Cool techniques for wire-wrapping rings

After last night's success with wire-wrapping rings, I popped on over to Etsy this morning to see what's out there. There are a TON of inexpensive, simple rings (like mine), but there's some amazingly intricate artists, too. (Apologies in advance if I don't use correct terminology or if I describe things in a simple manner. I don't know much about these techniques, and it's early, and I haven't had my tea yet.)

This citrine ring from The Naked Parrot is so cool! It hadn't occured to me to make prongs out of the wire (although it makes perfect sense now that I think about it). The color choices here are fantastic.

This rose quartz and moonstone ring by cheli387 caught my eye. In addition to all the swirls and weaving, I really like how the moonstones are incorporated into the setting of the rose quartz.

I didn't know wire-wrapped rings could be fine jewelry like this Rivoli crystal ring from RutyDesigns. Some of the simpler wire-wrapped rings make you notice the wire wrapping first, and the stone second. This ring showcases the stone, and THEN you notice how amazing the wire wrapping is. This must have taken ages.

This Floating Pearl ring from KathyFrey is so incredibly unique, I had to call it out. The pearl rolls around freely within its cage. The structure of this ring is so interesting. I just know that if I wore it, I'd be tilting my hand all day to watch the pearl roll. I wonder how the pearl holds up over time, though?

This sculture ring from FrecklePatchDesign blew me away. Each ring is one-of-a-kind, and she uses different wire gauges to achieve this unique look. Now, I really want to try different wire gauges in my own rings to see what I can do (nothing as amazing as this, I'm sure, but I'm inspired!).

There's so many more I could prattle on about, but these were some of my favorites. I can't wait to get home and see what I can make tonight!

Wire-wrapped rings!

My best friend, Sang, bought me a beautiful wire-wrapped purple pearl ring several years ago. I love it and wear it all the time. Because I enjoy that ring so much, I've always wanted to be able to make them myself. I assumed it was really difficult (and probably expensive). 

Then, I read this awesome tutorial on wire wrapping. It didn't look too hard. Plus, the AC Moore near me was closing (sadness), but it had a ridiculous clearance on all its beads (happiness!). I picked up some wire (and a few more beads... I'm weak) at Michael's and found a sturdy cardboard tube roughly ring-sized, and I was ready to go.

OK, I went a bit overboard. But, each one takes maybe half an hour to make, and it's addictive!

This was my first attempt. I like how everything is clustered. These are just cheapo acrylic beads, believe it or not. I have piles of these leftover from a craft project I worked on with my mom in 6th grade. It's nice to finally use them for something.

Second attempt. These are all Czech glass beads (according to the label) that I got at AC Moore.

This one might be my favorite. The round stone is Jasper, and the others are also Czech glass beads. Lavender is one of my favorite colors, so I'll wear this a lot.

I'm not so sure about these two. I was trying to recreate the shape of the ring that Sang gave me, but it didn't quite work. The setting is really, really tall. Definitely wearable, but not every day. Oh, and those center stones are also jasper. I'm amazed how many shades it comes in!

So, that was my first adventure into wire-wrapped rings. It's unbelievably addictive, and I'm sure I'll be up to my ears in them before long. I already bought a ring mandrel so I can make more precisely-sized rings. I don't think I'll bother selling them on Etsy, since the market is already saturated with wire-wrapped jewelry. I'll probably just make these for fun and for gifts.

Kittyloaves!

New! Furry kittyloaves!

They're in the shop!

Tip!

If you're having an off day, go to a thrift store and try on the silliest hats you can find!

During my lunch break, I did just that. I tried on a canary yellow hat with a veil and an upside-down bow, a gold hat that looked like a halo in a religious painting, and a grey fedora with silver sequins. If you're wearing a silly hat, you can't help but feel better.

Busy!

I was on vacation for the past two weeks, but I'm back! I'll be posting a dozen or so new dolls later this week, so be on the lookout! :D

I also bought this MASSIVE lot of electric blue fur from a lady on Craig's List. It looks like I hunted down a herd of Cookie Monsters and kept their pelts. I don't have any boxes big enough to hold all the fur, so I need to make some stuff with it, and quickly!

The return of the Parking Lot Monitor

I just wanted to note that the PLM personally visited my cubical-neighbor to inform him that he was parked in a non-spot. Except it wasn't my neighbor's car. So, PLM sallied forth to find the true culprit.

Did I mention PLM has a real job here that ISN'T monitoring the parking lot? I think it's great to volunteer for extra assignments at work, but this is... strange. Still, for the sake of being a team player, I wish PLM the best of luck with the quest.

(I'm still parking in the non-spots, though. Bwa ha ha.)

The Parking Lot Monitor (a typical moment in my life)

I work in an office that’s a warehouse converted into a cubical farm. Since it was build to house wares and not people, there are a limited number of parking spaces.

The portion of the parking lot closest to my desk has maaaaaaybe 20 “real” spaces and several loading zones that aren’t technically spaces, but since a car can fit in them, we park our cars in them when the other spaces are full. (There’s another 15 or so “reserved” spaces that we aren’t allowed to park in, even though no one ever parks in them.) Did I mention that 200+ people work in this building? Yeah. Most have to park in another company’s lot out back and walk around the building. This is intimidating if it’s dark out, since we work in a sketchy area.

Anyhoo, one of my coworkers is our self-appointed Parking Lot Monitor. Whenever someone parks in a reserved space or loading zone, PLM ensures that justice is served.

Yesterday was recycling day, so all the bins were out in the parking lot. They're conveniently placed on the ramp so as to (mostly) not impede the walkway or block anyone from parking.

Around noon, I went out to get lunch. Not unsurprisingly, when I returned a mere 10 minutes later with my food, there were no “real” parking spaces open (someone snagged mine really quickly!).

(CRAP!)

So, I parked in a loading zone, since it was the only space I could find.

When I left the office two hours later, this is what I found:

Yes. PLM saw my car parked in the ONLY AVAILABLE SPACE in the ENTIRE parking lot, got pissed that I was in a loading zone, and took the time to move the recycling bins so they blocked my car in.

It wasn’t hard to move them back out of the way, but WTF?