Past Techniques:
We maintain a techniques web page that provides links to
the discussion of techniques in our prior newsletters. You can visit
this web page here.
Follow the links on that page to the discussion of the
technique in that
newsletter.
  Jewelry Technique:
This weeks jewelry making technique is a design for making the oval ear
wires shown at left and made into an earring at right. These oval ear
wires are a rather unique ear wire finding and a good way to turn an
interesting bead into a nice pair of earrings.
The oval ear wire finding shown is made using a 3/4" Super Peg from our set
of three Large Round Super Pegs or by using a Spiral Maker in place of the
3/4" Super Peg. (They are the same diameter.) This project is a
good beginner's project because they are easy to make, take very little time
to make and end with a product that doesn't look like it was purchased off
the shelf. Because ear wires require hardening and filing there are
additional tools required to complete this project. You will need a
hammer and anvil or bench block and a cup bur tool. The cup bur is to
round the cut end of the ear wire to remove any burs. The hammer and
anvil are to harden the wire so that the shape will be permanent.
If you are interested in making your own ear wires, this is a project that
you should try.
You can view our instructions for making the
oval ear wire finding by selecting
either picture above or by selecting here.
Nostalgia Corner:
 This weeks featured design in our Nostalgia Corner is the design for our
Money Earrings shown here. We also call this design Treble Clef
Earrings since the design is similar to the musical symbol. These
earrings are almost always the most popular jewelry making project we have
when we ask people at a show, which jewelry they like the best.
We modified our basic instructions for making the money earrings that makes
it easier to complete the earrings. This modification is to use your
round nose pliers to bend the wire in a semi-circle to help in starting the
wrap at the top of the earrings. If you follow the links here, step 13
will describe how to use your round nose pliers to start this wrap.
Using your round nose pliers gets the wrap started at the correct place on
the wire and makes the rest of the wrap easy.
Please select here, or select the picture above-right to view our instructions
for making the Money Wire & Beads Earrings 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 marriage theme.
If you are offended by jokes about marriage -- please skip the below paragraph.
Boomer Humor: Boomer's roommates, Gary and Suzanne, celebrated
their 35th wedding anniversary in December. (For those who want to
know, the 35th anniversary gift is supposed to be Jade. Since jade is
getting harder to find, Suzanne decided to change the scheduled gift to
I-Pod.)
Boomer was curious so he asked Gary what the secret was to staying married
so long. Gary responded there are two tips that have helped.
First, Gary and Suzanne have a ritual where they go out for drinks and
entertainment one night a week. Suzanne goes out on Mondays, and Gary
goes out on Fridays.
Second, Gary used to carry a picture of Suzanne in his wallet and whenever
he felt tempted to stray, he would look at that picture. After 10
years, the picture stopped working as well so Gary took a picture of all of
his stuff and tore it in half. Gary now has the picture of 1/2 of his
stuff in his wallet and whenever he feels tempted to stray, he looks at that
picture. (As that noted philosopher Jeff Foxworthy likes to say, if
she's not happy, you're not happy. If she's unhappy long enough,
you're going to be unhappy with 1/2 of your stuff!)
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