You missed it! Next class in Bracken - Spirals and Forks Rings - Jan 2 - Fri

Spirals and Forks Rings

Make 2 fully adjustable rings! One technique, two different results - one with piles of spirals and the other reminiscent of ancient fork rings, with many more styles possible. Learn to bind wire, make spirals, and forge with a hammer.

*Techniques utilized – forge and hammer wire, proper use of tools, oxidize metal.
*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

Jan 2 - Fri -- 12-3 or 6-9

Sign up online or go visit the ladies at And The Bead Goes On

Happy Merry Blessed Christmas to each and every one!

Perhaps some wonder why - I wish you enough - ?
Those who have been around email chains since forever probably recognize it. I spent some time tonight, wandering thru google, and found some interesting versions. I also found Bob Perkins, who says he's the original author, and says it was featured in Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul. Spend some time wandering around his site.
Here is the pertinent part, and my wish for each of you - May you have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain you -

"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much
bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Goodbye."

My dear friends, I wish YOU enough...

Class Friday Dec 26 in Bracken

Join me on Friday to learn the Toodles Weave.

This is the weave which dear Denise Peck, editor of Step by Step Wire Jewelry, asked me to write for the magazine. This weave makes beautiful rings, as you can see above, and bezels for pendants, and bails like my Tree of Life, or use it in smaller bits for interesting detail and texture in the midst of other projects.

Learn the Weave, then go all out and make a bracelet ala Princess Leia Goes to the Beach -

Treat yourself! Come have a play with wire day!
Sign up now, online, at And The Bead Goes On Go to the calendar for December and scroll down.

Choose the daytime class - 12-3 - or the evening class - 6-9
Instruction for the Toodles Weave Adjustable Ring - $45 plus the wire.

A Tumbling experiment

Ooooo la la, so purty the wire looks! WWJ was having a discussion about tumbling and how it effects glass. So, I put all these babies into my Lortone, with one pound of stainless steel shot, a few flat glass marbles for bulk, no water or other extranious matterials.
They tumbled for about 4 hours last night.
The glass beads are all Czech glass and they came thru beautifully. No sign that they were busy all night.
The wire, OMGolly, it's beeeuuutifuuuullll! So smooth and shiny and sparkly.
Why don't I use my tumbler more often???
Oh ya, 'cause it's such a pitb to dig it out from it's little storage spot. Sometimes I reaaaalllly miss my workshop!

Ghost Kitty joins the blog

Awww, Ghost Kitty wanted to join the fun and be on the blog. (He's trying to make up for peeing on my bed. Again) Here he is in his favorite position - right in the middle of my work. Well, actually, he's polite enough this time to lay slightly off to the side.... He adores chewing on my copper wire.

His beloved puff balls! It's absolutely amazing to witness the life he can infuse into those balls, throwing them high in the air and batting them like baseballs. Rolling and tumbling, hopping and jumping.
Second best fun is wrestling those evil wicked rugs! Holey moley those claws are vicious!

How can I stay mad at such a cute lil' thang? Hmmmmmm.....
Need to go to the laundry and wash those bed clothes...
Again!
OK, I understand you don't want to go outside to the litter box when it's freezing cold and windy and rainy, so make Himself leave the litter box inside by peeing on His bedclothes!

Spirals and Forks Rings - - Class in Bracken - Jan 2 - Fri

Spirals and Forks Rings

Make 2 fully adjustable rings! One technique, two different results - one with piles of spirals and the other reminiscent of ancient fork rings, with many more styles possible. Learn to bind wire, make spirals, and forge with a hammer.

*Techniques utilized – forge and hammer wire, proper use of tools, oxidize metal.
*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

Jan 2 - Fri -- 12-3 or 6-9

Sign up online or go visit the ladies at And The Bead Goes On

Classic Cubed Cuff Bracelet - Class

Three hour class

Learn to make the basic wire cuff bracelet. In class we will be using cubed beads and heavy wire. After learning the technique, use round or bicone or many other shapes of beads, large or small, multiple rows of beads or no beads at all.
Join the class for tips, hints and samples of other possibilities.

*Techniques utilized – proper use of tools, oxidize metal.
*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

Sign up online or go visit the ladies at And The Bead Goes On

Canceled - Jellyroll Cuff Bracelet - Class in Bracken - Jan 23 - Fri

This class will be canceled, due to my being invited to teach at the Bead Jamboree bead show in Austin Fri, Sat and Sun. Details about That Adventure here.

