Blog Award (Post 25)

Today I was very excited to receive my very first blog award from Sherryn - its a lovely feeling and who knows with the strong 'Laws of Attraction' it may well be the first of many.  Thank you Sherryn, x

In order to accept the award I need to impart 5 pieces of information about myself that you don't know about me.  Then nominate five other worthy bloggers.  Here goes ....

1. When I was nursing I turned up for duty an hour earlier than I should have.  I'd forgotten to put my clock forward, I wasn't allowed home either.  Haven't done that since.
   
2. I hate Liver .... ugh, just the thought of it.
   
3. I'm known for being a bit dopey when it comes to having a sense of direction - maybe its a woman thing?  I got lost going to pick my son up from school.  It was a regular route that I'd travelled for over 5 yrs and was only 6 miles away.  It was a long time before I was allowed to forget that one!
   
4. I can't eat chocolate, had to give it up 11 yrs ago ... (still miss it though).
   
5. I once bumped into Norman Wisdom, the actor, literally.  He was coming out of a shop in Perranporth, Cornwall.  I don't know who was the most apologetic.  And ... I didn't think to ask for his autograph.

I present the above award to the following people:

• Amelia
• Clair
• Mary
• Val
• Mariliis 

Whenever I visit their blogs I am always inspired, I'm sure you will be too. 

New Followers

I'd like to welcome:

1. Lisa
   Who has a diverse range of talents, papercraft, jewellery designer, photographer - to name a few.
2. June
   An artist with a vast portfolio of goodies and also gifted in writing beautiful poetry

Welcome to the both of you and thank you for joining me.  Once I reach the dizzy height of 50 followers I will be giving away candy!  (I'm sure that won't be long now).

Wot No Posts!!!

No, I'm not posting any creations tonight but aim to very soon ....

In the meantime .... 'Keep Watching - and I'll Keep Blogging'

Charters

Mookaite Unwrapped (Post 24)

Mookkaite - aka Australian Jasper (pronounced moo-kite)

Some time ago I came across some beautiful mookaite beads and just loved the smoothness and colours of the gemstone, which somehow have a very soothing effect.   Mookaite is a beautiful gemstone that varies in colour with lots of different tones to it.  It reminds me of marble but a lot creamier.

Properties of Mookaite

An Example from Crystal Wiki

It is a stone that is said to to help with self-esteem, facing fear and lifting depression.  It assists in decision making, providing guidance to the most appropriate answer at that time.  This then gives you new perspectives, enabling you to 'move forward' and socially interact more.  It is said to help you to accept yourself.  Quite enabling traits ... which enhance creativity.

Maisie Mink

Aside from 'gloating' over their beauty  I just could not decide what to do with them.  (That's funny, given their list of properties above).

I wanted to make sure I didn't lose the warmth and clarity of colours.  So after many moons of dithering, I finally had the inspiration to make this set of earrings and necklace.

Working with copper enhanced the colours really well.  I also love the little miyuki drop beads which have a staggered effect as their hole is slightly off centre.

Welcome to 'New Followers'

I'm pleased to say that I have another 3 followers, bringing the grand total to 36 - thank you all so much! 

May I welcome:

• Clair - A creative lady whose multi talents are never ending, lucky for those of us who follow her blog.
• Dawn - A Jewellery Designer, amongst other skills; Reki Master Teacher, Indian Head Massage Therapist.  
• Carrie - A newcomer to the world of crafts, with a passion for knitting; who I hope will develop her range of skills further.

Not long until Christmas now, but I hope to post a few more goodies before then.

 

'Keep Watching, and I'll Keep Blogging'

Charters

New Followers .... (Post 23)

Hello and welcome to 2 new followers:

• wired4style - Terry, who is a multi-talented jewellery/designer and artist from the United States.  In fact looking at her blog she oozes creativity; ranging from jewellery, photography, art and sculpture to name just a few of her interests. 

