The WireWorkers Guild

REMEMBER!!
REMEMBER!!


DON'T FORGET!

TIME IS RUNNING
OUT ...

GO ON!

HAVE A GO -


at the
WWGuild:


D E S I G N E R
C H A L L E N G E
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Theme:
"SPRING IZ SPRUNG"

All entries must be emailed to me by the end of
F E B R U A R Y
and I will publish them all at the beginning of March.

The email to send your JPEG images and piece description is:

linda.jones@wirejewellery.co.uk

GO ON, have a GO!
Make it your personal mission for this month!

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And .... NOW ... what to do with those left
over pieces of wire and loose sprinkles of
odd, orphaned beads .... when you've got
30 minutes to spare?

Here's a Pendant project, which I've named
R A N D O O D L E D O M
(you've guessed it! - as it's completely based on a
random doodle of wire!).
However, you could turn it into a brooch, earrings,
focal piece of a ring ... just use the basic idea and improvise to
your heart's content!

TO GET STARTED:
You will need some 0.8mm wire (but 1mm,
1.25mm or 1.5mm gauge will do just as well!), also
some 0.4mm wire, a sprinkling of small beads,
round nosed and flat nosed pliers, wire cutters,
hammer and steel stake.






















1. Using your round nosed pliers, create a circle at the end
of your wire.























2. Create a RANDOM shaped spiral, bending the wire
into angular curves with your flat nosed pliers and
fingers.






















3. Depending on how big you wish to make the overall
pendant, cut the wire at this point.























4. Bring the end of the wire through and over the
outer frame.





















5. Place your random spiral onto a steel stake and
'stroke' hammer to flatten and spread the outline -
however, don't hammer the top wire, or, where it crosses
the frame, as you will weaken it!























6. Use your round nosed pliers to create
a double link (or wrapped loop if desired).























7. Cut a long length (approx. 10" /25.5cms) of 0.4mm
wire and find one stray 8mm bead and a random
selection of seed beads that have just been lurking at
the bottom of a pot for years ... Attach the thin wire
to the centre circle of your unit.























8. Thread the largest bead onto the wire and secure
it onto the centre circle of the unit. Now thread on some
of your little, lonely seed beads ...























9. Continue threading and wrapping the beads
and wire around the frame of the unit in a very
random fashion. Don't think too hard about what
your doing ... just be - instinctive!






















10. I instinctively stopped adding beads here - and
cut and secured the end of the wire on to the side of frame.
Cut off any excess and neaten the end.
























11. Cut another length of 0.4mm wire and attach
to the base of the unit and begin weaving it
in and out of the frame, as before - but, without
adding any beads.























12. Continue weaving and wrapping the wire
around the frame and when you've had enough ...
cut the excess off with your wire cutters. Remember
to neaten all the ends, so that there are no spiky
bits protruding.





















13. Et 'voila'! You can leave it like this and suspend
it from a chain, ribbon, cord, choker ring, key ring,
pencil case zip, save it as a Christmas decoration,
put it on a card, etc... It's just a bit of fun!























14. AND ... if you wish to make it a little more
randomly wiggly: just place the tips of your
round nosed pliers on the centre of the bare
wires and TWIST to create the zig-zag effect.

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Have fun experimenting with this idea and after
you've had your practice-run with left-over beads,
try making it with semi-precious chip beads on
sterling silver ... it can be great statement pendant!