Jewelry Making

More mail for today. This one is actually something that I’ve been interested in figuring out as well:

From the Bloglander Jewelry Making Mailbag:

Don P. writes: “Hi, I’m trying to find ‘blank’ adjustable finger rings. I’d like to glue unmatched old earrings to these bands to make unusual finger rings. I’m having trouble finding these plain adjustable bands. Could you direct me? Thanks.”

Bloglander Jewelry Making says: We haven’t really used these adjustable ring blanks in making rings as of yet, though we’ve always been interested in giving a shot one of these days. Up until this point we’ve only tried making ring blanks out of wrapped silver or basemetal wire (this might be an upcoming tutorial). But we’d always wondered if there were options for times when you just want to glue some pieces on the top of a ring.

I believe that there are 2 types of ring blanks commonly sold, adjustable ring blanks with a pad and adjustable ring blanks with loops (often known as Charm Rings?) I did a quick lookup on Rings n Things and found the two items pictured at left that might fit the bill for you. You may want to take a look at other jewelry resellers and compare prices and styles.

The first (pictured on the left) are called Adjustable Glue-On Finger Rings and feature a round textured 1cm flat pad on which you can glue stuff. The ring itself adjusts size as well. The only thing is that there are only base metal or silver/gold plated ring blanks.

The other ones are called Adjustable Finger Rings with Loops and these come with 1 or 3 loops connected to the band. They are adjustable as well, except for the sterling silver one which is not. These are also called Charm Rings because you can just attach charms directly to the loops.

I’m not sure if the above links will work since they’re CGI based… if not, try go to the Rings n Things website and navigate into “Our Products” -> “Specialty Findings” -> “Finger Rings”.

Whew, I’ve FINALLY got a new article up. Lately, I haven’t had any time at all to devote to these tutorials. They take up an immense amount of time to photograph and write. But I figured it was about time for a new one, and plus this tutorial serves as a “Mailbag” answer for several similar questions that have come in. (A quick note: I’ve also gotten a hold of a new camera so the pictures are going to be “off” for a bit until the functionality is learned.)

Basically, to paraphrase the question asked by 3 readers so far:

How do you connect a closed ring jewelry clasp to a length of cable type footage jewelry chain?

We actually wrestled with this one, trying many different ways. In the end, the method that we use most frequently is outlined in the tutorial below. We basically use a wirewrapped accent bead to connect any two closed loop metal pieces. I hope this helps out the readers who wrote in to ask this question… sorry this answer comes so late.

Attaching Chain to Clasps with Wirewrap Accents

The latest jewelry poll held a big surprise for me. We asked readers what their favorite type of glass beads were. Admittedly, there are always only 4 choices in our polls so I’m sure many other different types of glass beads were represented. But anyhow, the winner was Lampwork Beads.

Here are the complete results:

I fully expected Czech Pressed Beads to come out by far on top as far as the “average” jewelry makers who mostly do beading were concerned. This is because they aren’t super expensive, and have a lot more consistency in quality and tend to be more “refined” in look than just your ordinary cheaper glass beads from Michaels or Joann.

Granted, at 171 votes the Czech beads nearly tied Lampwork’s 181 votes. Seed Beads were just about where I expected they’d be in third place with 102 votes - it’s extremely useful to have several hanks of various colors around at all times, but I don’t think they’re anything to write home about for appearance. But I’m sure some jewelry designers who wake those wonderful woven seed bead creations are going to beg to differ!

Well, I gotta admit that a lot of those Lampwork beads are indeed gorgeous. I actually confused everything by throwing in “Furnace Glass” into the mix which is sort of related to lampwork. But I believe that Furnace Glass is meant to refer to those beads that look like candy or licorice. They are made using long thin rods of glass that are melted and fused together and then cut into chunks.

Whereas with Lampworking, they actually may add other colored glass to the surface of the existing glass bead in order to create vibrant designs. I think that’s the difference, but again correct me if I’m wrong on that. Anyhow, Furnace Glass brought up the rear with only 57 votes. I still like these beads that look like colorful candy pieces quite a bit, and it’s evident some of you do too!

Our next poll asks what your favorite gemstone shape is. Again, I only have the four slots for my poll, so I’ve combined several of the shapes together.

