Plain round glass beads can be pretty boring by themselves but we do tend to stock up on them because they add color while allowing more elaborate beads to pop. Unfortunately, sometimes you find yourself looking at a large quantity of those plain beads with little more to go on.

At such a time, I decided to consider it a challenge rather than a problem and made it a project to finding ways to embellish plain beads with wire and bring them out into the spotlight. I used bead cages, coils and other wire frames and mixed wire colors to add interest to the finished pieces.

In the first image you have a bracelet made from oval beads wrapped in coiled green wire (a shade lighter than the beads to make it stand out) and then wrapped again in copper wire with some seed beads thrown in. It’s really simple to make but visually it’s very effective.

The second picture shows a pair of earrings made from lampwork square beads. They’re beautiful by themselves but become more captivating through the use of a large coil at the end of the wrapped loop – a variation in the tiny coils used to finish off the wire. The coils add interest to a plain square or coin shaped bead and they also prevent the beads from turning so it’s a useful method to use in necklaces and bracelets as well.

Bead cages and weaving with colored wire turn plain blue beads into something special. – Plain round glass beads can be pretty boring by themselves but I do tend to stock up on them because they add color while allowing more elaborate beads to pop. Unfortunately, sometimes I find myself looking at a large quantity of those plain beads with little more to go on.

At such a time, I decided to consider it a challenge rather than a problem and made it a project to finding ways to embellish plain beads with wire and bring them out into the spotlight. I used bead cages, coils and other wire frames and mixed wire colours to add interest to the finished pieces.

In the first image (at the top) you have a bracelet made from oval beads wrapped in coiled green wire (a shade lighter than the beads to make it stand out) and then wrapped again in copper wire with some seed beads thrown in. It’s really simple to make but visually it’s very effective.

The second picture shows a pair of earrings made from lampwork square beads. They’re beautiful by themselves but become more captivating through the use of a large coil at the end of the wrapped loop – a variation in the tiny coils used to finish off the wire. The coils add interest to a plain square or coin shaped bead and they also prevent the beads from turning so it’s a useful method to use in necklaces and bracelets as well.

Bead cages and weaving with coloured wire turn plain blue beads into something special, as you can see in the last example.

– I love to get inspiration from history when it comes to making jewelry and, after trying out egyptian, celtic and medieval inspired pieces I decided to try making some victorian-looking ones. To make the dainty flowers that serve the purpose of focal beads on the first few necklaces and earrings, I used flattened bead caps as backing to support small beads and crystals wired together to make little flowers. This gave me the oportunity to finally use some of the multiple seed beads I’ve collected over the years but rarely use. I used thin wire instead of beading floss to make these flowers because I hate the way beading wire tends to strech or come undone so I don’t trust it to last. Wire can also break, sure, but even if it does you don’t usually lose all the beads in one go like you do with beading floss.

I started working with purples because I had a wider selection of beads in those tones and it suits the time of year but I’m also thinking about making some pieces in black for a more gothic feel and in red, possibly with coral beads.

– Well, I guess you can tell from the picture what the problem is.

When I started making jewelry I got a good collection of sed beads. I made a few simple pieces with them but I soon figured out I had no patience for it. I’m a bit of a klutz so I kept finding new ways to spill all the beads over myself or the floor and then taking hours trying to find them all again. And even if I didn’t drop them, the beading needle or stringing material would just fling a couple of beads across the room once in a while or the beads would stick to my hand and fall off at inconvenient times. It just got on my nerves.

I stored the seed beads in boxes with dividers and never looked at them again. Then I moved, and somehow the beads escaped their dividers and got all mixed up. I let them sit another year because I just couldn’t face the task of untangling that mess.

Now, however, I started making designs that call for seed beads. Not entirely in the conventional beading way, where you use nothing else, but as smaller beads in flower designs, for example. That means I finally had to open the boxes and start organising thee beads by color and size so I can quickly figure out if I have what I need while i’m working on a new piece.

The first part wasn’t too bad. Since the deviders proved to be unreliable, I decided to store the beads in little plastica bags instead of having them loose. It also reduces chances of spilling a whole box full of beads – learning from past mistakes is always a must, right?

Soon enough, though, I got to the bigger mess: the beads that got all mixed up. This part is going to take me days, I’m sure. Oh well, enough procrastination. Lets start sorting…

– It’s been raining all day so I made a colorful bracelet to cheer me up. It’s more appropriate for a spring collection than fall but I don’t really care

The design has a nature theme, kind of like a berry bush or a creeper plant and I chose carnelian beads for the berries, perdidot and aventurine for the leaves and rhodochrosite for the small flowers. The wire is silver and I thought about oxidizing it at first but I think it might be too dark after all so I’m leaving it shiny for now.

I love these plant-type pieces and had made a necklace in the same line a few years back with brass wire and glass leaves. I used onlye blues and greens and the space between the beads was much wider, making it look lighter but the basic idea is the same. The necklace also had a leaf-inspired clasp that I still like. I didn’t do that for the bracelet because it looks better if it’s a wide uninterrupted band all around the wrist instead of having a big gap for a clasp.

There are many possible variations within this nature-inspired model – using small pearls for a bridal version, making side branches of different lengths, and so on – and I plan on making more along the same lines.

– Since I’m waiting for client feedback on two of the custom pieces I’ve been making, today I started working on Christmas stock. I should have started by now but nearly a month with my daughter sick at home set me back a bit.

Aside from the more elaborate pieces I love to make, I always try to have a few simpler ones. The bolder pieces are great for special occasions but for everyday wear people tend to go for jewelry that’s pretty but subtle.

With that in mind I made a couple of simple bracelets, one golden and one blue. To keep them from being too ordinary I added a nice wire wrapped S clasp with some metal beads in the center. I feel that sometimes it’s not necessary to make something terribly flashy for it to stand out as long as you concentrate on some nice details.

The first bracelet was made with brass wire, glass beads with gold foil inside, honey yellow rondelles and gold plated metal beads. I started with the larger focal beads and added the other elements and metal color that seemed to fit better. The S clasp is wrapped in thinner brass wire with some gold plated beads in the center.

For the second bracelet I used the same basic model but added four rondell beads in the center rather than just one focal bead, then used smaller crackle rondelles on the sides and some spacers to add a little texture.

I used steel wire for this one and wrapped blue wire around the clasp to make it match the rest of the design and also to avoid leaving such a large of steel color. This way, even if the bracelet moves on the right and gets turned around, there’s always blue all around. I thought that was a nice touch.