I am not the best wire wrapper. I don't have the patience for it, really, but since the theme of my 2010 Holiday Collection is Victorian Romance, which brings to mind lacy metals and dainty links, I started practicing. This is the first completed necklace for this year's collection.
The image is one of my most popular images, and comes from a collection of vintage equestrian advertising art. The series this one is from is called "Grand Champions", and the image is titled "Baroness." That's the name of the horse, not the lady, but the graphics are fabulous and the crimson reds and moss greens lend themselves so well to holiday jewelry. I even made matching earrings!
Wire wrapping is sort of like being on a ledge 50 stories up, at least for me. No rope! No stringing wire! Just me and my loops! Yikes! But, after practing for a week, I think I have at least got the hang of making decent wraps, still not sure my loops look all that great, but I had fun making this necklace and am hard at work on a few more featuring loops and wraps, beautiful crystal beads and antique brass findings. I love these sweet little end caps. Lately, if I don't frame a bead with end caps, it feels nekid.
And talk about nekid, I really went the minimalist route with my next holiday necklace. Long necklaces are so hot right now, and I decided to embellish one of my Vintage William Morris Tapestries Cylinder Beads with some antique brass and a little sparkly bling. I sort of deviated from the "Victorian Romance" theme of the holiday collection and dived into the "Art Nouveau" theme, but I love this one so much, I think I'm going to keep it for myself. I'll make more, promise!
And then I took a detour to the middle ages with some Medieval-influenced, Gunmetal antiqued, Pewter/Silver pieces. Something a bit unusual about these is the color. I never use clay straight from the package. I blend my own shades of antique gold, brass and copper colors, but these were created using Premo Silver mixed with a little black embossing powder. The backs are embossed and antiqued, too. I call these "Georgie's Dragons" after you know, St. George who slew the... oh dear, that's not very romantic, is it?
These pieces are part of my "Ancient Romance" series, but I think they fit well in the holiday collection, too; and just look at those sweet little wire wraps! These earrings are my Medieval Flourish earrings, which I accented with my favorite color of Swarovski crystal, the Black Diamond.
3 comments:
Yes, yes, YES! Gorgeous, and I love the change from all beads!
Thank you, Laurel. That's high praise coming from the Queen of Wire Wrapping! :)
Beautiful! It's funny but wire wrapping is a technique I really enjoy, the only problem I run to is gauging how much spare to leave at the end of the beads.
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