Some of the best advice I ever heard was don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle. And we all start at the beginning. Trust me, no one was born knowing intuitively how to weave wire. Everyone has to learn a few wirework basics first.
Like any craft, you need to build a strong foundation of basic skills and techniques. And once you’ve mastered those, you can move up to increasingly more challenging skills and techniques.
What you’ll find in this little corner of my website are the bricks and mortar (the wirework basics) for your wire weaving foundation. Then when you’re ready to move on to more challenging designs, be sure to check out my Wire Weaving Tutorials.
I also offer helpful Tools & Supply Resources for wire weavers. And if you’ve ever dreamed of starting your own jewelry business, I can help you get started! Check out my Jewelry Business Resources.
Welcome to Lesson 2 in my two-part series on chasing hammer techniques. In Lesson 1 we learned to effectively use the planishing side of the chasing hammer to form wire. Today we’re going to learn how to texture wire with the ball peen side of our hammers. The texturing technique that we’re going to learn …
One of the basic metalsmithing techniques that nearly all beginners struggle with is learning how to use a chasing hammer. Dive deeply into almost any jewelry making discipline, whether it’s wire weaving or silversmithing, and you’ll find that the chasing hammer is used pretty much universally across all disciplines. So it pays to learn to …
These pretty ear wires are the fifth and final installment of my 5-part ear wires series. I call these the Flourish French Hooks because of their sensuous soft curves. You may recognize the flourish as one that I use frequently in many of my jewelry designs. It’s a simple but effective way to treat the …
Welcome to the fourth installment of my 5-part ear wire series. Today we’re going to make square ear wires. These wires are like those that I make for my easy wire earrings in that they have much straighter lines than a standard rounded ear hook. And, yes, they’re technically not squares. But they do have …
Today we’re going to make another popular shape for ear wires. Interestingly, these wires don’t have a common name. Some people call them French Hoops. I’ve also seen Demi Hoops and Loop ear wires. And because I can’t seem to come up with a clever name for the ear wires we’re about to make, let’s …
Welcome to the final installment of my 3-part Marquis Earrings tutorial series! In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to quickly and easily add a beaded wrap to basic Marquis ear wires. This simple technique allows you to take plain ear wires and embellish them with loads of color, texture, and sparkle. In …
Welcome to Part 2 of the Marquis Earrings Series! As you may recall from Part 1, we made some pretty and versatile Marquis ear wires. Today we’re going to use those same ear wires to make the fun and flirty Beaded Tassel Marquis Earrings. In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to make …
Today I’m going to show you how to make two different styles of perfectly matched Marquis ear wires. I polled my Instagram followers recently about the kinds of wirework skills they’d like to learn. And I was pleasantly surprised to learn that many of you want to know how to make your own findings. That …
What’s your tolerance for risk? I tend to take a different (arguably a riskier) approach to feature focal beads in my wirework. In more typical wire-wrapped jewelry, the stones tend to be less of a focal point and more of an accent in the design. But I really love clean lines. I prefer my wirework …
Are you interested in learning wire weaving, but you’re nervous about working with wire? I get it. It’s always a little scary when you start working with new material for the first time. So, I designed these fun and Spooky Halloween Tassel earrings with the absolute beginner in mind. These cute and flirty earrings are …
