Escape Focal Frustration: A Creative Focal Necklace Tutorial
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2024
- Are you stuck on a necklace design and can't get the focal working? Check out this creative idea to escape focal frustration!
In this tutorial, I’m showing you how to make a focal piece for a necklace out of several connectors. I also added some charms for good luck.
You can find links to the materials I used in this blog post:
www.affordable...
Jewellery I’m Wearing
Necklace and earrings - • Make this Gorgeous On-...
Bracelet - • MASTER Wire Wrapped Lo...
Useful Techniques
Wire Wrapped Loops - • How to Make a Wire Wra...
The Perfect Loop - • Secrets to Perfect Loo...
Jump Rings - • Jump Rings 101: How to...
To see more of our beading projects, please check out our website. www.affordable...
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Yes, I so agree with you about walking away and coming back later. That really works. 😊
Thanks Sandra. A change of scenery is so often what is needed.
Absolutely I agree about taking a break and/or just walking away for returning with a fresh eye. It can alleviate frustrations and help avoid discouragement. So nice to hear you say something similar to my own thoughts and feelings! Home today binge watching your videos I just discovered you this morning. Thank you for the time and care you put into your creations and that you share it with us so freely.
Thank you so much, Serena. I'm really glad you found me. Welcome. I have also been working on a video all about creative block which will come out in the next few weeks.
I will make sure I clicked the bell so I don't miss it. Thanks again
Fantastic! Thank you. Merry Christmas.@@serenab3399
You are absolutely right about the first connector
Thank you so much. Yes, I think it was just too chunky.
Hi Carol and a warm geeting from Ireland. I've only recently found your channel and I have to say I love the way you show and explain everything in detail. You were so right when you said you almost get a little depressed when your design doesn't go to plan, I feel exactly the same, so it's nice to know I'm not alone!! This is a beautiful piece and I love the colour mixture. Thank you for sharing your work.
Thank you, Barbara. Greetings from New Zealand! Yes, it's nice to know that others feel the same way. We were discussing lack of inspiration and getting "stuck" in the Jewellery Junkies (my TH-cam Membership group) zoom call the other week which made me think that I needed to get on and finish this piece.
Hello from Canada , thank you Carol for your very detailed and clear instructions , you are very calming
Hello Dina from New Zealand. I used to live in Toronto about 12 years ago. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thank you.
I would be happy to wear either version of your necklace. What is important is that you are! I have a rutilated quartz tear drop pendant that my son gave me as a gift. I have been trying to figure out a necklace design for quite some time. I really enjoyed seeing your process and ideas. You have given me inspiration to try some different things with it.Ty
Oh that's great. Thank you. If you want to send me a picture when you're done, I'd love to see it.
Help Carol, I’m from England and I thoroughly enjoy your tutorials. They are easy to follow and you always make beautiful jewellery. Thank you for sharing xx❤️❤️
Welcome, Linda and greetings from New Zealand. It's so wonderful to "meet" people from all around the World on this platform. Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate that.
I love it. I don’t think that you look at it and see different metals. So glad I found and subscribed. Can’t wait to binge watch previous videos.
Thank you so much for watching, and for the subscribe. I really appreciate that.
I don't often comment on video's but had to having seen this one (twice). I am a newby at Jewellery making and have learned more from watching you in the past hour, than I ever thought possible. I am so very glad I came across your channel, and am looking forward to watching more of your beautifully concise videos. You are a very kind talented lady, who is willing to share her knowledge with us. Thank you so very much from your newest subscriber. Marilyn xx PS: I love this necklace.
Thank you so much Marilyn, both for watching and for the subscribe. I really appreciate that. I actually ended up giving this necklace away to someone who loves it. I can't keep them all! I'm so pleased that you have joined the channel.
What a lovely design - I have so many connectors I could use to make versions of this - thank you.
Thank you so much. There will be no stopping you now. You can make lots and lots of focal pieces with your connectors!