I’ve decided to dig through the mailbag for the next couple of weeks to put questions to rest. That instead of putting up a new jewelry tutorial which is what I’ve been meaning to do for ages now. Have no fear though - there should be one upcoming which combines the Mailbag AND a tutorial…

From the Bloglander Jewelry Making Mailbag:

Brieanne writes:
Hi- I would like to make jewelry by setting images into pendants (like this one)

What are the empty pendants called-frames, cups, etc? And where do you find them? How does one make these? Thanks!

Bloglander Jewelry Making says: Whew, I’ve felt out of my depth trying to talk about jewelry making that I dont’ have a lot of experience in. So, I’m relying on you readers to correct me where applicable!

The above photo, by the way, is from the Etsy website who we’ve profiled here before as a great way to sell your jewelry w/out needing to be web saavy. (Credit for the photo and the seller: barbarauppsala. I don’t know how long the link above that Brieanne listed will be good for so I screengrabbed it to show.)

I’m pretty sure what you’re talking about is some sort of Cabochon Mounting (Pendant Mounting?) which is basically an oval or circle loop of metal where the cabochon stone, gemstone, crystal or other pendant sits. There are a huge variety of them. Some of them have 4 or more small pre-notched “prongs” on the mounting that you fold over the stone in order to seat and secure it.

Continue reading “Mailbag: Cabochon Mountings” …

Sorry everyone, I know a lot of people have sent in questions for the “From the Mailbag” section and we basically have not answered ANY of them yet. Too much jewelry making, not enough time! =) Anyhow, I’ll try and start catching up over the next couple months. Here’s one for today:

From the Bloglander Jewelry Making Mailbag:

Heidi F. writes: “I am looking for a cheap base metal finding. I have been buying them at Michaels Craft store, but they stopped selling them. The package calls them rhinestone settings, but they are not the kind that crimp around the rhinestone, the rhinestone is just glued to the top of the piece and it has loops on either end to string them together.”

Bloglander Jewelry Making says: I haven’t really used the rhinestone settings that you described before, but I think I know what you’re talking about. I’ve seen small base metal (brass or copper?) cups that are meant to hold beads or stones at Joann’s before. But I’m not sure if they had loops or not… actually, I wonder if they may be listed as “Bead Caps” instead of “Rhinestone Settings”?

A quick search on Rings n Things and Fire Mountain doesn’t show many results for rhinestone settings, but it does bring back quite a few on bead caps. The pic at left is from another site I found (jansjewels.com) and seems to be what you’re talking about with the loops on either side.

The only thing is that it DOES seem to have the four crimps that are meant to go around the stone. Also, it is a concave instead of a flat surface, though if you’re gluing something down this might actually be better because it’ll cup the stone more securely and probably make it so it doesn’t get knocked off as easy. I didn’t see any that didn’t have the 4 crimps on them, though there are a variety with open / closed backs and 0, 1 or 2 loops. Maybe someone else knows if we’re on the right track… ?

We are going to be starting a new feature here at Bloglander Jewelry Making: a “From the Mailbag” section. Basically, we’ll post up questions that people have submitted about jewelry making and other related issues. The reason for this is that a ton of mail comes in asking about a particular question, and we aren’t always able to answer it properly either due to time constraints or due to lack of knowledge. So hopefully, there will be some visitors who may be able to shed some light on the issue by commenting. We’ll definitely TRY to answer these questions but can’t guarantee an authoritative answer (or any answer at all for that matter!)

From the Bloglander Jewelry Making Mailbag:

Katherine B. writes: “I was wondering if you can help me find a certain chain. I’m looking for small gauge, delicate chain that looks almost black, or copper chain. Ive looked everywhere and I saw some jewelry with it and I would like to try something like it. For earrings and necklaces. All i can find is 2mm, and that seems too thick.”

Bloglander Jewelry Making says: Hmm… having not worked with darker metal jewelry chain and with no picture to go on, this seems like a difficult question. I assume you mean “non-coated” chain, so it’s the actual metal that is almost dark (or it’s plated with a metal that’s dark). I’ve seen a few places that carry smaller gauge chain in a metal called “gunmetal”. Here’s one example, from Rings -n- Things. I’ve taken the liberty of including a pic of it below.

