Photo Gallery: Mixed Metal Wire Wrapped Bangle Bracelets With Spirals

Lately I've been on a wire wrapped bangle bubble bracelet binge (say that 10 times fast!). I keep making these because they've turned out to be one of my favorite things to design. It's just so much fun wrapping the spirals onto the bracelet base; each wire wrapped bracelet is just a little bit different so each is a unique piece of jewelry.

Anyway, here is a photo gallery of my mixed metal wire wrapped bracelets with spirals. My favorite is the blue, aqua and silver peacock bracelet; then again, I'm always picking new favorite pieces. You can see the rest of my jewellery at Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations. Enjoy!

In other non-jewelry news, my friend Michelle Arrose has recently released her novel IGNITION: AN EDUCATOR'S JOURNEY. This is a very suspenseful novel about a new teacher's first year on the job and her dealings with a "problem child," who could put The Omen's Damien to shame. Teachers will appreciate and relate to her story, but anyone else will find it engrossing, as well. Please check it out and make sure to review her work after you're finished reading!

Mixed Metal Wire Wrapped Bubble Bracelet In Silver, Copper And Bronze

I was really pleased with how my wire wrapped silver and copper bubble bangle bracelet turned out, so I made a tri-colored version of it using silver, copper and bronze:

The challenge in making this mixed metal bracelet was to balance the three different colored wires. I didn't want it to have too much of one color -- which was a bit difficult since the bracelet's base is silver. But I played around with the placement and shapes of the spiral "bubbles" and like how it turned out.

I love the way that silver, copper and bronze look together and am already thinking of other variations: I'd like to make a copper and bronze bracelet with a copper base or one with a bronze base and silver bubbles. Or I'd even like to try brighter colors, like silver and blue wire.

This bracelet has already gotten a lot of views and a few sales; I think it stands out because it's fun and funky -- but is still a pretty simple design. Moreover, I have a great time making them, so look for more to come!

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

Shades of blue silver wire wrapped bangle bracelet with square crystals

It's no secret that I adore the color blue. It reminds me of so many pleasant and relaxing things: looking up at the sky on a clear day, swimming in the ocean, staring out into the Mediterranean when we visited Greece. I could go on and on, but the point it, I love blue hues. To honor my infatuation, I made this silver wire wrapped bangle bracelet using 8mm square crystals in dark blue, turquoise and aqua:

I've made a lot of these bracelets, mainly because they sell very well at craft fairs. They're simple, but elegant, and because they're made of wire are lightweight and comfortable to wear. I haven't sold too many online, but they always catch people's attention when I sell them in person.

At the last fair I did, I'd made a few bracelets that were too small. People would go to try them on and would be disappointed when they turned out to be child sized. This comes from me designing stuff for MayaGirl Creations! But this one measured out perfectly, at about 7 1/2 inches. It fits tightly on my wrist -- and I have a wide wrist -- which means it'll fit an average-sized adult woman.

I've made some other blue items, but this is one of my favorites. I hope that it finds a nice "home" with the right wearer! Meantime, check out my jewelry at MayaGirl Creations and Naomi's Designs.

New silver wire wrapped bangle bracelets with square crystals

I've been getting back into the groove of making jewelry by creating some new silver wire wrapped bangle bracelets. I have a craft fair coming up in two weeks and these always sell pretty well. My plan is to have a whole bunch of these in different colors.

Each of these is pretty minimalist. I use 18 gauge silver plated wire and 8mm square crystals. They look so pretty, though, and I think that's why my customers like them: they're a simple, classic design.

I haven't sold at a craft fair for a few months so I feel like I'm a bit out of practice. Hopefully, these bracelets will get my stand some attention and I'll have a great start to the spring craft fair season. Meanwhile, you can purchase my jewelry on Etsy at Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

Tales of peeing Santas and more wire wrapped jewelry designs

Last Saturday, I sold my jewelry at Astoria Market's pop up shop, which was held at St. Paul's Church in Midtown Manhattan. The beautiful, old church is right near Columbus Circle and has a huge, cavernous hall, which is where all of the vendors were placed. The weather outside was definitely not frightful -- it was gorgeous, actually -- and New York City was full of tourists.

Unfortunately, this event which should've been very high traffic only attracted about 50 people. It seems like the organizers basically took our registration fees (which were pretty high) and ran, and didn't bother to do much advertising. I never even saw the organizers at the event. Usually there's someone there to check you in and say hello, but no one official seemed to be around. Most of the vendors were very angry and swore not to go with this company a second time. This WAS my second time with Astoria Market and my first fair with them was also a bust, so I agree: they don't seem to know how to get customers -- or just don't care.

As usual, though, plenty of interesting things happened throughout the day! It began at 8:51 a.m. when my husband and I took the LIRR in to Penn Station. Usually the morning trains are pretty quiet on weekends, but on this one, we found seats near a group of drunken, rowdy Santas. Jon didn't believe that they were drunk ("It's too early for that," was his argument), but all of the Santas were holding beers. One then had to well, go, and used his water bottle. Yep, he did his business right there on the train! Talk about being naughty...

Once at Penn Station, Jon and I saw hundreds of people dressed like Santa. Apparently, these people -- and the drunken train Santas -- were participating in the annual SantaCon. Still, seeing so many of them at once was surreal and kind of funny.

Once we made it to the church, I set up my booth and settled in to relax as someone turned on holiday music. Though I don't actually celebrate Christmas, I really like holiday songs and enjoy getting into the spirit of the season. Some jazzy versions of Christmas songs played for a while; the classic "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" then played. And played. And played. And played. And played. The song literally played over and over again for at least an hour. Finally, Jon decided to do something about it so he found the guy who was supposed to be in charge of the music. That guy explained that his booth partner had left for a while and he couldn't get up to change the CD. Aside from the fact that his booth would've been fine had he asked someone to man it for him for a few minutes, I don't understand why he didn't ask someone to change the CD for him. But whatever, this is what Jon offered to do. My husband then mercifully turned off "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and the church hall erupted into grateful cheers. Jon was hailed a hero!

Since we didn't get too much traffic, I had a lot of time to work on projects so I made some new wire wrapped items. Here's my wire wrapped spiral bangle bracelet:

And this is my silver wire wrapped snowflake necklace:

While I unfortunately didn't get to see too many customers, I did get some great feedback from other vendors. Many of the other jewelry designers were impressed with my work and enjoyed watching me in action as I made my pieces. One woman asked if I teach classes! All of this was very encouraging.

I'm a little disappointed because the holiday fairs in which I participated didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I'm not sure why -- maybe I picked the wrong ones? Happily, I had many online sales so it was still a profitable time for me. I still plan to do fairs next Christmas, but I'm not spending a lot on registration fees. I'll stick with small, inexpensive events.

I'm glad that my online stores did well, though. It's nice to know that my work is appreciated!

To purchase my jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewelry, head to MayaGirl Creations. To purchase my novel, check out REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Jewellery Tutorial: How to make a wire wrapped bangle bracelet

I've just published another one of my jewelry making tutorials on HubPages. In this one, I teach you how to make a handmade wire wrapped brass and silver bangle bracelet.

As I've said before on this blog, I initially learned all of my jewelry making schools from watching videos and studying tutorials online. There are thousands of talented jewelry artists out there who've been generous enough to share their secrets -- for free. Taking in-person classes has helped me a great deal, but I would never be where I am today without having studied online first. For this reason, I feel a responsibility to pay it forward and share with others what I've learned so far.

This particular bracelet is one of my most popular designs. It's very simple and not to difficult to make, with some practice. My tutorial includes detailed photos so you can visual step-by-step instruction. So check it out!

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