Absolutely beautiful, looks so complicated but it is real doable after watching you work, I have now got a great idea for a version of my own, thanks so much.
Thank you so much, Shoshana. I'm so pleased that my video inspired you to use what you have to make something beautiful.
I personally love it, I like the way the 3 connectors (to me) look like a heart. Plus I like warm colours lol
Thank you so much. I agree that it looks like a heart.
I'm usually working about 4 necklaces at a time. It's great to walk away but I find working on multiple pieces is also very helpful in the problem solving process. The designs seem to feed off one another and helps in tweaking the bead selection when necessary.
Thats a really great idea. Thank you for sharing that. I always have many projects on the go at once as well.
Just beautiful. Love your teaching. You are so easy to follow. Thank you from Jen in Australia 🥰🥰🌻🌻🇦🇺🇦🇺
Thank you so much, Jen from Australia. It's nice to "meet" another down under friend (from across the ditch).
@@The_Stylish_Makeroh I didn’t know that’s what people say about the space between Australia & New Zealand! Very funny! Up here, we have the “pond” in between the US & Europe! Erica❤
Yes, Australians and Kiwis say we come from down under, or is that the rest of the World that says it about us! @ericastannard2635 😀
The necklace is really beautiful. I also love the one you were wearing.
Thank you, Sharon! 😊 Here's a link to the necklace I'm wearing. I always leave a link to the tutorials for jewellery I'm wearing in the description. th-cam.com/video/HZM-kQ45Kck/w-d-xo.htmlsi=chq0icqfAUSi_Iz6
Carol, I love your tuorials. The necklace is beautiful and so was the red one you were wearing at the start.
Thank you so much. Here's a link to the necklace I was wearing. I always leave links for the tutorial for jewellery I'm wearing in the description. th-cam.com/video/HZM-kQ45Kck/w-d-xo.htmlsi=chq0icqfAUSi_Iz6
Thank you so much for this. I had been struggling with a piece for a couple of weeks now and this video helped me to realize, that not only was I not alone, but that I had other findings I could use and make into a focal point. It helped me to "think outside of the box" :) Your piece turned out beautiful. Thank you for your wonderful videos and ideas.
Thank you so much, Ruthie. I'm in the middle of a full on creative block and this piece was just the beginning. You are definitely not alone! I'm glad it helped you think outside the box. Sometimes we get so stuck in our ways that we can't see what's right in front of us.
So true, thank you
@@The_Stylish_Maker
Carol once again you have made an awesome necklace. I love your Videos. Thanks you.
Thank you so much, Frances. I really appreciate you saying that.
Hello from Southern California. I'm a new one of your "Subbies,' and I enjoy your instructions so much. I'm a novice but you give very clear instructions. You inspire me with the beautiful jewelry you wear as well.
Thank you so much, Susie. Welcome to the community and thank you for subscribing. I hope you'll find lots of projects that inspire you here.
I always leave the links for jewellery I'm wearing in the description box.
The tutorial for the necklace I'm wearing can be found here: th-cam.com/video/HZM-kQ45Kck/w-d-xo.htmlsi=chq0icqfAUSi_Iz6
Beautiful! Thank you so much for this video, you are always so clear and make everything look so easy.
Thank you so much, Karen.
Beautiful, I really enjoy watching your tutorials. You give me inspiration.
Thank you so much, I'm so pleased that I have inspired you.
Very pretty. I’ve a few square connectors that I’ve been moving around on my board, trying to figure out what I wanted to do. This has certainly given me some ideas!
Glad you are on the mend and back on YT
Thank you so much Marjorie. I'm glad this has given you some inspiration. Yes, definitely feeling better. Thank you.
Carol, even though it took you a while, the necklace is magnificent! Bravo! You are awesome! Thank you
Thank you so much, Charisse. I really appreciate your ongoing support and lovely comments.
Love the end result.
Thank you, Dianne.
