On the Sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me..... a Golden, Wire Wrapped Tree ! These shimmering gold trees look fabulous with their silver accents - gold and silver always look so good together! This wire wrapping technique is very simple to execute although it's a little tough on your hands. If you find the going hard with 26g wire, then try it with 28g - you'll need to do more wraps but it will be even easier to work.  So, here's what you'll need to make these earrings: Artistic Wire 26-Gauge Tarnish Resistant Gold Wire 2 gold triangular chandelier frames 2 x 11mm embossed silver star beads 2 x 6x8mm flat topped silver cones 2 x 6mm silver bead caps 2 x clear silicone earring stoppers 2 silver eye pins 2 gold head pins 2 gold earring wires Tools: chain nose pliers, round nose pliers, flush cutters, nylon jaw pliers Leave a tail of approximately 2.5cm (1") and wrap the wire twice around the left hand arm of the triangle, just below the top loop. Bring ......

I've come up against a design challenge this week whilst creating a bridal hair accessory. Brides usually have a very definite idea of what they want but I was lucky that this bride was easy going and relaxed and was happy for me to design her something elegant and sparkly that suited her petite frame and the royal blue colour scheme of the wedding. What a great brief, but with only a short lead in time to the happy day it didn't leave enough time to order the components I wanted to work with so I had to use whatever components were in stock at my local supplier. I found some great sapphire Swarovski pear-shaped, claw-set sliders to use as accents but this has led to a few challenges trying to find ways of incorporating them into the design. You see, they are sliders and have 2 holes on either side whereas I need either a top-drilled or a centre-drilled crystal for wiring so that the crystal has a stem. So, how do you get around the problem of the holes being in the wrong place......

All crafters seem to struggle with storage and organisation, especially as our collection of crafting materials grows. No matter how well you organise, you inevitably have to revisit your storage solutions from time to time. Right now, I'm finding my wire drawer troublesome and it takes too long to find the colour/gauge of wire that I'm looking for underneath all those spools. This drawer needs taming! My wire is stored in a drawer in my BEST Craft Organizer and it's handy so I want to keep it there. I was so pleased when I realised that the insert which fits the deep drawers fits 4 spools of Artistic Wire in each cavity perfectly. This looks so pretty.... and definitely organised. But could organising be this easy? Unfortunately, no! The new larger, flatter shaped spools of Artistic Wire won't fit in the drawers unless they're stacked on top of one other. It's tidy, but you can't see the wire colour. These new spools really need to stand on their sides but......

I've added two new jewellery classes to this month's teaching schedule. The first one is working with coloured wire to make a sweet little bird's nest with a clutch of pearl eggs. And the second one I'll tell you about next week. If you've ever had the experience of store bought jewellery falling apart on you, then this class is perfect for you. You will learn how to make wrapped loops at each end of every bead so that your jewellery never falls apart! You get to choose the colour of the wire to make your nest with and select coordinating beads from my extensive collection. There are some really pretty beads to choose from so designing your own bracelet will be half the fun of this class. More details can be found on the Current Class Schedule page at Mill Lane Studio.  Bookings can be made by emailing me . 'Til next time..... If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration,  click here to find my books and printable pdfs...

I got so carried away weaving those little tangles of wire into bird's nests yesterday that by the end of the day I realised I had made a nest in every colour of the rainbow. That was totally unintentional but when I noticed it, it made me so happy - rainbows always make me smile in wonder. Maybe it's the legend that says there's a pot of gold that awaits at the end of every rainbow; or maybe it's the notion that the rainbow is a pathway between the earth and the heavens; or perhaps that it's a symbol of hope and optimism but rainbows uplift the soul. So I was in a happy mood when I put these vibrant bracelets together. Half the fun was choosing all the special beads to make them up. It was a surprise that plastic, ceramic, lampwork beads and even gemstones all made it into the bracelets. But hey, if it works, it works! Some, like yellow, were a challenge. It's the cheeriest colour of the rainbow, and yet my yellow bead drawer is sadly empty and the beads in it ......

There was a time that if I kinked a length of wire as badly as this it would most likely have ended up in the bin and I'd have been annoyed with myself for the wastage.  So can you believe that I actually did this to my wire on purpose?!! I've discovered that this little kinked bundle of wire is just perfect for weaving in to a bird's nest. There's something strangely satisfying about turning a tangle of wire from that to this. It's addictive too! I've made quite a few so tonight I'll be in the studio turning them all into bracelets. Pics to come tomorrow! 'Til next time..... If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration,  click here to find my books and printable pdfs...

Did you know that jump rings don't always have to be round? Sometimes, a round jump ring just won't go through the hole of a bead. Take these gorgeous Czech glass leaves. I really love to dangle them as charms but with their holes drilled from side to side you can't use a head pin to hang them. So here's the solution - use a triangle jump ring. Making your own triangle jump rings is really easy with a couple of very basic tools: flush cutters for cutting the wire and wide, flat nosed pliers to form the jump rings. Flat nosed pliers give you really sharp bends and I find the width of the plier jaws gives me consistently sized triangles. You'll need some wire such as 22 gauge or heavier but ultimately, the diameter of the hole in the bead will determine what size wire you need to use. I find it easier to form triangle jump rings on the spool of wire and then cut them off after they've been formed. Start by creating the left hand base prong. Hold the end of the wi......