September 4, 2008
Wire Bezel Pendant | Handmade Copper Findings | Polymer Clay Jewelry
Tips on wrapping Fimo cane slice beads with a hammered copper bezel and handmade jewelry pendant bail:
With metal prices rising globally, the interest in copper jewelry also seems to be going up. This rich warm material is rustic and arty; easy to work with; and available in hardware stores (one of my favorite places to shop for cheap jewelry making supplies).
To make the copper bezel for the pendant in the picture above, I hammered a section of 14 gauge electrical copper wire (plastic coating removed), as flat as it would go. This flattened copper was then bent into a rectangle shape to fit around a thick cane slice from one of my mod polymer clay canes.
After fashioning a loop at the top, I used a fine copper wire (24 gauge) to wrap the cut ends of the hammered wire and hold them together.
The whole pendant, copper bezel and polymer clay cane slice were then popped into the oven to bake. Once finished, the clay insert was removed, sanded, buffed and glued back in place with Krazy Glue.
This jewelry piece has got me excited to do more with copper wire for making bezels, clasps and other findings. If copper jewelry is of interest to you too, I can most certainly share other pics, articles and video tutorials. Let me know your level of interest in the comments section below…
Main topics covered in this article were:
- Handmade Copper Findings
- Polymer Clay Jewelry
- Wire Bezel Pendants
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Filed under 07: Cane Work, 11: Bead Projects by Cindy Lietz
Comments on Wire Bezel Pendant | Handmade Copper Findings | Polymer Clay Jewelry »
Hi Cindy,
I would love to learn more about wire wrapping handmade cabochons etc. I have to admit that I am more of a silver lover, but I suppose that the same techniques can usually be used across the board.
I like to see all that you do, and I L-O-V-E seeing photos as I am a very visually oriented person. I would guess that most artists really are :) Anyway, please keep showing us photos of what you do :)
Thanks as always, Cindy E.
Cindy,
Would like to see more pics, articles and of course a video or two. Have you made bezels from clay? Have seen pics but nothing in person. I am interested in cup bezels for stones and/or clay.
@Cindy: Yeah what you make in Copper Wire can also be done in Silver Wire too. Copper is way, way less expensive though, so it is a good place to start until you get good with wire working.
@MJ: I haven't really made a lot of bezels in clay, though there are some cool molds and things I would like to try. Will post when I get to trying some!
It is nice to know that I am not the only one that knows more than the employees in Michael's and JoAnne. I get so frustrated because I owned a craft shop for 11 years and I knew about every item in the store! Not today.
Roberta
I have tried metal wire wrapping before and love the tip on flattening it boy does this make sense.great job this tip will help me with my next project Thanks
@Roberta: I know many people who have walked out of Michaels because they couldn't get the help they needed. I've always thought they should give all their employees a mandatory craft class each day and free supplies! If the staff got to learn about the supplies they could actually help people, which would lead to more sales… Duh!
@Beth: Flattening wire with a hammer not only makes it look cool, it hardens the wire and is a great stress reliever!!
What a good tip, Cindy! The flattened wire should stay in place. What hammer do you recommend? There are a lot of DIY ones in our shed!
I have just bought several reels of coloured copper wire - do you or anyone else know if hammering will knock off the coating?
What do you do to the copper to keep it from tarnishing so fast? I am a person that makes silver and copper turn black with very little wearing. I like to work with copper, but the tarnishing is a problem with items that have stones.
@Caroline: A DIY hammer will work but it will leave marks on the wire if it is scratched up. This however can look cool if you kind of spread the marks around and keep changing the direction you hammer. If you want those little round pock marks on the wire like you see in hammered metal, use a tiny ballpein hammer (or Ball Peen Hammer). I actually found one at the dollar store that works great. If you want a smooth surface you need a jewelers hammer with the large smooth head.
@Peggy: I love the look of tarnished copper and it is no harm to the polymer clay so I don't do anything to it. But if you are worried about tarnishing you could try coated copper wire instead.
I just came across this article and you have me very excited to try this same technique. I would love to see pics of other projects you have done. Thanks again for all the help and inspiration. elle
I'll probably do a course on this technique and have some samples in there. Thanks so much for your comment! I really appreciate it!
Cindy,
I love your idea of pounding out the copper wire and then framing with square cane, fabulous pendant idea.
debi
Thank you Debi!
if you get your reciept from michaels craft store sometimes they have a survey
you can go to to tell how they are doing i do it all the time because i know what
you mean about knowing what thay have in the store more than the clerks.
and they don't acknowledge you even if you go there 3-4 times a week.
That's a good idea June! You'd think since they cater to so many different types of crafts, that they would cater to their customers too! If I were their marketing department, I would do a few blog searches to find out what people thought about their customer service. I bet they would learn a lot!