Beautiful, I love watching your video's. I just recently started making jewelry and I love doing it. 🙏❤
Oh that's amazing. I'm so pleased. I am trying to diversify my videos a bit too. I'm glad you're enjoying the jewellery making.
It's beautiful. I love the mixed metals ❤
Thank you, Beth. Me too!
It’s a gorgeous necklace.
Thank you so much.
Beautiful design. I've never thought of making sure to put the correct number of jump rings on so it lays correctly. Thank you!
You are so welcome! I'm really pleased that you found this one helpful. Thank you.
Lovely focal. Thanks for the tips!
Thank you so much. Teresa.You are welcome.
a
Absolutely love this one. Had purchased these connectors and sure how to put them to a good use. Just found you on you tube and love all your tutorials. Thank you will be watching for next tutorial.
Awesome, thank you! I'm so pleased that you found this one useful.
hi Carol....lovely focal bead necklace (appreciate what you said about the beginning & the struggle of putting it all together.in the design part_) i love the necklace you are wearing. Tomorrow is football day & i will put the loop tutorial on replay..ur loops are outstanding!! btw they are showing a rugby game with New Zealand!!! hurrah!! so I get to see how you play 'football' too.!!! thank you for this tutorial..i've taken a break from all the beads; gemstones; sterling etc. etc.
You are so welcome! I'm sorry but I'm not a rugby fan - probably one of about 1% of NZers who aren't. I think it stems from the "rugby boys" at school being so arrogant. Haha. Luckily I grew up and married a man who also doesn't follow rugby. That's not to say that I don't watch the odd game or two but I'm not driven by it like the rest of the country. I do hear enough to know that we lost on the weekend and everyone was devastated. Here's a link to the necklace I'm wearing in the video: th-cam.com/video/HZM-kQ45Kck/w-d-xo.htmlsi=lhWGWp0yEOwGSOA1
Thank you for your videos, absolutely gorgeous necklace.
Thank you so much. You are welcome.
(p.s.) your attention to detail is amazing.....thank you!!!!
Thank you so much.
I've used connectors as focals many times. I have one that I took 10 small ones that were gold diamond shaped and connected them together to make a huge diamond focal. It turned out to be really gorgeous
That sounds fantastic, Carrie. It's just thinking outside the box of things we would normally use an item for. Thank you so much.
Love this. The detail of how to is great.
Thank you so much, Julia. I'm really pleased that you liked the detailing on the necklace.
As always, I love your work! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much, Kay. I really appreciate that.
Wat a lovely necklace .. thank you for explaining your thought process ... this will help me in the future... 💘
I'm so pleased that you enjoyed this one. Thank you.
Love your necklace and have thought your presentations was awesome. Thank you
Thank you so much, Sandra. I really appreciate that.
It’s so beautiful
Thank you.
Absolutely stunning
Thank you.
Love this
Thank you.
Love the necklace! Thank you for sharing😊🇨🇦
Thank you! 😊 I really appreciate that.
I think it is so beautiful, and you make it look so easy❤
Thank you so much. Over the years I've done many different crafts and jewellery making is definitely one of the easiest.
Just stunning thank you so much for sharing hugs Shelley ❤❤❤
You are welcome, Shelley. Thank you so much.
Beautiful piece.
Thank you, Cheri.
A good job done by you. Personally I prefer to have a smaller Focals I'm into minimalism when it comes to jewellery. You do so really need to plan well your pieces to get them right. One person who I really admire for her work is Misty Mood designer I love her items. I've been watching a few americans and English designers and some of them are a bit over the top with their "heavier" designs, but each to their own. Your renewed design is great.
Thank you so much, Myra. I also like Misty Moon's designs too. It's a real balance to get the piece just right so that it's not too heavy and not too light (if you like statement pieces like I do). I'm glad you enjoyed this one.
Fabulous design!
Thank you so much, Sherri.
I always enjoy your videos. Thank you.
