Tutorials

I periodically create wire-wrap tutorials for youtube.com. I have a full-length video class called Organic Wire-Wrapped Pendants at Bluprint. You can purchase downloadable tutorials at Etsy or Bluprint. In 2014, the video below prompted the craft publisher Interweave to reach out to me, and I later published a book called Freeform Wire Art Jewelry. Interweave has since been acquired by Penguin Random House.

Organic Wire-Wrapped Pendants Class
How to Wire-Wrap Beach Glass the Easy Way – Free eBook
Freeform Wire Art Jewelry – the Book
Visit My Youtube Channel for more

My Experience

Without a doubt, writing how-to tutorials is what I’m best at. When I was ten, I wrote out the instructions to create a cat sculpture using a cardboard tube and pipe cleaners!
Since then, I’ve gotten some slightly more impressive credentials :)

  • I’m a self-taught wire artist, since 1998, so I know what it’s like to struggle with a new technique or to work without special tools, and you’ll find workarounds in my tutorials.
  • Since nobody was teaching when I was learning, I had to invent something new every time I was solving a problem – so you’ll find many of my techniques are different from the usual!
  • I have a BA in English from CBU, so (hopefully) there aren’t any typos or grammatical errors that will confuse your learning. I’m also trained in educational pedagogy.
  • I was an instructor for an online private career college in Canada, writing course curriculum and providing tutorial assistance for online, adult learners since 1999, so I know where you might get lost – and how to avoid it!
  • You’ll find my tutorials have clear, concise, accurate instructions with photos for every step – even partial steps. I know how to teach you no matter how you learn best!
  • I make jewellery to sell – and I sell a lot of it – so many of my techniques are designed to efficiently put into production, leading to tutorial stages which you can easily follow.
  • That instructing I do? It’s for web and graphic design, so you’ll find a consistent, readable layout on every page, photos that draw your focus to the relevant step, and constant clues to keep your place – even if you forget to staple your printout and the whole thing falls apart!
  • In 2014, I was approached by f+w / Interweave to write a jewelry how-to book, based on my existing online offerings. After publishing in 2015, it has sold over 15,000 copies so far. In 2015, I published an online video class with Craftsy.com.

All of this is to reassure you that you can feel safe with me. I take your jewellery education seriously, and it is important to me that you can become comfortable with wire, clay, design, and – possibly the biggest thing – beauty in imperfection.

193 Comments

  20. Cymerian Designs

    This is so great! You’ve made every step clear. I’m going to make a rock rain chain with this technique. Thanks very much for your work in making this video.

  36. Paul Howard

    Omg!years ago my daughter then aged 4 and upwards would collect beach glass on Bexhill beach! We had jars of the stuff, I wasn’t crafting then and we threw them away when we moved house! She is 35 now so will get my granddaughter to do it. Great idea????????????????

  42. Carol Chaney Erickson

    love Seaglass ..just getting interested.. Bought a few pieces at craft shows..plus an artistic friend of mine …not interested in selling ..gave me a beautiful cobalt hart shaped piece and a set of earrings.!!! Now what I am looking for is a pendant piece of red… decent sized for her newly adopted dog Rosie!! can you help me with this?? I have spoken to a few very kind and helpful Crafters. In person and online ..Seems Red isn’t local. But I would be appreciative if you could help me. thank you in advance! Carol Chaney Erickson

  43. Gayle

    I’ve only found a handful of red pieces – and I’ve sold them all! Try Ebay – especially look for English sea glass, as there’s lots over there from old glass factories.

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