"Four-in-One" Pipa Bracelet

"Four-in-One" Pipa Focal in the making

"Four-in-One" Pipa Focal in the making

Done! - "Four-in-One" Pipa Bracelet

I made it finally! And I am very happy and pleased with myself today as not only have I made a "four-in-one" Pipa focal for the bracelet, but I made a "Pipa Clasp" as well. Love it! I used one piece of 20ga stainless steel wire to make all four pipas . Yeah! Only one piece of wire, so that all four pipas are connected to each other. All four pipas are almost perfect except for one. I ran out of wire for the last pipa. As such, I only managed to coil twice instead of three times :) for the last one. Do you notice that? But that is the beauty of handcrafted pretties....the imperfection....... ..........just trying to find excuses here! :). My fingers are quite sore from the twisting. 20ga stainless steel wire is a bit tough for this wrap but it look nicer compared to thinner wires. Stones are 6mm faceted amethyst as well as a couple of freshwater pearls for the center. The focal measures about 3cm x 3cm and the length of the bracelet is about 19cm or 7.5 in. As for the Pipa clasp (this is my favorite part of the bracelet), I used 22ga stainless steel wire and a piece of freshwater pearl.

Pipa Clasp

Pipa Clasp Side View

The idea for this piece have been in my head for a long while, ever since I was introduced to this Pipa Wired Chinese Knot by Corra of decorshandmades.blogspot.com. Well not that long...about a month or so ago. Feels like a long time ago though....hmm wonder why?

Kissing Pipas

My eldest boy, William loves to kiss. By this I mean he willingly kiss his parents (thats us) and grandparents without question. Henry, the younger one (2 and half) on the other hand is choosy when it comes to kissing. Being kiss or kissing his brother William is a definite NO! NO!. If William try to kiss him, he will run screaming and crying with his mouth covered. His reason being "Koko (big brother) got "nua" (saliva)". He doesn't mind our "nua" but he got problem with his Koko's "nua"....:D. If I kissed William first and then ask Henry to kiss me, Henry wouldn't want to because he said "Koko's nua is on my lips!" Wonder how this 2 years old is so particular about "nua" *shaking head*. Enough about kissing and "nua", here is a Kissing Pipa bracelet accompanied by a Pipa Hook/Clasp I made today.

The oval shaped moonstone used here are from Szarka (thanks Szarka) and the four stones the pipas are kissing are tourmaline. The teardrop shaped stone on the left pipa is prehnite while the pink stones on the right hand pipa and the clasp are....hmmmmm , duh forgot what its called (brain not working). Will check it out later. Got it - Cherry Quartz (6mm)

Jade Donut Pendant, Chinese Pipa

The last time I made a similar pendant was in April 01, 2008 - look at this post.
Exactly 2 years and 2 days ago! just notice the date when linking the post :)
How time flies.
Revisited, with a slightly bigger jade, unakite, red coral and agate (because its a custom order).

If you would like to learn how to make the pipa wrap with wire,
or Chinese Knots with wire, Corra has the tutorial/s. 

Corra is an expert in Chinese Knotting with wire.

(disclaimer - Corra's PIPA knot tutorial is for earrings and not this pendant

don't want to be blamed for misleading later on. Need a bit of modification for this piece)

Happy weekend and creating :)

Still with Donut Pendant and Pipa Technique

Last night/ early this morning I completed this Donut Jade Pendant incorporating the Pipa technique into this otherwise boring Jade Donut Bead. The idea have been swimming around my head for about two weeks while I was wire wrapping the other two donut jade pendants. Somehow I can't figure out how to finish it off, especially on the bail part. So, this piece developed as I was making it and one lead to another and along the way I figured out how to finish off the bail. The jade donut measures about 2.3cm at its widest and the length of the pendant is about 3.5cm. The 10 beads surrounding the pipa knot are 4mm unakite and coral beads. There are another 8 of them at the backside of the pendant. I added one 6mm round swarovski crystal (AB) to the top of the pendant to give it a bit of shine/sparks. The Guess the number of rings contest was fun but was over a bit too soon :) The winner is Kathy. Kathy, if you are reading this, please email me with your choice of the ring.

