Green wire chains (Jewelry Making Mojo Challenge)

Having worked in the potato fields this week too, I started this week's assignment later than ideal, but I did spend time thinking about it during work. I knew right away, when reading that the assignment of the week was to make your own findings, that I wanted to make a chain. I also knew early on that I wanted it to have an organic feel with wrapped links. Perhaps adding a few beads or mixing metals. As you can see, I didn't get very far this time, though.

First I made the brass link.. It has a loop on one end to connect it to the next link with so that the rings lie flat. Unfortunately the wire was very hard and I couldn't, at the moment, anneal it so instead I abandoned the chain after just one link. (Though I realise that for the sake of the challenge I could've just made a bar and pretended it was a toggle clasp, but it was chains I wanted to make.) Rummaging through the wire box, I picked up a spool of fine gauge green wire which had been lying there for ages. Time to use some of it!

At first the idea was to make links similar to the brass link, but after wrapping the wire seven times around a marker pen and wrapping it, the link felt too big and flimsy. Maybe I should twist it in the middle? Did that. But instead of just keeping it like that, it made me think of foxtail chains so of cause I had to try making one of those out of the wire links. I kind of like the result, but the chain turned out very rigid, no flexibility at all.

Instead of tweaking it to make the fit better, it made me want to try another variation where I didn't wrap the links. While I liked it, it also made we want to try a variation with bigger links.

For the last variation, I didn't fold the links and just wrapped them together in one stop before adding the next link. Again, this produced a link that feels a bit flimsy, but with thicker wire (or perhaps mixing the fine gauge wire with a heavier one) I'd probably be ok. Maybe I'll wrap a flower bead or leaves around each link to keep the fine wires together and prevent them from snagging on something.

2x Artisan Clay: my may necklaces

So... I was supposed to blog about these a couple of days ago, but each day I've seemed to run into things that had to take priority over beading. Somewhat embarrassing forgetting deadlines. Putting it mildly. Well, better late than never I hope? Now at last you can see them, a couple of necklaces I made with the pretty crackled glass pendants from Artisan Clay. To see what Kristie and her design team made with these pendants and cabochon, check out this blog post.

These pendants feel like the perfect thing to frame and that's what I did, creating a RAW bezel using shiny petrol Gütermann seed beads. The bezel is embellished with amethyst charlottes and cinnamon luster hex cuts, which I stitched with an apricot red thread: the combination of the red thread and dark blueish beads underneath give the beads a special blended -- almost glowing -- tone that's hard to capture in a photo.

Normally you bezel cabochons, but it's almost just as easy to make a bezel on a pendant with loop. You just bead around and "through" the wire loop, which is a sturdy alternative to a beaded bail. Also, by attaching the middle row of beads to the loop it was easier to measure and fasten the bezel without having it sliding over the edge of the pendant.

The pendant is hanging from a doubled braided silk cord, which is space-dyed in dark green and blue. I choose the colour to balance the green and teal/petrol pendant with the purple frame.



For my second pendant, I choose a different approach. Here, I didn't want to obscure any part of the pretty pendant. Inspired by the black colour of the loop, I chose to work with blackened iron wire. I like to work with it, not least when doing designs inspired by nature. I think it has a certain dark romantic mood about it that I like.

This design is a variation of the links I made for this bracelet. I planned on doing double links then, but found it too time-consuming and dull. This time I didn't give up as easily. Still can decide whether I think it's too messy or just a pretty and natural tangle, though... I like the design, it's just that I wonder if I couldn't have executed the idea better. Hope you like it.

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I really enjoyed working with these pendants. I've seen them many times and they've had a place on my ever-growing wishlist of beads and components I want to buy so I was really glad that Kristie gave me this opportunity. Thank you!

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By the way, when I took these photos, I came up with yet another idea for the pendants. I'll show you what it was tomorrow.

Forged copper rings

Haven't I showed you these before? I made a coupled of hammered copper rings from 12 G (2 mm) bare copper Artistic Wire as one of my inspiration projects for Fru Pärla (you can find the rest here or in the shop's gallery).
They're really simple to make: just anneal and hammer, anneal and hammer, anneal and hammer. I don't even have a ring mandrel to I shaped these (with my hands and a hammer) around a sort of cardboard core from a note paper roll. It worked. I created different rustic textures using the ball on a ball-peen hammer, the wedge of a cross-peen hammer and, on one of the rings, coarse sandpaper -- se pic below for a close-up. I hand-polished all rings to a subtle shine, except for one that I oxidized using the egg method and one that I blackened.