• lunad'argentodilulu - Lulu, from Bussero, Milan.  Lulu has some amazing wirework and a great eye for detail.

This brings my followers up to 33 - amazing!  Thank you all so much, I love the range of talented people that enjoy visiting.  

I have been busy 'knitting' - yes, really!  Something that I don't do a lot of but it has seemed to have taken up much of my time this week - so whilst I have enjoyed it, my jewellery has taken a bit of a back seat.  

Not to worry though, I have picked up on my mookaite project as well, although that's not been an entire success.  I've changed my ideas a couple of times - but I am now incorporating a little wirework into it; which I am hoping to complete in the next few days.

In the meantime, 'Keep Watching and I'll Keep Blogging'

Charters

Autumn Collection Part Three (Post 22)

Like buses ... you wait for ages then they all come together!  

For those of you who may not realise, this is my 2nd update tonight - so don't forget to look at Post 21.  Especially as the method is explained more there.

Glitter Cage

Another French Knitting creation.  This time I used wire, threading loads and loads of small glass beads straight on to the spool of wire.  

It was very interesting to see the contrast between this and 'Autumn Nest' - considering the technique was the same.  (See my last post, Post 21).

I found that with wire, the cord was too big - maybe my bumble bee would have made a smaller tube?  

I decided to use glass 'marbles' as a centre.  I didn't need to thread additional wire down the middle as it was quite robust as it was.

The 'marbles' I just put in the middle of the spool.  You will find that they need a gentle 'prod' to position them - don't be afraid to give that little push, the wire is strong enough to take it!

I added a black glass marble as a focal point.  The smaller glass beads enveloped the necklace bringing it all together.

Although the necklace is not 'too' heavy, it seemed as if it needed extra strength on the chain.  I used doubled chain which also gave a substantial added 'glitter' to the necklace.

I hope you enjoyed my autumn pieces.  Please feel free to comment, I'm always interested to hear your views.  

Its that 'awkward' time of year now, where I will be working on a few christmas projects - which I won't be able to show you ... yet.  In the meantime, I will still be flitting through my bead stash and keep the creation alive.

Keep Watching - and I'll Keep Blogging!

Charters 

Autumn Collection Part Two (Post 21)

Welcome Milan

A huge welcome to Monica Catrullo a new follower, from Milan.  Monica is a truly talented lady and her work is just amazing.  Thank you for 'following' - I hope you will enjoy the voyage!  I get such a buzz when people whose work I admire, join my blog.

French Connection

Today's collection is centred around wire knitting on a spool.  Now for me, this is just like going back to my childhood - where I first found the pleasures of creating cords from wool.  Nothing fancy, in fact I learnt from using a cotton reel which had 4 nails hammered in to it.  You may know them as a 'Knitting Nancy or Dolly'?  I don't quite remember what I did with all the long rounded cords - although I remember stitching a few into coasters.  I've always been creative ever since I can remember. 

Last year, I went to my first ever Craft Show for jewellery and all the wonderful goodies connected with it.  I was very surprised to see some chunky jewellery that was apparently done using this type of spool.  Needless to say, I just had to have it.   The one that I bought is a more 'suped' up version; called 'Clover Wonder Knitter' What I like about this one is that it has a wheel that rotates the pins, rather than forever turning the reel around.  It was easier on the hands.  Admittedly, this is the first time I've used it but not the last!

It wasn't the packing that caught my eye - as it looks a little childish; but the end product is good.  In fact I think the demonstrator was also embarassed as they didn't have the tool on display just the jewellery they made from it.  They put it straight into a bag and it wasn't until I got home that I actually saw it.  (Probably one of the reasons why I held off using it?).  However, the beauty of French Knitting is you can use yarns, string or wire to produce entirely different effects.  

I've also got another smaller reel, which should be interesting to compare the difference.  Now this is a bumble bee - I know ... obviously still catering for kids!!  We'll have to prove them wrong!

Autumn Nest

With colours like this, how could it possibly be called anything else?  

So, its just a case of threading the beads on to the yarn before starting to knit.  Winding the thread around the hooks and passing the thread over each hook.  This drops the yarn through the middle.

Initially I knitted a few rows, then I pushed the beads (already threaded on the yarn), between the hooks after each stitch, until I had the length I wanted.  You then need to do a couple of rows without beads.  

It was at this stage that I decided to add some wire to make it more flexible.  I just thread wire through the centre of the spool.  I was later able to use this to wrap around the edges of the finished bracelet and create a wire wrap loop.  

I threaded the wired loop through some silver plated cones and added the jump ring and clasp.

Voila!  Autumn Nest ...

Next Part 3 - Glitter Cage ...

I'm going to do this as a separate blog, (don't worry, its following now - well as soon as I can get it written down).

See you later ...

Charters 

 

Autumn Collection Part One (Post 20)

Well, I know that holidays are meant to relax you; but I've been a little too laid back and have been neglecting my blog and loyal followers.  So, here's me getting back on track.  I haven't been shirking and have if anything been overloaded with creative thoughts.

The world wide web is a wondrous thing, yet daunting and if I could offer one piece of advice is this:  'Be inspired by all those talented artists out there, but uniqueness lies within'.  What I have discovered is you have to believe in yourself. Put away the green-eyed monster and just do what comes naturally.  Yes, be inspired but RELAX because there are many forms of talent and you really do just have to 'create' for yourself - unless your in to mass marketing - I guess then it would be different?  As you know, I like 'unique' pieces and always aim for that individual touch.

So ... I'm back!  Hope you enjoy my Autumn Collection.  

AUTUMN COMFORT

This time of year sees an abundance of beautiful colour with leaves falling from trees and the huge variety of tones of colours, quite a cosy season.

 

This bracelet is made with square glass beads, black crackle beads with silver plated findings and wire.

It would be possible to use 'eye' pins for this but I used a reel of wire, making up wrapped loops then adding lengths of wire and threading on seed beads before adding the square bead.  I was then able to free form shapes of wire using pliers.  Lastly, ending with a wrapped loop.

I then made links of black crackle beads linking them to the orange beads.  The colours are quite rich and complement each other well.

Top Tip: 

Always add an extender chain to your jewellery, its looks nice and it can also adjust the size of your bracelet/necklace to suit your wearer.

NUT HAVEN

In our garden we are very priviliged to be visited by grey squirrels, which I think are so cute, NOT tree rodents (which a certain somebody not a million miles away from me, refers to them as).  The squirrels are forever pinching the nuts I put out for the birds and acorns off the trees.  In fact, let's face it - anything roundish they can get hold of!!  They then bury them throughout the garden.  I find all sorts mixed in with the potted plants.

The beads used for this bracelet reminded me of all those hidden wonders, that I come across on a daily basis.

Now this autumn gem is totally different to what I set out to do ... hey ho ... I'm not disappointed.

The pendant is an oval bead which I've 'beaded' over with tiny orange seed beads.  Would you believe this took me nearly an hour!  It was at this point that a 'design change' came into play.

The cube beads are 'goldstone' gemstones.  A man-made stone first created by alchemists trying to make gold.  Its really more of a glass stone.  Very popular throughout the world.  The properties are said to be: to renew strength, induce happy thoughts, help keep your feet on the ground and has been known to encourage faith.  Warming thoughts, don't you think.

The other beads are glass seed beads and various coloured acrylic beads.  I just love the colours which blend in seamlessly with the leaves.  Talk about leaves!  I must have bagged up at least 3 bags this last week - yet if you were to look at my garden its covered with more of the darn things!

I threaded these on to a Memory Wire and added a clasp, for extra support.  Mind you, its quite a lightweight necklace but I like to have the security of a clasp and the good old chain extender.

Still to come, in Part Two 'Autumn Nest' and 'Glitter Cage'

Look forward to hearing from you, and if your just browsing - why not become a follower.

