When I first came across Eva Sherman's designs, stumbling upon her blog, my first reaction was a gasp of pure lust. Well, lucky lucky me...and you too for that matter...because Eva is the coauthor of a new Kalmbach book called Organic Wire and Metal Jewelry, along with Beth Martin.
How can jewelry made from metal and wire be organic, you ask? There are two parts to the answer. First, the forms made with the metal and wire are very loose and organic in nature, and second, The designs feature sea glass, beautiful stones, and pearls. There are also some crystals thrown in for bling, but to my eye they are mostly secondary. It's the matte-finished glass and stones, along with the pearls that are the real stars.
The basics section of this book teaches an array of techniques that are a bit different from most other jewelry books. While you'll find the expected "Creating a wire-wrapped loop" and "Creating a flat spiral", you'll also learn how to drill glass and stones, set a grommet, coil wire, anneal, forge, texture, and stamp metal, how to rivet, braze copper, and ball up the ends of wire for head pins.
And then there are the project sections! Twelve beautiful beginner projects to help you test your new skills, and thirteen intermediate projects to let you really spread your wings. There's one of my favorites above, the Mermaid Tears Collar...isn't it beautiful?
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