Tree of Life

I guess you could say that I am in the initial obsessive stage of learning a new craft. I have been scouring the Internet and print media for information and examples of wire wrapped and beaded art forms. I feel like, and look like, I'm just wasting my time just looking and reading. But I'm absorbing a lot of information, reading about materials and tools, looking at step-by-step instructions, watching videos, deciding what I like and don't like, looking at complex designs and trying to figure out how they did that.

I've seen a lot of examples of the Tree of Life pendent, everything from a six inch sun-catcher to a tiny one inch earring. The first time I saw one I thought I would like to make it but had no clue how to do it. But as usual, all the generous people who share their knowledge on the Internet came to the rescue. I found multiple step-by-step instructions and a few demonstration videos on techniques for making this pendent. The main thing I noticed was that there were two basic ways to approach this project. Once you make your outside ring you either start adding wires at the root and work up to completing the branches or you start at the branches and leaves and work your way down and finish with the roots. I opted for the second method. It seemed to be the easier approach.

And this is my completed first Tree of Life pendent. It's nothing fancy, just copper wire and inexpensive beads. I learned from the experience and plan to do some things differently next time. This design has many possibilities with different choices for wire and beads, or in some cases no beads. The next time I post I will try to include links to some of the sources I came across, but they are not hard to find with a simple search.