If you’re signed up for our Free Wire Jewelry Patterns, you may be seeing a pattern from Brenda Sigafoos soon!

Artistic by nature, Brenda Sigafoos has been involved in about every aspect of arts and crafts since she was a child. Life has not been easy for Brenda, however through her love of art she has been able to find her own peace. She also works with women’s crisis groups, sharing ways to rebuild personal esteem through art. Inspired by her love of nature, Brenda began creating jewelry by coming up with her own beaded designs; but when she began working with wire, she discovered her favorite medium. Totally dedicated to her children, Brenda shares her talents and knowledge with them at every opportunity, in her lovely new home in Minnesota.

Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip for
June 1, 2011

Question:

What are cold connections, and how do I make them?

-Marilyn in Westcliffe, Colorado

Answer:

Hello Marilyn, in the jewelry making industry, the term "cold connection" refers to any procedure that does not include the use of heat or flame. As a reader of our tips on this Wire-Sculpture blog, you are probably a wire artist, and therefore you already make cold connections! It doesn’t matter what your skill level is: if you make a simple wrapped loop on a piece of wire or a headpin, or if you create elaborate collars with multiple wires and wire bindings (wraps): as long as there is no heat or flame involved, these are all cold connections. Of course, cold connections can be enhanced by hammering, which has been recently termed by others in this industry as "forging" (this makes no sense to me, because true forging involves heat, and the basic process of hammering to stretch, temper, and/or texture wire or metal doesn’t need the addition of heat).

As most of us already know, the use of wire to make personal ornamentation is the oldest known form of "organized" jewelry making. One of the theories for this fact is because ancient craftsmen found it easy to roll soft copper, silver and gold sheets into a product with no edges that was easy to manipulate without the use of heat: wire! In Chapter 5 of The Complete Metalsmith, Tim McCreight refers to wire wrapping as "the original cold connection." Thanks for asking!

Answer contributed by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong

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Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip for
May 31, 2011

Question:

Hi Dale, now that we are coming up on festival season, I’m looking for a few quick and beautiful projects that I can “make as you wait” in a short amount of time for the customers. Any patterns you can point out would be very appreciated.

-Juanita in South Orange, New Jersey

Answer:

Hi Juanita, your idea of making “on-demand” customized pieces as the customer watches and waits, is a great way to attract additional attention to you and your booth!

To offer some attractive and quick ideas, I would first direct you to our Free Jewelry Making Patterns index. Albina’s Spring Flower earrings can be prepared at home by making some long coils of wire and then ask the customer how many petals they would like on their flower. Mary Bailey’s All-Inclusive Earrings pattern is another make-it-now design, where you could have a couple of sample pairs on display surrounded by beautiful beads a customer could choose from. You could also make matching pendants by using my Quick Bead & Wire Pendant instructions.

Left-to-rignt: Albina’s Spring Flower Earrings, Mary Bailey’s All-Inclusive Earrings, and Dale Armstrong’s Quick Bead & Wire Pendant

Summertime is the best season to make and market anklets! To generate custom sales “on-the-spot,” have 3 or more samples made-up and on display (using materials you have quite a bit of on hand) and place a bowl of beads nearby, for customers to choose from. Light-weight and fun to wear (as well as affordable to make) are my Bent Wire Earrings, shown in our Wire Jewelry Ideas section, and most folks find that they can easily wrap a puffed heart, sharks tooth or an arrowhead in less than 10 minutes by using the Anything Harness design (click here for some examples). Personally, my Puffed Gemstone Heart pendants in sterling silver sell for $15 to $18, and I include a simple silk neck cord for instant gratification.

A lot of folks who are experienced in ring-making like to make simple 1 to 3 bead rings on-demand at shows, and still others can wrap a rock within a few minutes, too! It’s your choice Juanita, I hope I have given you some ideas that will help your spring/summer show season become a success!

For further reading about getting ready for show season, I recommend my article Wire Jewelry Display & Booth Ideas.

Answer contributed by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

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Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip for
May 11, 2011

Question:

Thanks a million for all of your wonderful tips, solutions and educational material. I’ve been wire wrapping with Dale for over three years now and loving it!! Dale, you’ve truly taught me to “think outside the box” and my jewelry never fails to elicit “ooh”s and “aah”s and constant comments of “never seen anything like it.” My problem is this – I’ve reached sort of a wall, and was hoping you could suggest some things to re-ignite the creative juices. Thanks for all of your wonderful work & help for wire jewelry makers!!

