When it comes to hammers, there is only one thing better than owning a Fretz Hammer, and that is getting to learn how to use it from Bill Fretz.  I had the privilege of taking a workshop with Bill this week in Maine.  We learned many metal forming techniques using his wide selection of hammers and stakes.

Bill’s workshop is a delightful place.  It is filled with every metal forming tool imaginable.  Bill was so generous with his knowledge, and made us feel so welcome.  I am about to head home with my brain spilling over with new ideas to try.

Top off this workshop with the chance to see a wealth of amazing and inspiring artisan jewelry here in Maine (some of which is coming home with me on my neck and wrist!), and it actually makes me want to head back to the Texas heat so that I can pound a little metal  in my own studio.  This has been a truly great trip, and I hope to come back here to Maine someday.  I will try to post some pictures of my first attempts using the Fretz stakes after I get back home.

In the meantime, be sure to check out our new selection of Fretz Hammers here.  Happy pounding!

Creative from her head all the way down to her toes, Debbie Malone will inspire you to to create your own fun, bodacious masterpieces.  I met Debbie last year on Gallery Night in Fort Worth at the Stonegate Mansion.  I fell in love with her work and have hoped ever since to host her classes at Wired Up Beads University (WUB U for short).  Well, Debbie we WUB you and your work and can’t wait for your classes!  Space is limited, so be sure to sign up early.  For more information on the classes, please click the picture below.

Here’s wishing you a Wubbly Weekend!

Goldilocks said it best:  “And it was JUST RIGHT!”  Only we’re not talking about porridge.  All of us here in Wubberland are talking about our new Wubbers Medium Flat Nose Pliers.  We are so excited– they are available to join your Wubbers tool collection right now!

After months of waiting, we have finally received the newest member of the Wubbers Classic family.  Just like the other Classics, the Wubbers Medium Flat nose measures 6.5 inches in length.  It offers the same great comfort, leverage, control, and versatility as the original 5 Wubbers Classics.  The new Wubbers Medium Flat Nose is especially well-suited for working with jump rings and holding onto coils as you wind them.  Whenever the Narrow Nose is too “skinny” and the Wide Nose is too “hefty,” just reach for the Medium.  The width is so perfect for so many metal working tasks, that they will hold a special place in your Wubbers collection!

We are also very excited to let you know that Wired Up Beads has very recently contracted with the well-known company, EURO TOOL, and they will be handling our manufacturing process as well as managing our wholesale program.  EURO TOOL has an excellent reputation for superb quality and exceptional customer service.  We are very excited and honored to have contracted with them to bring you Wubbers that are better than ever!  The new Wubbers have all the features of the old, but will sport improved padded grips that are form-fitted to provide even greater stability and a more sophisticated look.

One last bit of Wubberly news is that, as you have requested, we will be adding Baby Bent Nose Pliers to the Baby Wubbers Series.  We should have this cute new Baby within the next 30 days.  We will let you know as soon as they are available for adoption.  You will WUB them!

We had a cold front blow through here (the Dallas/Fort Worth area).  Well, it was sort of a cold front.  Actually, it was wind and rain, and the kind of weather that when you go out the next morning to get into your car, you might think that a jacket could feel nice, even though it still seemed way too much trouble to get it out of the back of the closet and really put it on.

So, since the weather has been no help in getting us into the pre-winter spirit, we decided to have a little winter in Wubberland.  Trudy, Donna, and I sat around the table in the front room here at the store and made snowmen out of cracked quartz beads, Swarovski Crystals, and sterling.  We added a cute little scarf with brightly colored wire.  Then, we couldn’t resist taking their pictures in a Texas-style snowbank (i.e., satin fabric from our local Joanne’s store).  What fun!  A whole herd of snowmen that will never melt!  After the glamor shots, we put all of the snowmen on a little strap so that they could adorn the cell phones and purses of some of our favorite friends.

Here’s wishing you a Wubbly day with the kind of weather that makes it oh so much fun to hole up with a couple of friends and make something happy, including some great memories!  And if you need a little inspiration, stop by open studio next Wednesday afternoon, find a comfy spot at our table, and make yourself a little snowman.  We would love to see you!

After reports that Baby Wubbers were disappearing regularly from the warehouse, I decided to do a little sleuthing.  Much to my surprise, the culprit wasn’t a human, but none other than our beloved Sam Moo!  I would be a little miffed, but how could I blame Sam Moo for becoming so obsessed with Baby Wubbers?  They have hardly left my own hands since their arrival to Wubberland.

Sam Moo takes his role in Wubberland quite seriously!  He has meticulously arranged all his baby Wubbers (wait a minute, I think those are MY Baby Wubbers).  He counts them regularly and they seem to be multiplying quickly!

Well, much to Sam Moo’s chagrin, Carol, one of the Wubberland team members was able to beg a pair away from our little piglet and compare them to the full size Wubbers.  Carol is our resident beading expert.  Carol said that she just might be partial to the Baby Flat Nose Wubbers, but we won’t tell the others!

