Beginner Jewelry Project

DIY Fringe Necklace from Candie Cooper

Chevron Fringe PendantMy husband got me an amazing new camera for my birthday.  He even called Amy at Mod Podge Rocks to see what to get.  How sweet is that?  My birthday is in May and I only recently picked it up (I think the owl button bracelet was my first post with it).  It’s big.  It’s powerful.  There are a lot of dials and buttons.  It’s a Nikon d5200.  I have NO idea how to use it.  So, bear with me as I fumble through getting to know this mega machine.Chevron Fringe Necklace IdeaSee this picture?  It looked great on the mini screen of the camera.   Then, I pull it up and……..Oh.  Hello, blurry pendant.  But!  I really loved the shot with the old brick and brick so I’m documenting it.  Someday when I’m taking fabulously focused pictures, I’ll look back at my humble beginnings and say: Candice, you’ve come a long way baby.

Ha.  My hubs just walked in and said, “that looks nice, honey.”  Love is blind.  I love that guy.

Fringe Necklace from Candie CooperBetter.

Much better (and a lucky shot).

Want to make this necklace?

You might think I strung all the seed beads onto head pins, but I didn’t.  This is actually a very cute pendant from Plaid’s Sea Sparkle line.

I connected each end of the pendant to a piece of chain with a jump ring and finished the end with a little lobster clasp (also connected with jump rings.  It took me about 5 minutes.  Maybe.

This is an especially great project for beginner jewelry makers such as tweens or your friend that wants to make a piece of jewelry with you.  All you need to know is how to open and close a jump ring and you can make the hole thing.  Jump rings are simply round rings with an opening so you can connect all the components together.  You can see opening a jump ring in this tutorial.

Keeping it simple today.  I hope you have a good one!

*Sources

Sea Sparkle components at JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts.

My Craftsy Class is On Sale!

Craftsy Jewelry Classes SaleAll the jewelry making classes are on sale at Craftsy including mine, Beading with Wire, Chain, and Leather!

Check out the classes HERE!

Bead Fest Classes

bead fest classes with Candie Cooper and Jesse James BeadsI am in high gear getting ready to teach a ton of classes at Bead Fest next weekend with Jesse James Beads and Beadalon.  So much to pack, organize and prepare for.  My head spins!  Thank God for chocolate.Purple Boho Beader suppliesOne of the classes I’m most excited about is the Boho Beader!  Each student will get a goodie bag like this in your fave color (YES, you get to pick what colors you want to work with!) and then we will set to designing a unique statement piece of jewelry like this:Purple Boho BeaderOR THIS:Orange Spice Boho BeaderThe ribbon was the inspiration for this design mixed in with Jesse James Beads Elite Strands and Chain Reaction.  Remember that Calgon commercial?  “Calgon, take me away!”  That’s what happens to me when I design with ribbon and trim from India and beautiful beads like these.  I magically teleport myself to another place, thinking about all the sights, sounds and energy (and no dishes to do or laundry to fold).

For more pictures and versions, check out the class link page and look for BOHO BEADER!

Bead Fest is August 22-24th!

I hope I get to meet you in person at Bead Fest, but if you can’t make it, you can at least find these Elite JJB beads at JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts stores.

DIY Earring Making: Boho Style

Boho Earring TutorialWhat a dreary day, this day started out to be.  By 6:30 this evening the sun popped out coupled with a cool breeze.  I didn’t see that coming!  Thank you, Mother Nature.  My hubs fixed hot dogs, I made mac and cheese and after we ate (2 hot dogs each I might add), we felt we needed to take the dogs on a walk.

It was a great day.  I got a nice note from one of my Etsy customers first thing this morning.  She lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.  This amazes me.  I moved through my deadline/to-do list nice and easy and topped it off with a walk.   Now we are watching the Outsiders.  Well, I’m 3/4 watching and writing.