Flower charms with stamen

A simple way to make flowers with stamen is to take some ball-end headpins, make loops on them and attach to an eyepin before putting the flower on it. Well, here I wanted to use my thin copper headpins and instead of using the more common method I just outlined, I pushed three pins through the hole of the bead, distorting them a bit so the flower wouldn't slide all the way down to the ball ends. Then I finished it off by making a messy wrapped loop using all three wire ends.


I think this is a very simple technique, though it can be a bit messy wrapping three wires instead of just one. Sometimes I make a wrapped loop with all three wires, other times I just loop one of them and wrap the rest around the first wrap. As the wire is relatively thin, I worry that just one wire is too fragile.

The colour of the two flowers at the top is tanzanite celsian while the last charm (it's two photos of one charm) is tropical topaz, a blend of brown and olivine green. I'm especially fond of the latter, eventhough the colours are something you'd probably see in leaves rather than flowers.

Vintaj November challenge entry

I haven't participated in the Vintaj blog challenges for ages, it feels like. But this Friday I sat down and told myself I just had to do something this time. The result was this bracelet, which I haven't named yet.

The theme of the challenge was wandering journey and at first I had a few very diparat ideas I mused over, but in the end I put them aside and instead found a new approach to the theme. For someone who's never been outside Scandinavia, what is the longest journey I've made? Apart from the usual strolls around here and the hikes in school, when do I wander the most? Well, in my dreams of cause. In dreams, everyone can travel far and wide. During night -- and sometimes also day -- we can make the most fantastic journeys and wander along magical paths. Not through the world outside, but the universe inside.

For the dreamy quality, the soft air of reverie, I choose to work with romantic "rose opal" tones. Pink is not a colour I use very often, but I've accumulated some light pink opalescent beads lately and they seemed perfect for this. I used picasso finish Czech glass beads, where the brownish finish blended well with the Vintaj brass components. The rows of dreamy beads and brass flowers are held by two swallows, birds that also fit the theme. Not just soaring high in the air, wandering freely above our heads, but also because of their annual great travels: migrating to Africa in autumn and returning to us here in the North again in spring/summer. They travel far and free -- like we can do in our dreams.


If you like this bracelet and want to vote for it, you find the poll here. Votes are always very appreciated. Don't forget to check out the other lovely entries as well. Unfortunatly, it's one one vote per person so you can just vote for one of your favourites. Last day to vote is 19 November.

Lucky Fridays? Island Flower necklace

So, last Friday I got an e-mail saying I'd won a candy giveaway. 1 kg (6 bags) of Gott & Blandat Sötsur, which I got yesterday. Today I opened my mail in the afternoon to find an e-card fron Rings & Things saying my Island Flowers necklace above was on of Polly's Picks in their Your Designs Rock Contest. That is, not an official prize winner, but I still get a (much appreciated) $50 gift certificate.

Polly's Picks are defined as "designs our editor especially likes despite the fact that they did not win a formal prize. These designs are often simple, practical and/or whimsical examples of how to use Rings & Things components well." This is the second time one of my entries have received this honour. In 2007, the first year I made something for this contest, my Oak Island jewellery set was picked.

This is a slightly different piece of jewellery compared to what I usually make. Flowers is nothing unusual, but the size and chosen material is. Also, to work with the larger focal piece, the necklace is somewhat longer than the princess lenght I mostly seem to prefer. Instead of taking inspiration from nature in my surroundings, this was a necklace that had me thinking of tropical islands with white shells in the sand by the beaches and brown coconuts in palm trees.

I made the flowers from shiny cowrie/cowry shells with the backs cut off, which made them easy to weave together using 20 G vintage bronze wire (coloured copper). I got the inspiration partially from those shell motifs with embroidery floss and an occasional bead that you can buy for embellishing clothing and bags, but instead of gluing the shells to a backing material, I chose wirework. Three flowers are wrapped together to make a larger focal piece (approx. 13cm measured from side to side). The focal piece is suspended using dark brown cotton cord that has been folded in half and slightly twisted to hold the two cords together (held in place by 'messy-style' wire wraps). To it has been added two pairs of 'leaves,' also wrapped with the same wire.

