Stone Setting for Navette Bead using Prong Pusher

I set my own stones so I get to choose the colors of the stones I use for my projects, recently I have been working on one of my larger commissioned bridal project (Handmade Bridal Statement Necklace) and setting stone is one of the process.

To set stone, I use a rectangle block and then I pierce a navette shape hole so that I could stay put Navette settings and set the stone in.

Tools:
- Stone Setting tools: http://amzn.to/1HM1Zy3
- China Marker: http://amzn.to/1IleDVn

Material:
- 1 x 6x3mm Navette Setting
- 1 x 6x3mm Navette Stone

Ready made or pre-set Navette Settings and Swarovski Navette 6x3mm beads: http://etsy.me/1JMxKWx

(The links included in this post are affiliate links. Which means if you click and make a purchase I will earn a small percentage of the sale price. Thanks for your support!)

Enjoy and have fun!

Handmade Bridal Statement Necklace in Progress

Handmade Bridal Statement Necklace in Progress

Not even half done since yesterday lol thanks to the very energetic 3 years old (please stop poking your baby brother's eyes will you? Thank you.) and the barely 5 months old that's going through growth spurt (mommy is eating a lot to keep up with your appetite too alright honey?)

So tired. 

Yet so very happy.

Anxious for the moment I assemble the whole piece!

#Swarovski #chatonmontees #navette #opal #handmade #wirejewelry #statementnecklace #workinprogress

Swarovski Chaton Montees, 53200 Sew On Rhinestones, PP31 (3.9mm), SS16, Swarovski Sew On Chatons

Set of 12 Clear 4mm Swarovski Chaton Montees, 53200 Sew On Rhinestones, PP31 (3.9mm), SS16, Silver Plated Settings, Swarovski Sew On Chatons are now available in my Etsy store.

This listing is for a set of 12 genuine Swarovski Chaton Montees in the shade of "Clear" with silver plated settings. Size SS16.

All of my Swarovski Crystals are purchased in bulk and are hand mounted by me with silver plated and gold plated settings.

These are sew-on chatons with 4 holes.

I use these for almost all of my jewelry designs.

They are available in Gold Plated settings too.

Additional Information:
What is the difference between 53200 and 53201? They are both 4mm, only 53201 uses SS19 settings, which is slightly taller than 53200 (where the settings used are SS16). When you use 53201 to create jewelry or sew them on clothes, you will not notice any different when you are viewing from top, only when you view them from the sides, then the settings of the chaton montees will be more visible, which, might cause inconvenience for tiny art work.

Swarosvki Chaton Montees 53200 vs 53201:

Project uses 53200:

Swarovski 53200 in Silver Plated Settings

Swarovski 53200 in Gold Plated Setting

Project uses 53201:

Swarovski 53201 in Silver Plated Setting

Side view of Swarovski 53201

That's all for now.

Cold Connection Handmade Jewelry

I have been playing around with ideas of making cold connection jewelry and I must say I love it. :D The recent few commissioned pieces have adopted my new jewelry making preference (i.e. cold connection) and here's one of them. The initial idea was to have 3 stones connected, those stones are Swarovski 4mm Chaton Montees.

The above picture shows the 4mm Swarovski Chaton Montees being set onto the wires by utilizing very minimal frame area to deliver a tiny and neat outcome. 

Then the three stones idea didn't work out quite well (i will try again in the next attempt!), the finalized pieces have got 2 stones on each side of the earrings.

Let me know what you think!
Corra @ de Cor's Handmades

Sihaya Designs Faery Wing Earrings

Sihaya Designs Faery Wing Earrings - Iridescent Magenta Glitter Wings - Fairy Wing Jewelry

Featured Artist: Christina Allen Page (a.k.a.) ShiyaDesigns

Iridescent Fairy Wings Collection.

It was a beautiful Monday and I was as usual, having a cuppa after feeding my 2.5 years old her breakfast while reading Etsy's trending, then the above picture caught my eyes. :)

Made of Swarovski Crystal, resin and sterling silver, this handmade item is made in Maryland, United States. Wings have a wonderful magenta pink glitter base, going with Opalescent white crystal color, size (from the tops of the earwires): Approximately 2 1/2".