Now about these Boho earrings!  This is the final pair of orchid colored earrings for awhile.  I promise!  This tutorial will show you how to make an eye pin or a bead link.
Jewelry Making: DIY Boho EarringsTo do this, I am using Beadalon’s Artistic Wire 20g.  The pictures tell the story.  I’ll chime in from time to time if there’s something specific I want to show you (and also because I’m a babbling brook and just can’t help myself).
How to make a simple loop at the end of a wire 1Grasp the end of the wire at the point on the round nose pliers where you want that diameter of loop.  Tiny loop at the tip–bigger loop at the back of the jaw.
How to make a simple loop on a wire 2
How to make a simple loop in jewelry making
Round out the Simple Loop
Straighten the loopWhen you get the loop completely formed, it’s going to be wonky.  Here’s how you fix it:
Straighten the eye pin
Square up the loopBasically grab the loop at the back side and tweak it backwards.
How To Make A Wire Loop for Jewelry Making
How To Open a simple loop or eye pinTo open an eye pin, switch to your chain nose pliers and open the loop from side to side.
How to open an eye pin
Connect a leaf charm to the eye pin
Close the loop to secure the charmClose it in the same fashion.  See how it keeps its shape?
Finish the end of the wire in a loopString your select beads (by the way, those are from a Jesse James Beads Design Pack) and make a 90 degree bend at the top of the last bead.
Trim the WireTrim leaving approximately 3/8″ (or the width of the side of your finger like I do).
Jewelry Making  Earring LoopRoll the end of the wire into a loop with the round nose pliers.How to Form a Simple Loop in jewelry making
Finished Simple Loop on Earring
Open the loop from side to side
Attaching an ear wire
Boho Earring TutorialThis type of loop isn’t as secure as a wrapped loop, but for earrings, it should be ok since they aren’t in a high traffic area while worn.

On another note, the names in this movie are great!!  Pony Boy, Sodapop, Darry and Two-Bit.  I’m pretty sure we had to read this in school.  My memory is vacant, but Hubs says he actually read it.  Decorating my locker was more of a priority than reading if that tells you anything.

Funny how things change.  These days, I love reading and thankful for that change.

Earringology by Candie CooperReady to get on the earring making train?  May I humbly suggest Earringology, my latest book geared for beginners to enthusiasts looking for some new inspiration.

P.S. Katie Hacker is giving away a copy of Earringology on her blog!  Check it out!

**Earring resources:

Findings from Beadalon.

Beads from JesseJamesBeads.com

Back to Bead Fest with Jesse James Beads

Candie Cooper and Sarah James at Bead FestIt’s time for round two of Bead Fest near Philadelphia!  I’ll be there teaching jewelry making classes, partnering with Jesse James Beads!Beading classes with Jesse JamesDoesn’t this look appetizing?!  Beadalon and Jesse James Classes with Candie CooperWe are also collaborating with Beadalon–makers of great findings and tools!  Jesse James Bead Fest ClassI taught two classes there in the Spring and the ladies were delightful.  The other thing I love about working with them is everyone’s jewelry project turns out differently because we bring lots of beads to choose from.Candie Cooper Chalkin' Up the Jesse James Bead BoothHere is a handy link so you can take a peek at the class offerings and if you can’t make a class, come say howdy at the Jesse James Beads booth! <3  It’s always a good time being around my fellow jewelry makers, playing in the piles of beads and talkin’ shop.  I really do love it!

How to Make a Boho Bead and Chain Necklace

DIY Jewelry Making Boho Bead and Chain Necklace tutorialHola beautiful people!  How have you been?  I’m doing better now that my blog is working again (thanks for asking).  Sheesh.  I went to upload pictures to this post and got errors.  Then I updated to the new WordPress followed by  a couple plugins only to find those actions were actually dominos of destruction that would lead to broken links, not being able to login etc….  I stayed up working late on Friday night in an attempt to fix it.  At midnight, I surrendered and admitted to myself that I was in over my head.  I thought, “why am I fighting this?  Go to bed, Candice.”  That brings us to this morning when I found even more quarks that happened and so I called my hosts hotline number. Thirty seconds later it was fixed.  Dear Betsy!  And praise the Lord!  I just had to get that out.  Thanks for listening.  Moving on.

Now, I’ve got Romancing the Stone on and I’m ready to write.   Just like Joan Wilder.  My friend mentioned it the other day and that got the itch to watch it started.  I watch it purely for the beginning of the movie.  I love the scenery, I love watching her finish her book in tears, I love when she has notes all over to buy tissue, but she’s still out of tissue.  Makes me feel completely normal.

