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How-To

Product spotlight – new large-hole metal beads

June 1, 2011

bazillion new metal beads in our online store! Most of them have large holes, too – perfect for all the leather and Pandora-style jewelry that is so popular these days.

Toni’s bracelet design allows the cube bead to make a statement.

Whether you prefer antiqued silver, antiqued brass or antiqued copper in your jewelry designs, there are tons of new bead options with strong geometric shapes, fancy details and great textures. A few of my favorites include:

New summery flower beads in antiqued brass and silver.

Hollow metal barrel beads that remind me of Donkey Kong!

Tube beads and other unique shapes with hammered texture.

I don’t know exactly what this will end up being, but these chunky tube beads told me they wanted to be strung on leather with our new larger-hole shell pearls. We shall see!

The future of this piece is a mystery at this point!

Finally, here are a pair of earrings Toni made. What a great go-with-everything design! For variety, it would be easy to add a splash of color or sparkle by capping the dotty tube beads with small gemstones or crystals.

West Yin earrings.

Do metal beads inspire you to add bright colors or to keep in neutral? I would love to hear what kind of combinations you come up with! ~ Cindy

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Wire lashing: an easy way to cover your jewelry with beads or bling!

May 19, 2011
Two wire-lashed bracelets

Artistic Wire + bracelet forms = many many options!

I call this easy jewelry-making technique “wire lashing” to distinguish it from “wire wrapping” – but really, it is just wrapping thin wire around and around a component in order to cover it with beads (or chain!).

bracelet plain

A plain hook end bracelet is the perfect candidate for a good lashing!

The keys to wire lashing are simple, but oh so vital:

  1. Always begin with a few wire wraps around your base piece (in this case
    bangle bracelets) before adding beads or chain. Rather than trying to wrap the very end of the wire, leave about a 1″ tail so you have a bit of wiggle room.
  2. Always keep your wire wraps tight around the item. Pull the entire wire all the way through and around before beginning another wrap. If using beads, lay the bead against the base in the position you want it to end up in before wrapping the wire tight.
  3. Always use two or more wraps between beads to keep everything securely in place.
  4. Always stay calm if (ha – when!) the wire gets kinked or tangled. When it starts getting cranky, take a second to smooth it back out or it will grow into a major mess.
  5. When you’re all done, you can adjust the wraps and beads with your fingers to make it more uniform. Likely there will some wraps that are tighter than others. This is perfectly normal and easy to fix.

I’ve used this technique before on small items (kidney ear wires, links, ear hoops and hair combs) so decided to step up to bracelets today. The only difference is working with longer wire (about 4-5 feet for a typical bangle). You have the option of working with smaller sections of wire and adding new pieces as you go, but I really wanted to use one continuous piece. I did of course kink the wire. Repeatedly.

Looks scary, but this nightmare actually only took a few seconds to correct.

But the nice thing about using one piece of wire is that as you go along, the lashing goes faster and faster until suddenly you realize you are having fun! At the end, you feel so victorious you immediately want to make another. So you do … and realize the wire is too darn long again … but wait, now it is fun again … victory is within reach … This is how addictions start.

I like to use 24 or 26-gauge wire when lashing because it is very easy to manipulate with your fingers. Today I used several colors of Artistic Wire. The beaded bracelet has 6mm purple Miracle beads, 4mm turquoise magnesite and opalite barrel beads held in place by chartreuse Artistic Wire. It was quick and easy to make. However, I started with waaaay too much wire, so it took a little longer to add each bead than was really necessary. Impatient as always, I decided to do away with stringing beads. My next attempt uses rhinestone chain.

Sparkle mania

Sparkle mania has never been easier to achieve!

It turns out the 14pp size Swarovski Elements crystal rhinestone chain is almost exactly the same width as the bracelet form, so it stays in place nicely. I think this would be a great girl’s night jewelry project – simple, sparkly and easy to customize by adding some charms or changing up the wire color.

For those of you who prefer thread, check out Toni’s rhinestone hair comb – same technique, different materials.

rhinestone hair comb

Cover a comb with ribbon and rhinestones for easy elegance.