-Lee Ann in Royal Oak, Michigan

Answer:

Thanks so much Lee Ann! I am always happy to hear that I have been helping people like you make wire jewelry, all around our beautiful world.

With regards to your current situation, unfortunately I know exactly what you mean! You have fallen into a rut and are currently experiencing “artist’s block.” This does happen to all of us at one time or another. Although I am not exactly sure what will work for you, I am going to talk a bit about how I personally overcome this frustrating state-of-mind, and offer some possible solutions for you to try.

When I have been working with the same materials for long periods of time (making what I deem “stock” pieces for a store or a show), I often draw a total blank when I want to break what has become routine. What works best for me is to completely change gears! If I have the time, I take a ride around some of the historic neighborhoods in our area (deep south) and really look at the vintage homes and churches, taking photos of interesting features like a gabled roof, gingerbread trimmings, gardens, stained glass windows, etc. Other times I search the Internet for photographs of something similar to wire jewelry, like Wrought Iron works. Here I find interesting shapes that I then challenge myself to recreate, making components that can become link or clasp designs.

I have also trained myself to take photos of wrought iron wherever I am traveling, as seen in this photo of an iron balcony railing in Moscow.

I need to share with you, that after seeing all of the iron work in Russia, I no longer wonder why Faculty member Albina Manning creates such interesting round wire jewelry designs!

After I have successfully recreated and formulated these “new-to-me” components, I then have to find a way to incorporate them into those designs I routinely do, thus fresh designs are born. (I share several of these components during the 2011 Designing with Involved Components Class in my Wire-Sculpture Workshops!)

Artist’s Block is a really good reason for designers to keep up with their Designer Notebook! This handy book is totally yours! Using a loose-leaf notebook, add photos cut from magazines, newspapers, flyers, brochures, as well as pictures you take yourself. My favorite way to use my notebook is to sit in a rocking chair on my studio porch and flip through the pages, upside-down! This often gives me a totally different perspective on what would otherwise be a normal design idea. Last November, we had a great discussion with fellow wire jewelry artists about their notebook versions and uses that you may find interesting, Why Use a Designer’s Notebook?.

For example, the photo below is a shot I took of a plaster wall piece in a hotel room in Utah. Check out all of those cool spirals – now you can see the inspiration behind my Rosette Ring design!

Of course, still another way would be to look through all of the Free Email Patterns you have received from Wire-Sculpture (or from other books, magazines, etc) and try to make a different version of a pattern that draws your interest.

I hope you are able to overcome your personal Artist’s Block really soon, Lee Ann. Maybe some of our fellow wire artists can help too! So folks, can you help Lee Ann? I would really like to hear how YOU overcome the dreaded artist’s block. What do YOU do to kick your brain back into gear? Leave a comment below – thanks!!

Answer contributed by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

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Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip for
April 8, 2011

Question:

I am having trouble deciding the correct-sized chain to purchase for my projects. Is there a standard or a rule of thumb I can refer to?

-Dorothy in Lackawanna, New York

Answer:

Working with chain is so much fun! The size of chain used for a project can be chosen by the desired finished look of a design, where the piece of jewelry is to be worn, and your good common sense, Dorothy. If we think about it, chain is made of metal, and metal is a strong material; however, the gauge and size of either individual links or the combination of links should play a large part in your choice.

Let’s talk about some wire jewelry designs that utilize chain.

Earrings should be relatively lightweight, and when using chain to make them long, choose either small links or small gauge. You can add flash by using a larger, more ornate chain that is made in a small gauge.

Necklaces – the sky is the limit with these gorgeous creations! You can mix and attach multiple style chains together on a single focal point, or just choose a chain design to match the style you are creating. Check out a Google Image Search using this phrase: images chain necklace.

Bracelets and anklets need to be a bit more sturdy, because these are worn in high traffic areas. Chain used for these items should be of a heavier gauge and firmly secured by using either wrapped loops or a pair of jump rings at the closures.

So really, Dorothy, there really is no "rule of thumb" for choosing chain. I just wouldn’t recommend using a very small-gauge, fine chain to support anything really heavy, because the chain could bite into a person’s skin, and possibly break.

Answer contributed by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong

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