Wire Wrapping: November 2015

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Starting out in Wire Wrapping

I was originally drawn to jewellery making after seeing a wire wrapped ring that I liked on Ebay. I love mood rings and apart from the cheaply made ones for children they are hard to buy. Finding myself with time on my hands due to health issues I needed something that I could create on a lap tray sat in my chair and jewellery making seemed a good match.

I had imagined stringing beads to make necklaces and similar but soon realised that my fingers were too big and my eyes too poor to enjoy it properly and so I drifted towards wire wrapping. With a few basic tools and some cheap wire I began making rings with terrible results. Almost everything ended up in the bin and I became very frustrated.

I hate it when something beats me so I persevered until I tried to make a pendant and that was when it clicked for me. My first effort wasn't too bad and it gave me the encouragement to continue. I had found my medium! From there my technique improved and I was finally proud of something I had made.

I created nothing but pendants for a while following patterns that I had discovered until I knew them by heart. That allowed me more freedom of expression as I had started out sweating with fear that I would make awful mistakes and waste my meagre materials. I began in August of 2013 and used my birthday and Christmas to ask for more materials as it was hard finding the money.

No one was more surprised than me when my pendants found favour within my family and I was asked to make more. I became a one trick pony making only pendants until my confidence had grown enough to try other things.

I was back at square one again frustrating myself making awful rings and began to think I would be very limited in what I could make. It was only thanks to the encouragement from a friend I had made and admired on a wire wrapping group on Facebook that I continued and very glad I am that I did.

Nowadays I can make most anything but my love continues to be pendants made from cabochons and I make more of them than anything else. I didn't begin wanting to sell my creations and still don't. I wouldn't recognise a trend or a fashion if it hit me in the face and I make things only for my own pleasure. I did eventually open an online store and sell enough to make my hobby free and I have a large stash of gems and wire to keep myself busy.

If you are just starting with wire wrapping or considering starting please do not let any initial failures discourage you. Every failure brings you one step closer to a success and should be considered to be more like stepping stones on a journey.

I help a lot of people with their problems from the experience I have had and I'm always wiling to share my sources and resources with anyone who wants them.

Best wishes Mark xx