A Beautiful Rainbow of Artistic Wire Colors

 

I love creating jewelry with wire, and I'm so glad that Artistic Wire offers so many different colors, gauges, tempers, spool lengths and finishes to choose from. No matter what kind of project I'm creating - from a simple clasp to a wire tree, I can always find what wire I need. 

Artistic Wire is a dead soft wire made from either a copper or brass core which is then coated with enamel color, silver plating, or both. All but 5 of the wires then have a tarnish resistant coating on top. If a natural patina is what you're after, Tinned Copper, Stainless Steel, Bare Phosphorous Bronze, Bare Copper, and Bare Brass are all uncoated and will patina over time. Otherwise, that tarnish resistant coating will keep your wire bright and shiny under normal conditions. We recommend not wearing jewelry made with Artistic Wire in the ocean, shower, or exposing it to body sprays, perfumes, etc.

Wires come in different tempers (how malleable the wire is), and Artistic Wire falls on the "dead soft" range of the Wire Hardness Scale. That means that it will be the softest and easiest to bend. 

If a harder, sturdier wire is what you're after, try German Style, Silver Filled, or even Stainless Steel Wire. On the Beadalon website, you can find projects made with German Style Wire and Artistic Wire in the Learning Center. 

Wyatt White shared his top 5 favorite tools to use when he works with wire in his last Facebook Live - and he should know which tools are the best - he invented many of them!

What is your favorite wire to use? What are your favorite tools? Let us know in the Jewelry Making with Beadalon Facebook Group, and join us live on Facebook each Thursday at 2:00pm ET.

Until then, happy beading!

Meredith