Garden-themed silver charms cluster together at the front of this necklace, creating an image of an idyllic moment in a secret garden. I often wire wrap several charms together to create a story. When using multiple charms, I prefer a dense arrangement without a lot of empty space. Often it takes three or four tries before I achieve balance, especially with asymmetrical designs.
As jewelers, many of you are probably familiar with the regrettable realization that a wire wrapped link must be adjusted to correct a necklace design. Wire wrapping provides wonderful security, but closed wire wraps cannot be changed or moved – they must be cut apart and completely re-done!
Several years ago, I started using a wire wrapping trick that has saved me lots of time: I make all of my link sections, but I keep the loops on both ends of each link open until I’m done designing the necklace. This allows me to rearrange the order of the links without requiring me to cut apart earlier work. I can add a link here or remove a link there by simply connecting the open loops. Once I’ve got an arrangement I’m pleased with, I go back and wire-wrap closed all of the loops. Do you have a favorite jewelry making trick?
It took me several tries to achieve balance in this assymetrical design.
Keeping my loops open allowed me to rearrange the links to find the best balance.
” From the time I was little, my mother taught me how to be a ‘Balinese woman.’ In her mind, a Balinese woman must devote her life to God, her husband and also to society. She taught me how to cook and do housework and also how to make offerings, starting from very simple ones and continuing with the complex offerings, because almost every day is a ceremonial occasion in Bali.”
