Comments on: Making Headpins & Copper Findings for Polymer Clay Jewelry Projects

By: Barb L

Barb L — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 08:52:27 +0000

Well, I’ll try it out and report back. I love the feedback on techniques and ideas that happens here at this site!

By: Cindy Lietz@PYMII

Cindy Lietz@PYMII — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:21:48 +0000

@Barb: Copper can sometimes turn the hole in your ear a little green depending on the type of skin PH you have, though not usually as much as a ring will. You can seal the metal with wax or a spray like PYMII but if you have any sensitivities you are better off using Rose Gold or Copper colored Niobium earwires instead. They both look nice with copper and won’t turn your ears green.

By: Barb

Barb — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:04:51 +0000

I love copper, the color, but haven’t had much jewelry made out of it, since it wasn’t mainstream. Now that I’m starting to make my own I was wondering, I’d like to try this technique to make headpins to fashion into ear wires for some earrings I’m making.

I had a copper ring I made in shop class many years ago, and it turned my finger green. On the other hand, I wore the ring 24×7. Will ear wires made from copper wire and worn for a few hours at a time turn my ear lobes green? :)

By: Phaedrakat

Phaedrakat — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 06:10:27 +0000

I looked at the “library”, and since Vol. 016, there’s been a metal or wire working tute once a month. At first I wanted all the videos to be polymer clay, since there are lots of wire/metal tutorials available out there, and not so many for PC. But the majority of the members here seem to want a bit of metal in their tutorials. I’ve come to love Cindy’s videos and teaching style, so I don’t mind one of the monthly videos being metal. In fact, I end up loving the tutes, even if it’s something I already know how to do. Cindy always manages to teach me something.

As for these headpins, I’m so glad she’s going to be tackling them. I have a feeling they’ll be coming up soon, so long as they pass a “vote.” I made a request for a video on these on the Spoon Bail page, and Cindy commented that I’d get my wish in May. So, please vote “yes” when she presents it to us! Pleeaase….

By: pollyanna

pollyanna — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:49:55 +0000

I agree with Ken and the others about learning how to do the headpins and such but still having the PC vids as the major tut.
Andrea

By: Kathy Bloom

Kathy Bloom — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 15:51:08 +0000

Gold, Silver and Copper (you can also get Bronze) wire is cheap compared to buying the findings already made and you can make them look however you want. They are an important part of the jewelry and I love seeing any techniques I can. I think one video or a portion of video a month for metal work is a great idea. I’ve enjoyed the ones Cindy has done so far.

By: Phaedrakat

Phaedrakat — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 23:35:25 +0000

I re-read all of the comments here. It seems most people commented that they preferred having mostly polymer videos, so they didn’t vote to learn this technique. But now that there is a metal tutorial every month, perhaps this should be revisited? This would be a great technique to learn; headpins are a must for jewelry making! While you can find cheap ones at craft stores, they are only in certain metals, and you have no choice in how thick they are, or if they have a “ball” on top. I would love for these to be the next wire/metal video tutorial!

By: Lisa Whitham

Lisa Whitham — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:27:07 +0000

Thanks Cindy! :)
~Lisa

By: Cindy Lietz@Rosary Beads

Cindy Lietz@Rosary Beads — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:44:16 +0000

@Lisa: I have used both 24 and 20 gauge copper wire for the head pins. I used long handled needle nose pliers to hold the pins in the flame and dropped into water to cool.

By: Lisa Whitham

Lisa Whitham — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:17:02 +0000

Cindy,
What gauge of wire are you using to make the headpins? I might get out the husbands torch and try making my own… Oh, and what did you hold the wire with when it’s in the flame?

~Lisa