I Heart Hearts

I'm not big on the Valentine's Day thing but I am big on hearts. I like them lots.

So in preparation of Valentine's Day (my excuse to make lots of hearts!), I'd like to introduce you to my heart dangles and a Sweetest Design.

Sweetest Design!

The "I love you" Necklace

 This very special necklace was created for a very special person in my littlest brother's life. 

It's a unique way to tell that special someone, "I love you."

What better time to do so than Valentine's Day? (Which is 1 month from today, by the way!)

Request your "I love you" necklace by February 1st and you will have it in time for the Day of Love :)

I can add a hanging crystal and even make a pair of earrings to match. It's also great for Mother's Day or simply a gift for yourself!

But hurry, because time and supplies are limited!

Contact me: dandlsdangls {at} gmail {dot} com

or visit my website: DandLsDangLs.com

What's Your Favorite?

Is there a type of jewelry that you're always drawn to when browsing the racks?

I LOVE earrings. Hence the name DandLs DangLs.

 

Back before I made my own jewelry, when I'd shop for jewelry, I couldn't get away from the earrings. If I'm only going to wear one piece of jewelry, it would be earrings.

(This is other than my wedding rings. Those never come off!!)

It's hard for me to come up with necklace, ring, and bracelet designs. When I want to create with the goal of de-stressing, earrings it is!

Do you prefer necklaces? Bracelets? Rings? Brooches? Anklets? ??

How to Open a jumpring.

I didn't learn this til late in the game. It was so nice to know when I did finally learn it. And if you're interested in trying your hand at chainmaille jewelry, this is a simple must-know!

How to open (and close) a jump ring.

You need two pliers. I use my chain nose and my flat nose pliers. You can also use bent nose pliers rather than chain nose as I explain here. Whatever works best for you!

Grasp your lil' jump ring with both pliers on either side of the cut and twist open like so:

It's important that you don't pull the jump ring from the seam as it will misshape the ring. Twist one of the pliers up and one of the pliers down. This will be your open ring:

Be sure to close it the same way. Your nice round jump ring will remain nice and round and it will be simple to make it flush and appear seamless.

So simple, right? Life as you know it just got a tiny bit easier.

Green Coils Bracelet

On Black Friday last November, the husband ventured out to find some deals.

No, I did not go with him. I will probably never go with him.

But now that I know he likes going out bright and early on Black Friday, I'm totally going to be prepared next year with a nice long list!

Anyway,

He didn't find much (as I hadn't thought to make a list for him!) but he did come home with some goodies for me completely on his own!!

One of which was this coiling thing-a-ma-jig.

I love this thing! It makes coiling wire so easy it almost feels like cheating. You can make your own "beads" out of coiled wire like I did with this Green Coils Bracelet:

Purchase HERE!

Awesome, right?!? You definitely need to get one! The husband got mine at Joann Fabrics.

Tools for Chainmaille

You've already got your chain nose and flat nose pliers. These will work just fine to open and close jump rings and create beautiful chainmaille pieces like this:

But you can also purchase a pair of bent nose pliers. If you're going to be working with lots of jump rings, bent nose pliers would probably be a wise purchase.

You can find a pair at my fave website - wire-sculpture.com.

These particular pair are definitely on my wish list!

Click on the picture to find them to purchase.

What on earth is chainmaille jewelry?? I give the rundown here.

Happy Chainmailling! :)