Jellyroll Cuff Bracelet

A few beads and a bit of wire, viola! Your very own wearable art! Change the beads, change the look entirely! So very many bracelet possibilities. Positively stunning with Swarovski crystals!

*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

Jan - -- canceled

Sign up online or go visit the ladies at And The Bead Goes On

Hammered Heart Pendant - Class

Three hour class

Hammered Heart Pendant

Hearts and sparkles, won't you be mine? Hammer some copper, wrap some sterling for detail, make a few jumprings, dangle a whole assortment of sparklies, then turn a bit of wire and some cord into a necklace to show off your lovely new creation. This cute heart makes a great Mother gift - use birthstone colors for all the family. Done in red and white and clear, a perfect Valentine statement.

*Techniques utilized – forge and hammer wire, proper use of tools, oxidize metal, cage tiny beads.
*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

Sign up online or go visit the ladies at And The Bead Goes On

Butterfly Kisses Bracelet - Class in Bracken - Feb 13 - Fri

Butterfly Kisses Bracelet

Butterfly wings gently kissing your wrist. Choose your favorite color beads, add some copper wire and learn to bind and spiral wire, forge with a hammer and fashion a clasp.

*Techniques utilized – forge and hammer wire, proper use of tools, oxidize metal.
*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

Feb 13 - Fri -- 12-3 or 6-9

Sign up online or go visit the ladies at And The Bead Goes On

Border Wrap a Square Stone Pendant - Class in Bracken - Feb 18 - Wed

Border Wrap a Square Stone Pendant

The border wrap is a classic, ancient and most versatile setting for jewelry making, with unlimited possibilities from simple to extraordinarily ornate. Learn the Border Wrap concept with a Square so you can easily adapt the wrap to your favorite shaped stones.

*Techniques utilized – Learn to measure your stone, choose the appropriate placement for your bundle wires, bind several wires together to form a bezel to frame your stone, then set your muse free to embellish the details.
*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

Feb 18 - Wed - - 12-3 or 6-9

Sign up online or go visit the ladies at And The Bead Goes On

Clover Links with Green Dangles Bracelet - Class in Bracken - March 6 - Friday

Clover Links with Green Dangles Bracelet

Show off your Irish spirit wi' the wearin' o' the green and four leaf clovers.
The lovely little links make a wonderful base for a charm bracelet. Add lots of pretty dangles in your favorite colors.

*Techniques utilized – forge and hammer wire, proper use of tools, oxidize metal.
*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

March 6 - Fri - - 12-3 Only


Sign up here or go visit the ladies at And The Bead Goes On

Toodles Ring - Class

Toodles Ring

Three hours - 12-3 OR 6-9pm

Whimsical Hearts for Love or Spirals for the Cycles of Life.
Learn to weave wire in the Toodles Weave style with this cute Adjustable Ring. Choose the finish you like best.

*Techniques utilized – forge, weave, spiral and hammer wire, proper use of tools, oxidize metal.
*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

Sign up here or go visit the ladies at And The Bead Goes On

Cross Pendant - Class in Bracken - March 13 - Fri

Cross Pendant

The symbol of redemption through thousands of years. Learn to make a lovely free form cross embellished with a variety of sparkly beads woven with merry abandonment.

*Techniques utilized – forge and hammer wire, proper use of tools, oxidize metal.
*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

March 13 - Fri - 12-3 OR 6-9pm

Here is a larger version, 9" tall, which looks fabulous on a wall. Use your newly learned skills to make one for each of your friends.

Butterfly Kisses Bracelet - Class

Butterfly Kisses Bracelet
Beginners welcome, but some previous experience reduces frustration.

Butterfly wings gently kissing your wrist. Choose your favorite color beads, add some copper wire and learn to bind and spiral wire, forge with a hammer and fashion a clasp.

*Techniques utilized – forge and hammer wire, proper use of tools, oxidize metal.
*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

March 25 - Wed -- 12-3 or 6-9

Sign up here or go visit the ladies at And The Bead Goes On

Tree of Life Pendant - - Class

Tree of Life

Metaphor, mystical, symbolic - found in every ancient culture in one form or another. The roots reaching into the earth, into the underworld, the branches reaching high above, into the heavens.
Design your own special tree. Use tiny stone bits for a leafy tree, or fill the branches with your family birthstones. Learn the Toodles Weave making the bail.

*Techniques utilized – forge and hammer wire, proper use of tools, oxidize metal.
*Skill Level: Beginner -- Never handled wire before? Come join the addiction!

March 18 - Wed -- 12-3 only. No night class, bead society duties demand my presence.

Sign up here or go visit the ladies at And The Bead Goes On