What else can we cover in rhinestone chain? Perhaps an easier question would be what can’t we cover! ~ Cindy

Another use for crimping pliers

May 13, 2011

Thanks for sharing a tip (comment below),
and thanks for sharing this blog with a friend!

Crimping pliers (crimpers) are special pliers designed for a very specific purpose: to crimp (fold) crimp beads onto beading cable such as Beadalon or SoftFlex. (Our beading cable technique sheet illustrates this very well.)

tuck wire tails with crimp pliers

No more chippies!

But here is another use for them: use your crimpers to tuck wire tails. The concave shape helps pull the wire in close to the wrap without chipping the bead underneath – especially handy when you are working with glass beads or crystal!

Snags are a drag. Do you have any similar tips for keeping wire tails tucked where they belong? ~ Cindy

Mixed-media fiber/fabric jewelry art!

May 6, 2011

{Thanks for clicking the Share buttons, to tell a friend!}


Mollie embellished the tag Toni made with seed beads and added a sweet little brass bird charm, before hanging it from a length of chain.

We’re very fortunate to have Toni, a mixed-media artist and art teacher, as one of our jewelry designers here at Rings & Things. From pottery to doll making, Toni has dabbled in it all. So when we started seeing fabulous fabric tag pendant necklaces in magazines like Belle Armoire and Cloth Paper Scissors, we asked Toni to make a few for our design team to play with. She has a huge fabric stash and was more than happy to put her scraps to good use! Toni’s “Patchy Blue Skies” in our design gallery also has a wee little birdie.

Whether you’re a jewelry artist or a fiber artist, it can be a lot fun to cross over into a similar craft. It challenges your creativity. Toni never does anything half way, so we had a ton of fabric swatches and squares of all sizes and patterns to play with. Here are some of the results, as well as some design tips and tricks we learned along the way.

First off, Toni sandwiched a piece of felt between two layers of fabric to give each tag a nice sturdy feel. If you’re using thick fabric, this step can be omitted. Most of the designers used
3/16″ eyelets to create a sturdy hole from which to hang their tags, but as you’ll see, you have other options.

I used choker clamps to grip the ends of the tag and added short sections of chain to turn it into a cuff bracelet. The choker clamps could also work in place of a bail to make a pendant.

She punched holes into a copper tube bail to stitch it onto the fabric tag.

It is so much fun to see what unique designs people come up with, even when starting with almost the same inspiration. Look for one of Toni’s fabric tag designs in an upcoming Rings & Things magazine ad! ~ Cindy

Shopping list:
Buy some of the items used in these projects…

Vintaj “rustic” altered base-metal canvases

Artistic Wire

Tim Holtz idea-ology pen nibs

magnetic cable chokers

“raku” ceramic Buddha

choker clamps

impression stone beads & lime keishi pearls from our BeadTour bead shows

red bamboo-coral beads

copper tube top bails

PS: here are some handy links to some other how-to‘s in the Rings & Things blog!

Design challenge: who won?

May 4, 2011

Thanks to a couple hundred 🙂 of you guys for jumping in on our latest Design Challenge: brushed copper beads! *And welcome to you visitors from the Rings & Things News Flash email!*

From the dozen or so
brushed copper bead recipients, Rings & Things received dozens of awesome photos showing what they designed.

The grand prize winner is Kym Hunter! Kym built this simple but wonderful ring.

Front view (showing the flower bead)

We loved the simplicity, cleverness and cuteness of Kym’s ring! Besides two brushed copper beads (puffed flower and striped disk), Kym used just a couple of pieces of felt and some copper wire–to great effect.

BOOKMARK THIS PAGE!
GET INTO OUR NEXT CONTEST
…to be announced very very soon…

See Kym’s other brushed-copper bead creations at the original Design Challenge blog post. They’re in a photo gallery there with everyone else’s entries.

Don’t miss out! You’ll find jewelry there like Melissa Meman’s drape earrings, inventively using the small brushed disk beads (which she oxidized) as vertical design elements .

I promise you’ll have a great time browsing the photos 🙂 Thanks for sending a friend the link, to share & enjoy!

