Wire Wrapping Projects - Batch #8 - (Dec 17, 2019)
Dec 17, 2019 12:16:48 GMT -5
spiritstone, fernwood, and 9 more like this
Post by NevadaBill on Dec 17, 2019 12:16:48 GMT -5
Well I am almost out the door to another rock collecting adventure today. In 32 degree weather none the less. (yikes!). But I think I can overwhelm our patient rock hobby community with yet another batch of yawn inspiring photos! Let's go!
P059 - Black Chert Fat Turtle
This is a medium sized rock. But lately I have been grinding such huge crowns on my rocks, that I had no idea what I was getting myself in to, for wrapping them. After a failed effort on this one (21 gauge copper, and gold wire using 21 gauge gold to bind), I realized I needed a different design. So I used big prongs. I am happy that they contain the chubby rock easily, and they are mostly conformed in shape and size. In the end, I thought it looked a lot like a turtle! My wife won't wear it because it is too heavy. But I like him!
P060 - Variscite and Chert Art Necklace
My goodness, what have I gotten myself in to? I was looking up Variscite, and found that it was often considered a sister stone to Turquoise and shares similarities. Then I started to see a lot of Native American necklaces made of Turquoise, and thought that I would like to do one! Yeaaah, right. This was an exercise in micro-wire-surgery! Lots of swearing happened. This is actually a small piece. Just over 2" at the widest, and 2.5" tall, the Chert pieces came together pretty easily.
But when I got to the Variscite part at the top, it was a nightmare to incorporate those two hinged pieces at the bottom. Oh, woe! I actually had to fiddle so much with the top stone, that the grease from my fingers formed a crack on the side (which I swear was not there when I started). And I couldn't find a way to get it out. Oh well. At least I didn't use glue. And it holds up and moves very well too. Nobody will ever see it anyway, because it is large and it has never even been worn. But you know, some of those Native Americans really have good wire wrapping chops.
P061 - Amethystine Copper Oval
Back to something easy. Actually I had another stone in mind for this one, and found it didn't fit the prongs, and so I put this one in instead. It is a lot like the turtle design. I wanted to reinforce in memory how I did the prong part. The stone is the star here though. I love the dendrites in it. Medium sized and done with a variety of wires, it came off without a hitch. My hands were thankful to have something basic to work on again.
P062 - Chrysocholla Stained Leaf
OK, this is a long one. The stone is 2 inches, and I had ideas to put ornamental wire around it as well, making it much longer than that. I knew it would never be worn, because my wife does not like this style. But I like the look of "vines" on my material. Not sure why. I just do. So this was a fun one. The rock is a bit funny shaped on the back and it has a twist going through the whole rock, making it more difficult to wrap. But I like the way it came off in the end.
P063 - Lavic Jasper Butterscotch Oval
This cute little rock has been sitting on the bench for 6 months. But it is a very odd shape, thick in some places and ultra thin in others. I has a twist going through the whole rock, top to bottom. So I feared it. It is small (about an inch). But I gathered my courage and my 24 gauge wire (actually it could be 26), and did my best. In the end it worked, and I like the design at the top by the bail. You will see that I will use this design in future pendants.
P064 - 3 Kids Tiny Jasper Hematite
Ok, probably my smallest wrap to date, this might be an inch tall. Using 26 gauge wire with funny shaped material, is always the hardest for me. But somehow this one didn't even fight me much. The bail didn't work like I wanted to, but the rock is locked in wire with just a couple elegant twists. This is the type of design my wife likes the most. The rock is found at a mine which is literally right across the street from my house. I stumbled across it by accident when walking from one part of the property to the other. I think the black is Hematite. Not sure.
P065 - 3 Kids Jasper Hematite Aztec
I have a bunch of this new rock, but only in small pieces. This piece is a bit larger and wrapped in 22 gauge with 26 binding it. I wanted to experiment with an Aztec looking pattern. Make it look like it came from Chichen Itza (Mayan) or something like that at least. We had just got off a cruise, and it was stuck in my mind. Well, I like the way it came off. But my wife says I ruined it with the South American design accents, and she will never wear it! Hmm. Why am I always getting myself in trouble like this?
P066 - Amethystine Flake Modern
OK, this is another nice piece of rock (very small), wrapped in 26 gauge, which has just been sitting around on the bench next to the butterscotch one earlier. I was afraid to wrap it for the same reason. It has all kinds of twists, and thin / thick parts to it. And it also has a scar (kind of a crack) going through the middle. So, I though I could hide it. I think it works. The back is equally as difficult as the front. The bindings on the left and right actually share wire with each other. Again, the bail is a simple design that I am starting to use more because it is easy, and I don't mess it up as much. I think it looks modern.
Well, that is about it for this batch. I am starting to wonder if I am taking to large of a picture of these pendants. Not in pixels, but as far as filling the frame of the picture. It makes every rock look huge. And it also is like a mug shot, and shows all imperfections of the stone, and the wire in the process. I guess it might work for folks that use a cell phone mostly though. oh well, I have another couple dozen more that also are shot in this scale. So I can't change for a while.
I am out the door very soon today to go on another rock chasing adventure (don't you have enough rocks, Bill?!?!). So the next batch will have to wait.
Again, thank you for stopping by and having a look!