Thank you, Elle. I'm so pleased that you do.
Very nice Carol, great video
Thank you so much, Renae.
Very nice!! Thanks for another great video.
Thank you so much, Rachel.
I think this is an awesome tutorial and beautiful necklace. Thank you for sharing your talent.
You’re welcome, Terri😊 Thank you so much.
Totally love this! Thank you for sharing this. Love your videos!
You are welcome. Thank you so much.
That is beautiful, I love it 😊
Thank you so much, Sandra.
Such a lovely design you have created Carol, love it thank you & have a wonderful day.
Thank you! You too!
Beautiful
Thank you.
that is a very nice necklace, thank you for the video
You’re welcome 😊 Thank you.
Oh my... this is gorgeous 😍 ❤️
Thank you, Mandi!! 😊 I'm so pleased that you like this one.
Gorgeous. Thank you for this tutorial and all the information you provided.
You are very welcome. Thank you.
Me gustan muchos su forma d🎉e explicar y todos sus proyectos, los resultados muy finos y elegantes. Felicidades🇲🇽
Muchas gracias. Me alegra mucho que encuentres útiles mis tutoriales.
Me e gusta mucho cómo explica y todos sus proyectos , son de una excelente calidad y muy elegantes🇲🇽🇲🇽
Muchas gracias. Realmente aprecio eso.
Very pretty!!
Thank you.
Love it!!!
Thank you.
Lovely. 🤩🤩🤩💖💖
Thank you.
A nice spiral would wire wrap on pendant good idea
Yes, that would have worked too. Thank you.
I reeeeeally like this necklace. I even have those filigree connecter in my stash so I can make something similar! The 20 gauge copper wire you're using sure looks nice for your beaded wire-wrapped looped connector, aka links. They are substantial enough for the necklace to hold it's shape but are delicate enough to work with the filigree. Gosh! I never thought to use my crimping pliers to tuck in the wire ends. Great tips.
I've never seen any other TH-cam instructor share the bead layouts. I really appreciate that you do share them. I'm so glad I came across your channel. I also appreciate how you put the components in your flat hand to show each step. It's so much easier to see the piece that way. Girl . . . you're so good!
Wondering if you tend to connect your wrapped loops directly or do you always connect the components with a jump ring? As a dog owner, jump rings make me nervous as part of the structure of a necklace or bracelet. They can pull apart, for example if a baby you're holding grabs at it or a dog jumps on you and accidently gets it's paw caught on the necklace. Whereas wrapped loops do not pull apart.
I'm with you about using a larger jump ring (or in my case a wrapped loop connector) for the clasp. I also use larger clasps than necessary to make it easier to hold.
I totally agree about the finishing touch on the end of your extender to make your jewelry look professional. I try never to leave an extender chain naked on the end.
Sorry to go on and on. I'm just really happy I found you and I love this necklace. Thanks so much for the detailed tutorial.
Michelle, you comment made me laugh. It was so wonderful to read. I agree regarding wire wrapped loops being stronger - in fact I had a jump ring fail on me this morning - I caught it in something and it came apart. There's no reason why you can't skip the jump ring and add two wire wrapped loops together. Sometimes, it does sit better with a jump ring, however. It's about trial and error. Thank you so much.
Absolutely beautiful! I love it ❤
Thank you so much!
Beautiful necklace as always Carol. I love the warm colours which are very autumnal, just like the UK right now! 🍂🍁 I usually use silver wire etc but the copper/rose gold tone looks lovely - so I’m going to give it a try!
Thank you, Jane. I usually use silver too. As you know, I almost exclusively make silver jewellery, but it was a really nice change to make something with the copper. Maybe that's also why I struggled so much with this piece.
I want to make the necklace you are wearing!!!
Thank you, Renae. I'm so pleased that you like this. I always leave links for the tutorials for any jewellery I'm wearing in the description box below. Here's the link: th-cam.com/video/HZM-kQ45Kck/w-d-xo.htmlsi=je_DRDusSX9rrOBU
I ❤ that
Thank you.