Two ways to color metal using Image Transfer Solution

April 22, 2011
design by sondra barrington

Alice in Wonderland image transfer bracelet

Hi Bloglandia! Last weekend I did a demo in our Spokane showroom on how to use Sherri Haab’s Image Transfer Solution (ITS) and thought now would be a good time to share these techniques for colorizing metal with everyone.

Image transfer is just that – transferring an image from the paper it is printed on to a different surface (in this case, metal jewelry components). Image transfers have a vintage, ethereal feel, and I love how the different colors of metals shine through. Unlike many of the other solvents and processes used for image transfer, Image Transfer Solution (ITS) is non-toxic. Yay! Plus, it has another purpose not even mentioned on the bottle: it is an excellent way to seal colors onto metal (more on that in a bit).

Transferring Images – ITS Method #1

One caveat: The images you use must be printed on a laser (toner based) printer. Ink jet pictures will not work. The pictures can be black or white or color. Photos and text should be reversed before you print, since transfers will be mirror images.

To be honest, I did not like ITS the first couple of times I tried it. I kinda hated it. Following the directions on the bottle, I prepped my metal with steel wool and heat-set the images in a 325 degree oven – just like it said! – but things just kept going wrong. Either my images would wash right off the metal or the paper would be so very stuck to the metal that no amount of scrubbing would remove it. But I loved the concept, so I kept playing with it. Below is my own method for using ITS. Maybe the package directions will work like a charm for you. If not, I hope my tips and tricks help:

  1. Scuff up your metal (aluminum, brass, copper and silver all work great) with a medium grit sanding pad or sand paper. Steel wool leaves the surface too smooth, in my opinion.
  2. Wash metal with rubbing alcohol to remove dirt, dust and oil – even if it looks clean!
  3. Using a clean, dry paintbrush, evenly coat the prepped metal with just a couple of drops of ITS.

  1. Press image face-down onto metal and press firmly into place to remove any air bubbles. ITS is like glue – you will not be able to reposition your paper at all, so be careful to place it where you want it! Let dry. Use an iron (high heat, no steam) to heat the metal for 1 or 2 minutes. Don’t worry, the paper won’t burn. Let metal cool.
  2. Place the metal into water and using a gentle circular motion, begin rubbing the paper off, leaving the image behind. Don’t get to aggressive or you could lift off parts of the image. Patience pays off here.
  3. After most of the paper is removed, use a sheet of polishing paper and more water to remove the finer paper fibers.
  4. After all of the paper is removed, seal the image with a dab of Renaissance Wax and a soft cloth. It really improves the luster.
image transfer necklace

My photograph looks like a vintage postcard after being transferred onto aluminum. The Swarovski beads are the same colors as the prayer flags hanging on the mountain tea house.

Complete your jewelry piece! The image is permanently attached. You can even punch holes or dap the metal and it won’t come off!

Sealing Colors – ITS Method #2

Image Transfer Solution can also be used to permanently seal inks onto metal! Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Inks are tons of fun to mix and blend onto non-porous surfaces, like metal, but since they are ink, they can be rubbed or washed off. That is, unless you seal them with ITS. When you heat-set ITS, it binds the color to the metal. It will not wash off or bleed onto your customer’s skin.

design by sondra barrington

Vintaj fussy peacock pendant colorized with alcohol inks for a faux enamel look.

You can color your metal with alcohol inks and then, after they’ve dried, paint a thin layer of ITS over the top. Another option is to mix the ITS directly with your inks (just a few drops of each) and paint that mix onto your metal. Either way, once the ITS has dried, you need to heat-set it to make the bond permanent. Just follow the directions on the Image Transfer Solution package for using an oven to heat-set (the iron won’t work for this application).

Looks like patina – but this blue bee was colored with alcohol inks.

There you have it! Two tried and true methods for permanently coloring your metal pieces for jewelry and other applications. Although this post focused on metal, Image Transfer Solution can be used on polymer clay, etched glass and other surfaces too! Since it really only takes a couple of drops per image, you’ll have plenty to experiment with! ~ Cindy

PS: here are some handy links to some other how-to‘s in the Rings & Things blog!

