Gold in them thar' hills!

So, I'm testing out a new option for my Magic Vial pendants. I ordered a small bit of real gold-filled wire from an Etsy DeStash.

I did some reading first, to figure out the difference in all the "gold" wires, until I found that, because of gold's softness, that gold-filled is the highest quality wire you can get; and that it has a real thickness of gold around a sturdier base, not just a thin coating, like in vermeil or gold-plate; which can get worn off, sometimes with not all that much wear.

So, satisfied that I was getting the best I could, I made this: Magic Vial - Archangel, inspired by the symbols of Archangel Raphael, the angel of healing and guidance.

Besides the gold wire, it is filled with genuine Emeralds (the darker, blue-green, slightly opaque stones), Peridot (the very pale, translucent green stones), and three of shards of Kyanite (pale blue splinters); and, a tiny, whole, red rose bud.

I even upgraded the cord to a black satin-like ribbon that has a black satin cord tie at the back to give some flexibility in length.

Yes, it's my most expensive piece to date, but it's also got the best quality components to date!

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Now, I've just used a little piece of plain, round, dead soft, 22gauge, gold-filled wire in my standard spiral wrap. But the things some Etsy-ians can do with their experience in gold-filled wire is astounding! Normally, I've always been a Sterling Silver girl, myself; but check out some of these Etsy shops!

Sojourn Curiosities is a recent discovery to me, actually found her on DeviantArt before following back to her Etsy store.

What first caught my attention was the wire-wrapped antique keys; but it didn't take much time for my attention to be drawn to her other wire-wrapped jewelry items. A wide variety in colors (not just the rose gold shown here), prices and shapes. Definitely worth peeking at.

Urban Closeouts is my other pick. Just because I end up looking at this one piece almost every week it seems.

They do have a large variety, and not just extremely high end pieces like this cuff bracelet. Her items range from $4.00 to just under $200.00; but talk about eye-candy! The top of their range are really show-stopping pieces!