Now that the holiday jewelry rush is over, I'll have the time to do a couple of bigger, more time-consuming wire jewelry projects. With this in mind I just went through all of my larger gemstones for inspiration - and maybe the focal point of a design. After a lot of perusing, I finally chose this large, awesome green druzy, which I think will make a gorgeous focal point for a wire weave statement necklace. When I weave wire, I have basic ideas in mind, but then I design as I work. Sometimes, if I get stuck, I'll stop and put the project...

512,169 to be precise. I was super excited recently when I checked my tutorial stats and found out that I'd broken a half million views.   I published my first online tutorial June 26, 2013 on instructables.com. This is a website where you can teach anything you like and learn almost anything you're interested in. It's a great online community of creative people, happy to share ideas just for the fun of it. I was an observer for several years before I actually posted anything and I loved seeing what other people were doing. Then I dove in to posting tutorials...

I've just added an updated version of my Bird's Nest with Pearl Eggs tutorial to my website. This the most detailed version I have ever posted! The new tutorial shows you how to make the same beautiful project that I teach in my Bird's Nest Pendant class, complete with detailed instructions, lots of large photos and materials lists. There are even extra instructions for twisting and spiraling wire. I've seen other nest tutorials, but mine is for a design I've created that is particularly sturdy and has a wonderful weight to it. The finished pendant is as solid as it is lovely.  My Bird's Nest Pendant tutorial is only $4...