The reason why I have decided to blog about this, was because I have received a great post engagement on my Fanpage in less than 24 hours, I am totally thrilled that people that reads my post find this interesting too. :)

Faery Wing Earrings - Fanpage Post Reach and Engagement

There are various composition of colors for this fairy wing earrings series, and I've picked some to post here for you to see, though you could hop over to SihayaDesign's site to find out more.

Sihaya Designs Faery Wing Earrings - Tam Lin - Iridescent Fairy Wing Jewelry

Sihaya Designs Faery Wing Earrings - Iridescent Copper Sunset Glitter Wings - Fairy Wing Jewelry

Sihaya Designs Faery Wing Earrings - Iridescent Spring Green Glitter Wings - Fairy Wing Jewelry

Sihaya Designs Faery Wing Earrings - Leanan Sidhe - Iridescent Fairy Wing Jewelry

I wonder how Christina manage to apply the resin so evenly on to the wire wing base... there must be a lot of attention and patience invested, to answer to this, I thought one of the feedback I have gotten (by Grace Morioka) from Facebook post could be pretty useful:

"I did this one about a year ago. Believe me, it's not easy... Toothpicks need to be used to get the resin into the tight spots. Hold the toothpick over the area where the resin needs to fill and then pour DOWN the toothpick. Even then, my butterflies were not nearly as pretty as these!!"

Hope you have fun viewing, and don't forget to pay SihayaDesigns a visit if you would like to bring one of these home! :)

Cheers,
Corra @ de Cor's

Daphne the Porcelain Enchanted Doll

Meet Daphne, 100% handcrafted, amazing porcelain enchanted doll by Marina Bychkova.
Source: Daphne
Materials: Sterling silver mask with 38 fresh water pearls, 9 Swarovski crystals, satin flowers; Hooded cape with sequin and bead embroidery; Ceramic engraving on porcelain; Ball-jointed, porcelain, china paint, magnetic silk fiber wig, industrial springs, leather.
Measurement: 14 ¼” (37cm) standing.

I came across Marina's work a couple of years ago, a friend, I can't recall who, when introduced this to me said "this probably is the adult's world of Barbie doll."

What I really thought? Not even fair to have the thought of putting these handcrafted cum hand-painted Enchanted Dolls with Barbie.

So I bumped into Daphne last night, and this time, I tell myself to wake up early tomorrow to put it into my blog, I HAVE TO let whoever that reads this blog to know about her! So here I am - my just-turned 2.5 years old little princess woke up at 4am calling for mama, and told me "Please wake up, mama, I am awake already.", I pretended dead fish and waited for her to give up, at 6am, I got up to compile this entry of blog. :)

So, let Marina tell you how it really went down.

Once upon a time, there lived a mighty God Saturn and his wife Cybele. In that age, there also lived a beautiful nymph Daphne and a young shepherd Attis. Of course God Apollo also lived in those distant times. There can’t well be a story without Apollo, that golden-haired playboy of the antiquity, can there?

So it happened that the beautiful Daphne fell in love with the mortal Attis, while the no less lovely Cybele, though a goddess, also fell in love with him. God Apollo, who could not miss a single skirt had began scheming as soon he laid his eyes on the exquisite Daphne. Attis in the meantime decided to kill two birds with one stone and had affairs with both Daphne and Cybele simultaneously. Only Saturn was wise enough to stay out of this love polygon.

“Do what you like” he said, while presumably shaking his head and rolling his eyes, and then went drinking with his buddy Zeus. The mighty Zeus had long wanted to hang out on Mount Olympus with a bottle of brandy.

Predictably, things got messy, as many love stories do. Apollo chased after Daphne, Daphne chased after Attis, who in turn chased Cybele.

