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May 22, 2012

Free Modified Herringbone Wire Wrap Tutorial



I came across this terrific FREE modified herringbone wire wrap tutorial this weekend.  If you are already familiar with a herringbone wire wrap, you will find it super easy.  If you've never done a herringbone wire wrap, you'll still find it super easy because the author took such great pictures and gave such simple directions! (Kudos to Heidi K for a great job!) I love these earrings.


I used a 5 mm round bead of unknown material (if you can identify it, let me know!) and 26g soft silver filled wire for the herringbone wrap.  I added a faceted carnelian bead to the 20g handmade ear wires just to give them a little extra POP!  They are antiqued using Liver of Sulphur and then polished to provide depth from the
antiquing process.

I know there's a lot of controversy about using silver filled wire out there - but so far I really like it.  Anything that looks great, holds up as well as the 'real' stuff and makes my jewelry more affordable is 'OK' in my book.  The soft temper is so easy to wrap with that it makes framing a bead a pleasure.  The half hard is a little 'springier' than I'm used to - but it does hold it's shape well in ear wires.  So far, I'm a fan.  I bought my silver-filled wire at CGM Findings and it was around half the price of sterling silver wire. 


Szarka of Magpie Gemstones has identified the stone as autumn jasper and based on a google image search, I think she is correct!  Thanks Szarka!

7 comments:

  1. Lisa ~ Thanks for sharing the tutorial for this herringbone weave. I'm going to use it for earrings too. I do like the carnelian bead on the earwire too! Looks great! I also joined ur blog ~ very nice.

    Claire

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  2. Thanks Claire. I wear these earrings a lot. A friend of mine gave me the beads (they are re-purposed from an old necklace she gave me) and she didn't even recognize them in their new form. The herringbone wrap is addicting!

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  3. I just found your blog! How fun!I am new to making jewelry and I would like to find a supplier that isn't as expensive as going to Michaels. The website you listed is just for retailers, so I was wondering if you knew of one that doesn't require a business licence? Thank you for all of your inspiration!!

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  4. You don't mention what type of jewelry you are making. For wire, findings, and metal beads try thunderbird supply, for stones and beads, Fire Mountain Gems (FMG) is a great place to start, but buy through someone like jetbeads to get the best prices. When I started making jewelry, I would also go to bead and gem shows so I could see the differences from vendor to vendor and found many suppliers that I like that way.

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  5. Just found this while searching for wire wrapped earring tutorials. Thanks!

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    1. This is still one of my favorite techniques. It's so easy and always turns out lovely. Enjoy! (and thanks to Heidi at Eat, Breathe, Design)

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  6. Hi Unfortunately the tutorial is gone now as is Eat, Breathe, Design, do you have another link by any chance, I'd like to give it a go. Thanks for an amazing blog. Christine Alexander

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