WIRE CLASS WITH MILLY VALENTIN

As a birthday present to myself, I took a class
yesterday entitled "What Can I do With a WigJig?" taught by Milly Valentin for the Bead Society of Greater New York. I had heard from other bead society members that Milly's classes were great and I have to concur--we learned a lot and had a load of fun. The photo on the right shows the main class project.

I am afraid that my photos are not the greatest-- my camera objected to photographing without flash--but they will give you an idea of Milly's wire jewelry that she brought to inspire us. The world of wire was pretty much new territory for me.


Here is part of a simple but elegant bracelet that Milly made. Almost all of our class time was spent learning to make various components on the WigJig or other wire bending devices. If you have never seen a WigJig, visit http://www.wigjig.com/ for more information and hundreds of free patterns. Milly also showed us how to wrap a bead with wire, as she did for the crystals on this bracelet.

Here is a photo of Milly at the head of the class as she is packing up her supplies and jewelry. It was hard to get a photo when she was standing still because Milly is a bundle of energy.

Here is one of Milly's pieces with crystals and wire.

Another piece with square wire and herts.

Here are some of my humble efforts. On top are two different styles of earring wires plus a wire component in the center. More components are in the middle row and the start of my necklace is on the bottom of the photo. The connectors for the components are made with the Coiling Gizmo, another new tool for me. More on that at http://www.coilinggizmo.com/.

When I have time I am going to start the necklace again in copper wire with larger beads but I am pleased with my first efforts.

One of my fellow students is also a reader of my blog but I didn't get her name--it was the end of class and we all had to scoot when she said hello. I am sorry that we didn't get a chance to talk, maybe we will connect again at the next bead society meeting.