Silver wire wrapped spiral glass decal rings!

The Ridgewood Market is in less than two weeks and I've been working like crazy to make new pieces for the event. I'm particularly excited about my new line of fused dichroic glass decal rings:

I've made a couple of other glass rings, but they've been heavy and bulky, so I came up a design that's light and fun to wear. Basically, I took my decal pendants and condensed them into tiny ring-sized pieces. I then fired the smallest decals onto the glass. I recently purchased a sample set of dichroic solids, so I could use a variety of colors for background.

The other challenge was coming up with a ring that would work as a base. I adapted my spiral backing design into ring form; these rings are made of 18 gauge silver plated wire. I create the spiral, loop the band around a ring mandrel to size it and then kind of knot the band around the spiral to secure it in place. The flat spiral gives me a surface to glue when I attach the pieces together -- and voila! I have a ring.

You'll notice that I also have a few pearl-looking rings in the mix. I call those my Rainbow Swirl rings because they're made of clear prism glass. I got the rounded shape by fusing two squares at separate angles rather than placing them in the same direction. The bottom square was vertical and the top square was horizontal. When placed like that, the glass melts and fills out the space, and fuses into a round cabochon.

In the photos, that glass looks whitish, but you can see various colors when you hold it up to the light. Because it's transparent, the spiral backing shows right through and it looks like a swirl is running through the glass -- hence then name "Rainbow Swirl."

These aren't difficult to make, but are time consuming because I have to cut the glass and fire it, apply the decals and fire them, make the rings and then attach everything. The good news is that I can put several pieces into the kiln at once since they're so small. I really like these rings, though. I have a ring box that holds 36 pieces, so my goal is to fill it with rings of various sizes. I'm up to 24, so I'm getting there!

I never know what will sell at craft fairs. It's always a crap shoot. Still, I have a good feeling about these rings. They're so cute and colorful -- how could anyone resist? :-)

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

Wire wrapped jewelry designs: brass wire wrapped snake rings

What an exciting weekend! Our dear friends Scott and Chris FINALLY became engaged after being together for about four years. The surprise proposal/engagement party was wonderful and Scott did a great job in picking out Chris' ring.

This put me in the mood to make a couple of new rings for my collection. Not engagement rings, but coil rings made from 14 gauge brass wire. I had a customer who'd asked me to use this thick, chunky wire and I have a lot left over -- and so I designed these funky snake-shaped wire wrapped rings:

I call them my "wild snake ring" and "dancing snake ring." I haven't used much of this 14 gauge wire, mainly because it's a little difficult to work with. Yes, it's wire, but it's VERY thick -- and it takes a lot of effort to twist it around the ring mandrel and manipulate it into shapes. I'm getting the hang of it, though -- even if I do have a couple of blisters on my fingers. I'm wondering if I should bring the metal to my jewelry class and anneal it with a torch. Then it will be easier to work with. I'm just worried that heating it will destroy the shine. I guess I can play around with it and see what happens.

Speaking of which, tomorrow is enameling! Hooray! I'm so excited to see my teacher and classmates. There are a few of us who return each semester so I'm assuming that the rest of the "regulars" will be there. I'll finally be able to get to work on my Christmas ornaments and am looking forward to doing that.

As soon as I get some ornaments enameled, I'll post, but you can see the rest of my jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Photo Gallery: Funky Wire Wrapped Spiral Rings

Those wire wrapped rings I made this week reminded me how many rings I've made in the past couple of years -- and how many have been based on a spiral design. It's amazing how one shape can yield so many different looks! Here are a few of my favorite wire wrapped spiral rings. You can find them all at Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations:

Photo Gallery: My Top 40 Wire Wrapped And Enamel Jewelry Pieces, Part III

This week, in honor of my 40th birthday, I'm posting my picks for my top 40 wire wrapped, enamel and anodized aluminum jewelry pieces. Below is my photo gallery for Part III. Be sure to check out Part I and Part II. Almost everything can be purchased at Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

You probably recognize my rainbow "Happy Heart" earrings from the main photo on this blog. I love the bright, fun colors -- and apparently other people do, too, which is why these silver wire wrapped earrings remain one of my most popular items. I also like the purple chandelier heart earrings. I took my basic filigree design and expanded on it to come up with these funky statement earrings.

That spiral silver wire wrapped ring is a favorite of mine because it's so simple and elegant. Meanwhile, that copper ring with the Swarovski crystals is one where I was playing around with copper wire and came up with that design. What's interesting about it is that I only used one long piece of wire to make it; it continues to amaze me how a simple piece of wire can be turned into something intricate.

That enamel skull piece is something that I made for my dad -- and is the only thing that I've ever made for a male. I've had some men purchase my items, like the infinity rings, but I mainly market to women and girls. Perhaps I should make more skull items? It's different from my usual style.

That wire wrapped snowflake necklace is something that I put together during a long, dull craft fair. It was a terrible holiday fair where the CD broke and played "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" literally about 200 times. Meanwhile, the fair organizers basically took the vendors' money and ran, so there were almost no customers who came through. While sitting there waiting, I made this necklace ... so something good came from a bad day.

As for that mixed metal triangle necklace, that was a semi-finalist in the Fire Mountain Gems And Beads 2012 jewelry making competition. It didn't go as far as my "Nefertiti's Kiss" necklace, but I was proud of my work.