It looks darker to me, but I’m not sure that’s what you’re going for. I’m not even sure what metal this “gunmetal” color chain is made of, although the descriptions sometimes say “imported brass footage chain”. It’s made of soldered links and is 1.1 mm (unfortunately, looks to be out of stock). I’ve also seen something called “antiqued” chain, but I didn’t see this on their site.

Hopefully you’re not like me and you actually write down on your calendar important TV shows that you want to catch. I kept on missing Diana Friedberg’s two-part “World On A String” presentation on public television which was a segment on the importance of beads and beadworking around the world historically and in present day usage. (I think they are coming out with 2 additional segments as well.) I know they keep showing it periodically but I keep forgetting to set the VCR.

And now I realized that I goofed and missed checking out Oh! Be Jewelled on the Oxygen network this past weekend. Oh well, I’m sure they’ll be showing other episodes, right?

A little blurb from their website:

Oh Be Jewelled gives you a insider’s look into the latest trends in jewellry and shows you step-by-step how to create your own pieces that are unique, personal and totally current. Some of the hottest looks are easy enough for a beginner and surprisingly affordable.

I did hear some people say that the jewelry design processes shown were a bit quick, though that’s probably to be expected in these rapid fire cable shows.

For those who can’t wait until the next one airs, they actually have several videos on their site including tutorials for making a charm bracelet, making a layered necklace, and making hammered earrings. There are also downloadable PDF files that explain the process, though I was a bit disappointed that there were no pictures to go along with the text…

I found about this grant from Halstead through Tammy’s About.com Jewelry Making site. I had to admit I was a bit skeptical at first. Can you really get a grant like this to make jewelry? It turns out you can, and the prize they’re offering for the winner of the contest is quite substantial: $5000 cash business grant, a $1000 gift cert for Halstead, and a profile in their upcoming 2007 Metals Catalog.

The deadline is actually coming up pretty soon: June 15, with winners to be announced some time in July. They have full information about how to submit your pieces and other information on their site.

The purpose of the contest is to highlight the growing difficulty of so called “Bridge Jewelry design” in the United States due to competition from both designers overseas and mass-produced stuff. (I had no idea what this term “Bridge Jewelry” meant, but apparently is the catch-all designation for jewelry that “bridges the gap” between precious metal jewelry and plain old costume jewelry. In other words, this is probably most of the stuff that any serious home jewelry designer is making!)

For full information and the mailing address to send submissions, please visit the Halstead Bead site.

I’m sorry folks that I haven’t been posting regularly… I’ve been battling some serious illness. Anyhow, I felt better enough to put together our third jewelry making interview which features Peggy Li who runs her own jewelry business called Peggy Li Creations.

Originally, we were looking to pick the brains of a successful designer that also made jewelry making their full time gig. Although it turns out that Peggy still does the “day job thing”, it’s her amazing success with publicizing her work through various media outlets, including hit TV shows, that makes her really stand out. Oh, not to mention that the jewelry she makes is really beautiful! She mixes simple, contemporary looks with artisan style, featuring unique takes on contrast and texture.

In any case, this is a great interview to check out whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out. The interview was done over email and is highly recommended reading.

Interview with Peggy Li, Peggy Li Creations

Hello there, jewelry makers… sorry we missed posting last week. We are trying to get up to speed on various new site features as well as grappling with a potential upcoming redesign.

Here are the results from our latest jewelry poll in which we asked readers how jewelry making figured in their lives as far as career went:

The results were pretty much skewed as I expected. It looks like the majority of folks out there who make jewelry are doing it either part-time in addition to a normal job as just a hobby. But to the 25 folks who answered that they’re doing it as a full time career.. kudos to you! You’re in the big time now…

Of course, if you’re like me you might have chose the last answer, hehe. Maybe it’s not so true now, but when we first started out trying to make our own jewelry, it was pretty tough. We really had no idea what we were doing, and part of the reason this jewelry beginner blog exists is because of that. So, if you chose that last answer we’d just like to offer some words of support… keep at it because like anything in life the more you practice your jewelry skills the easier it becomes and the more you learn.