ring. The pearls are sticking way out and I don't like the way they're sitting on the wire. I think pearls would work better if I strung the band through the pearl; I'll have to experiment. I think this design could work with crystal bicones; I'll have to see. But I at least know I can make these pretty flowers rings! That's the fun of making jewelry; even when my attempts don't work, I enjoy trying.

Check out the rest of my jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Photo Gallery: Spring-Inspired Wire Wrapped And Enamel Jewelry Designs

Hurrah, spring is finally here! I'm looking forward to the warmth, sunshine ... and did I mention warmth? For me, spring represents the start of something -- the flowers bloom, the animals come out of hiding... and there's an energy in the air, especially in areas like NYC where we have cold winters.

In honor of spring, here are a few of my "blooming" wire wrapped and enamel jewelry designs. Check out my pieces at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Silver wire wrapped pink flower enamel pendant with crystals

For most of this semester I've been making champleve pieces in my enameling class. However, a few weeks ago, I went back to designing a simple enamel and cloisonne pendant. I hadn't made one in a long time and I wanted to make sure that I didn't forget how to do that particular technique.

I arranged the cloisonne into a classic flower design. It may look pretty simple, but setting the flower petals turned out to be trickier than I imagined because cloisonne wire sometimes moves a bit when the piece is fired in the kiln. With abstract pieces this isn't that big of a deal, but it can be a pain when you need the cloisonne to be in an exact position -- like with a flower. I solved the problem, though, by firing a bit of the cloisonne at a time. This way, the remaining pieces of wire could lean against the already-fired cloisonne and would stay in place.

To get this particular shade of blue, I did some color combining and mixed water blue enamel with nitric blue. Just to be clear, you can't really mix enamels when the glass is in the dry powder stage -- but you can layer colors to get some shading. So I fired the water blue first and then layered the nitric blue on top of it to get this rich hue.

The flower's color is called raspberry. I love it because it's such a deep shade of pink and it really stands out against the blue. In its powdered form, it doesn't look like the raspberry will be very bright -- in fact, it's kind of pale -- but it looks a lot different once its fired and glossy. This is the case with a lot of enamels, actually; they look different once fired and cooled, which is why it's important to make a test strip of colors.

My finish for the necklace is pretty simple: I made a silver wire wrapped chain and added a few blue crystals... but I think the end result makes a nice showpiece. This is the kind of necklace that you wear for special occasions because it's so eye-catching, though it works with casual outfits, too. And flowers will always be fashionable in some way; they're a very classic design.

To purchase my jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

Wire wrapped and enamel flower jewelry for spring

Yay, spring is here! It's the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the sun is smiling down on us here in New York. In honor of the new season, here's a look at some of my wire wrapped floral jewelry pieces. All are available at Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

Silver wire wrapped daisy necklace with Swarovski crystal pearls:

Red roses enamel pendant:

Silver wire wrapped daisy flower earrings:

Silver wire wrapped cray daisy earrings with blue and purple crystals:

Silver wire wrapped rainbow daisy bracelet with multicolored crystals:

Black wire wrapped daisy flower ring:

Silver wire wrapped daisy flower ring:

Pink wire wrapped daisy flower earrings:

Floral enamel pendant: