(And a bonus Craft Credo rant!)
I had forgotten how much fun wire wrapping can be. After a clunky start, I’m picking up on skills I left dormant a decade or more ago. Ear cuffs (aka ear jackets, ear couplings, etc) are a fun but ambitious way to jump back into this technique.
1) Here’s a slightly reworked version of the first set of blackened silver ear cuffs.
The coil over the top of the ear was too loose, resulting in too many pressure points for comfort. I ran another coil parallel to the first to fill in some of those gaps, and used the excess on either end to make some spiral finials.
Silver wire, ballpins, quality tags, and chain from Plazko.com. Gems largely from Tucson Rock & Gem Show vendors and The Bead Garden of Sedona. These still have issues, so I probably won’t sell them.
Height: 4.75″ Width (outer) 1.5″ (inner) 1.1″ Materials: sterling silver, aquamarine, smokey quartz. Weight: .8oz
2) Here’s the second set of blackened silver ear cuffs.
Note the tighter spiral wrapping over the upper curve, and the more-controlled shapes of the lower hoops. Instead of using manufactured chain, I wire-wrapped chain links from 20 gauge round silver wire, carved crystal quartz (rock crystal), and garnet beads. Why? One, I’m cheap and nobody had premade lengths of similar chain, in the right gauge, for anything near what I can afford. Two, the chain design mirrors the tight spiral of the ear hook.
Gemstones from The Bead Garden of Sedona.* Silver wire, quality tags, and ballpins from Plazko.com. These ear cuffs are extremely wearable, and I’ll likely put them up for sale online in the near future.
Height: 5.5″ Width (outer) 1.25″ (inner) 1.1″ Materials: sterling silver, garnet, crystal quartz. Weight: 1.2oz
Both pieces oxidized with Win-Ox patina solution from Lonnie’s Inc.
*Other gemstone suppliers may include Bead World, Beads Galore, and innumerable thrift store discoveries. I’ve been at this long enough that I may have forgotten where I got some of the beadstash, over the years. I’m lucky I remember what I have.
Note: there’s definitely going to be another Etsy Showcase blog post soon. It might be fun to contrast the very basic examples of wire wrapping with some of the truly sublime pieces out there. (I have a very high mountain to climb, just looking at the latter.)
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And now, a rant.
Today’s bit of the jewelry Craft Credo: whenever possible, make your own findings. Customize manufactured findings, chain, etc. with your own touches. I could buy very basic sterling silver ear jackets online for $2.5 to $5.00 each, from a few Etsy stores, and add my dangles.
But I’m picky. Most of those have un-anchored open wire loops that can pull apart. Often, the maker may not know the critical need to file and smooth-burnish every snipped wire end, to reduce cuts and snags. (One difference between hobby jewelers and those of us who sweated and scorched our way through bench jewelry training.)
Like these gold-tone wires, which are good, but not great:
For between $12 to $20 depending on gauge (thickness) I can buy 16 to 30 feet of sterling silver wire from my favorite suppliers, and have plenty of material to play with.
This way if I need a sturdy ear jacket with a certain kind of wrapping, I know it’s mine with a little planning and effort. If I want drapes of strong garnet, crystal, and silver wire-wrapped chain, I can make them myself, to my exact needs.
In nearly any creative field, hobbyists are limited to pre-made items or collections in kits. Artisans can jump right into altering products or making what they need from basic components. (Yes, I know how to smelt silver ore and make my own wire. In two historically accurate ways. I have no real need or time to do so.)
What stops many hobbyists, other than cost? Fear of failure.
Pffft. The first set of ear cuffs above are failures, by my standards. I can’t sell them because I’d be worried about them hurting someone. If the right forewarned victim comes along and offers to wear test them for a decade or so, I’m probably going to say ‘Go for it’. The near-certainty of failure did not stop me from making the damn things.
Because I learned while I was making them. Same with other art forms, trades, skills, and writing (especially writing!)
Fall in love with the process and the journey, and ‘failure’ becomes just another valuable step.