What do I do with… Wire?

I know I have been slightly absent over the past few days, but I promise it is just school getting in the way of my creative side.  Never-the-less I did manage to make a short trip to the craft store today and get a little bit of crafting time in tonight.  I am working on a new, custom pendant for a friend and so far it looks gorgeous!

However, I need your help!  I use wire to make my own findings for my pendants (usually 26 or 28 gauge) and on my quest to restock, I came across the prettiest rose-colored wire.  The smallest size they had was 20 gauge so grabbed a pack, closed my eyes, and handed over my credit card to the cashier.  I have tried to play with it tonight, but it is just too thick for any of my projects…  So now I am in a bit of a predicament!

I’ve never tried wire-wrapping before… but I am open to any suggestions.  Do you use wire in your work?  How do you think I could incorporate it into mine?  Can you suggest any wire-wrapping tutorials that you swear by?

Any help would be great… I hate the thought of having wasted money for another thing that is just going to sit lonely in my craft box.

Polyurethane vs Resin on Origami

Well I have been experimenting with different kinds of resin/coating to see what would best protect my little cranes for the earrings and, by george I think she’s got it!

From Ume Blog

I tried with several layers of polyurethane and although the cranes kept their paper quality, they were still liable to be bent and deformed if someone wasn’t careful. Then I tried with straight resin and I loved the texture, but the resin warped some of the paper (especially traditional chiyogami paper). So the solution? 1 good coat of polyurethane followed by 1 coat of resin.

From Ume Blog

The resin coating didn’t penetrate the polyurethane, and the colors look very vibrant under the strong gloss of the resin. And the best part? The cranes have become somewhat like plastic. They can be bent a little, but will not break from brittleness… Great for earrings or any other project! Time permitting, I want to turn a few of these into earrings and get them up in the shop by the end of the week.