Those sound like some good suggestions. I am moving to Cambridge this week and will definitely be checking those out. On a related note - I am starting to get into beading and wire wrapped jewelry. Where can you go in the Boston area for beads/wire/etc. which are not too expensive?? Since I am a beginner, I am not looking for top of the line stuff, is there somewhere that has a range of all prices?

I was just going to make some of that type of necklace, beads with wire designs in between, and I have been wondering what gauge wire would work best. Yours look great with 22 so I think I'll try that first. Thanks for including that info in your post!

Thanks to both of you, I really appreciate your advice. Ayn, those are a lot of good ideas and I will definitely be trying them as I do more jewelry experiments. It is the bead that spins, and also those metal swirl pieces spin too, the same as the bead and then they sit awkwardly. The aesthetic of the jewelry is one thing but getting it to function right when you wear it is really difficult! Anyways, I am new to jewelry making and am really glad to have the benefit of your experience!

I am just a beginner at wire/bead jewelry but I am really excited about it so far.
So, I made this necklace and I like how it looks but it doesn't always lie flat on my skin when I wear it. It tends to twist around so that some parts are sticking out, as you can probably imagine.
Does anyone have advice on how to make it so that it will lie flat?
I would really appreciate anyone's experience with this.


Also with this type of necklace, what else could you hang it on? I just put it on naked beading wire since that's what I had. I guess a chain might be nice. Are there other options I may not know about?

Yes it was from good old Michael's. It was my first wire project so I really don't know anything about different types of wire yet. I guess a harder wire would make sense because you need to bend it a little but not very much. I'm not ready to invest in a lot of wire yet but I will keep that in mind for later. thanks.

Thanks, I didn't mean for the mom to come out so big. I knew I was using bigger yarn but I didn't realize just how big it would make her. Once I realized she was clearly an adult, I knew I had to give her a baby too.

It was 18 gauge wire. That's what was written in the instructions on page 1 of this topic so that's why I used it. Are other people using thicker wire? That would explain why theirs are straighter. I will certainly try a thicker one next time.

My Dangly mommy and baby are done! It was not easy for me to adapt the pattern to make the smaller one. That's why his arms are so fat. But he's cute nonetheless. They are for my friend's daughter, I don't know how I'm going to part with them!
   

I had to try this too, I'm a fan of any way to use i-cord!
I decided to try it with smaller beads though, and since I didn't have that many I didn't put them all the way around.
I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I'll have to try wearing it and see how it feels. What do you all think?

This is my first project with wire and beads, and I am hooked. It's so fun to play with the shapes you can make with wire.
One problem I had - when working with the thicker wire for the frame of the bracelet I found it very difficult to keep it straight and in a perfect curve. While I was wrapping the thinner wire I kept bending the thicker one by accident. So you can see my bracelet is a little wobbly. Does anyone have any tips on keeping the wire straight and even??

Anyways, here's my bracelet: