Wire Style: 50 Unique Jewelry Designs

Wire Style, from the editor of Step by Step Wire jewellery magazine, is a collection of fifty contemporary, stylish, and absolutely wearable designs from an array of top designers in the field.|Wire jewellery is one of the hottest trends in jewellery making. Wire Style, from the editor of Step by Step Wire jewellery magazine, is a collection of fifty contemporary, stylish, and absolutely wearable designs from an array of top designers in the field. Begin with a primer on basic tools and techniques for getting started, then launch right into chic, beautiful designs for bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and pendants handpicked from a collection of top jewellery designers. Each project features a comprehensive materials list and thorough step-by-step instructions, following in the footsteps of Stringing Style and Stringing Style 2. Fundamental wireworking techniques are explained in detail, including wire wrapping, weaving, coiling, chain making, hammering, texturing, and oxidizing. Readers will also learn how to wire-wrap found objects, make chain mail, create spirals, straighten wire properly, pierce, cut, make jump rings, make ear wires, and create clasps. Projects are constructed with a range of materials, from precious metals to plated and coloured wire for an eclectic mix of funky and fabulous designs. Various types of wire and chain are mixed up with stones, beads, and cords for an interesting and assorted collection of designs. Wire Style has everything you need to know to begin your journey or to perfect your wire-working skills.

About the Author :
Denise Peck is a wire/metal jewelry artist and the editor in chief of Step-by-Step Wire Jewelry, senior editor for Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, and projects editor for Step-by-Step Beads. She is a metalsmith with a bench jeweler's certificate and makes and sells her own jewelry when she can find the time.

Review :
Myshelf.com: Lots of books about jewelry making focus on beads, but there is a lot more to wire than making a jump ring or closing a fastening. Here is a whole book about manipulating wire and making it the focus of a project; you can discover that working with wire is a whole hobby in itself. Of course, this also means that it has a plethora of items associated with it, so if you are not wishing to embark on an extension to making jewelry then this book might not be for you. If, however, you are up for a challenge and are keen to purchase things such as mandrels, stepped forming pliers, liver of sulphate and a rotary tumbler then this book certainly has some of the best projects I've seen anywhere. There are some truly stunning pieces in here, showcasing the arcane delights of wire work, and because they have been created by a number of different designers there is no danger of not liking the author's style. There are some instructions, too, on making the various loops, spirals and other shapes, but if you are looking for staged instructions illustrated with photographs for the projects you had better look elsewhere. I see this as a book for improvers rather than beginners, people who have worked with wire a bit before and are ready to embark on some more challenging projects. Total tyros would do better to come back to this book when they have worked through the basics, but for anybody looking for a book of wirework jewelry projects this is the goods.