Win 5 Free Beading Tutorials from DIYBeadingClub.com!

I've been invited to participate in a give away from diybeadingclub.com.  Twenty lucky people will win a coupon code worth $12.90 that can be redeemed for 1 issue of monthly lessons.  Each lesson includes 5 designs, all with detailed step by step guides. Alternatively, the voucher can also be used to offset partial prices from other membership packages. All you need to do is send an email to michelle@crosssedwiresjewelry.com with the subject line "diybeading club giveaway".  The first 20 people to do so will win a voucher.  These vouchers expire on Jan 25th, 2013 so make sure you email me before then.  

DIY Snuggly Owl Pillow

Need to get a gift for a toddler?  Why not make this adorably snuggly owl pillow?  I made this one for my boyfriend's niece's first birthday.  The materials cost me about $25 and it took me about 2 hours to complete.  I used fleece so it's super soft.  The only thing I changed from the pattern is that I used buttons for the blacks of the eyes instead of sewing on a black circle.  For those who want to keep their costs down (who doesn't?), one thing I found was that it was much cheaper to buy a pillow and cut it open to get the polyester stuffing than to buy a bag of stuffing at the fabric store.  You can find the great free pattern and instructions here to make a snuggly owl of your very own.

How to Make Beaded Snowflake Earrings

Even though it's not winter yet, I made these super cute beaded snowflake earrings the other day.  They really sparkle and catch the light.  I thought I would share this free tutorial with you so you can make some of your very own.  (Excuse my quickly made diagrams, hopefully you can follow them easily!)

Crystal Snowflake Earring Materials

- 24 4mm crystal bicone beads

- 36 size 13/0 or 15/0 glass seed beads

- Fishing line or beading thread

- Glue (if using fishing line)

- 2 earwires

 1) Cut 20" of thread/fishing line.  Add 6 seed beads and pass the thread back through the first bead to make a loop. Make sure that you leave a thread tail that is a few inches long.

2) Add 1 bicone, 1 seed bead, 1 bicone, 1 seed bead and 1 bicone.  Sew back through the bead you first came out of in the central loop.  Then sew through the next seed bead in the central loop.

3) Add 1 bicone, 1 seed bead, 1 bicone and 1 seed bead.  Sew down through the bicone that makes up the right side of the outer loop in Step 2.  Sew through the seed bead you were coming out of at the beginning of this step.  Sew through the next seed bead in the central loop.

4) Repeat Step 3 more times.


5) Sew through the next seed bead in the central loop, up through the bicone that makes the left side of the loop you added in Step 2. 

6) Add 1 seed bead, 1 bicone and one seed bead.  Sew down through the bicone on the opposite side of the gap and through the seed bead you first passed through in Step 5. 

7) Weave both your thread ends to the outside of the snowflake.

8) Take the longer thread end and do a complete circle around the outside of the snowflake passing through the seed beads and bicones.  (You should go through 2 seed beads and then 1 bicone repeatedly).  At one point in between 2 seed beads, sew your thread through your ear wire loop and then continue on.

9) Once you return to the other thread end, tie a secure knot.  If I'm using fishing line, I like to add a tiny drop of epoxy onto the knot as a back up.  Wait for the glue to dry (if you added glue) and then snip the ends as close to the knot as possible.

Another Wire Wrapped Cab Ring

Normally, I'm pretty good at staring at a piece of wire jewelry and figuring out for the most part how it is made.  Nicole Hannah's Over Under Ring, however, had me stumped.  Wires were coming from where there should have been no more wires left to use and the stone in her picture looks like it could fall right out the top (though I'm sure that's not the case).  I broke down and bought her great tutorial, broke out my copper wire and gave it a go.  I ended up making my intitial loops too small, quickly ran out of places to tuck all my wires and had to improvise to finish of the ring.  I really like how it turned out though even though it doesn't have as many wraps around the stone as the original.  I then LOS'd the ring to give it even more depth and texture.  Sadly it is too big for my tiny fingers and so I have decided to sell it.  You can find it in the jewelry shop if you'd like to have it for your very own.

Nicole Hannah's over under ring

My take on the over under ring

My version after LOS

My Jewelry Supply Black Hole

I have a secret to share. I have a really bad habit of buying supplies that catch my eye, organising them into my many many boxes of beads and baubles and then doing nothing with them. Kind of like a black hole... for jewelry supplies.  Months ago I got a bulk order of stone cabochons.  They were and still are beautiful, and yet until two days ago I hadn't made anything with them.

Lately I've been trying to challenge myself.  For me this is wire wrapped rings.  They don't have an obvious beginning or end which my brain sometimes finds hard to incorporate into a design.  Having had some success using beads as a focal point I now set myself the challenge of coming up with a design that would set a stone in place.  No glue - that's cheating!  Just wire carefully wrapped to hold everything in place.

I ended up choosing a 10mm round labradorite cab for this project.  In my head my original thoughts were for a more angular design with corners above and below the stone.  However, when I got to wrapping the stone into place, the wire bundle just seems to flow so nicely around it that I had to go with it.  Here it is.  My first wire wrapped ring with a stone setting.

I had to wear it around for an entire day before I had convinced myself that the stone would actually stay in place.  Not because it felt loose or there were physical signs of it doing so, just because I couldn't believe my first attempt had been successful and actually looked good too!  I've decided to put this ring up for sale.  Though I enjoy making them, I'm not not a big ring wearer.  (Wearer?  I don't think that's an actual word, but I'm adding it to my personal dictionary).  Hopefully someone will get as much enjoyment out of wearing it as I did out of making.  I've also made a tutorial on how to make on of your very own if you're of the craftier persuasion which you can find in the tutorial shop.  I'm going to have to make a dent in my collection of stone cabs now and actually put them to good use.

Sparkle, Shimmer and Shine with Sweetdelight.ca

Guess what! I've been invited to participate in sweetdelight.ca's September 2012 sample box promotion.  The theme is Sparkle, Shimmer and Shine, so my jewelry fits right in.  How it works.  I send in a whole bunch of jewelry pieces to the Sweet Delight team.  You can then go to http://www.sweetdelight.ca/buythebox.html and buy a sample box for a grand total of $26 including shipping and handling. What a steal!  You then get a box mailed to you filled with samples and full size products from a variety of businesses focusing on bath, beauty and style worth way more than $26.  I know I would sell some of my pieces for that amount or more just by themself.  Here's a sneak peak of some of the pieces that I sent.

Wire Wrapped Copper Earrings

I don't usually use copper in my jewelry.  However, I was inspired by Taniri's Helen Earrings to give it a try because the oxidation makes it look dark and rich rather than....orange.  I used 18 gauge round wire for the structure and wrapped those with 24 gauge round wire.  I usually use thinner wire for fine wrapping, however, I needed to get these done fast because I was making them to wear to a wedding this weekend and thus didn't have time to wait for a wire order to show up in the mail.  I used the hard boiled egg method for the initial oxidization and have ordered some liver of sulfur to make them even darker.  The beads are 4mm amethyst AB crystal bicones.  These have great texture to them, which I love.  Maybe I'll have to work with copper more often.

The Inspiration

My Interpretation