4 New Free Brick Stitch Beading Projects

Busy bee

Well, it's been a busy week!  My first week of publishing on the beadwork.about.com website as their new beadwork expert.  It's very exciting, but so much to learn!  

I'll still be publishing my personal website in addition to frequently updating the beadwork site.  My guess is that you will be more likely to find wire projects here and stitching projects there, but there will be crossover in both places.

What's new?

Besides the new publishing home, I have several new free projects to share with you!  

All brick stitch, because that is one of my favorites and I think it is super easy to learn.

How to Wrap Beads to the Outside of a Wire Frame, Free Tutorial

One of the simplest ways to embellish wire is to add beads - either by adding beads directly onto the wire shape or by wrapping beads around the wire.

Today, I'll show you one of the ways that I add beads to the outside of a wire frame like I did with this mixed metal wire heart pendant.

DIY Beaded Heart Frame Necklace Pendant

Hard (heart) knocks

I think I'm Ms. Smarty Pants because I figured out how to make multiple heart shaped wire frames at once.  And then, guess what?  

I met my match... And it's name is brass.

Brass knuckles

I guess you should be able to figure out that brass is pretty hard when they make implements designed to hurt people, like brass knuckles, from it.  

So, when I tried to bend 4 pieces of 18g brass wire just like I did with the 18g copper wire - do you know what I got?  Depressed - lol.  

Actually - I  got four pieces of wire that look like the left side of the picture, when what I wanted is four nice shapely hearts like the one on the right.

And the solution for situations like these?  Well, there are a couple. (And, if I include Margaritas, there's more than a couple)...

Free Tutorial: Channel Set Garnet Rondelle Wire Wrap Hoop Earrings

DIY Garnet Hoops

Year of Jewelry 2015 progress update: 2 weeks down, 50 to go...

The theme for this week is garnet, which happens to be the birthstone for all of you January babies.

I love garnets, and with all of the wire hearts I've been making, the idea of deep red garnets wrapped in gold really appealed to me.  I don't know where the rest of the design came from, but I can (and will) show you how I made them.

More Wire Heart Jewelry Designs From Free Heart Tutorial

Decisions, decisions

Since I discovered I can make four of these wire heart frames at once, I've got a whole bunch of wire heart frames on hand.

And I'm having the time of my life thinking of ways to decorate all of them!

Here's the batch from last night.

First up, a lacy heart that reminds me of a doily or Valentine's Day candy box.

How to Make Your Wire Jewelry Four Times Faster (and Better!)

Save Time Making Jewelry

What if you could make four pieces of wire jewelry in slightly more time than it normally takes you to make one?

Silly question, right?

I love making jewelry, so I don't mind the time I spend doing it.  But, there are some times that you just need to do something a little quicker.

For example, this week I'm working on some different methods to add beads to wire heart shaped frames.  My focus right now is on the beading part, not how to make the wire heart frames, but I prefer handmade frames to store bought.

I decided to see if I could speed up the process and make four frames at once.  

And guess what?  It works!!

How to Make Wire Heart Jewelry

Use this free jewelry tutorial to make a heart shaped wire frame for a Valentine's jewelry DIY. You can use it to make your own pendants or earrings - and embellish the wire heart with beads.

DIY Wire Heart for Jewelry Making

I have some store bought heart shaped wire beading frames (on the left) that I used as a template to make my own for Valentine's Day jewelry making projects. You can do the same by printing the outline of a heart as a template.

These heart shaped wire frames are perfect to add beads to, either with wire or by weaving on the beads with thread.  My wire heart is about 20mm wide and high, but once you get the hang of making these, you can make them any size you want.