Making beaded snowflakes is a fun project for anyone old enough to not put beads in their mouth!

Day 4 is an ultra-simple, instant gratification project: beaded snowflakes. Simply take a wire snowflake form and add beads. This is an ideal project for using up leftover beads, especially sparkly glass beads!

There are several options for keeping the beads in place:

1. Use crimp beads. (Use a crimp with loop at the top to make it easy to hang).
2. Glue the last bead in place.
3. Use round-nose pliers to loop the end of the wire.
4. Or – the easiest and best in my opinion – use a French wire keeper. French wire keepers are little rubber stoppers that keep earrings in place – or beads on snowflake forms. French wire keepers also make great pin backs, or clutches/nuts for post earrings. A very versatile little jewelry finding indeed!

Dress up the view with sparkly snowflakes!

Winter – and the cold & flu season – is upon us. I didn’t post day 4 of the 12 Days of Christmas jewelry designs yesterday because I never made it out of bed. Silly head cold. So let that be a lesson to you all – it is never to early to start your holiday projects because you never know what interruptions you might face!

Print PDF

"Spring" assortment of Hemptique cord with Maori-style fishhook pendant.

Hello, bloglandia! As promised, here are the instructions for finishing a multiple-strand piece of jewelry (like the braided hemp necklace I made with the Kumihimo disk) using glue-on bullet ends.

Bullet ends are much less bulky than knots on multistrand designs.

A bullet end is a jewelry finding that hides cord ends and makes a clean transition to a clasp. Bullet ends are also called end caps, barrel caps, and a variety of other creative names. Just make sure the caps you are using have loops on the ends and that they are wide enough to accommodate your cording. (I used these.)

1. Tie an overhand knot at the end of your piece.
2. Take a piece of thread and wrap it tightly around the end several times (this is also called “whipping”). Tie a double knot to secure and trim the thread ends.
3. Cut the braid between the thread and the knotted end.
4. Fill the bullet end about half way with glue and insert the cord. Make sure that it goes in as far as it can, and that the thread whipping is covered by the bullet end. Clean up any oozing glue immediately.
5. Use jump rings to attach a clasp.

Make sure to let the glue cure fully before wearing. (For E-6000, this means 24 hours. ) The glue will be dry long before then, but to be safe, let it cure all the way.

E-6000 is one of my favorite glues because it holds up nearly as well as a 2-part epoxy, but you don’t have to measure and mix. Whatever glue you use, just make sure that is is compatible with both metal and fibers. Although instant gratification is tempting, super glue (cyanoacrylate glue) is a bad choice for this project because it can’t fill the gaps between the cord and the metal very well.

That is all there is to it! This technique works equally well with leather, ribbon, rattail and other types of cord.  ~ Cindy

Print PDF

Earrings made with silver filled head pins and ear wires.

If you use sterling silver in your jewelry, you have felt the pain of rising silver prices. Although the market always fluctuates up and down a tad unpredictably, it feels like it has only gone UP lately. Because it has!

Many jewelry designers have been forced to switch materials or to use less sterling silver in their designs to compensate for the increased costs. However, the quality and look of sterling are popular for good reason. Hence the rise of affordable new silver filled wire and jewelry components on the market!

Gold filled (GF) jewelry findings (also called “gold overlay”) have been popular for years. Gold filled is made by using heat and pressure to apply a layer of karat gold to a base of less costly metal (you can learn more about the process at Artisan Plating). This gold layer is many times thicker than a standard plating – anywhere from 50 to 100,000 times thicker. The law, gold filled items must be at least 1/20th gold by weight.

Silver filled beads are indistinguishable from sterling silver beads.

Silver filled jewelry findings are created the same way, but as of date, there are no industry standards for silver fill, which can make it hard to tell what you’re getting. The new line of silver filled items that Rings & Things carries contains 1/10th sterling silver by weight. As with gold fill, the sterling silver layer is hundreds of times thicker than a silver plating.

Silver filled wire can be manipulated just like sterling silver wire. The silver is bonded to the core metal and does not flake off the way a plating might.  We have not tried it yet, but we are told that it can be soldered too.  (We’ve also heard it is tricky to solder SF wire, so for now, we recommend sticking with sterling silver wire for soldering.)  Silver filled items look identical to sterling silver, and can be antiqued just like sterling silver.

Silver filled French hooks - if you look closely, you can see they are stamped ".925 SF".

We have a couple of employees who (almost freakishly!) take pride in their ability to “eat” the plating off costume jewelry (apparently their skin is especially acidic). Within just a few days, standard plated jewelry is destroyed on their bodies! In the interest of science, we asked them to test out silver filled ear wires and are very pleased to report that they had no issues. The silver filled earrings look and wear exactly the same as sterling silver earrings.

Silver filled components, sparkly glass and freshwater pearls make it refreshingly affordable to make these earrings!

It is up to each individual artist to decide what materials to use in his or her jewelry. Some people will always want pure sterling, no matter the cost.  Since silver filled jewelry findings cost 40-60% less than sterling silver findings, while offering the same look, we think it won’t be long until SF jewelry is a common designation.  ~ Cindy

Print PDF

…with no knots! This easy leather necklace design uses sliding cord adjusters that simply glue on to the ends of the cord.  Push the ends closer together to shorten the necklace. Pull the ends away from each other to lengthen it.

My example is with 2mm olive green Greek leather, but you can use any round cord except rattail with this technique (rattail is just too slippery). Just match the size of your cord to the inner diameter (ID) of the cord end. The cord ends are available in four sizes and four platings: gunmetal and antiqued brass, copper and silver.

1. Measure your cord. My technique: take your desired finished length and add 12″. For my 18″ necklace I used 30″ of leather.
2. Center your beads or pendant. (I used 5 silver plated leaves. To keep them in place, I just flattened their loops slightly with my flat nose pliers.)
3. Slide a cord end onto each end. Make sure that the bottoms of the closed tubes are pointing towards the center of your necklace.
4. Glue the cord ends into the opposite open adjuster tubes. Make sure the cord touches the bottom of the tube, and be sure to clean up any glue drips before they dry. I used Eco-Glue because it works with both metal and fabric. Tenax is another good option, especially if you don’t like waiting!

That’s all there is to it! Too easy, right? The only problem you might encounter is the cord not fitting the cord end. Since most types of cord, and the ends themselves, may vary in diameter +/- 10%, this is a fairly common problem, but a simple one to fix.  Try mitering (cutting at an angle) or rolling the ends to make them a tad thicker or thinner.   ~ Cindy

Print PDF