Wire Wrapped Pipa Earrings by William

This wire wrapped dangle earrings with Pearl and Amethyst is created by William for his English teacher as a retirement gift last September.

The dangling piece with Amethyst is the Pipa Knot, first introduced by Corra. This knot is very versatile and you can create variations based on your creativity. I used them for bracelets, pendants, clasps and earrings. See some of the variations that I made here - Pipa knot used in various pieces

▲ Steps in assembling the earring components

▲The creator ღ(¯`◕‿◕´¯)William(¯`◕‿◕´¯)ღ

Pearl Necklace and Pipa Pendant (Reverse)

My holiday didn't go to waste after all. I completed a necklace and pendant today. Fingers are better today. This checkered pearl necklace and pipa pendant (reverse usage) is made up of 107 pieces of pearls of various kind. There are the 5mm (white and blue), 6mm (blue), 8mm (white) and 12mm pearls coin (Blue/purplish). The length of the necklace is about 17 inches while the pendant measures 4 cm from top to bottom. The pendant is designed according to the Wired Chinese Knot, same as I used for this earring, introduced by Corra but used differently here.

Back view of the pendant here.

And the handcrafted hook. I like this one.

Sparkling Pipa Pendant and Earrings Set

This set was started last weekend but only managed to complete today. This is a commissioned set based on Corra's Pipa Knotting method. The pendant measures about 2.5 in long while the earring is about 1.8 in from end to end. Used all Swarovski Crystal for this set - teardrop Swarovski Crystals with mix of 4mm, 5mm and 6mm bicone Swarovski Crystals. It will be a sparkly Xmas for the owner..:D

Airport and Donut Jade Pendant - Pipa Wrap

Here I am at the KKIA waiting for my flight home to Kuching.
Been here for the last 2 hours and I have another hour to wait.
So, here I am posting another wire wrapped piece which I have been wanting to post the last few days but interrupted by this travelling.

This is a very tiny donut jade pendant.
The donut jade itself is only about 1 cm in diameter.
A custom order by a close friend of MIL.
Had hard time figuring out how to wrap it and in the end decided that the pipa wrap would be the safest besides adding size to the tiny jade.

All through the making of this pendant, I was worried that I am going to break the jade.
Its so delicate but thankfully it didn't happen.
Ok, got to go...see you in Kuching :)

Wire Wrapped Project by William

Wire Wrapped Pipa Center Piece, Swarovski Pendant and Earrings

These are William's recent wire wrapping projects.

They are birthday gifts for a friend.

I notice that he has a liking to natural colored stones.

If not mistaken, the stones are Picture Jasper.

The pipa center piece is for a bracelet.

Wire wrapped with 20g brass wire.

The earrings and pendant used 19g (thick!). 

Guess he wants them sturdy :)

20g brass wire used to wrapped this pipa bracelet center piece

Study "S" shaped earrings with 19g wire and Picture Jasper

Simple pendant with Swarovski Crystal and 19g wire

Wire Wrapped Hook/Clasp on Cord Ends

There are many ways to wire wrap hook/clasp on cord ends or leather ends. If you google for it, here are the list of pages available. Some are on youtube while others are pictorial.

My wire wrapped clasp on cord ends is based on 123Bead's tutorial with modification to the basic wire hook to a pipa hook instead.

The "difficult" part of this project is to hold several cord ends together at one time.
Kind of tricky but manageable.

Earrings-Wired Chinese Knot (Pipa Knot)

After few days of inactivity, I finally managed to complete this pair of earrings today. This piece is based on Corra's Wired Chinese Knot or Pipa Knot that I mentioned the other day. Took me whole afternoon to make this. While wrapping the goldstone, pearls and lime colored gem (not sure what stone this is but I love the color, must check with the expert later!), I really have no idea where it was going and I can't stop thinking that I would not be able to make the other pair. Phew! They turned up quite ok in the end. This post earrings measure about 3cm x 2cm. Maybe this piece will be my first etsy piece. Yeah! Am planning to start selling on line this time around. Wish me luck then and will keep you posted on my etsy store. Hopefully soon!

