Tuesday, March 20, 2012
"Sedona" Necklace Instructions As Seen On Beads, Baubles & Jewels
Friday, March 16, 2012
Beads Baubles and Jewels Series 1400 | Big news: you can now watch Beads Baubles and Jewels online – here - a new episode starts every Friday at noon. - Episode 1401 starts Friday April 6th. Visit anytime all week long and watch this episode. |
| Episode | Online Air Date & Time |
| 1401 | Starts 12pm EST Friday April 6, 2012 |
| 1402 | Starts 12pm EST Friday April 13, 2012 |
| 1403 | Starts 12pm EST Friday April 20, 2012 |
| 1404 | Starts 12pm EST Friday April 27, 2012 |
| 1405 | Starts 12pm EST Friday May 4, 2012 |
| 1406 | Starts 12pm EST Friday May 11, 2012 |
| 1407 | Starts 12pm EST Friday May 18, 2012 |
| 1408 | Starts 12pm EST Friday May 25, 2012 |
| 1409 | Starts 12pm EST Friday June 1, 2012 |
| 1410 | Starts 12pm EST Friday June 8, 2012 |
| 1411 | Starts 12pm EST Friday June 15, 2012 |
| 1412 | Starts 12pm EST Friday June 22, 2012 |
| 1413 | Starts 12pm EST Friday June 29, 2012 |
Monday, January 16, 2012
I'M TEACHING CLASSES!
JewelryTools is sponsoring jewelry making classes at the Tucson Electric Park (Kino Sports Complex) during the 2012 Tucson Gem Show and I'm one of the instructors! If you haven't yet, head on over to JewelryTools.com and sign up for a class today!
Dale "Couger" Armstrong, Jody Bombadier, Lillian Chen, Stephanie Eddy, just to name a few, are some of the fabulous teacher's who will also be teaching classes!
They start at just $99 and space is limited, so act fast.
Dale "Couger" Armstrong, Jody Bombadier, Lillian Chen, Stephanie Eddy, just to name a few, are some of the fabulous teacher's who will also be teaching classes!
They start at just $99 and space is limited, so act fast.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
New Chainmaille Video
I am very excited to announce that a video of me demonstrating the European 4-in-1 weave has been posted at JTV's Jewel School. To watch the video click here. On the website click the "watch now" and click again on the on the big screen. If it starts buffering and you can't see the picture than you can click on the << on the bottom left of the big screen.
Lauren Andersen
Beadalon Design Team Member
All About Jump Rings
Did you know that there are two main wire gauge measurements that we use in the United States? The first wire gauge measurement is the “Standard Wire Gauge” or SWG. The SWG is primarily used for industrial metals such as aluminum, steel, etc. The second, and the measurement used for making the Artistic Wire® Chain Maille Jump Rings is the “American Wire Gauge” or AWG, also referred to “Brown & Sharpe”.
The AWG is the primary gauge system for nonferrous metals or precious metals. And to confuse you further the larger the gauge number the smaller the wire diameter!
Why is this important you ask? The SWG wire measurements tend to run smaller than the AWG wire measurement. Say the instructions call for your jump rings to be 18 AWG and you purchase 18 SWG rings. You will find more likely than not that the SWG rings will actually be a smaller wire diameter than the AWG even though they are both 18 gauge rings. This means that the SWG rings may be too small for the chainmaille pattern to work.
Another term thrown around in chainmaille is Aspect Ratio. What the heck is that? Well, quite simply it is the way of describing how thick or thin a jump ring is. Technically the AR is equal to the inner diameter of the ring divided by the wire diameter of the ring. If you are a beginner, I wouldn’t worry about AR at this juncture. Most chainmaille instructions that you purchase or find for free on the Internet will tell you what size jump rings you should use.
Jump ring mandrel sizes. To make a jump ring the raw wire is wrapped around what is called a mandrel. Mandrels come in two basic measurements for chainmaille, inches and millimeters. You may have noticed on the Artistic Wire® Chain Maille Jump Rings packaging that the jump rings are listed by wire gauge (18Ga) and then in inches (9/64”), then in millimeters (3.57mm). This is because instruction writers will list their jump rings in either inches, millimeters, or if you’re really lucky both! Some creative chainmaillers use aluminum knitting needles or wooden dowels as mandrels.
And the final fun fact about jump rings is that they can “fly”! Just try holding the jump ring in your pliers to tightly and you will see what I mean!
Lauren Andersen
Beadalon Design Team Member
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Tips for Chainmaille: Lauren Andersen
I would like to share with you a few of the tips that I teach my students. Shh.... don't tell anybody. It will be our secret!
1. "Choke up on those pliers." Don't be afraid of your pliers! Put your hands as close the tips of the pliers as is comfortable. The closer you are to your ring, the more leverage you have over the ring.
2. Use shorter-tipped pliers. The shorter the tip, the more leverage you will have to control the jump ring instead of the jump ring controlling you!
3. If you are going to pre-open and pre-close your jump rings, use either two pair of flat nose pliers or one pair flat nose pliers and one pair bent nose pliers. The flat nose and bent nose pliers allow you to grasp more of the jump ring and therefore easily open and close the jump rings.
4. If you want to make smaller tighter weaves, you will want at least one pair of chain nose pliers. You will find when working with tighter weaves you will run out of room to place your flat nose pliers. If you have a pair of bent nose pliers you can turn them so that you are using the pointy part of the bent nose to get in and close the rings.
5. If you find yourself using what I call the "death grip" on your pliers, try holding out your pinkies. Just like you would if you were to have tea with the Queen. I know it sounds funny, but it works. For some reason, when your pinkies are extended away from the pliers, your grip loosens. If your jump rings tend to "fly across the room," chances are you are gripping your pliers to tightly. Loosen Up!
Lauren Andersen
Beadalon Design Team Member
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