Just one other news flash.  I am heading out to Tucson for the shows early in the morning.  I will be looking for new “goodies” for our WUBsite.  Stay tuned and let me know if you have any special requests!

Here’s wishing you all the joys of jewelry making!

Not one!  Not two!  We’re talking three!  Babies are just so very cute.  But where will we put THREE?!!!  In the same bed, of course.

 Check this out.  It’s the new Baby Wubbers Deluxe Beaders Tool Kit.  And there’s room for more than three.  A whole papoose full of goodies that are sure to please the beader in every jewelry maker.

It’s hard to appreciate the newborn size of these Baby Wubbers, so look for more pictures with their parents to appear in this very space in the next day or so.  For now, birthing is rewarding, but very hard work.  We are heading to bed for a great nights rest and thank goodness, these newborn triplets will be sleeping through the night.

Here’s wishing you a great night’s rest filled with jewelry making dreams!

If you are wishing for a little elf to come to your rescue, Wired Up Beads has the answer for you!  WUB Gift Certificates are sure to please your favorite jewelry maker.  Delivered to you by email and sure to arrive on time, you can find our gift certificates at this link:

GIFT CERTIFICATES

Now, I’ve been thinking about my passion for tools.  I don’t think that I’ve ever given my husband a Christmas list that didn’t have a least one tool on it.  One year it was a belt sander.  Another year, I wanted a scroll saw.  More recently, the list has included things like torches, jump ring cutters, grinders, and numerous hand tools.  Well, I guess you could honestly call me a “tool junkie!”

Here’s how you know if you’re a tool junkie:

1.  A little piece of drool escapes the corner of your mouth when you’re fondling the Dremels at Lowe’s.

2.  You open your purse and not one, but FIVE pair of pliers fall out.

3.  You get chill bumps at the sounds of hammering.

4.  Your idea of a romantic gift is a an electric bead reamer.

5.  When your mixer breaks, you put the beater in your electric drill and power up!  (This one is ode to Kelley in New Mexico, LOL!  Thanks, Kelley!)

6.  Your husband borrows your tools because they are better than his.

7.  You sneak new tools in the house and when you get caught, you innocently claim that they followed you home.

8.  You would rather have a new pair of pliers than a box of Godiva chocolates!

9.  You break out in a sweat when you can’t find your digital calipers.

10.  You personally own FOUR two-tier, rolling tool boxes, all just alike and with a combined weight that is greater than that of a pregnant hippopotamus. 

Here’s wishing you a week filled with loads of laughs!

We are very excited to introduce some new Wubbers Sets.  Each and every pair of Wubbers is a great value when purchased solo, but put them all together with a special price and it just gets better!  The new wooden plier stands are a very handy addition to your work table and will keep your Wubbers organized and within easy reach.  Wubbers Tool Sets include high quality, long lasting Italian cutters.  The Wubber Sets make great gifts–for yourself or someone else. 

 Stay tuned, our Wubbers just might be expecting!  I will tell you more about this development really soon!

Thanks for stopping by and here’s wishing you happy hands and beautiful jewelry!

We are extending Cyber-Monday through Tuesday and offering another special.  How’s that for a deal?!  Everyone needs two Mondays in a week!

It may be winter, but spring cleaning of jewelry is in full swing on the WUBsite.  Today our featured special is a Sunshine Polishing Cloth.  Receive a free Sunshine Cloth on all orders over $50.00.  This offer is good Tuesday, November 27th and ends at midnight, Central Standard Time.

The Sunshine Cloth will do some serious polishing. It cleans and brightens with non-scratch micro-abrasives.  Run a tarnished chain through this cloth and it will begin to work wonders. 

Here is another use:

Brush a piece of hammered silver with a soft brass brush.  Then follow by using a nice burnisher to bring a higher shine.  Finally, wrap the edge of a Sunshine cloth around a flexible nail file (like the one shown in the Wubbers Took Kit) or a small support such as a popsicle stick and polish away.  You will be amazed at the beautiful shine that you will see when using this method.  I often teach my students how to hand polish like this in my Beginning Silversmithing class.  If you don’t have a tumbler or simply want a hand-polished piece, this will do the trick!

Here’s wishing you a lustrous, Cyberful Tuesday!

No wait, I think it’s Hook ‘Em Red Raiders!  Now I have it, “Guns Up, Raiders!”  Oh, my husband Denny will be so proud!

We are headed to Lubbock to go to the Texas Tech Football game on Saturday afternoon.  Denny graduated from Tech a LONG time ago.  That was just before we got married, which surely wasn’t that long ago because I’m really not that old.  The critters are cleaned and fed, I’m sort of packed (I have all my jewelry magazines in the bag!), and our house sitter is all lined up to be here when we leave (bless her soul!).  Now it’s Lubbock or bust.

I’ve added a lot of new silver beads and some toggles to the store today.  Have a look in the New Items Section.  Here’s a few pictures to whet your appetite.  You can click on them for bigger pictures and more details.

Here’s wishing you a great weekend of college football, hot cheesy nachos, and warm bags of peanuts!