Another Pearls Set (Necklace & Earrings)

Still with pearls, necklace and earrings and I guess you are getting bored with them already.....hope not as pearls are really beautiful. Custom order earrings. These wire wrapped Pipa earrings are really lovely that I am thinking of making one for myself as well. This stud earrings are based on Corra's Chinese Knot for the same.

Wired Chinese Knot (Pipa Knot)

The following experimental pieces of wire wrap works are my latest experiment. This is called Wired Chinese Knot (Pipa Knot) by its creator (in wired form), Corra. I must say it is not as easy as it seems but when I finally got it, after two tries (got it wrong the first two times), it is not that difficult either. In the process, I think I found another way to wrap the wire but with a slightly different way (the first two wrong pieces), more difficult way :). First try was not very successful. Actually I did it wrong but this wrong is quite beautiful. It is a bit different from the wired Chinese Knot. This was done with the "Bonzai wire" as the wire is quite soft. Second try with 22g stainless steel wire. Did it wrong again similar to the first one. This time as I was using stainless steel wire, which is stiffer, the wrapping is not that smooth. Finally, third try with copper wire - 20g, I finally got it right. Two in one some more! :D "Kiasu" some more, I managed to make "four in one". Yipee! Back to Corra, I got to know her online recently. She is one of the few wire wrap jewelers in Malaysia that I know of so far. So now, I have 4 wire wrap jeweler friends from the whole of Malaysia........duh! So many ya? As I mentioned just now, she introduced me to this Wired Chinese Knot. Well, I must say I was attracted to this knot the first time I saw it. If you are also smitten by this weave and are wire wrap addicted like me, Corra has a tutorial for this weave available at her etsy shop as well as her blog - de Cor's Handmades. This sounds like advertising ya but no....it's more like sharing a newfound wire wrap technique with you fellow wire addicts......:D I know people like us always looking for new designs or trying to come up with new designs or wire wrap pieces. So, this is something different and very interesting.

Wire Wrapped Clasps with Pearl

Been a while since I made pipa clasps. The last time were in May 2008 (Kissing Pipas) and April 2008 (Four-in-One). More than a year ago. Wow! How time flies...

Made these two yesterday..commission piece.
Got problem starting making them though as its been a while, but turned out ok :)

Love this clasp very much!

Wire Wrapped Kissing Pipas and Clasp

This is suppose to look like this one but it turned out a bit bigger and wider. About 5 cm in width but the new owner don't mind at all :) I used 6mm malachite for the center of the pipas as well as the clasp. 4mm corals surround the malachite. Oh! not forgetting the moonstones and pearls. This piece is based on Corra's Pipa technique.

Mother's Day Special at My Etsy Shop

WireBliss.etsy.com - Mother's Day Special (25% discount on five items). If you are looking for a unique and one of a kind handcrafted jewelry as a gift for your mother, do drop by my Etsy Shop. In conjunction with MOTHER'S DAY, I have listed 5 items from my shop under "Mother's Day Special" Section. Prices of listed items are are at discounted price of 25% off the original price. If you do like them, place your order early to ensure that they reach you on time for Mother's Day. After Mother's Day, prices of items will be back to normal. So, don't wait too long! For a quick look, here are the discounted items. Click on the links for details:

1. Feels Like Floating - Wire Wrap Jade Donut Pendant ($69)
2. Spring in the Air - Wire Wrap Jade Donut Pendant ($26)
3. Checkered Pearls Necklace with Pipa Pearl Pendant ($144)
4. Spring - Pearls Briolettes Earrings ($22)
5. Shell Bracelet and Earrings Set (15)

Have a wonderful weekend.