Beads, Tools & Jewelry Making Supplies by WigJig Newsletter 01/23/2007

With every newsletter we provide a new jewelry design from WigJig University to spur the creative juices.  The new design for this newsletter is the design for the Onion Dome Jewelry Wire Earrings with Beads jewelry making project.  The name for these earrings is a little strange and refers to the Russian architectural technique called the onion dome roof used in many Russian Orthodox Churches.  These earrings are similar in shape to the onion dome roof.  (We might have called them onion earrings, but the vegetable onion can cause bad breath when eaten raw and for this reason failed our selection criteria for earring names.)  For a beginner, we recommend making these earrings in 18 gauge wire.  For intermediate wire workers, we would recommend 16 gauge.  Advanced wire workers might even want to try 14 gauge.  This project works best with soft wire. 

These earrings were made on our WigJig Centaur, but this design could be adapted to any WigJig tool.  Making these earrings requires two 1/2 inch Super Pegs for your jig.  For the Centaur or Delphi you can view these Super Pegs here. 

To view our instructions for how to make these Onion Dome Jewelry Wire Earrings with Beads select here, or select either picture above.

Jewelry Technique:
This weeks jewelry making technique is a design for making a necklace component to go with our circles earrings from our prior newsletter.  This design is slightly larger than the earrings and is therefore bolder which is appropriate for a necklace.  The peg pattern for the design is shown at right and uses four Super Pegs and one regular metal peg.  The component itself is shown at left.    The Super Peg used for peg 2 is a 3/4" Super Peg from our set of Large Round Super Pegs.  Peg 3 is a 1/2 inch Super Peg.  Peg 4 is a 5/16" Super Peg and peg 5 is a 3/16" Super Peg. 

The technique for making this necklace component is identical to the approach that we used for making the earrings with one exception.  For the earrings you required a modified figure 8 connector.  For the necklace you will need an ordinary figure 8 connector. 

We suggest using 16 gauge soft wire to make this component.  If you need to you can use a nylon hammer to hammer the wire against the Super Pegs to help set the shape.  Many light taps are used.  You won't be able to hammer all points of the design, but even a little hammering with a nylon hammer will help to set the shape.

If you are the type person who likes really bold earrings you could use this design for earrings.  Boomer assures us that the Loop Police won't be checking to see if anyone is wearing a necklace component as earrings. 

You can view our instructions for making the jewelry wire Circles Necklace with Beads by selecting either picture above or by selecting here. 

Nostalgia Corner:
This weeks featured design in our Nostalgia Corner is the design for our Wrapped Wire Link Bracelet with Beads shown at right.  This bracelet is based upon a wire link that we call the wrapped link for the simple reason that it is made of thin gauge wire wrapped around itself.  This particular link is very similar to a Bali-Style Beads design called Rope for the simple reason that it looks like rope wrapped tightly around a central core.  The wrapped link is made with 20 or 22 gauge half-hard jewelry wire and is easier to make with 22 gauge wire so beginners should try that first.  It is possible to make this link with soft wire, but it is much easier to make with 1/2 hard wire, so as you practice this link with your soft practice wire, remember that it will be easier to make the finished pieces with your good jewelry wire.  You can view a close up of the wrapped jewelry wire link itself, above-left.

Please select here, or select the picture above-right to view our instructions for making the Wrapped Jewelry Wire Link Bracelet with Beads jewelry making project.

Warning! Joke Follows.  
This is only a joke.  We tell jokes because we are in favor of smiling, laughing and being happy.  This does not mean that we are opposed to anyone or anything.  This joke has a sexual theme. 

If you are offended by jokes with a mild sexual theme -- please skip the below paragraph.

Boomer Humor:  Boomer and Gary are sitting in a bar discussing the affairs of the world and another gentleman comes in and sits down.  The newcomer says to the bartender "B - B - B - Beer, P - P - P - Please".  The bartender serves the man a beer.  Gary, in an effort to be helpful says "I am sorry, but I noticed that you have a problem with stuttering.  I used to have a problem with stuttering also, but one weekend my wife made mad passionate love to me for 8 straight hours and it raised my confidence so much that I've overcome my stuttering.  You might want to try it." 

About a month later, Gary and Boomer see the same gentleman in the bar and Gary asks him "Did you try what I suggested about stuttering?"  The gentleman who stutters responds "Y - Y - Y - Yes, I tried it and it did not w - w - w - work for me, b - b - b - b - but you have a nice house." 

We are continuing to improve our newsletter, so please feel free to provide feedback at custsrv@wigjig.com. 

Announcements:
Online Books.  If you are looking for new and interesting jewelry 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 waive the shipping charge on orders over $60 shipped within the US (as long as these orders remain over $60).  For International orders we ship via UPS international service 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 2,500 web pages of free information, tips, techniques and free jewelry making 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 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.  We are also happy to sell our WigJig tools to stores.  Please send us an e-mail if you are interested in selling our WigJig tools. 

Classes.  We have a listing of various jewelry making classes using our WigJig tools that are offered by bead stores throughout the country.  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 at custsrv@wigjig.com so that we can include them in these pages. 

SHIPPING WAIVED ON ALL ORDERS OVER $60.00 SHIPPED TO USA - Customer Care - WigJig, PO Box 5124, Gaithersburg, MD 20882; (800) 579-WIRE (phone), (240) 597-2262 (fax), custsrv@wigjig.com (email).  Privacy Policy.  All content on this web site including jewelry and wire designs are copyrighted© by WigJig.  WigJig® is a registered trademark.  Last modified: 01/23/2007