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this is uh... Easy Ear Cuff
A wire wrap tutorial by Rachel Murgatroyd
and this is the ear cuff we are going to make today
Very pretty in copper and amethyst
and the materials you are going to need (see list)
the size of the beads doesn't really matter but too big it maight fall
Off your ear
Tools (see list)
also going to need something to actually shape the ear cuff around
i'll show you i used a little bit later on in the tutorial
so let's have another look
at what we're going to be making
and this is the ear cuff
and this the way I display them when I am selling them
I pop them on little ring stands
so you take your piece of wire
and taking your snipe or your chain nose pliers I want you to grip the very very tip
and just put a little hook in the end
any of you that have done my satellite
tutorials, the ring
or the earrings will know
this because you have done it before
pop your bead on
and start and bend that wire around
once you get that started you can grip the wire with the edge of your pliers
and it will help you turn this all the way around
keep going, this is a bit of an odd shot, the wire has actually gone through the middle of the
pliers as i was twisting around but that's what it looks like without the pliers
there you can just see
i'm about halfway point
so all I do there at that point is
grip again
and move the wire a little bit further
and eventually what it does is
encases the bead and it looks a little like
it's been set in a metal setting
I've gripped just below with my round nose pliers, I've used round nose cos I want a fluid bend
and not a sharp bend
and i have bent the wire back against it, so when you take the pliers out it looks like
number two
so I have my bead in the middle, and I;ve got this swirl wizzing off to one side
these are my very well worn handle of my wubbers
and it is what I use
to shape my ear cuff around however as you see this is a smaller pair of pliers
and this is a pen
you could use any of these things what I tend to do is hold it up
to match it to the size of my ear
and get something that is the same size and width
so pop the bead
and your wire on. I've put this central and I have put my thumb over the top of it
That is going to hold everything in place
and using my other hand particularly
my thumb I'm then goin to start and create like a 'U' shape that goes down one side of the
plier handle
and then
keeping my finger in place, holding everything still
put that same sort of U shape
down the other side of the plier handle
and this will give you a very soft curve This curve is perfect for going over the
front
of the ear
So I have brought my main wire that I'm still working on back into the middle back into the middle to take
to get it out of the way a bit and get it back
where I want it to be
and I have gripped
The very edge of the loop
in my round nose pliers
and i am going to bend that underneath
just a bit can you see I've just tucked it underneath
now do exactly the same on the other side with your other loop
gripped the edge with my round nose pliers
and I am going to bend it underneath
and now when we look from the side, you can see the soft curve on the top
but then it tucks in sharply at the edges and that
will hold it firmly on your ear
So now what do I do with the rest of it i've
brought my curve back round and tightened that up a little bit
As I get that tighter I'll get my thumb over the top of it grip between my thumb and index finger
and I'll put
a curl in
going all around in a curl
So now I am going to add another bead
yeah i don't want the bead pushing right up against that circle
because i want my wire to go all the way around the bead so it ties in with the bead at the top
have started to wrap
my wire
around
and i will keep
going
and take us only about
unfortunately though my wire is now facing so what I am going to do is keep
wrapping around the bead until my wire's facing
back down the ear cuff
so my wire is where I want it to be
I'm going to cut a little off I have left my self a little over an inch
maybe an inch and a quarter
and I have gripped the end in my snipe or chain nose pliers and I am going to do the same
thing we did right at the beginning
so I am going to put that little hook in
and pop my bead on
I don't know if I mentioned these are 4mm beads
amethyst beads are these
pop my bead on
and then I am going to start and
work that round
so that the wire comes round and surrounds the whole of the bead
so you have one going one way one going the other, just makes it very fluid
and very natural
which is always nice
now this is how i sell them, dead straight
however
it depends
on a persons ear, whether they wear it on the left or right as to which way it needs to curve
once I've sold them
I then shape them a little bit
so they can
fit neatly to the ear, just needs a little push
and it will fit nicely
there we go
thank you for watching
i hope you enjoyed this tutorial
for a pretty little ear cuff
if you have
I have others for sale at my website
jewellery tutorials dot co dot uk
I also teach at, I think the best jewellery school in the UK which is
IN THE STUDIO
why not subscribe I try to do a new tutorial every month and you don't want to miss one
or you could join me on face book why not show me what you made need
just for a change
Happy Wrapping