Keep Watching, and I'll Keep Blogging - honest!

Charters

Passing Through (Post 19)

I have been away and I'm a little behind in catching up ... but was amazed to see that I now have 30 followers!  Which made me think, first I need to welcome these lovely people who have linked to my blog - and secondly, reassure you all that I'm still here ...

A Huge Welcome To:

Jocale Design 

A jewellery designer with a whole range of beautiful jewellery 

Alina

A talented lady from Greece, who has a variety of crafts including lovely jewellery

Amelia Lune

Amelia is from Belguim and has an inspiring blog which she writes in her native language and English.  She recently got hooked on paper beads and has some gorgeous jewellery and great tutorials which I'm keen to put to practice.

Lottie of London
A follower of jewellery

Thank you everybody for your support -tonight I am just passing through myself but will be posting over the weekend.

'Keep Watching and I'll Keep Blogging'

Charters 

Found ... Polymer Clay Part 4 of 4 (Post 18)

Final part of my 1st polymer clay experiences.  This project was made with Cernit Polymer Clay and was so easy to condition - I would definitely recommend it.  I bought my polymer clay and clay extruder from Emma Ralph who is a beadmaker specialising in lampwork, ceramic and polymer clay beads.  A very talented lady who also has her own online store; and, tutorials - well worth a visit to her site.  Mind you, if you want to buy her beads, you'll have to be quick as her lampwork glass beads sell as quickly as they are produced - because they are so beautiful.

Cernit polymer clay has a elasticated feel to it and is really smooth to work with. 

Opal Fruits

I decided to experiment with lentil beads this time.  I used my acrylic block, which was so easy.

After conditioning your clay, roll it into a tube and cut off equal sized pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and then cut the ball in half.  Then ... take each half and gently roll it with one of the other coloured balls; until it becomes one.

Don't roll any further yet.  You now need to put the clear acrylic block on top of the newly formed mixed ball and roll the block.  For some reason, it will want to roll into a bicone shape.  That's ok, because its twirling the colours together - giving each one its uniqueness.  

If you like the bicone shape, ok - stop there, job done.  If not, still rolling with the acrylic block, apply more pressure.  This starts to flatten the bead, making it into the disk shape, otherwise known as lentil bead.

You now need to make a hole through the bead.  I find it best to make the hole at this stage.  Sometimes I use a cocktail stick, but I came across a lovely little tool in my toolbox - an awl.  This is a small pointy tool with a blade and a wooden handle.  I used the awl as I found I had a firmer anchor to push with.

Make a hole in one end half way through or until you see the point appearing at the other end.  Then turn the bead around and do the same on the other side.  This just avoids having 'dragged' out edges.  

One tip I read somewhere, (goodness knows where?), is if you intend using the bead for a necklace, rather than making the hole in the middle of the bead make it slightly higher.  This prevents the bead from 'flopping' forward and it will lie flatter.  As I knew my beads would be made for a bracelet, I did make the bead central.

Beads were put in the oven at the usual temperature of 130, (use a proper oven thermometer - again available from Emma).  I left them in about an hour with other polymer clay pieces.  Then after being cooled, they need to be sanded down to make them smooth, apply wax or varnish - as you like.  I used just the tiniest, tiniest, tiniest bit of beeswax (renaissance wax would be better, but that's on my shopping list).

I then used silver-plated wire threaded a green silver-lined seed bead and made a basic loop each end of the wire.  I layed out the beads the way that I wanted them to be and linked them together.  I added an s-clasp to finish off.

I called this 'opal fruits' as it reminded me of sweets I used to buy when I was little.  Anyone remember them?  'Opal fruits - made to make your mouth water'.

My research shows that due to EU regulations the name changed to 'starburst' but in 2008, Asda brought the originals back, (without the additives!) for a period of 12 weeks.

Enough reminiscing ... I'm not a 'sweetie' eater these days anyway.


So, the last 4 projects was my taster introduction to polymer clay.  I hope that this has inspired you to 'have a go'.

Now its back to my bead stash, fresh ideas and new designs.

'Keep Watching and I'll Keep Blogging'

Charters

Found ... Polymer Clay Part 3 (Post 17)

New Follower:

Welcome to heritage_indonesia, thank you for joining my blog, when I have 50 followers I will do a 'freebie' piece of jewellery - so keep following!

Part 3

Ok, sorry this is in dribs and drabs but I think if I was to put it all in one blog it would be a bit lengthy - OK, for those of you who just like to look at pictures maybe that wouldn't be a problem?  I do like to waffle a bit as well to hopefully make it a little more interesting!

Apache Awakening

Change of Clay!  Not to my liking though ... this was so hard to condition.  This is created using Fimo Classic.  It was crumbly for ages and at one point I was ready to give up.  



But, then again, I'm not one to give up easily so I persevered whilst also promising myself that I would try something more pliable next time.

Now remembering that this is my 1st introduction to Polymer Clay, I wasn't sure of how much clay to use or what I was going to do with it.  I conditioned green and yellow clay and experimented with mixing the two.

For the green/yellow bicones I made two equal sized balls of yellow and green.  Cut them each in half, then gently rolled them together to bind them.  I have heard of beadmaking acrylic tools - but have not invested in them.  It dawned on me though that I had an acrylic square, that I had previously used for putting rubber stampers on and decided to roll the new yellow/green bead with this.

By applying enough pressure the bead shape changed into a bicone bead.  I was so excited that it worked, I took it one step further by mixing the third yellow/green bead more thoroughly.

Unfortunately I hadn't much more 'conditioned' clay left but was aware that you should ALWAYS keep any leftovers because they can be used as 'base' beads for any future cane work - great no waste!

Mmm ... still not knowing what to do with these 3 beads, I thought I should have made them smaller - as I didn't think that I would have enough for even a bracelet and perhaps they were just too big?

Undeterred ... I thought, maybe I could make some spacer beads.  I had bought a clay extruder which I wanted to try out.  So, I set it up and extruded a long triangular tube shape, cut it into small spacer sized beads and made a hole in them.


I find it easier to make holes in the beads as they're created, although you can drill them after.  Remember though, that this will be harder once their baked!

I have to admit, the sanding, and polishing took me ages, as the spacers are so small - my poor fingers were sore afterwards - but like I've said, you can't cut corners and expect good results!

This necklace is made up of my polymer clay bicones, and spacers strung on tiger tail wire and 3 czech crystal beads to emphasise the bicones with a thai silver clasp.

Still to come ... 'Opal Fruits'

'Keep Watching and I'll Keep Blogging'

Charters 

Found ... Polymer Clay Part 2 (Post 16)

A very big welcome to my 3 new followers - and to all other 22 followers - thank you for keeping up with my ramblings!

Welcome to: Hazel Ward, Liz Reed and Shauna Roush ... great to have you aboard!

As promised, Part 2 of Found ... Polymer Clay

Aztec

This is a beautiful pendant that was created using three quite thick layers of polymer clay, with a craft metal wirework twist - embedded into the polymer after I had built the layers.  An additional swirl of purple craft wire adorns the top layer.  

To take away the obvious gleam of the purple, I very gently, kissed the surface with an emery file.  This led to the pendant showing hints of copper, which I particularly liked.

I thought due to the varying colours, which unfortunately my photos don't show!  (Memo to self: must take side view shots!).  I would make a necklace of purple, green and yellow beads to complement the pendant.  

The 3 strands were twisted around each other and the pendant added.

One thing which I have failed to say, not intentionally, may I add ... is that in Part 1 I talked you through conditioning and making the pieces but didn't say that after they are baked you do need to sand the finished product.  I used wet/dry paper, grades 600, 1200, 200

I just gently circled the piece with a damp sandpaper until it felt smooth to the touch.  It is a pain ... but also quite therapeutic and it is these finishing touches which will give your pieces that finishing edge to them.  Making them stand apart as works of art!  So ... no shortcuts, or you'll be sorry!

I chose to polish them also with a smidging of beeswax, (memo to self: must by some renaissance wax!). You only need enough to give it a soft sheen.  

Why Aztec?  Well, I think it reminded me of the chocolate Aztec bars in the '70s, (I know a lot of you may not have even been around then, I'll tell you, you missed a yummy bar of delicious raisin and biscuit and mallow covered in cadbury's chocolate - mmmmmm).  The wrapper was purple and this just brought back the lazy hazy days of the '70s!

Still to come ... 'Opal Fruits' and 'Apache Awakening

'Keep Watching and ... I'll keep Blogging'

 Charters

Found ... Polymer Clay Part 1 (Post 15)

For some time I have been interested in working with Polymer Clay, because its a way of expressing your own personality and giving you the opportunity to create individual works of art.  If you've been following my blog, you will know that from time-to-time I tuck away tools of the trade ... a secret hoarder, (ok not so secret to you ... but schhh it is still a secret in this household!).   So, Finally I unleashed the Pasta Machine.

I follow a few fellow jewellerymakers who have recently already taken that first step, and seeing their great work it has made me take that 'first plunge' also.

'Colour Me New'

The clay that I have used is called Fimo.  Its quite a science to work out what to go for.  I finally settled on two types: Cernit and Fimo Classic.

I got a few colours of each and for my 'Colour Me New' project I used Cernit in Green, Black and Yellow.

Cernit has a translucent look to it and is used for dolls because of its porcelain look.  

Before you can work with Polymer Clay, (PC) from now on!  You have to condition it.  That just means warming it and making it very pliable so that it is easier to work with and does not have any 'dry spots' which would cause it to crack.  Aha ... this is where the pasta machine came into its own.  Needless to say, once you use the pasta machine for PC you can NOT use it for food!!!!  

After rolling the clay in my palm, I then flattened it a bit and started feeding it through the pasta machine.  It didn't take long and I made some thin sheets of PC in black, green and yellow and put to one side.

I'd read about a technique known as Mokume Gane which I liked the idea of.  Its basically layers of PC in different colours which you then use any object to create a impression with and with a sharp blade you shave away layers leaving a very pretty design - you hope!  

I made 3 green sheets and 3 yellow sheets and 2 black sheets.  I then alternated them one on top of the other; using an acrylic roller I gently pressed the sheets together.  I then raided my other half's garage and found some quirky shapes, in the guise of screws and washers and a couple of bottle tops.  

I made random shapes on to the PC and then using a sharp blade, (they call a tissue blade), I slowly and carefully peeled off a few layers and wow ... I was left with an amazingly brightly coloured clay.  At this stage, I still hadn't worked out what to do with it ... but I fell in love with the colour and thought what an unusual pendant this would make, especially with the raggedy edges.  So I folded the clay back on itself around a cocktail stick and ... 'Colour Me New' arrived.

I baked it in the oven at 130 degrees for approximately 45 minutes, alongside a donut ring and coin shapes and some very little dark green spacer beads I'd made.  It was afterwards when I thought the coins would make lovely little delicate earrings - I think it works well, what about you?

It is safe to use your oven, but you MUST invest in a proper oven thermometer as you really don't want to set the place on fire!  Just wipe the oven out when you finish.  I worked with the windows and doors open - quick exit?  No, I wasn't sure whether there would be any fumes.  Actually, there wasn't - you could hardly smell anything.

And ... there we have it my 1st Polymer Clay project.  Any questions, send me your comments and I'll do my best to answer them.

Still to come ... three more projects!

• Aztec
• Opal Fruits and,
• Apache Awakening

Remember - I welcome your comments, successful blogging I think should be a two-way process.  Look forward to hearing from you!

