I would like to show you how to make an easy wrap, steampunk style. I use this technique for my dragon-eyes pebbles, and after wrapping, I incorporate them in jewelry, like pendants and bracelets.
This is how an eye will look like, after wrapping it. The wrapping is absolutely necessary, because it holds the eye in place. In wire wrapped jewelry the artist never relies on glue, only on wire.
The materials you need are: dragon eye pebble, crafts wire (I used copper wire 24 ga), metal gear (from crafts store or Amazon). As you can see, my pebble is not calibrated (not perfectly round), but that's ok, it will be covered in wire.
I usually work with the wire from the spool, as I never know how much I need, and the last thing I want is to have a short wire!!!
As you can see below, you must start wrapping the pebble by holding the end of the wire in the back of it and bringing the spool wire on top of the pebble, towards the opposite "tooth" of the gear.
TIP - Make sure you don't come straight across the eye, because you don't want to cover it in wires! Just go a little on the side, enough to cover the edge of the pebble.
Continue with the next "tooth" up, go over the pebble, down to the opposite "tooth", until you complete a full rotation. Make sure the eye is centered. When all teeth are covered, go ahead for the second rotation. Now the eye is fully wrapped.
Cut the spool wire. Now you have two wires in the back of the eye. Twist them and secure them. Make sure you have a flat back, as you will need to attach this wire wrapped eye to another surface in the future.
At this point the eye is fully wrapped, but it doesn't look too good. All you have to do is to gently push the wrap towards the sides to uncover that beautiful hand painted iris! Use your finger nail and be gentle.
I like to make a bunch of wire wrapped eyes in advance, so I have them handy when the inspiration strikes!
Here is an example of a piece of jewelry featuring a wire wrapped eye pebble.
I hope you liked my little tutorial. If you want to learn how to paint dragon eyes on dollar store glass pebbles, here is the tutorial --- How To Paint Dragon Eyes on Glass Pebbles
