Riveting with Tracy Stanley at WireFest/BeadFest

Finally, I got to go to WireFest/BeadFest!  For the past five years, I've always had to either prepare for or exhibit at a craft show, but this year, of course, I took the time out to go to classes.


I first want to say that going to this event wasn't just about taking classes, but about meeting up with friends (Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio, Jeanette Blix of Fundametals, and Kerry Bogert of Kabs Creative Concepts), meeting a bunch of people I met through the Bead Soup Blog Party, and finally getting to meet the editors of the magazines I've contributed to over the years.  Oh, and bead shopping.  OH yes.  The shopping.  :-)

(Photo by Cindy Wimmer)

 But on to my classes!


I opted to take two classes with Tracy Stanley so I could immerse myself in riveting, metal texturing, dapping, and basically all things metal.  I was nervous, a complete wreck going into that classroom, let me tell you!  Here I am, a jewelry designer that works in color and glass, and I'm getting ready to work with anything but!


The first class dealt with metal stamping and riveting with metal wire.  Unfortunately, I'm not finished with that project yet, so you can expect to see it in a future post.  But the second class was an intensive all-day extravaganza of hammers and dapping blocks and learning to both rivet with tubing and eyelets.


Instead of a bracelet, I decided to make some pendants.  So far, I finished this one:

Each dapped circle is textured, patinaed, and riveted.  The bottom one has a lampwork bead riveted to it, and I used a combination of brass, sterling, and copper.  (You can click on it to see a larger photo).


The next pendant started out as a ring.  I cut my band, looked at it, and decided I didn't really WANT a ring.  So again, another pendant came about.

This one has a dapped disk, a tiny river rock, and a Bali spacer, all on copper.  The width of the pendant is only half and inch.  This one will end up on my web site for sale.


I'll have more to show soon -- three more await embellishment!


I'd be interested to know what you think!






Lori Anderson designs jewelry for www.lorianderson.net and also writes for the blog www.PrettyThingsBlog.com.