Tutorial Tuesday - Wire Heart Pendant

 

For this simple heart pendant, gather together orphaned art beads and copper wire to add a little love to someone's day this week!

Supplies:
5" 18 gauge copper wire
8" 22 gauge steel wire
polymer clay disk
lampwork round bead
lampwork spacer
polymer clay wobble spacer bead
15mm arte metal jump ring
13 4mm copper spacers
28" gunmetal chain

Tools:
Round and chain nose pliers, wire cutters, bench block, ball peen hammer, riveting hammer, liver of sulfur gel, paint brush and fine steel wool.

Make the Heart:
1. Bend the 5" wire in half at a 45 degree angel.
2. With the round nose pliers, bend the wire into a spiral on one side on the wire. Repeat on the other side.
3. Hammer the heart flat with the flat side of the ball peen hammer.
4. Texture the wire with the skinny end of a riveting hammer.
5. Brush on the liver of sulfur gel with a paint brush, rinse with water, dry. Rub steel wool or a scotch brite pad to bring out the highlights of the texture on the heart.

Finish the Pendant:
1. Leaving a 1 1/2" tail create a double loop at the bottom of the steel wire. Create a messy wrap above the loops with a tail of wire.Slip the loops through one end of the heart by opening and closing the heart pendant very slightly.
2. String on the polymer clay disk, copper spacer, lampwork bead, copper spacer, lampwork spacer, copper bead, polymer clay wobble. Repeat step 1 to create a double wrapped loop at the top of the pendant.
3. Add the pendant to the 15mm jump ring, string on 5 spacers on both sides of the jump ring.  Add the two ends of the chain, close jump ring.

 

Resources: Polymer clay beads: Humblebeads. Lampwork spacer: Thornburg Bead Studios. Lampwork Bead: Sea of Glass. Steel Wire: Ace Hardware. All other supplies and materials: Rings & Things.