Wrapped rings

Today, I woke up very late but still tired and realised I've been pushing myself just a little much lately. My chronic fatigue has decided to kick in and slow me down, so today I decided to have a no stress, relaxing day off. Of course I only lasted a few hours before I started to tinker with some wire..... and then some beads.... then I was hunting for a tutorial in my pinterest folders..... and voila, some wrapped rings kind of just appeared :)

First the turquoise one with silver wire. The method is really simple but fiddly and I found that it makes a huge difference if you have the proper gauge of wire as it makes bending these forms so much easier. Of course as I'm just starting, I'm using what I've got on hand - which probably isn't the right weight at all! Apparently they recommend gauge 20-22, I think that's about 0.6mm? I'll have to get gemmed up on all this so I can achieve a more professional finish for the effort put in. No fun fighting the wire every time, is there?

As I felt I hadn't got a hang of the wrapping properly I decided to make another one and thought maybe twisting two strands could give an interesting finish to a simpler bead. Of course, my hand drill was in the shed and it was absolutely pouring down outside but I made a dash for it! And this is the result, a burnt orange bead with smoky coloured wire, twisted with two strands and wrapped.

I rather like the twisted effect on this one and with the darker coloured wire, gives it an older, antique feel. Just the right amount of texture to balance the slight grain on the wooden bead. This one wrapped easier as the wire was much lighter and more flexible. Good for the stone wrapping but possibly a bit flimsy for the band of the ring. I'm thinking three twisted strands might be about the right weight. I'll have to try that out.

The last one I made was this amethyst glass bead with silver coloured wire. This wire is nice and sturdy for the band but a bit tough to wrap but after two rings down, I thought I'd give it another go to see if it was just me needing more practice or the wire :) A bit of both I think!! So I wrapped, practiced and tried hard to get as even and precise wrapping as I could. Twice. The first one was way too big for my fingers as the circular dowelling I had instead of a mandrel was just a bit wide for my fingers - perfect for male size though. So I improvised and the second one now fits me nicely.

I still need a bit more practice but the right weight of wire is going to be the best way I can improve my skills I think. I'd like to make some more but I'll wait till my bead order arrives first so I can have more choice of stones - it's late though, so I hope it's not forgotten or lost somewhere in the land of freight and customs :(  Fingers crossed it arrives soon!

See you all tomorrow, as always, good to have you along;)
elaine x