Funky silver wire wrapped abstract rings

It's been a while since I've made new coil rings! They're among my best-selling items, though, so I really ought to make more of these. They actually do well online and at craft fairs; at fairs, people always notice them and even if they don't buy a ring, will admire them and try them on.

Anyway, I've been feeling creative lately so I designed two new silver wire wrapped coil rings. Both are pretty abstract and kind of funky-looking:

This ring is just plain weird, but I think it's cool. It looks a little like a face in profile, no? I didn't really plan for it to come out that way; I just played with the wire and created different angles and well, this is how it turned out! Sometimes the jewellery has a mind of its own and this was what this ring wanted to do. I love modern art, though, so I like the "sculpted" look of it.

This is the second ring:

I've made rings with square spirals before, but the bottom portion of the ring is unique because it resembles an arrow. It looks really nice when you wear it because it's oversized and covers almost your whole finger. It's just a lot of fun.

Next up: making more rings with colorful wire! To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

Wire wrapped jewelry tutorial: make wire wrapped rings for children

This afternoon, I posted yet another jewellery tutorial on HubPages: this one shows you how to make a wire wrapped coil ring for kids.

The great thing about these rings is that they're easy to make, once you get the hang of it. It's even an activity that you can do with an older child. Artistic wire isn't expensive at all and comes in a lot of fun colors, and this project gives kids the opportunity to be creative. Making these wire wrapped rings is something fun that can be done on a rainy day and works as an activity for a birthday party. These also make great gifts to stick in a goody bag or stocking.

When I was a kid, I loved making crafts. I didn't get into jewelry making until I was an adult, but as a child I spent hours drawing, painting and playing with clay. I know that things are different for kids these days and many spend their time playing video games or chatting with friends online. Still, there's something to be said for simple, creative fun.

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

Copper wire wrapped wave rings with Swarovski crystals

As part of my plan to get my jewellery into stores, I need to create professional looking line sheets. This is basically a catalogue of your work that contains photos and wholesale prices so that stores know what they can order from you. In looking at others' line sheets, however, I've seen that most jewelry artists actually have lines or collections, such as the "Jungle Collection 2012" or "Floral Fantasies," etc.

I've decided to create some actual collections of my own. Many of my pieces are a little random and one of a kind, but I need to think in terms of what would work for a store -- in other words, what looks pretty, can be mass produced, isn't too expensive to make and is trendy? My Infinity rings are an obvious collection, as are my wire wrapped filigree chandelier earrings. I've been experimenting with other wire wrapped ring designs lately and have come up with my latest collection: the wire wrapped wave ring.

This ring is similar to those wire wrapped art rings that I previewed the other day, only the design is a lot less random and more controlled. There's a definite pattern to it. I call it a wave ring because, well, the way the spiral turns looks like a wave to me. So far, I've made variations in three color combinations:

Romance: pink and fuchsia Swarovski crystals:

Ice: blue and light blue crystals:

Citrus: orange and yellow crystals:

These can be made in any size and I think are very funky looking and fun! I'll update as I make more variations. To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewellery, head to MayaGirl Creations.

Copper wire wrapped rings with Swarovski crystals

For the longest time, I avoided making rings. When I first began making wire wrapped jewelry, I watched some ring tutorials online and attempted to make some --and failed miserably. My rings were so unfortunate looking and I decided to concentrate on other pieces, like earrings instead. Rings seemed to be boring, anyway. I mean, how intricate could you really make them?

Well, my mind has been changed and I take back ever thinking that they were boring to make! Over the past year, I've gained a new respect for them and find that some of my most creative pieces have been rings. I've, of course, designed my line of infinity rings and funky coil wire wrapped rings, but I wanted to try making something a little more intricate. So I returned to my mandrel and played around with it -- and you know what? After two years of wire wrapping, I CAN, in fact, make some interesting and nice looking pieces.

The following pieces are from my new line of abstract copper wire wrapped art rings. These are all one of of kind and are a size 7 or 7 1/2 (I went for the most common sizes). Basically, I created a ring base and then let my imagination guide me as I designed the rings' center. I twisted and looped the wire, added some Swarovski crystals and really didn't know what to expect until I'd finished! I think that these are cool, though. Here are the pieces I've made so far:

These designs were somewhat random as I'm still figuring out how much wire I need for certain patterns, but I'm getting better at gauging these things. They're so much fun to make, too! I can't believe I waited so long to work on rings, but am glad that I finally "discovered" them.

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

Wire wrapped infinity rings photo gallery

Wow, I really have made a lot of infinity rings, haven't I? It's cool how one design has inspired so many spinoffs; the original is kind of like the Happy Days of rings. I thought it would be fun to see them all together in a photo collection:

Original silver wire wrapped infinity ring:

Infinity ring in blue:

Infinity symbol ring in purple:

Infinity ring in pink:

Wire wrapped infinity ring in black:

Silver wire wrapped rainbow infinity ring:

Copper infinity symbol ring:

Brass infinity ring:

September birthstone sapphire Swarovski crystal infinity ring:

April birthstone diamond Swarovski crystal infinity ring:

Wire wrapped infinity ring with topaz Swarovski crystal November birthstone:

October birthstone ring

March birthstone infinity ring with aquamarine:

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