So… I haven’t written in a while. In fact, I haven’t written in a long time, because this past year I realized a few things that led me to reinvent my business. When I started working with metal and making jewelry, I had no tools and very little experience. The absence of these two things, combined with staring at the same plain old metal blanks, made it pretty hard to come up with great ideas, and even harder to feel confident about the quality of what I made.
Now it’s been 15 years. I have lots of tools, equipment, and a fair amount of experience. And, while I’m a self-taught metalsmith, I learned much of what I know from other metalsmiths who were willing to share what they knew. I think it’s time for me to pass that on. So while I still make jewelry, I’ve now created a line of artisan jewelry supplies that contains a great variety of shapes, textures, and metals for all sorts of jewelry making needs.
And, I’m offering a series of free, downloadable tutorials with basic techniques and projects to get you started.
The focus of this blog is to introduce the first tutorial in my “Beginner Basics” series: How To Make a Simple Wire Loop. When I first started, mastering just a simple loop almost defeated me. It was important. It’s the foundation for so many things you do with wire. I read books. I looked at pictures. Mine were never perfect. Or even close. They looked more like I’d tried to chew them into shape.
After ruining quite a bit of wire, I thought back to some of my earlier training in painting and pottery, and I realized that the trick is in the wrists. 🤔 In fact – that was major, life-altering (yes… I said life-altering!) epiphany in general about working with metal. We think of metal as rigid, strong, unbending. But guess what? It’s not really true. You don’t have to force it… it’s not a contact sport. It’s more like yoga…fluid. You just have to learn the “feel” and the metal will partner up with you to get the job done! Wrists are naturally fluid. So…when you’re looking at the tutorial and/or watching the short video link, be sure to pay attention to how my wrists are guiding my hands. (We’ll talk more about this over time.)
So, I’ll stop talking so you can see the tutorial…How To Make a Simple Wire Loop
As a bonus… you can see quick video!
And, don’t forget to signup for my mailing list to get 20% off your first order … and the latest tutorials!
