SPOTLIGHT ON ... ARTICLE
August 2006

Findings
Written by: Virginia Barrera and Thomas Soles

Mastering any medium demands that the artist be familiar with even the minutest details of their craft. A painter needs to understand how colors stir emotion. A chef needs to learn how temperature and time affect any given dish. A writer must understand how to show action and not tell it. A jewelry designer has to grasp how the normally unseen elements of a necklace can make or break a design.

Findings are the worker components of jewelry. We do not typically draw our attention to the clasps or connectors. Beads, gemstones, and glass will catch our eye before we consider the rest of the piece. Although hidden, they are there to make sure the show goes smoothly.

Let's start with earwires; earwires can simply be a wire that hooks the dangle to your ear or an accent to a new and fun design. Using one of our more interesting single loop earwires you could simply hang your favorite stone from the finding using a head pin. Earwires with more than one loop can be made into earrings with dangles that hang straight down or connect in the center and end with one dangle.

Head pins are pins with flat heads that you slide beads on and loop on to your designs. Add head pin dangles with your favorite gemstone or glass beads to your favorite chain. Make chandelier earrings by dangling beaded head pins from a multi-looped connector that is attached to an earwire. Using a small piece of chain and adding a component to each loop on the chain makes beautiful, drippy earrings.

Eye pins, these pins are similar to a head pin but instead of a flat head they have a ready made loop. Eye pins are great for making chandelier or dangle earrings because of the built-in loop. Just add your favorite bead and make a second loop to create a component that can be connected, on either end, to build a chain. When making a multi-strand necklace that ends with a cone, crimp the strands to the loop on the eye pin and pull it through the cone. Then just wire wrap the clasp or toggle to the rest of the necklace. Make an easy chain component necklace by repeatedly connecting components and ending it with a clasp.

One of the many ways that you can end your design is to use a toggle. You can use toggles to make a necklace with changeable fronts or pendants. Pick an interesting Toggle for the centerpiece of your design. See Altering Connections Project.

The right clasp can be like the cherry on a sundae in the jewelry world. If your design is simple, a lobster clasp will finish it nicely. If you are making a multi-strand necklace, look for a clasp designed for the number of strands you are stringing. If you want some flash, consider a clasp with an inlaid stone or gem to add some sparkle. If you want to be daring, you can consider moving the clasp to the front as a centerpiece or just offside from the focal bead to enhance the necklace.

Spacer Bars can be the center of attention or simply be in your design to add length. Single-holed spacer bars can be placed as the centerpiece in a single or multiple strand necklace or bracelet: Jade Bridesmaid Trio Set. Spacer bars with multiple holes work great in cuff necklaces and bracelet: Star Spangled Collar and Scarlet Cuff Bracelet and Earring Set.

Tube Beads, these interesting beads will bring a unique quality to your designs. Make it the center of a multi-strand or leather cord and dangle your favorite stones from the loop. Hang it from the loop and drop multiple strands from the tube.

Connectors are a definite essential to your bead box, these findings can sky rocket a design from boring to brilliant. Connectors with only two loops can be used as a centerpiece or act as just another bead in your design: Simply Stunning Bracelet. Another good idea is to turn it into a hook and eye clasp by wire wrapping a hook from connector to another. Three Loop Connectors are great for dropping a gemstone, lampwork bead or tassel in the center of your design. They also make a great center for a rosary: Pearl Rosary Connectors with three or more loops on one side make beautiful chandelier earrings. Just put an ear wire on the side with a single loop and dangle components from the multiple loops at the bottom. You can also use these connectors to end your multi-strand with a single strand: Blooming Rose Multi-Strand Necklace and Altering Connections.

Bead Caps are commonly used to decorate a bead by putting a cap on one or both sides of the bead. Here are some suggestions for alternative ways of using bead caps: You can replace a cone at the end of a multi-strand necklace with an interesting bead cap; this will leave your design looking classy yet discreet. You can also drop several strands through the top of your bead cap and make a tassel effect as the focal point in your design. Use a double-sided bead cap to bring together a multi-strand necklace at different points in your design, giving it a draped look.

Swarovski Crystal charms offer fun and flash: Sterling Silver hearts, flowers, round and diamond-shaped charms with seventeen different colors of crystals to choose from. Using Artistic Wire you can wire wrap a lobster clasp to each of these mini charms and create a necklace or bracelet with changeable charms. Add them to the loop on an eye pin and loop the end of the eye pin to an ear wire. Add a matching charm to your necklace or bracelet at the clasp as a signature.

Master your findings and you will find that you can turn almost any design into an eye-grabbing visual feast.