The necklace started out consisting of just one flower, but I felt I wanted to make something larger. (Not just because it was for an American contest.) So it became three flowers. The leaves might be a bit redundant, but I wanted to make something with a bit more embellishments than the usual 'Scandinavian minimalism' I so often lean towards in my designs.

The difficult part of this necklace was finding a matching clasp. I figured it best to make my own using the 20 G wire. But why make an ordinary hook-and-eye closure?, I thought, seeing a pair of small cowrie shells with large openings. So I attached the hook to one shell and used the other shell instead of an eye loop.

Your can find my necklace here in the R&T gallery where you also find all the winners and other Polly's Picks.

First flower of spring?

Ok, I admit to being slightly obsessed by seeing the first flower of the year around here. I need spring flowers right now. Most of our garden is still covered in snow so while it might be mid-March we still haven't got even one snowdrop. Nor any of the winter aconites that normally blossom already in December. I see signs of spring around here though. Above is a pic of what it looks like near the foundation by the Western wall of our house. Tiny, tiny leaves have begun to sprout.


But no flowers. So I had to make my own.


It's just a sweet white lucite flower on a blackened copper wire (with balled end acting as stamen).

Photos of a flower bracelet

Well, I was going to take a few pics of a new bracelet I made for my inspiration gallery at Fru Pärla, but then I couldn't stop taking more photos. So I ended up with a bunch of slightly more "artistic" pictures of it. Not all are great, but I just wanted to share the fun.

Vintage bronze rivoli pendants -- a backside view

I took this photo to show the back of my "prong set" rivoli that I showed yesterday. Here you can see how the setting is made in a star shape with prongs wrapped around the side of the crystal. One person commented that it looked almost as pretty on this side as the front and I think you could probably made a reversible pendant if you have the right stone for it (the foil is not that pretty that I could do it with this pendant).

Vintage bronze rivoli pendants

Earlier this week I got a "goodiebag" of wire and beads (and buttons) from Swedish bead shop Fru Pärla [= Mrs Bead] as I had taken the opportunity to volunteer and make a few creations for the inspiration galleries. The first thing I made was these rivoli pendants using the 20 G Vintage Bronze wire I got.
One thing I hate about photos is that they enlarge details: the wrapped loops look so much more sloppy on pic than IRL. Ok, now I've said that.
To the left you see a 16 mm crystal volcano Preciosa rivoli attached to a variation of the classic prong setting. I don't really have the tools to set a stone like this so I use what I have. Ideally I would have wanted to press the prongs closer to the crystal, but I was afraid of scratching or chipping it. Still pleased with the result, especially considering I rarely, if ever, make prong settings.
To the right is a 18 mm crystal sahara Preciosa rivoli that I set in a different way. This time I made wavy "frame", using a wire jig to keep the points even, that was shaped and wrapped around the perimetre of the crystal. The back look exactly the same as the front.
I had no intention of making anything steampunk-related (though vintage bronze is the perfect colour for steamy jewellery), but I realised the bigger pendant has the same colours as this book cover. Not my usual palette, but I quite like it. Nice contrast between metal and water (the crystal reflects the colours of the coating in a way reminding of moving water).

This was also my first time using the "invisible thread suspension method" when photographing. I think it made a huge difference as the pendants don't have flat backs, making it hard to shoot them at the same time. As usual I sing praise to Neat Image, my knight in shining armour now that my camera -- having been dropped in the floor a couple of times -- give me such noisy pics. (Keeping on the name dropping I might add the photo is edited in Picasa, the programme I use now that I can't access my laptop with my favourite, Photoshop Elements.)

A touch of India

I haven't made much jewellery lately so I keep showing some "old favourites". This is a necklace I was very pleased with after finishing. And very tired: it is made up of rather small hand-wrapped wire shapes, made only using a pair of round-nose pliers and cutters. Using a jig was out of question, not only since I don't get along very well with jigs, but also because I wanted smaller components than a jig can make.

My starting point was this lovely open filigree pendant with cloisonné details. I chose to pick up two colours from the enamel: amethyst and tuquoise. Fist, I made links using bugle beads in both these colours (silver-lined), golden charlottes and golden craft wire (non-tarnish brass). Note how I deliberately bent the loops too the sides so that they would not hang straight, but in a slight zig-zag pattern, when worn.

Then I made basic "3-loop connectors" using the same wire and adding a amethyst s/l seed bead in the middle. I made one without the seed, the centre connector/link I added the pendant to. I liked these two shapes together with 2 mm jump rings I made from wire (not fun, making all those tiny rings). The clasp is also handmade by me.

