Wire Jig Chandelier Earrings

Well, today I'm back to making jewelry. I recently bought a wire jig from Michaels to try out. I eventually want to get good enough at using it so I can buy some sterling silver wire. It would be a little too expensive to say "oops" every time I bent something the wrong way!

So, here it goes...

The wire I'm using is copper-filled and 18 gauge. The lower the number the thicker the wire is, the higher the number the thinner the wire is. The pegs for this jig can be placed wherever you want in the holes to create the design you're looking for.

Once you've got your design complete, pull the wire gently off the pegs and use wire cutters to snip the end off before you tuck it under or make your final loop.

Like my "anvil" below? ha ha! Here I'm hammering my wire form flat. It helps to strengthen it.

I chose my Swarovski crystals that I'd like to hang from the chandelier earrings. I'm using three 4mm bicones and one 6mm bicone for each earring. The findings I need are an earwire, three headpins and five jumprings. I'm making loops on each headpin. Here are varying stages on the dangles I'm making...

Below I am attaching the earwire to the chandelier with two jumprings...this way it will hang the proper way from my ear.

And here is the finished earring with dangles attached. Hope you like it. Off I go to make the second one...see you later!

I'm on a roll now!

Well, I'm moving along quite nicely now. I figured out how to change the time stamp on this blog. It had me on Pacific Time...I needed Eastern!

So, after my first post I was inspired to finally take pictures of some of my jewelry and upload them. I'll have to figure out how to take better pictures though. I'm not doing the jewelry justice. I love the way light bounces off the facets of the Swarovski crystals!

One bracelet I made was done using Swarovski crystals in Montana, Light Peach and the new Cantaloupe. Cantaloupe is a very interesting color. Depending on the light it comes off as three very different colors. This bracelet is shown above in the three photos...yes, it's the same bracelet! In natural light (larger picture) Cantaloupe shows as a light grey, in fluorescent light (top small picture) it looks like a peridot green and in incandescent light (bottom small picture) it looks like a rosy-peach color. So, needless to say I had to come up with colors that would compliment it no matter what light it would be worn in!

My next step will be to take pictures of my Stampin' Up! stuff. I have cards, stationary sets, clipboards and frames. Hopefully I'll sign up for another craft fair this fall. They're alot of fun to showcase your products and to meet new people. Or in some cases, the same people that you saw at the previous craft show you were in!

If you see any of my items that you like, I'd love to read your comments. I would appreciate all critiques, whether positive or negative. You can only learn from others and make changes to improve! Thanks for reading & please save me in your favorites.