Cybele choked with jealousy; Apollo burned with desire; Daphne was dying of love, while Attis was high-fiving everyone and congratulating himself on seducing two beautiful women. All suffered here except Saturn, who was on Olympus enjoying another glass of whiskey. I mean brandy.

 
But who could resist Apollo? Perhaps only Zeus himself. So Daphne had to flee from him across different lands, until she got to the glorious city of Venice. Alas, it was all in vain: lovesick Apollo followed her everywhere like a bloodhound with a scent, pursuing her anywhere she ran. Doomed, Daphne appealed to all the residents of Venice, asking for their help. The good people felt sorry for her, but no one dared to openly defy the will of Apollo. That is, until someone suggested a clever solution of disguising the entire city in masks to hide them from Apollo. The people liked the idea of outwitting a God, and the next morning everyone was wearing disguises, rejoicing, dancing and celebrating from morning till night for two whole weeks, while a flabbergasted yet determined Apollo stalked the narrow streets of Venice in a relentless search for his prey. He felt entitled to possess Daphne. She belonged to him even if she didn’t accept it.

But then came Lent, and people had to stop the festivities and remove their masks. That’s when Apollo had finally discovered Daphne. Furious that she not only rejected him – a God, but actually preferred some simple mortal shepherd instead, he turned her into a Laurel tree. He broke off a branch, made it into a wreath and placed it on his golden curls as a trophy. He also gave the tree immortality, so that he could possess Daphne in any form he could, for all eternity. What a sociopath.

Cybele, in turn, drove Attis crazy, unfortunately in a very literal sense, because he opened up his veins and died. As for Saturn, he got a huge hangover. And he also fought with Zeus. Turns out that Zeus was an angry drunk. As for people of Venice, they took to the idea of hiding their faces under different masks and celebrating life and love in all their transient glory.

And that’s how began the tradition of the Venetian masquerade: with the myth of Apollo and Daphne – a stalker and his victim. And whether I’m wrong or right, is for you to decide.

The End.

I suggest you to pay a visit to Marina's website, to see more of her projects, appreciate, treasure, and be inspired.

Cheers,
Corra @ de Cor's

Stonesetting with Philip Screw

I don't understand why thing has to be so difficult in Malaysia, I am not sure if it's just me, but I often feel that we are very deprived from having the right tool to do the job. When I first started in making wire jewelry, there isn't any place I could source precious metal wires, I started off with steel wires, those are hard and very harsh on my fingers, though I am glad that the newcomers these days are having easier access to jewelry making tools and materials, just imagine in the past, I will have to walk into jewelry boutiques to ask them where can I buy a ring mandrel.

Now, things aren't getting any easier, I think, at least not to me. I've recently sourced in some gold/ gold filled wires, thinking of making some of my designs with gold wires, then I realized that some of the findings, especially Swarovski Chaton Montees, of which I heavily use in my designs, do not come in Gold Plated Settings.

Most of my designs uses Swarovski Chaton Montees 53200, where, stones sized 3.8 to 4mm, I occasionally use 53201 (stone sized 4.2 to 4.4mm), yes, just 0.2mm of difference, but when they are used in my line of designs (which, mostly are tiny, precise and delicate pieces), 0.2mm could affect a design as in overall.

So there isn't any gold plated Swarovski Chaton Montees.

I did a search on Etsy, found Joyce from CrystalizedMontees, whom hand mount genuine Swarovski Crystals with silver plated, gold plated and gun metal plated settings. You gotta be check her shop out - fitting stones that size into settings are NOT easy, she does it perfectly!

Joyce was nice enough to give me a walkthrough of what is it really meant by "Chaton Montees", and then I spent at least 2 hours to go through Swarovski's product list and descriptions, then check back and forth with Joyce to finally understand how these stones could be totally customized into the way I wanted them to be. Joyce even told me how to do stonesettings (seriously, I must have done something wonderful to deserve her consultation, thanks Joyce!)

SO SHE TAUGHT ME STONESETTING!