This boho bead and chain necklace tutorial started when Beadalon asked for pieces for their “Tropical” trend board on Pinterest.  I got the wood beads on clearance somewhere…a really really long time ago.  Bead hoarders unite!  I blended them in with tropical color czech glass beads.  I like the contrast of the metal, glass and wood surfaces together.String the beads onto beading wireFirst, string your beads onto beading wire.  I’m using Beadalon’s satin gold (19 strand, .024″) so it blends with the color of the chain.  How to connect a beaded section to chainString a #2 crimp bead followed by the ends of the chain.  For this necklace, I doubled over a piece of chain to make it thicker.How to crimp part IString the tail of wire through the crimp and slide the crimp bead up next to the chain.  Now, put the crimp bead into the “U” shaped notch of your crimping pliers and clinch down.How to crimp with beadsSee the “U” shaped crimp bead?Crimping Part IINow turn the “U” ninety degrees so it looks like a “C” and put it in the eye shaped slot of the crimp pliers and clinch down to fold the crimp bead over.

P.S. those are my husband’s hands.  He walked by and saw me fumbling with my camera while trying to crimp and said, “I’ll be in the picture.  I want to be in the picture.”  If you know Aaron, this is completely normal.  I love him.necklace detailNow, slide the beads down to the finished end and repeat for the other side.  Except do you see what I did?  One side is not like the other one!  Ai yi yi. I clearly got distracted by the cute man-hands crimping and forgot to add that one last tiny brass bead next to the crimp. I also didn’t realize this until I finished the entire necklace.  I love it when that happens.Bebe making jewelryLet’s take a break so Bebe can say “hi.”  She’s been coming over off and on through this process and resting her head on my knee, my shoulder, the white board, begging to be petted.  She’s our big girl that showed up one day, skin and bones and scared to death.  Aaron worked with her to earn her trust and the rest is history.  She doesn’t know a stranger.  Have I told you how much I love that man?
Artistic WireLet’s make a wrapped bead link.  I’m using 18g Artistic Wire in gunmetal bronze so it matches the chain.  String your beeads onto the wire.How to start a wrapped loopGrab your round nose pliers and make a ninety degree bend in the wire.How to make a wrapped loopBring the tail of the wire up and over the top of the pliers so it crosses in front of the other wire.How to make a wrapped loop in jewelry makingStart wrapping the tail of wire around the long wire–as many times as you like.Wrapped loop held with chain nose pliersSometimes it helps to hold the loop with chain nose pliers so it stays flat/in shape while wrapping.  Trim the tiny, pokey/stabby part with wire cutters.  Or tighten it inward with the chain nose pliers.How to make a beaded linkSlide the bead against the finished wrapped loop and make another ninety degree bend in the opposite side of the wire.Finish the beaded link with a wrapped loopTrim the wire from the spool and start again with the wrapped loop technique.Open the links of chainSplit open the chain with two flat nose pliers.  Open the link side to side on each piece of chain.  Remove the sections so they are equal to the length of the beaded link.Connect a beaded link with a jump ringYou can save those chain sections for a pair of earrings perhaps.  I only did one beaded link as sort of a random surprise element to the necklace.  Annnnnd possibly because I only had one bead left.  Figured, I might as well use it!Boho and Bead Necklace from Candie Cooper(insert big dramatic bead finale with tears and no tissue)  I’m off to talk to my dogs and ask them if they want to celebrate.

Note:  If you’ve not seen Romancing the Stone, that last bit will not make a lick of sense.How to Make a Bead and Chain NecklaceLove,

Candie

(your hopeless romantic bead and craft blogger)

Mother’s Day Birthstone Necklace Idea

Mother's Day Birthstone Necklace IdeaThis idea came about when someone asked me if I could make their mom a necklace for Mother’s Day.  I thought about it for awhile and my feeling about custom jewelry is, if you’re going to have something custom made, it should be yours. Plus, I love telling a story through my jewelry!

Jewelry Making birthstone necklace ideaFamilies are gardens that grow each year.  The tassel has each of her grandkids birthstones dangling at the end.  I love the rainbow effect.  At the top, you’ll see a small pink crystal–that is her husband’s birthstone color.

You could also include her children within the tassel as well.  If I were going to do that, I might make those a different shape or size of crystal.  Oh the symbolism of it all.  Makes my heart flutter!

I hope this sparks some ideas for you.  Make one for your friend, your mom, for you…

Lots of Love,

Candie

P.S.  If you’re new to jewelry making, you can see how to make these tassels in my craftsy class:  Beading with Wire Chain and Leather.   Also, the big pretty brass flower bead cap is from Ornamentea.com.