Agree
Thank you, Cynthia.
Well, Carol, this is a bit outside of my ability, at this time, (I hope)! But it’s gorgeous! I agree with you that it’s very feminine & lies nicely around your neck & that the mixed metals are also a nice touch! And I really like the 3 squares that you began with! They have a nice airy feeling. Some of my jump rings from Amazon came already open, oh boy, is that nice?! I wish that when I’m working I could see my work, as well as I see with your closeups. I’m of an age with “mature” eyesight. I was looking at standing desk magnifiers on Amazon & was wondering if you know anything about those & if you have any advice about that? Thank you so much, you’ve given me something really exciting to think about trying! Erica❤ So since it’s Friday night here, I think it’s Saturday night there? So I will wish you a good Sunday!❤
Hi Erica, this piece is actually much easier than it looks to put together. My suggestion is that you purchase at least 18 gauge jump rings. They should hold unless you are pulling on them or your piece is very heavy. I've had others tell me the same thing about the Amazon ones so I wonder what gauge they are. I also have mature eyesight. Actually needing to get new glasses! I used to have one of those magnifying lighted floor stands and it was good but I got a sore back from leaning over it from my chair. I would probably get another one but would choose one that say on my desk over my work. I hope that helps.
Thank you so much for responding! I will try to find something to help with magnification & light! I already have trifocals which sometimes complicates things in that sometimes I don’t know which lens to look through ! As another junk journaler says, “the struggle is real”! Haha! Take care! Erica❤
What length of wire do you normally start off with when making one of these bead connectors with a wire wrapped loop?
It really depends on the amount of beads I'm using and the size. I usually just cut a bit that I think will work. You generally need about 1cm for each loop and the size of the beads but you don't want to cut it too small because you run the risk of not having enough. I also save lots of my small pieces to use in other projects. I hope that helps.
Do you do any special treatment to the copper so it doesn’t tarnish?
Thanks, Carol (great name!). Great question. I don't use anything. Most of the copper pieces are already coated with an anti-tarnish coating. You can also buy anti-tarnish tissue paper to store your pieces in. I use this for my silver pieces as they seem to tarnish more than anything else. I hope that helps.
Where did you get the mat that you are working from? I was hoping to find it through the link to your blog
I've actually just done a video on the mat. You can see that here: th-cam.com/video/eKOnrmBFtIU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=CjNb6FeHehUSmmT2
You can buy the mat here: th-cam.com/video/eKOnrmBFtIU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=CjNb6FeHehUSmmT2
When you are conceiving an idea for a piece of jewelry, do you sketch it out on graph paper before you begin (I don't), or do you just lay it out on a bead board and move the pieces around like a puzzle?
Great questions, Deborah. When I first started, I used to sketch but I am too much of a colour/visual person to do this. People always ask me about my design process and believe me, it's messy! I start by getting out a bead or colour beads that I think I might like to use (they usually don't make it to the final cut!). Then I lay them out either on my mat or on my design board. I get up and get more and then change my mind about a hundred times. I usually end up with about 30-40 jars of beads on my desk. I try to put them away as I go but you never know, I still might use them. That's why I've never done a tutorial on my design process. I'd spend more time away from the camera, than in front of it. I might have to try though.
So start with a bead you like and let it flow from there. Thanks! I love it.@@The_Stylish_Maker
Most of the time but it sometimes starts with a picture too@@DeborahJohnson-bh9nd
I love your videos but the words on the screen often cover up what you are doing. Maybe smaller words would help the problem.
Hi Lana, thank you. You need to turn off your closed captions on TH-cam. They are a setting you can find using the cog. Carol
@prettyqootdesigns7080 thank you.
ビズ✨🧿こゆき
Arigato Gozaimasu!
Love it!!!
Thank you so much, Terrie.