It's just a simple setting stones into a preset 4 prongs settings, it is still stonesettings! It's nothing when you are trying to salvage one or two pieces of stones that dropped off from the prongs and you were trying to fix them back, I do that all the time, I use pliers or sometimes just my nails, but we are talking about VOLUME now, volume - yes, we are talking about fitting thousands of 3mm crystals / stones / chaton into settings to transform them to become Chaton Montees.

I don't know about you but I got excited because I am going to try to do something new!

Though I foresee challenges.

You think I can find prong pusher here in Malaysia? I Googled enough to realized that there is no one in Malaysia selling them (online, lol). There must be someone selling it out there, I am sure, but I don't know where to find them, they are NOT on social media OMG! And the only one who'd seems to have, no longer selling it. Isn't that nice?

:)

So I sent a couple of emails out today - to Riogrande, to some sellers on eBay, to check on their price,  to see if they also carries other tools that I was looking for, and to ask them what's the shipping cost from the United States to Malaysia (yucks!), while waiting, I went out for dinner with my family.

Then I had an idea (I used to have lots of ideas when I am using the toilet in the past, not these days, you would be like me too, no longer have ideas of any kind when you have a toddler that would stand or sit or scream at the toilet door watching you).

So here it is (sorry, yes, now only am I talking about what I really wanted to share), Stonesetting with Philip Screw. Well this is just an idea - yet to be tested, because I don't have any prongs for pilot test just yet.

As you can see from the first picture above, my Chaton Montees measures 4mm in size, I tested it in various size of Philip Screw, then I finally found something that fits:

My 4mm Chaton Montees fits perfectly into this Philip Screw!

The screw measures about 15.5mm wide, the space in the middle is about 4.5mm wide. This fits the 4mm montees perfectly, so theoretically, if I were to insert a setting into this hole, then fit in a stone, the whole pressing-down-the-prongs process should be pretty easy!

Pretty awesome,  I think I will drill this into a chopping board so I can have a bigger platform to work on!

I will write again when I got this tested out, so check back!

Corra @ de Cor's Handmades

Malaysia Handmade Jewelry - Completed and Ready to Ship

I hadn't posted anything last week, not because I hadn't made anything, I was practicing.

When I was finalizing the last pair of ROSE Studs Earrings last month I found a new way to deliver this pretty design, so I sent a mail to both the customers telling them that there might be slight delay on the delivery of their commissions, "I need to practice", I told them.

They were very supportive, and one of them actually asked: "How much do I have to top up?"

I chuckled a little.

"No sir, no additional charges."

Though I do use more silver to accomplish this version of Silver Rose Studs, with a different gauges of wires.

Will be off to post office to send them off this Friday, can't wait to find if the new owners would love them. :)

These sisters are going to part for good - one continue to reside in Malaysia and another one is going to be on it's way to Germany.

Hope you love what I've created! :)

Corra @ de Cor's Handmades

Malaysia Handmade Jewelry - Rose Studs Earrings, Wired Chinese Knot

Phew, finally done with this commissioned project! I was so afraid that I can't make it in time before the Chinese New Year break!

This is a variation of ROSE Pendant and this is not the first time I am reproducing ROSE Studs Earrings, but this time I replaced the cubic zirconia diamond cut beads with Swarovski Chaton Montees. Took awhile for these goodies to arrive, I am glad that now is all good. :)

ROSE Studs Earrings measurement:
Weight: 1.7gram each, total 3.4gram
Material: Swarovski Chaton Montees Crystals.
All metals are 92.5 sterling silver.

It will be off to it's new owner soon. :)

Corra @ de Cor's Handmades

DIY Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim, Wire Jewelry Tutorial

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It's the 7th day of Chinese New Year today and according to tradition, today is everyone's birthday when everyone grows one year older. So I decided to prepare a gift for everyone! :)

Remember I have mentioned making your own pearl trim to replace Cubic Zirconia Trim in my previous blog-post? Becca tried making Diamond Circle Ring with her DIY Pearl Trim and it worked out pretty well too!

