Textured Wire Sprial Donut Connector

by Staci L. Smith

Here is just a little something you can make with your new textures- using the alphabet stamps again, combined with Stacie F's texturing wire post.

 

Take 6-8" of 12 gauge copper wire.  Spiral it into a coil, but leave a big open middle to create a sort of donut.

 

With a chasing hammer, hammer it to flatten the surface.

 

 

Then use the ball end of your chasing hammer to flatten the ends a little more.

 

 

Then I took my letter x, the period, and the letter I to make patterns on the wire.  I stamped them just like I would on sheet metal, it was just a little trickier to line them up.  Then I used my chasing hammer to flatten the wire again.

 

 

Add some liver of sulfur and polish off the high spots, and voila!  A wire textured spiral donut.

 

 

It is fun, and very sturdy, and it can be used as a pendant or a connector.

 

Hope to see what you have been playing with at our blog hop April 8th.

What kind of Metal can I texture?

by Staci Smith

This was the first question I asked when buying my metal supplies.  I remember how shocking it was that you could use 24 gauge metal and it wasn't paper thin.  I was thinking in wire terms, and thought it would be frail and thin.  Now, the number gauges run in the same way wire does, smaller number, thicker gauge, but they certainly feel very different.

 

So I thought I'd give you a little information on metal sheet.

 

The most popular metals are sterling silver, copper and brass.  I highly recommend starting with copper.

 

Copper is softer then brass, and cheaper then sterling silver.  So it works easy, and if you make a mistake, it's not a devastating financial loss like it would be with sterling silver.

http://www.thunderbirdsupply.com/proddetail.aspx?StockNum=170104

 

 

When you go to buy sheet metal, some places sell set cuts- like 3x6" or 6x12".  Others (like www.thunderbirdsupply.com) let you choose your own cut size.  This is handy to know depending on what you plan to do.

 

For example, at Thunderbird, you can order 10 pieces cut at 2x7.5" if you are planning to make cuffs (not sure what cuff standards is, I just picked that measurement at random)- they are pre-cut to the size you want.  They also have the option of set sizes.

 

Another thing to consider when ordering or buying sheet, is how you plan to cut it, and what you want to use it for.  26 gauge is very thin, very lightweight and easy to manipulate.  This is great for fold forming items that may be used in earrings.  I also use 24 gauge often for earring designs so they aren't too heavy. 

 

If you need something to be sturdy and unbendable under stress, you want to use a thicker gauge, 22-18 gauge.  Keep in mind how you plan to cut these sheets.  You can only use metal shears up to 22 gauge (usually).  So if you need thicker metal sheet, you will need to saw it.

 

I have ordered the standard large sheets of metal 6x12" and I found them too bulky to work with.  I don't have a quick way to cut them down, so it's been awkward to work with them, which I why I like to customize my sheet size.

 

I hope that helps with some questions you may have on buying sheet metal.  For a beginner, especially for our Metal texture Boot Camp, I highly recommend copper.  It cuts and stamps like butter!

 

We can't wait to see what you guys are working on.  Remember- the blog hop is April 8th.  On that day, you will be able to link up to our site.  Happy hammering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Art Jewelry Boot Camp: Textured Metal Challenge

Welcome to our second Art Jewelry Boot Camp challenge of 2013.....Textured Metal!

For the next few weeks, we will be sharing innovative, inexpensive ways to texture metal by hand. There are plenty of wonderful options in a fully equipped metals studio for texturing metal and plenty of neat products out on the jewelry craft market these days for achieving wonderful textures and patterns, but we want to see what you can do with what you have!

Today, I'm sharing a video about different textures I've achieved with simple household materials...and some tips for getting you started on your texture journey!






HIGHLIGHTS/TIPS from the video:

*If you have "nice" hammers, keep them separate, so in your creativity, you don't use your good hammer for hammering, let's say a piece of wire or a steel screw!

*Keep your eye out in thrift stores and discount stores for items that will make interesting textures! Old hammers, screwdrivers, and other steel bits like steel window screen will fuel your creativity!!!! By that same token, don't use household tools that you would like to use again for their intended purpose! You (or your significant other!) will be really sore that you messed up a screwdriver to make texture next time you need it for a household task....