I'm so glad the necklace turned out well and I got some lovely comments on it -- eventhough it's a bit hard to see how delicate and pretty it is in my photo. I'd be horrible if I had wasted all that time and patience it took to make.

The cloisonné pendant is Chinese, but the finished necklace made me think of India, hence the name. I've also made another piece of jewellery using Chinese cloisonné, but ending up with an Indian name: the simple bracelet below from 2006 is called Indian Spice. (I was real pleased to find that my silverfoiled beads matched the cloisonné beads bought on a seperat occasion: both have metallic lustre that shines through and hold the piece together.)

Flowers, berries and black iron

I like using blackened annealed iron wire fot its variegated, matte colour. Probably inspired by the fact that it is also a type of wire traditionally used in luffarslöjd/trådtjack, wirework made by bums in the early 20th century (they picked up surplus wire to work with, thus avoiding be arrested for vagrancy).

Above is an exemple of a creation I made after being given a bead challenge to make a picture frame. For it I used 0,7 mm iron wire and West-african flower beads made from recycled glass. The beads are very uneven, but very pretty. I had never done a frame using wire before so there are many things that could be done in a different way, but I still like it.


In the same challenge I also got to make a pen holder. Using the same 0,7 mm wire, I made this twined basket that remind me a bit of the baskets we used to pick potatoes in as kids working at our grandparents' farm. Not that it was decorated with flowers and leaves, but the sparse twisted wire is more or less the same. To make a dense bottom, stopping the pens and pencils from going through it, I used vaxed linen cord.

Then, in a word challenge, I got the word gooseberries. As soon as I got it I thought of my strangely coloured cat's eye beads -- and barbed wire. As gooseberry bushes only mean one thing to me: thorns!

Growing up in the countryside on a small farm, we still used the old-fashioned ways sometimes. This included using barbed wire instead of electric fences every summer when a couple of grandpa's heifers were grazing on our lands. We now have tonnes of that springy, errant wire in storage. It is difficult to work with, especially seeing I couldn't anneal it, but having held and pulled barbed wire since I was a toddler I was experienced enough to wrap it without being scratched more than once.

I only had a few cat's eye beads so I decided to make it autumnal, the last gooseberries for the season left on a near defoliated bush. I attached the berries and leaves using handmade iron wire headpins, stringed onto more wire, which I twisted together making a short vine. As you can see, the vine is separate from the thorny barbed-wire wreath.


Of cause I also make jewellery using this wire. More about that some other time.

Egyptian Revival my way

I will keep posting pics of jewellery I've made during the last year. This set was a little something I made for a forum contest at Smyckestillverkning iFokus, on the time Antiken (the Ancient times). Didn't win, but didn't finish last either. Photos of the winner and runner-up can be found here and all the entries a posted in this thread.

The set is called Sol och måne över Nilen, Sun and Moon over the river Nile. It is not directly inspired my antique jewellery, but rather has more in common with the egyptian revival trend of the early 20th century. The set is made using brass and czech glass in a variegated turquoise.

I chose Egypt as they were known for loving jewellery in those days -- and they had a cat goddess. Most famous for the wide beaded collars, but rich and poor alike also used many other types of jewellery: necklaces, rings, amulets, bracelets, cuffs, ankle bracelets, tiaras/hair ornaments and earrings.

First I made the earrings with lotus motifs in both the chandeliers and beads. The lotus is a flower filled with symbolics for the Egyptians and often portraited in egyptian art and mythology. What make it stand out from other flowers is the fact that it was seen as as symbol of both the sun and the moon.

Egyptians did use glass beads, but not this kind of czech pressed-glass, but the unusual style of ear cuffs actually has its origin in the Antique Macedonia -- mixing cultures here. Very discrete and comfortable even it it doesn't look that way on photo.

I also choose to add a brooch, a modern interpretation of the amulets worn in those days. A beautiful, large scarab with a glossy MOP pendant, which is meant to symbolize the rising sun that the scarab lifts in a well-known pose. I glued it to the back of the brass stamping and added a brooch pin. The hind legs of the beetle was bent towards each other until they met. This gave me a way of adding a lotus bead dangle. The brooch can also be used as a focal in a necklace.

Last but not least, I didn't want to abandon the second scarab I bought for the contest. I made a failed attempt at a bead necklace and realised I'd probably be nice to use just as a simple pendant, suspended on a thin brass chain. That way it would fit the rest of the set better.


