Tampilkan postingan dengan label jewelry tutorial. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label jewelry tutorial. Tampilkan semua postingan

Rabu, 05 Maret 2014

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Writing A Craft Book: Why It's Important To Share Your Ideas



A few days ago I got an advance shipment of my new book, Boho Chic Jewelry,
and I couldn't be more excited! Yay! It's finally here!



Hot off the press!


Writing the book was tremendous work, but so worth it. To be able to share ideas
and inspire other folks to create is priceless. I know that many of you who follow
this blog are artists of one medium or another, so I think you can understand what I 
mean when I say that you can't rush creativity. Working under writing deadlines
is hard work and can be very stressful, but the rewards of having a finished book in 
your hands are greater than you'd think. It's all about sharing what you know 
with others, so that they can learn and create too!

When my publisher first approached me about writing the book, it was a lot to think
about. A couple of friends and relatives asked me things like, "Do you really want to
give away all of your secrets and techniques?" and, "You worked so hard to build
your business up to what it is today, why would you want to give all of that away to
strangers?" But I didn't have to think about it for very long at all. 



Before & after broken china jewelry


First of all, writing a book is a huge opportunity, and most folks go about it by putting
 together proposals and approaching publishers on their own. Because the publisher 
approached me instead of vice versa, I actually felt completely honored that they thought 
my work, designs, and ideas were good enough to warrant publication. I had been creating
 my china jewelry for many, many years. But I also create other types of jewelry too!



Antique lace jewelry

Probably the one thing that ties all of my work together is that I use unusual
materials in most of my designs. I saw this (publishing a book) as not just an 
opportunity to show others how to create jewelry from broken china, but to 
show others how they can create jewelry from all types of other materials too. Writing 
this book was a chance to help other people explore and use their own creativity! 
What could be better than that?


Pendants made from an antique glass buttons


 For this book, I had to put together twenty five different projects...that isn't just a lot 
of ideas, it's also a lot of different ways to give people to look at things creatively! 
So most importantly, in writing this book, I had the opportunity to inspire others.
 That was reason enough for me.

But little did I know of the rewards that would come once I started writing and putting 
 the projects together. They were greater than I ever could imagine.
(to be continued...) 




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Sabtu, 03 November 2012

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Bohemain Mother Of Pearl Button Necklace Tutorial


I've had these old mother of pearl buttons lying around on my workbench just 
waiting to be made into something special.  Before I turn some of them into a home 
decor project though, I picked the nicest ones out and decided to turn them into a
beautiful piece of Bohemian button jewelry. Check it out! 





I measured and cut a length of sterling silver chain



 I cut some 3 to 4" lengths of sterling silver wire



Threaded a wire through a button hole then bent into a U shape



Pressed the wire snugly against the button




I wrapped the shorter end of the wire around the longer end



 I then created many!



I found the center link of my chain and attached the first button with a wrapped loop



Then I attached the rest of the larger buttons, equally spaced on the chain



Then I added the smaller buttons



Then I gave each one an extra wrap of sterling wire, nice and thick



Deciding whether to add some Amethyst or Apatite gems... decisions, decisions! 



I wrapped a few blue Apatite briolettes and then decided to add some crystal clear quartz beads too.




I love how these look like raindrops! I attached the quartz crystals to the buttons.




Almost finished... next this will go into Liver of Sulfur mixture to oxidize the silver...




Liver of Sulfur oxidizes the silver and turns it black




How it looks after the Liver of Sulfur bath...next it will be polished up with silver polish to bring out some of the shiny silver to create a nice contrast...





All polished up and finished!



I love how this turned out!




What do you think?






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