Creative teChniques & designs for making Custom jewelry

lisa niven kellycreator of beaducation

includes

dvdinstructional

stamped ladder bracelet

i n this project, it’s essential to use stepped round-nose

pliers. Standard round-nose pliers won’t properly turn

in the edges of the strips because of the taper of the jaw.

I chose 4mm bicone crystals because I like the way the

tapered ends of the beads fit into the loops of the stamped

strips, stabilizing them.

stamping • hammering & texturizing • Oxidizing & pOlishing

materials

27" (68.5 cm) of sterling silver 26-gauge bezel wire (to make up to 15 strips)

Copper sheet metal for practice

38 star-shaped 4mm or 5mm Bali silver spacers

68 Swarovski crystal 4mm bicone beads

1 two-strand tube slider clasp

24" (61 cm) of beading wire

4 crimp beads

4 crimp bead covers

36–40 size 15 seed beads to cover the beading wire where the bracelet is attached to the clasp

tools

Safety Glasses

Bench block

Stamping hammer

Letter/number stamp set and/or design stamps

Stepped round- nose pliers with a 2.5–3.5 mm step

Chain-nose pliers

Flush cutter

Crimping pliers

Oxidizing solution

Pro Polish polishing pads or #0000 steel wool and a polish cloth

finished size

As shown, 7" (18 cm). Note: A 7" (18 cm) bracelet requires 13 stamped metal strips. For a larger bracelet, each additional unit of stamped strip plus bicone, spacer, bicone will add about 7⁄16" (1.2 cm).

teChniques

lisa niven kelly

3

1 put on your safety glasses. Using flush cutters, cut the bezel wire into 1.75" (4.5 cm) strips.

2 decide on designs for the strips. In the bracelet shown, I textured all the pieces using various

hammers and design stamps. figure 1

3 Here’s how I textured the strips seen in figure 2 from left to right:

• ball-peen end of a chasing hammer, tapped with medium force

• ball-peen end of a chasing hammer, hit very hard to get a more solid dot (that placement was a bit tricky)

• spiral design stamp

• period stamp or a center punch

• rectangle end of a riveting hammer, tapped with medium force

4 Other options for texturing include texture hammers, specialty hammers, and homemade

design stamps. practice these texturing techniques on copper sheet metal first before stamping on sterling silver.

5 To stamp words on your strips, first write out each word to ensure correct spelling, and count the

number of letters. The initial length of each strip is 1.75" (4.5 cm). The rolled-in edges take up ½" (1.3 cm) on either end, leaving about ¾" (2 cm) of stampable area.

6 With a marker, make a mark ½" (1.3 cm) in from each end. Center your word in the space between

marks. determine the middle letter of the word and the middle of the strip. Stamp that letter in the center

figure 3

figure 2

figure 1

step by stepstamped ladder bracelet

4 stamped metal jewelry

and then stamp the letters first to one side and then the other. Keep in mind any design stamps that you want to incorporate. figure 3

7 Once all the pieces are stamped, oxidize and polish the strip before rolling in the ends.

8 Using the 2.5–3.5 mm step of a stepped round nose pliers, grasp the end of the wire and turn a

basic loop. figure 4

9 Let the wire come around and then slightly overlap. don’t push on it too hard when it

overlaps or you will get a teardrop shape. Let it lightly come around and overlap on top of itself. figure 5

figure 4

figure 5

remember, you’re working with very thin

metal. When stamping letters, don’t stamp

as hard as you usually would. be very

careful with letters that have a long

vertical line (such as a lowercase i or l)

because they’ll thin out the metal further,

and the metal will want to bend and

possibly break at that spot.

sometimes a metal strip will curve

if letters are stamped too close

to either the top or bottom (long edges)

of the metal strip. to keep your strip

straight and even, try to center the letters

between the top and bottom of the strip as

much as possible. if your design goes to

the edge, balance the amount of stamping

on the top and bottom. it’s okay to

stamp all the way to the short edges.

tips & tricks

5stamped ladder bracelet

cOntents

stamped and stacked ring

pendant with snazz-it-up bail

introduction

materials & tools

Materials

Tools

basic metalsmithing techniques

Hammering and Texturing

Cutting and Sawing

Hole punching and drilling

dapping

Riveting

Annealing

Oxidizing and polishing

getting started stamping

Safety First

Set Up Your Work Space

Start Stamping!

projects

easy stamped pendants

id-style bracelet

stamped prefabricated rings

linked shapes bracelet

say it on your wrist

wrapped link bracelet

stamped ladder bracelet

stamped and stacked ring

textured metal pendant

leather cuff

double-decker pendant

silver framed gems pendant By Kriss Silva

the crown jewel By Janice Berkebile

simply charming bracelet By Tracy Stanley

bold stamped and riveted beads By Kate Richbourg

crisscross stamped and riveted earrings By Lisa Claxton

pendant with snazz-it-up bail By Kate Richbourg

riveted collage pendant By Tracey Stanley

full circle bracelet By Connie Fox

gallery

resources

Basic Wirework Techniques

Contributors

Sources for Supplies

Index

6

wrapped link bracelet

textured metal pendant

simply charmingbracelet

7

don’t say it—stamp it!

create fabulous custom necklaces, beads, charms, bracelets, cuffs, and earrings.

stamped metal jewelry opens with an extensive section on stamping and metalsmithing tools and techniques, all photographed step-by-step. with these skills, readers can begin making inspiring jewelry designs with confidence. nineteen projects cover a variety of techniques and designs such as creating charms, incorporating stamped links into beaded projects, making stamped links from flat wire and wire-wrapping them together, stamping on blanks and layering them, riveting, texturing metal, oxidizing, and more.

and if you’re still hungry for more, the dVd included with this book offers step-by-step stamping and jewelry-making demonstrations by the author.

readers will:

learn multiple metal stamping and texturing techniques with projects incorporating wirework and metalsmithing

explore customizing jewelry designs by stamping with unique words and designs

discover tips and tricks from successful jewelry artists to get professional results

in addition to lisa’s projects, the book features projects by nationally known jewelry designers tracy stanley, Kriss silva, lisa claxton, Kate richbourg, janice berkebile, and connie Fox.

this book and dVd combination offers jewelry artists all the techniques and design inspiration needed to create clever stamped metal jewelry.

lisa niven kelly is an

award-winning wire jewelry artist

and a regular contributor to Bead

& Button, Art Jewelry, Beadwork, and

Step-by-Step Wire Jewelry magazines.

She has been teaching beadwork

and wirework nationally for more

than 15 years. Lisa is the founder

of Beaducation.com, a popular source

for online step-by-step video jewelry-

making classes, plus wirework and

metal stamping tools and supplies. paperback, 8½ × 9 128 pages + dvd160 photosisbn 978-1-59668-177-4$24.95available july 2010

includes

dvdinstructional