The great thing about jewelry how-to books is that even if you don't do a single project, it can still inspire you to try something new or rediscover something you've forgotten.  That's  how I felt about Steel Wire Jewelry by Brenda Schweder.

A couple of years ago I took a steel wire class with Keith Lo Bue, the artist who wrote the preface to Brenda's book.  It was an intense, two-day workshop where he asked us to do things like find an object in the room and recreate a version of it with steel wire.  Arghhh!  That was very frustrating for me, but some of my classmates made amazing sculptures.  We also made chain and I made jump rings with a jeweler's saw for the first time. 

Three Things to Know About Steel Wire
Three things about steel wire stand out in my memory:

• It's super cheap!  For class, I bought a roll of steel rebar tie wire at the hardware store.  (I just looked at the price at Home Depot:  $4.34 for 400 feet!  Take that, sterling silver!)
  
  
• It's super hard! I could barely drag myself to class the second day.  I was so exhausted by sawing, hammering, and shaping steel wire that first day.  It is quite a workout, especially if you're used to very soft metals like copper or very fine gauged wire (like 24-gauge sterling silver). 
  
  
• It's super messy! Steel wire is covered with carbon and as you work with it the carbon has to go some place.  I absentmindedly wiped my hands on my jeans, scratched my forehead, and pushed my hair out of the way.  By the end of the day, I looked like a chimney sweep!
  

So, back to Brenda's book.  There's a cool ring project that features a marble that I'd dearly love to do, but I'm thinking I might try it in copper instead.  (If you're looking for some wonderful handmade marbles, check out Moon Marble Co.)  The book also has a nice project that uses steel to make a framed pendant out of a pottery shard.  And I still have all that steel chain I made in class.  I should probably polish it and make it into something I can wear . . . See what I mean?  I've barely opened the book and I have a list of possible projects a mile long.

More Ideas

For more ideas of what you can do with steel wire (or sheets of steel), check out the Steel Jewelry & Home Decor treasury I made on Etsy.  It was actually a little difficult to find pieces for this treasury.  Steel's not widely used for handmade items, so if you're looking for a way to stand out from the crowd, steel could be an option for you.

Many people dream about being paid to visit fancy restaurants and write about them.  Ruth Reichl, former New York Times food critic, details the pleasures and pitfalls of holding such a prominent job in her memoir Garlic and Sapphires.  The book focuses on her biggest problem:  how can you give an accurate restaurant review when you're recognized?  As she notes in the first review, who you are determines the quality of food and service in a restaurant.

So with the help of friends, Ruth creates elaborate characters for reviewing restaurants, going beyond simple wigs, clothes, and jewelry to create back stories and personalities for each woman. She reveals that if you're a high school teacher named "Molly," you might be seated after a long wait in the bar in a smoky corner, even though you requested a non-smoking table.  If you're a famous food critic, on the other hand, you'll be told when you show up 45 minutes early for your reservations that "The King of Spain is waiting in the bar, but your table is ready." There's plenty of humor throughout such as when she takes the bus with her son when she's in the character of an older woman.  A man offers her his seat and her son loudly declares, "Mommy, that man thought you were old!"

The book details the restaurant experience of the characters (Molly, Miriam, Chloe, Brenda, Betty, and Emily) and of herself undisguised, followed by the newspaper's review and simple recipes for dishes like Roasted Rhubarb and Spaghetti Carbonara.

Mixed in with the descriptions of restaurants and food are astute observations about the business world and the problems of fame.  "When people flatter you constantly it is very tempting to think that you deserve it," Ruth notes.  There are also plenty of interactions with her coworkers and family.  I found her conversations with her young son especially charming.  When she finds a large handmade lolipop for him, for example, he calls it the "most beautiful thing on earth" but decides not to eat it.  "This isn't one of those food that you eat.  It's one of the ones that's only supposed to make you happy."

This book is a quick, fun read.  Even if you've never dreamed about being a restaurant critic, I bet you've wondered what it would be like to be someone else for day. It's fascinating to watch Ruth learn that every character is not a completely separate person, but an exaggeration of her best—and worst—selves.

If you sell your jewelry, I have a terrific giveaway for you!  One of the immediate challenges I faced when deciding to sell my jewelry was figuring out packaging.  Did I want to pack my jewelry in boxes?  What color?  What size?  Selling online added even more choices.  What kind of mailing envelopes or boxes should I use?  It took a lot to figure out the basics and I am still not as far along as others in making my packaging distinct.  That's why I was excited when I was asked to host a giveaway for a set of printed labels.

