WigJig Newsletter for February 15, 2004

If you are unable to view all the pictures in this newsletter you can always view the entire newsletter at:  http://www.wigjig.com/newitems/. 

International Gem and Jewelry Show, Tucson:
We want to thank everyone who stopped by our demonstration at the Best Bead Show in Tucson.  Your very kind reception made demonstrating our tools very easy and was greatly appreciated. 

ON SALE:
We update the items we have "On Sale" with every newsletter.  A small sample of the products we currently have for sale at a discount are shown below.  Please click on any of the text below the pictures to view our entire list of sale items.  Quantities are limited for these items so please shop early.  This sale will be effective through February 27, 2004. 

 


Clear Lid Earring Box
(Jewelry not included)

6mm Bicone Swarovski
Sapphire Light Beads

8mm Round Faceted Garnet Fire-
Polished Czech Glass beads
 

Medium Sterling Silver
Lobster Clasp
 

Sterling Silver Post Ear Wire
with 4mm Ball and Loop
 

20G & 22G Artistic Wire
Non-Tarnish Silver-plate wire
 

4 Easy Earrings

Jewelery Making Technique:
This weeks techniques discussion is on what wire to use.  During my demonstrations in Tucson, one of the more consistent responses that I heard is that many people were having trouble getting started properly.  Often, the problem was very simple -- they started with wire that was too small.  22G wire is great wire for making wrapped bead links, where the wire wraps around itself and is therefore stronger; but it is not the right wire for making a wire component like the body of the four earrings shown above.  In general, earring components should be made from 20 or 21G wire, bracelet components should be made from 18 or 20G wire and necklace components should be made from 16 or 18G wire.    Some additional discussion on wire has been added to our Beginner's section here and on the following two pages.  Please also visit our November 9, 2003 newsletter for information on working with half-hard wire. 

The next thing that we need to emphasize is to begin every new project with practice wire.  Making the jewelry items that we show on this web site is relatively easy, but it is not so easy that you will be able to sit down and get it perfect on the first try.  You should plan on making several pieces out of practice wire that you will ultimately cut up and throw away before you graduate to your good wire. 

The last thing to discuss is the choice of Artistic Wire versus sterling silver or gold-filled wire.  For beginners, Artistic Wire, especially the Non-Tarnish Silver wire, is a great choice.  The wire is relatively inexpensive, and it is attractive.  You can make some great pieces out of this wire.  Artistic Wire also has one major advantage over Sterling Silver.  Because of the non-tarnish enamel coating on the wire, Artistic Wire doesn't require the polishing that sterling does.  Artistic Wire does have a few drawbacks.  First, it is only made in a hardness of soft, and some pieces are easier to make in half-hard wire.  (In general, all pieces can be made in soft wire, although some may be slightly more difficult.  By contrast, half-hard wire can not be used to make pieces with a spiral.)  Second, because Artistic Wire comes in either nylon coated copper, or silver-plated styles, it doesn't have the commercial appeal of sterling silver or gold-filled wire.  Pieces made with Artistic Wire may not command the same sales price as pieces made in the precious metals.  Finally, both styles of Artistic Wire are more susceptible to scratches than either sterling silver or gold-filled wire. 

The finished pieces that we show on our web site are almost always made in gold-filled wire.  The reason for this is simple.  Our camera won't take acceptable pictures of jewelry made in silver colored wire.  We try to use a dark color of Artistic Wire for our directions because this wire is inexpensive and gold-filled wire for the finished pieces because we can get good pictures with this wire.
 

Announcements:
Online Books.  If you are looking for new and interesting projects -- try one of our Online Books.  Our most detailed instructions are for sale online.  Please select here to view our selection of online books.  These books are delivered over the Internet and there are no shipping costs on an order with just online books. 

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 1,500 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.