How to Wire-Wrap a Briolette

April 14, 2011

I love briolettes! I love them in all shapes, sizes, colors and materials. So what is a briolette? A briolette is a pear or teardrop-shaped bead that is faceted and tip-drilled. Some briolettes are flat and some are round, kind of like a ball that comes to a point on one end. When they are flat, the hole can either be front to back or side to side. No matter the type, briolettes are super versatile and great for making all kinds of beautiful jewelry. Continue Reading…

How to dap and dome metal jewelry

April 8, 2011

Cymbals of Happiness bracelet by Sondra:
stamped, textured and domed copper and brass disks make a tinkling charm bracelet.

It took me awhile to accept “dapping” as a real word. Even now that I am obsessed with dapping every flat piece of metal that crosses my path, I still find the term awkward. Spell check, ignoring the facts as usual, still doesn’t believe.

In jewelry making, dapping simply means taking a flat piece of metal and curving it into a dome with special dies and punches, called a dapping set. The dapping block (or die if you prefer) has a series of concave impressions that correspond in size with the dapping punches.

Rings & Things #69-199 dapping set by Eurotool, and a variety of flat and dapped metal pieces.

Simply place your metal piece in the block and use a hammer (preferably brass) to repeatedly tap the punch into the metal. I say tap because your goal is to gently bend the metal into a smooth, even curve. If you just whack as hard as you can, the metal won’t shape up evenly.

how not to dap metal

The entire piece of metal needs to fit inside the impression, not sit on top like in this picture.

how to dap metal

Here the metal pieces are inside the impressions, ready to be dapped.

Another tip: don’t hammer straight down on your metal. Hold the dapping punch at and angle, and tap tap tap with your hammer, turning your metal after every few taps to ensure that it is shaping up nicely.

For best results, keep rotating the die and the metal.

As you dap (tap, dome, whatever!), the height of the metal piece increases, while the width decreases. So after you’ve dapped as much as you can in one impression, you can move the metal into the next smallest hole and dap it with the next smallest punch to get a deeper dome.

Doming adds a professional quality to your work. Even just a slight curve instantly makes a metal disk reflect more light.

flat disk and dapped disk

Just a few taps is all it takes!

Brass, copper, aluminum and sterling silver are all excellent soft metals to dap (most of my images are of raw brass blanks). Even copper coins can all be dapped, although coins are thick and will require you to apply a bit more muscle. If you want to stamp, texture, punch holes, or otherwise adorn your metal (and you will!) do all that before you dap for beautiful results:

Use stamps to monogram brass disks for easy, elegant earrings.

Dapped pieces can be layered too, like on my copper and brass ring. (See bottom of this blog for tips about making this ring.)

One word of warning – you might need to upgrade your photography equipment to get good pictures of your dapped jewelry! I think the only way to get a clear picture of Mollie’s “God Save the Queen” necklace would be to use a professional light box. The domed Canadian penny is amazingly reflective. Since my photo-editing software lacks a “rhinestone-reflection remover tool,” this is as good of a shot as I could get. Believe me, the necklace is stunning in person!

A domed penny, brass filigree and snippet of rhinestone chain, all soldered onto a brass disk, forms the centerpiece.

I know you are quicker on the uptake than my computer: add dapping to your jewelry-making vocabulary today! ~ Cindy

—————– postscript: —————–

We’ve gotten a bunch of questions about Cindy’s copper and brass “True” ring above, but she has moved away, so I’ll do my best to answer. The ring uses only 3 parts:

Texture the copper washer using this technique, or simply give it a nice hammered texture with a chasing or ballpein hammer. Stamp “true” on the disk following these metal stamping instructions or this metal stamping article. Then dap (dome) the washer and the brass disk, and glue them into the bezel ring with your favorite adhesive. Cindy used E-6000. ~Polly

Blog Home (Newest Tutorials)

How to use heat to patina brass charms and filigrees

March 31, 2011
bee charms, raw and with heat patina

One before and two after applying heat patina. Check out the rainbows on the middle bee!

Ah, brass. Beautiful brass. I love everything about using brass in my handmade jewelry … except its raw brassiness. Brass is affordable, easy to work with, and available in all kinds of fun charms and filigrees. And while giving raw brass an antique patina with an oxidizing solution such as Win-Ox really is not difficult, my favorite method of coloring brass is the torch! It tones down that brash brassiness to a beautiful warm glow that is infinitely more appealing to my eye.

bee charm torch

Torching the bee charm only took a few seconds.