PS! I have collected links to instructions on this and other types of ear cuffs here.

Cross links tutorial

*Instruktioner på svenska hittar du HÄR.*

Some time ago I saw this mass-produced necklace in a costume jewellery shop, which attracted my attention. The necklace itself was rather boring, but it had a pendant dangle made out of a cross and drop. What interested me was the cross, which had been made in a way unlike the bead crosses I had seen before. It didn't take long time until I understood how it was made. This link or connector is made in a very simple, but attractive, way. Once you learn how to make them, they can be made very quickly.

The original link only used round beads, but using the basic method, you can make links out of bicones, ovals, drops, hearts or any other suitable bead shape you like. For a Christian cross, add a bead or more to one side to get the right proportions.


Supplies for one link:
2 headpins
4-5 round beads, not too small
1 chaton montée (mounted crystal, crystal in setting, preset crystal)

Tools: wire cutter, round-nose pliers, chain-nose pliers


Design notes:
Chaton montees comes in several sizes. Choose a size of montée and beads that are proportional to each other. In this tutorial, I will use 6 mm beads and 6 mm montée. Also make sure to buy chaton montees and not rose montees as the channels in the later make them useless in this case. The metal setting must have intersecting, not parallel, holes -- the latter is often the case with larger montees.

When it comes to different styles, I especially like the vintage montees as seen in the amethyst and pink link: its shape supports the beads in a different way, making it less prone to end up a bit "floppy". My montée from American shop Jan's Jewels (There called "fancy preset").

For this project you can use soft or half-hard headpins. Soft headpins are the easiest to work with, but will require wrapped loops. Harder headpins are trickier to slide through the holes at an angle, but keep their shape better so that only a simple loop is needed. Choose which one you prefer. Don't know how to make loops? You will find many free instructions online. If you prefer "moving pictures", see the following YouTube videos (among many): Simple loop and Wrapped loop. A video says more than a thousand pictures sometimes.

1. Begin by putting a bead on the headpin. Push the pin through one of the holes in the crystal setting. Angle the pin so it will exit through the hole on the adjacent side. If using stiff headpins: bend the pin slightly into a curve before pushing it through the montée.

2. Push the bead towards the crystal and bend the headpin so the bead sits straight below the hole and the wire points straight out from the hole i exited.

3. Put a bead onto the headpin and make a loop. Make sure to keep the loop close to the bead or the link will become loose and wobbly. This is somewhat easier to do if using wrapped loops.



5. Repeat steps 1 and 2. Make sure that you get the loops opposite each other. That is, begin by pushing the bead and headpin through the hole opposite the hole you began pushing the first headpin through.

5. If needed, adjust the beads so they all sit perpendicular to each other. The link may feel a tad ustable at this point, but it will usually not be a problem after you attach it to a piece of jewellery. If you feel it is too wobbly anyway, you can stiffen it by adding a few drops of glue through the holes of the montée. The glue must cure fully before using the link.

This link can be used as a connector or a part of a pendant, as seen in the examples below. Don't forget to experiment with different types of beads, as seen in the initial photo above.

The examples above are just two pieces I made on the spot to be able to show you how the links can be used. If you make something using this link, I'd love to see it. It will probably be a lot better than this.

Bead cap flowers tutorial: copper anemones

*Instruktioner på svenska finner du HÄR.*

Bead caps can often make pretty flowers. I enjoy mixing together caps and beads for different types of flowers. The simplest kind is the one you just thread straight on to your cord or jewellery wire when stringing bracelets or necklaces (see these instructions), but it's also easy to make flower charms, like my copper anemones above.

Making these charms, I was partially inspired by Melinda Barta's Open Blossom from here lovely book Custom Cool Jewelry (Interweave Press). Unlike her flowers, though, I wanted to make more naturalistic charms with stamens and sepals. The result can be seen above, a solid copper charm reminding of wood anemones.

Instructions include step-by-step pictures of how to make wrapped loops. Click on photos for enlarged pictures.



Supplies for one charm:

1 "petal-shaped" cupped bead cap, 8 mm
1 skinny bead cap, not cast 6 mm
1 donut-shaped bead, 3 mm*
1 soft headpin*

* = can be substituted with a fancy headpin (bali-style)

Tools: (bent) chain-nose pliers, round-nose pliers, cutter

Technique: wrapped loop/wire wrapping



1. To make the smaller bead cap fit over the larger, flatten it by pushing it down a bit. Place the cap on the table, "sepals" facing down, place your finger centred on the cap, and push down. Do not press too hard. It is better to push a little, check how well the cap fits on the larger bead cap and then press a bit more if not widened enough.