'Keep Watching and I'll Keep Blogging' ... Part 2 to follow soon

Charters

Yippee! New Followers ... (Post 14)

Thanks everybody - I now have 22 followers and I've decided that when my followers reach a total of 50 I will celebrate by running my first 'give away'.   

I've added a link on the righthandside of the blog, for you to Share The News of my blog with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.  

Ahem ... not sure what that means, but its got to be good - right?  

If anybody wants to explain that in more detail to me, perhaps you'd like to post a comment.  Thanks!  

Hopefully by promoting the Facebook/Twitter link more people will sign up and follow me?  

Two New Followers

 

I'd like to welcome TripleMoonStar, an amazing talented jewellerymaker - not only does she make beautiful silver and beaded jewellery, she also makes her own lampwork beads.  Reading her blog, she has only recently achieved this, which to be honest is remarkable!  Well done TripleMoonStar, your an inspiration for sure ...

Next a very big welcome to CarolineACleary, a good friend with a great personality, and an open and honest outlook on life.  Thanks Caroline, hope you enjoy the blogs!  Blogging is new to Caroline, but I believe you will soon get bitten by the bug and it wouldn't at all surprise me to see your own blog up and running over the coming months ...

Ok, I did have some comments on my Ring blog, for which I'm grateful.  Divided views, some of you liked the Copper ring, (me too!!) and two others went for the Ships Ahoy.  Thanks to Lalitha who sent me nice comments on this ring - unfortunately I have not posted it due to the 'spam' element.  Whilst I love your feedback folks, I would ask that you don't try and push 'hidden links' to advertising.

I'm doing my best to keep my blog ad-free ... please do the same - many thanks!

About to launch into my Polymer Clay post ... coming up next - honest!

Charters

Rings and Things (Post 12a)

Well, I thought I'd left superstitions behind when 'I grew up' - seemingly not.  I just found myself posting this as 12A, (what's all that about ...).

Poll has finished - not many entries, but it was a 50/50 split.  Half followers who responded make jewellery and half don't.  Maybe my blog will inspire you?  I hope so, its so inspiring to create something pretty and more importantly - something different!!

I'm really becoming inspired with wirework and decided to tackle making some rings.  Not easy without a ring mandrel.  In fact, I used a wooden peg thing ... which was not ideal, but I did manage to get some of the rings to fit.  OK, some only on my little finger.  (Note: put ring mandrel on my wish list, and ... a bangle mandrel).

Relaxing Weekend Making Rings

I found a great video on YouTube, which you should enjoy.  Ring Tutorial 

It was quite fiddly at first, then it all seemed to fall in place.  I practiced with cheap wire initially until I could fathom out what I was doing.  

1st Attempts - I actually love the Purple Twist one!

The Purple Twist ring above, was my own design and my 1st ring attempt - and what led me hastily to look for some tidy tutorials!  The silver ring was my next creation and the orange/copper one the next.  Fired with enthusiasm, I just whiled away the weekend perfecting the technique.  

Not surprisingly, I happened across a few more styles, later maybe - but first I must get a ring mandrel.

Maltesers ... anybody!

The Malteser ring was great because it had natural lines for the wire to follow.  Couldn't have planned it better!

Close up of Top Finishing

The rings are quite funky - they stand really proud and make a statement.  Personally, I love this style.

Stripes Ahoy ...

The Stripes Ahoy ring was made with craft wire and a beautiful David Christensen Cane Glass Bead.  The colours are very striking.

Copper Potlicious ...

I can't make up my mind which is my favourite - I think it is this one.  Its just delicious, the colour, the copper the shinyness ... (is there such a word?).

Birds Eye View ...

And ... there we have it a ream of rings.  Check out the YouTube tutorials, I'll be back looking and hope to make some more.

Which is your favourite - I'd love to know!  Here's a reminder of some of them...

Oh, by the way I've finally taken the plunge with polymer clay, tracked down the pasta machine I'll tell you all about my creations next time. 

Don't forget to let me know what your favourite ring is.  'Keep Watching and I'll Keep Blogging' -

Charters