UPrinting is giving away one set of printed labels to one reader of this blog.  These sheet labels would be great to print with your business name or logo and place on your jewelry boxes, bags, mailing envelopes, or other packaging. You can download free standard label templates and design your label.  The price for standard labels like this start at $40.27, so this is a great prize! 

Giveaway Details

Prize:
One (1) Winner of 250 Stickers/Labels
70lb Label Matte
Front Only Printing
4 Business Days Turnaround

Restriction: Limited to US residents 18 years old and older only.

To Enter: Leave a comment on this blog post by midnight June 28, 2011.  I'll choose a winner at random. I'll announce the winner June 29, 2011.

June 29, 2011 Update:  Congratulations to #17 (Tammy) who was chosen at random to win this prize!  Thanks to everyone who entered!

Andrew Thornton has some wonderful handmade pendants in his shop.  Have you seen them yet?  I really like his new 4-leaf clover (i collect 4-leaf clover things) and the wonderful owl. If you're like me and interested in how handmade pendants are made, you'll want to look at his shop listings.  He details the process of making the pendants from the original molds to the final hand buffing.

The Raven

A couple of weeks ago while I was on vacation Andrew unexpectedly sent me an email asking me if I could choose any pendant for a blog project, which one would I choose?  That's a little like asking me what is my favorite kind of chocolate!  (Uh . . . all kinds?)  After going back and forth between several choices, I chose the bronze raven pendant pictured here.  If you look closely, you can see that it has a key in its mouth.  For me, that was the clincher.  I use a lot of keys in my designs, but I wasn't aware of it until someone pointed it out to me last week.  While I like any beads and pendants with pictures because they make storytelling easy, keys mean secrets.  And secrets always make the most interesting stories! 

The Raven Necklace

I thought it would be a nice reflection of the raven pendant to pull out random beads and findings from my bead drawers as if they were treasures that I planned to tuck away in my nest. I used jewel tones of purple and teal, along with some white and brown as neutrals. I chose a mix of shapes and textures with plenty of sparkle.

For the beaded links, I used dogtooth amethyst, glass pearls, vintage Lucite from The Beadin' Path, smoky quartz, glass teadrops, faceted glass from my local bead shop, and Swarovski crystals.

The necklace also includes about two inches of leftover etched brass chain from Ornamentea, proof that no scrap is too small to use in a project.  It also proves that you'll use everything in your stash eventually.  I think I had those two inches of chain for at least two years, probably three or four.

I connected the beaded links with various Vintaj jump rings.  You can make beaded links that connect directly to one another, but I like using jump rings because it gives the beaded chain a little bit more movement.

This necklace is not the most technically difficult piece I've ever made, but looking at it makes me smile.  Sometimes that's all that really matters.

Standard Disclaimer: I received the raven pendant free of charge from Andrew Thornton for review on my blog.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for writing this post, nor for the other materials I used in this necklace.

I haven't used my jeweler's saw in a long time.  Lately I've been content to cut out rough squares or rectangles out of metal with my heavy shears or use my disc cutter for circles.  I do have a few ideas for jewelry projects that would require the precision of a jeweler's saw, but I am still reluctant to pick it up.  My sawing sessions are more frustrating than fulfilling.  So I was very interested in Charlene's post at The Bead Dreamer about a new jeweler's saw.  It not only looks very cool (it's red!) but according to her, it works better.  If my sawing projects start to stack up, I'm going to have to think about getting a better tool.

Enjoy this week's links!

The Bead Dreamer
Ever wonder if the Knew Concepts red jeweler's saw frame is really better? Charlene shares her take on it.

A Bead A Day
Earrings make great gifts in a hurry for yourself and friends! Lisa shares a few newly made pairs using both sparkly and vintage beads!

About.com Jewelry Making
Get in the mood for summer jewelry fun with two turtle jewelry tutorials from Tammy.

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene dishes up some lovely sunshine - come get some!

Beading Arts
Cyndi's favorite wire guru, Paul Bishop, shares a wonderful tutorial with Cyndi's readers!

Beads & Books
Have you ever wondered how much traffic websites such as Etsy or ArtFire get? Michelle shares a free online tool that gives you quick website statistics.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi is experimenting with Apoxie Sculpt!

Resin Crafts!
Resing crafts has a special $200 give-a-way ending June 21!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Cyndi Lavin, multi media artist and beader extraordinaire, has added a new chapter to her e-book! Please read my review of it! Her book is now 5 chapters long and is filled with great ideas and beauty -- irresistible! Plus, as you may know,the first chapter continues to be a FREE download! Hooray!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Want a "post-Bead&Button Show" stash of jewelry-making goodies? Enter to win this week's Thursday Giveaway!