After I blogged about the ring that Becca made, I started to receive mails asking me how to go about it, I explained, and most of these people get what I meant, and then I realized - actually the only challenge my dear readers have is to identify the bead size and what are the wires gauges and the length they need to cut. I figure I might as well write a simple tutorial for it.

And here's the overview of the finished Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim made with wires. I placed it on top of Diamond Circle Ring so you could see the Cubic Zirconia Trim can totally be replaced by knotted pearl trim.

It's easy to make a pearl trim of your own, though it's entirely up to you if you would like to make one with wires or thread. For this DIY entry, I am using wires.

Ready to DIY a Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim of your own now? Let's start! But before anything else, I need to make a clear statement about this tutorial. :)

This tutorial is a tribute to the Handmade Wire Jewelry and Craft Community and strictly NOT FOR SALE. Instructions are for personal use only. Any attempt on reuse of this document’s text, pictures or any resources without the author's authorization is strictly prohibited.

You CAN teach the technique to others once you learn the technique; you CAN NOT use text nor pictures from this tutorial as teaching material to teach others. 

You CAN produce this Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim once you learned the techniques; you CAN NOT reproduce the EXACT Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim for sale, but you can make them as gift to your friends and family – you get the idea. You CAN create your own Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim with your own designs/colors/materials, by applying the techniques introduced in this tutorial for sale, but yourself must make it instead of your employees.


P/S: Though you can totally follow the steps posted here, you are welcome to download Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim tutorial in PDF format for keepsake.


Tools needed:
1. Flush cutter
2. Chain nose pliers
3. Round nose pliers (Optional, in case you prefer to use round nose pliers than chain nose pliers)
4. Ruler
5. Marker Pen

Materials needed for a Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim:
1. 2 X 5 inches of 28ga round soft wires.
2. 10 X 3mm Swarovski Crystal Pearl beads (make sure your bead allow 28ga wires to go through 4 times before you start the project!)

Above picture shows the tools and materials needed for this project.

Step 1: Tie the First Knot

Place both 28ga wires on your ruler, measure 1 inch from either one wire-tails. Mark a point on each wire.

Cross the wires at marked points.

Fold down the wires on your upper right.

Twist the same wires behind.

OVERVIEW: First knot completed.

Step 2: Constructing Knotted Pearl Trim

Gather both wires, and then slid in a 3mm pearl bead through. Push the bead close to the first knot as much as possible.

Spread the wires right underneath the bead.

Bring the wires on your bottom-right to the left by placing the wires on top of the bottom-left wires

Bring the wires on your bottom-left to the right by placing it on top of the curved wires on your right, then bring it out from behind.

Gently pull the wires side by side to make the knot smaller.

NOTE: Please remember the nature of wires and the nature of fabric thread are very different, for fabric thread we can simply pull both sides of strings together and the knot will turn out just nice, but this does not apply to wires knotting. To produce neat knots with wires, please pull each side of wires one-by-one, until the space is completely closed.

OVERVIEW: Gently pull each side of wires one-by-one, until finally the knot is completely closed. Repeat these steps to bring in another 6 beads.

Step 3: Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim's Closure

Always reserve 3 last beads for closure. Stop sliding in beads when you only have 3 beads left.

Slid 1 bead for the left side of wires, and 2 beads for the right side of wires.

Thread the longer side of wires (left) through the bead in the middle out of the last 3 beads. Observe the remaining 2 beads are not locked by knots.

Gently pull both sides of wires simultaneously. The Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim is almost done.

Wrap the remaining wires on the spaces between beads TWICE for each side, following the mentioned direction (red arrow) in above picture.

Trim away the excess wires. The Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim is now completed!

 

Told you it was easy! You could also make a Closed Circle Knotted Pearl Trim with larger diameter and more beads and then wear it as a ring directly, or, put on the ear-hook to turn it into a pair of simple earrings!

Last but not least, like I've said - though you could always come back to this blog post for reference, you may also download the PDF version of this for keepsake. :)

Now it's all yours - go ahead and make something, have fun!

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Corra @ de Cor's Handmades