Discovering the ways of the fibula

I just made my first wire wrapping project, and it was soooo fun!! I really loved being able to whack something with a hammer. I don't have anything like this up in my store, but plan on doing more after the holidays. In the meantime you can check out the rest of my store here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RandomWish

It's a fibula for my mom for Christmas. I think it turned out pretty good for my first try :) 

For those of you who don't know a fibula is like a shawl or scarf pin. From what I've seen, they are usually made of wire. The pointy bit can either be connected or loose. I chose to let mine be loose this time. 

I've read that the two best wires to use when doing wire projects are copper or silver. I chose to use silver filled wire because it's a lot cheaper. Here's a link to my supplier: https://www.etsy.com/shop/silverschells

There are also different tempers, gauges, and all kids of things you need to know about wire. For the temper I use dead soft wire. It starts off relatively easy to use, and gets harder the more you work with it. Be careful because if you mess with it too much it can get brittle. To make the frame I used 16 gauge wire. The smaller the number the bigger the wire is. I think I used a 24 gauge wire for the bead threading. Wire also comes in different shapes I guess you'd call it. I don't know how it matters if your going to hammer it, but I used round wire. 

If you'd like more wire tips let me know, but there are lots of books and helpful tips on the internet :)

Bookworms

Here's another bookmark I've been working on :) You can find it here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/172057241/french-leather-bookmark-beaded-tan

I've started working on a mini one with a brick pattern, but haven't decided what I'm going to do with the top.

Anyone read any good books lately?

Owls

I'm quite fond of owls and have had this pendant for quite awhile. I decided to take a break from bookmarks to make this necklace, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out :) Head to my Etsy store to see more pictures of it: https://www.etsy.com/listing/171948273/owl-chain-necklace-beaded-zig-zag

Etsying

Just finished the white bookmark. This one has more of a retro feel to it I think.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/171813343/butterfly-music-bookmark-white-leather

Today is feeling like a sleepy day. I have a long list of things I need to be working on for my Etsy store and still more Christmas gifts, but it's so hard to make myself get off the couch. Maybe later I'll feel motivated. For now I'm going to give in to procrastination..

Bookmarks and Randomness

Cyber Monday didn't go that great for me, and I realized today that I had forgotten to post about it on my Etsy page..Oops. The days leading up to it where pretty good though, so I'm happy :)

Today I made some more bookmarks. I finished them both, but haven't finished with the pictures for the white one. Hopefully I'll have that done tomorrow. The blue one is done and up in my shop though :D

You can find it here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/171677890/music-butterfly-bookmark-blue-leather

Cyber Monday On Etsy

It's almost Cyber Monday, and I'm getting excited to do some more Christmas shopping. This year I'm either hand making all of my gifts or buying them from Etsy. I think it's a great idea to buy from people who put some much thought and effort into what they do. I've already started some of my Christmas shopping on there and there are a lot of people who have started their sales early this year. I wish I had discovered Etsy sooner because it has made Christmas shopping a lot easier for me. Go check it out because there are tons of cool handmade and vintage stuff: www.etsy.com

This year I'll be having my own Cyber Monday sale. I've got free shipping until the end of the year, and 15% off until after Monday Dec. 2nd. When you check out use the coupon code: CYBER
Here's a link to my store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RandomWish