2. Assemble the parts as shown in the photo above.


3. Wrapped loop: Hold the headpin, flower down, and grab a hold with the tip of your chain-nose pliers as close to the bead caps as you can. Bend the pin 90 degrees to the side.


4. Grab the protruding part of the headpin with your round-nose pliers. For a small loop, keep the pin closer to the tip of the jaws. For a larger loop, keep the pin further in, towards the joint. Bend the headpin over the "upper" jaw of the pliers (left). When you have bent the pin beyond the point where a semi-circle is made, you reposition the pliers (right) -- this is the most important step in making a perfect loop. You may have to reposition the pliers several times. Complete the circle by bending the pin.


5. To make the wrap, fixate the loop by holding it with your chain-nose pliers in your non-dominant hand. Begin to wrap the wire around the "stem", starting close to the loop and working your way downwards. Wrap slowly for a neat and even wrap. I usually hold the end of the pin with another pair of chain-nose pliers for more force, even if it is not normally recommended. Keep wrapping the wire until it pushes against the bead caps -- you don't want the caps to be too loose as it will make the flower wobbly. You can use a bit of force, but don't overdo it as it risks deforming the loop.

6. Cut of the excess wire as close to the wrap as possible. Squeeze around the wrap with chain-nose pliers to push the end into the wrap. If you don't do this last step, the protruding bit of wire can scratch the skin or snag clothes so it is an important detail for a professional result.

7. Adjust the loop if it has become a bit skewed during the wrapping. Your charm is now finished.




Variations
This basic flower can be varied in many ways. Using fancy headpins, as above, is just one example. The choice of bead caps also have a great significance for the look of the finished flower. You will find a wide range of bead caps to choose from in the bead shops. Just make sure not to use cast bead caps as they often are a bit too chunky to make delicate flowers of -- and you can't manipulate them as was done with the smaller bead cap used in the copper anemones. Mix different colours and/or materials for greater contrasts.

Omit the second, smaller bead cap for a simpler flower without sepal. Use a tiny bead cap, preferrably "crown-shaped", inside the large bead cap for more complex stamens.

I use wrapped loops as they are more secure, but also to stabilize the bead caps and keep them from moving around as the wrap pushes on the caps. You can make simple loops if you prefer it. In that case, bend the headpin at an angle directly above the bead cap, with no gap as in step 3. Follow instructions for loop in step 4, but skip step 5.

Wire bird's nests

Wire bird's nests with pearls as eggs seems to have been popular for quite some while, but I didn't really discover them -- as in take an interest in them -- until some weeks ago. They are really cute and didn't seem too difficult to make or require any supplies I didn't have at home. So of cause I had to give it a try or two.

Above you see my first two pendants, using leftover pearls and scraps of wire I had home. Copper was the only wire in a suiting colour I had at home so I settled with my favourite metal (next to blackened steel, brass and tin/pewter). In the tiny second pendant -- or rather, charm -- I used wire in two different gauges.

Of cause, not all birds lay their eggs in special nests, some -- like hens -- can lay their eggs in simple grass nests or just an undisturbed grassy corner, perhaps under a shielding bush or plant. As I started to use up my copper wire, I took out my thin coloured craft wire and made a small nest with brightly coloured easter eggs. As the wire was so thin (0,3 mm, suitable for crocheting), I used doubled wire in two different shades of green. The cheap pearls did not have perfect holes, going from end to end, which is the reason why some of them seem to be standing up more than others. An imperfection that in a way made the design "come alive" in a new way compared to nest where all the eggs lay down. This is a bit more three-dimensional.


There are many instructions for these nests online, either for free or tutorials for a fee: Just Something I Made, Denise Mathew (don't miss her nest ring part 1 and part 2 too), Stampington/Creative Impulse, Vintaj, Something Sublime, AnneMade Jewelry, Creations by Janice (ring) and purple8p/Jewelrylessons.com (also a ring tutorial). Variations on the theme includes Cindy Gimbrone's A-layin' Pendant with a nesting bird instead of eggs and tadaosgirl's Robin's Egg Bracelet with "single egg" nests.