WigJig Newsletter 031109 on Jewelry making, Jewelry Supplies, Beads and Wire

FREE JEWELRY MAKING DESIGN:
With every newsletter we provide a free design from WigJig University to spur the creative juices. This newsletter's free design is the design for the Chandelier Earrings shown at right. You can view instructions for how to make these earrings here.

Chandelier Earrings

Tip of the week:
How to work with 1/2 hard wire on a jig.

Some beginners find that they have few problems when working with soft wire but when they try to graduate to sterling silver or gold-filled 1/2 hard wire they have problems. They can wrap the wire around the pegs, but when they remove the wire from the jig it tends to spring in all directions, losing its shape. This is normal for 1/2 hard wire because it is made to be more springy through the hardening process. It is also relatively easy to correct.

Any time you are bending wire around pegs on a jig you need to remember that you need to push the wire beyond the spot where you want it to end up. Push the wire far enough so that when you remove your hands from the wire, it will relax back to where you want it to be. The concept is that the jig provides the pattern for the shape, but it should not provide force to hold the wire in that shape. If it does, when you remove the wire from the jig, you also remove that force, and the wire will spring out of shape.

With any piece made on a jig, the wire will tend to rise on the pegs as you complete the piece. The initial loop will be at the bottom of the pegs and each successive loop will be successively higher on the pegs, so that the final loop is the highest of all. This is absolutely normal. When a wire component, like the "V" shaped piece of wire in the Chandelier Earrings shown above, is removed from the jig it will be slightly three dimensional. This three dimensional character is removed by "smushing" (my term) the wire into a two dimensional shape using nylon jaw pliers. This is done by squeezing the wire in the jaws of the nylon jaw pliers in several different orientations to flatten the wire. The end result is a two dimensional wire component that is hardened and ready to be used. Some "hand finishing" may be necessary to shape the wire.

In summary, when working with 1/2 hard wire, you need to remember to push the wire far enough so that it relaxes back to its finished shape and to "smush" the wire with nylon jaw pliers after removing it from the jig. With these two steps, 1/2 hard wire will make excellent finished wire components.

Announcements:
Vacation Celebration. During the past two weeks we had two winners in the Vacation Celebration. Please congratulate Christine Yesko and Jenna Selfridge for winning vacations. Please view the bottom of our WigJig Home Page to see our Vacation Celebration banner. Select this banner to enter the contest to win a free vacation for yourself.

Online Books. If you are looking for new and interesting projects -- try one of our Online Books. Our most detailed jewelry making instructions are for sale online. Please select here to view our selection of online books. This week our "Ear Cuffs Advanced" online book is on sale for 20% off.

Shipping Policy. We ship all retail orders over $60 for free within the US. For International orders we ship via FED EX International and charge $34.95 (our average cost) for this expedited shipping service. Please select here to view our entire shipping policy.

WigJig University. We provide Over 1,400 pages of free information, tips, techniques and free designs in WigJig University. We encourage everyone to view this information as a source for new ideas, projects, or a way to learn new techniques. We now have a page in WigJig University that shows our designs by sorted by the WigJig tool used to make them. Please select here to view that information.

International Vendors. We do have vendors who sell our WigJig products outside the US. We encourage customers to contact these vendors in their home country. Please select here to view our list of overseas vendors.

Classes. We are still working to develop web pages showing who has classes where. If you are interested in classes, please select here. If you know someone who has classes in using our WigJig tools, please ask them to send us an e-mail so that we can include them in these pages. Please send the e-mails to custsrv@wigjig.com.

This WigJig jewelry making newsletter is provided as part of WigJig University. We try to provide interesting jewelry projects using beads, jewelry wire and other jewelry supplies. We hope that these pictures will provide you enough information for you to complete this project. Some of the skills and jewelry making techniques have not been discussed here. For beginners, we suggest that you visit our Beginners Start Here pages. These pages discuss the skills necessary for making jewelry in the detail that beginners need. We also suggest that beginners to jewelry making might need to visit the WigJig University College of Jewelry Making Techniques for additional information about some of the skills and techniques shown.

Most, but not all of the jewelry supplies shown here can be purchased in our WigJig store. We try to have a complete selection of jewelry supplies in our store including chain, wire, glass beads, findings, watches, tools, etc.

Ear Cuffs Advanced Online Book	Artistic Wire 20G Non-Tarnish Brass is finally Back!
Pin Vise	Earr Wire with Coil Sterling Silver
6mm Swarovski Bicone Rose Light Beads	18G Artistic Wire Natural Silver