*Anneal your metal with a torch so it's nice and soft to receive the texture.

* Use an old bench block or anvil when texturing or hammering. After lots of texturing, your block or anvil will become dented and rendered a bit more useless if you need it for finer applications. I FLIP mine! One side is nice and smooth and shiny and the other is a bit pitted and dented from repeated texturing.


Our next Art Jewelry Boot Camp hop will be on April 8th! LET'S GET TO WORK, RECRUITS!!!! Remember to upload your lovelies to our Flickr group and remember to check out the rules if you haven't done so.


Remember, this challenge is about texturing by HAND. For the purposes of this challenge, we DO NOT want work textured by the following:

*Etching
*Sandblasting
*Rolling Mill
*Alphabet/symbol Stamping (unless you are using it in an innovative way to make fabulous texture)
* Textures from craft embossing machines

All these have their place and may be in a FUTURE challenge, they're just not for THIS challenge. :) Thanks!

Wrapping it Up - Balled Head Pins

by Staci Smith

This is our last week to focus on balled head pins before switching gears.  Look here next week for a new Boot Camp.  Perhaps you will learn a new technique, or just have a chance to show off what you do with a technique you already use.  We love having this chance to interact with you all and see your creativity in action.

If you are new to Love my Art Jewelry, you can read about Boot Camp Here.

We are just wrapping up a Boot Camp that taught how to make balled head pins.  You can see that tutorial here.  (we also have a menu to the top left of the blog where you can find a link to all the tutorials we've posted here in LMAJ)

If you haven't had a chance, you can click here to go to the blog hop we had.  Everyone dug deep and did some really creative things with head pins.

 

 

 I liked this design by Lynda Carson.

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed our first Boot Camp and hope it is something you all join us in through the year.  I know we had a blast.

 

 

I also wanted to give a reminder that our Art bead Love Chain is still going strong.  If you want to read about it, click the tab to the right labeled Art Bead Love Tour that looks like this.

 

 

 

 

If you would like a chance to participate, click the "Follow the Love Chain" tab that is above it.

 

Thanks again for making our firt Boot Camp a Success.  Have a creative week!

Art Jewelry Boot Camp: Balled Head Pin Alternatives

So how have you been enjoying our first challenge? Today I wanted to share with you a fabulous resource on youTube, the wonderful videos of Nancy LT Hamilton!

If you haven't checked out her videos, I highly encourage you to do so. On a variety of metalsmithing topics, Nancy walks you through step by step in a relaxed, funny, and highly skilled way. If you've been browsing our challenge topics, you'll notice that there are quite a few who used the balled headpin as a cold connection and/or rivet, so I thought you would enjoy seeing this video!


Nancy posts new videos on all different techniques often, so be sure to subscribe to her youTube channel and visit her website for a variety of resources and to see her magnificent work!

Art Jewelry Boot Camp: Balled Headpin Blog Recap

by Barbara Bechtel

WOW! We're all so excited about the response to our very first Art Jewelry Boot Camp! Staci & I have worked really hard along with the other members here at LMAJ to come up with this new concept and there is always a little trepidation with putting your new idea out there in the Universe to see if it will take root!

Just in case you missed it, last week was our first blog hop, and we invited you to share what you have learned or challenged yourself to based on our current challenge, the balled headpin.

Not just for wire wrapping dangles, we challenged you to innovate with the balled headpin: begin making your own, double balling them, trying different metals, and using them in other ways!

Let's take a look over some of my personal favorites from the blogs and see what neat solutions and challenges were made and conquered!

Gaia Copia made these stunning organic and sparkly combination polymer heapins with balled headpin embellishments!


Love the subtle and sweet complexity of these handmade chandelier earrings by Libellula Jewelry!


I think turning balled wire into its own element and giving a bit of texture is a wonderful and creative solution! by silverniknats

If you missed participating, stay tuned! We'll be revealing our next new challenge in a few short weeks, followed by lots of tips and tutorials to inspire!