Saturday, December 21VintageJewelrySupplies.com

Tag: connector

Natural Elements
Free Jewelry Making Lessons

Natural Elements

In this design example, I will show you one way to use a gemstone pendant bead which might not be perfectly drilled or evenly cut. This happens quite often when using a natural element of any type. Shell cabochons, gemstones or handmade glass stones are not always perfectly even or smooth, but I always try to make use of them. When I bought this black agate druzy geode pendant bead, it looked good in the poor lighting of the bead show. However, as I started to work with it in better lighting, I discovered that the hole was lopsided making the pendant hang at an odd angle. Usher in plan B. When the holes are not drilled properly in an otherwise beautiful gemstone, the layering technique can be employed to salvage the stone. Here I covered the hole completely with other elements. I wi...
Open-Back Turtle Setting
Free Jewelry Making Lessons

Open-Back Turtle Setting

This page is a gift for you from Willie Zuniga. "I really love these settings, so I wanted to share a few ideas with you." writes Willie.  Turtle settings and open backed turtle settings can be used with almost any stamping, drop or connector that has an opening in the center or not. That's why they are one of our top selling items. You can use them for any type of jewelry making, since they are so functional. Except for the earrings in the picture below, the following items are not finished pieces, but I'm sure you'll find some ideas there. Whether you glue the settings on top, or wrap them around the piece (as in the earrings) ... you've created a whole new "setting." These aqua earrings include 16mm size settings, wit...
Unique Bails
Free Jewelry Making Lessons

Unique Bails

A unique bail can make all the difference in the look of your finished project. Here are some ideas to help you create unique bails from which to hang your pendants. Try folding over a connector which is the correct size and shape then add a jump ring as in item A. You can also use one link of rollo chain as in item B in the first photo. Any unsoldered larger link chain which has the right size and shape links can be used as a bail. In this photo you see a bail made from our long bar filigree #B33. This technique combines settings of various sizes with the rings either nipped off or turned downward so that you can attach other items. You can also use any of our ring findings as a bail as shown in the photo below. ...
Tiny Rhinestones
Free Jewelry Making Lessons

Tiny Rhinestones

Earrings with tiny rhinestones add just the right touch of sparkle near your face. These earrings feature some of our items which hold tiny pointed back rhinestones. I used stones measuring about 1.6mm up to 2.5mm in this example. They are pp10 and pp18 size stones (pp stands for pearl plate and ss means stone size. This is how rhinestones are measured.) Connector #B11 was cut off as shown and used under #W138X to create the earring top. I glued our post back #A10 to the back. I used our fan #A729 to create the dangle area. I first added #B11 turned upward to create the hanging loop. Next I layered #CC13X, #T126X and #C91X.The beads and dangles include other items from our site. This same layering method can be u...