Applying heat to give the metal a patina is so easy – and clean! No chemicals, no rinsing, no waiting! Sometimes you can even get shimmery rainbows to appear by holding the heat on for a few extra seconds. (The same process works to heat patina raw copper.)

Heat patina raw brass filigree

Raw brass filigree, before and after meeting the torch flame.

You all know to set up a heat-proof work area before firing up your torch. This can be as simple as a cookie sheet. Tie back your hair, wear safety glasses and just plain BE SAFE. Do your homework before you start. A great book that explains all the necessities for working with a torch is Soldering Made Simple by Joe Silvera.

Butane is widely available at hardware stores.

Don’t feel fired up to experiment? You can buy Vintaj natural brass jewelry components, most of which have already undergone a chemical-free process to give them their rich color.
Plated brass filigrees are also available. But I encourage you to try heat patina. It is the safest way to let your inner pyromaniac out to play!

Velvet ribbon adds a luxurious feel to this brass bracelet.

Here is a gorgeous brass jewelry example by Mollie to inspire you! She soldered a raw brass bee to a Vintaj connector to make this bracelet and used both heat and Win-Ox to patina the pieces. ~ Cindy

Want to keep that perfect heat/torch patina that you’ve achieved? Nikolas #2105 Clear Silver Lacquer is the product we’ve most often heard recommended by teachers and jewelers, to protect heat patinas and other colors on silver, copper, brass, and bronze. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the packaging, to seal and protect your jewelry. When properly applied to metal surfaces, it forms a coating that protects from oxidation, perspiration, sulfur, and abrasion.

Please note, that this item does require special hazardous shipping, so be sure to select UPS GROUND as your shipping choice during order checkout.

How to make interchangeable magnetic jewelry with 1" buttons

March 24, 2011

bottle cap magnet button pendantHandmade magnetic bottle cap necklace with assorted buttons
Mollie has been borderline obsessed with one particular item lately. It’s not a pretty gemstone bead or sparkly crystal pendant. It isn’t even new. No, Mollie is obsessed with plain old sticky dots. Almost daily, she’d ask me, “Oooh, have you tried the sticky dot?” and I’d just roll my eyes. But now I’m a convert too.
Sticky dots are just that – self-stick little glue pads. Easy to use, strong, zero mess, no fuss, no cure time, no smell. This is true instant gratification!


Round sticky dots fit perfectly under our magnets!

Two of Mollie’s recent designs use the sticky dot: the interchangeable magnet ring and the interchangeable magnet bottle cap pendant. Like many of you crafty people, Mollie has a button making machine. The little 1″ buttons are particularly adorable, and since they are made of steel, naturally they are magnetic. I don’t have a button machine myself, but I buy lots of buttons – and now I can wear them instead of leaving them on my bulletin board!

Here’s the magnet

Here’s the pendant – so cute!

Rings & Things’ wholesale price breaks makes it really affordable to make a whole bunch of these necklaces. For about $50 (before shipping and tax, if applicable) you can get everything (except the buttons) to make 70 necklaces – with supplies leftover! If you don’t already have one, add a pair of EuroPunch pliers to make holes in the caps.

1 spool of ball chain (makes 70 17″ necklaces) $18-25 ~ 100 ball chain clasps $2 ~ 1 oz. jump rings $5-6 ~ 100 bottle caps $7-10 ~ 144 adhesive dots $6 ~ two packs of 35 magnets $12-14

The adhesive dot is completely hidden by the ring and magnet.

1″ buttons make perfect rings!

The same value applies to the magnetic ring design – and absolutely no tools are required to make these!

72 adjustable flat-pad ring blanks $42-62, depending on color (we do sell a less expensive ring blank if you prefer, but the style and comfort of this style is worth the added cost) ~ 144 adhesive dots $6 ~ two packs of 35 magnets $12-14

At these quantities, the necklaces cost less than a dollar and the rings about $1.20 to 1.50 each to make. Buy more and the cost per is even lower. Ah, the genius of good design! ~ Cindy

“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
~ Albert Einstein

PS: here are some handy links to some other how-to’s in the Rings & Things blog!