Eni’s Wire Jewelry Site Worth Your Time EniOken.com
Eni Oken’s Jewelry is a one-woman shop that combines instruction with shopping. Eni is a talented wire jewelry artist who has developed unique techniques using wire and beads, and is sharing her jewelry making methods with other artists through her web site.
For those who just want to read, the site has an in-depth biography of the wire-jewelry artist who has inspired jewelry makers across the world with her unique style, and her weekly journal. Eni’s journal is interesting to keep up on, not only does she announce new tutorials that she is publishing, but she shows off some of her work with great, clear photos.
For those who are ready to shell out some money (PayPal shopping cart), Eni has a nice listing of pre-made, one-of-a-kind jewelry. Great photos, nice descriptions, all too easy to add to a shopping cart! She cleverly even suggests matching pieces for those who need to be tempted even more!
A Tools and Tips section contains a purchasable Excel jewelry cost-calculator, free trends links, and suppliers links.
The best part of Eni Oken’s Jewelry site, however, are the online tutorials. Free tutorials are available for many wire jewelry projects, including a herringbone weave, fat bead wrap and how to finish leather cord. Additional tutorials are available at a cost of $5-9 (US) each. Pick and choose as many as you’d like. You can also order CDs and an online up to 8-month jewelry course and support to learn her unique style.
After paying for a tutorial, you will receive an email with a link to download your tutorial via Adobe Acrobat. Detailed instructions are included in the email — the link is only good for a few days, so you will want to not only print, but download the tutorial to your hard drive for future use. Free tutorials are a direct link to an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file.
I have downloaded two tutorials (free Herringbone Weave and $5 Mosaic Pendant) and found both to have very good photos and detailed step by step instructions. After reading through the tutorial, it was easy to follow and make items very similar to what was pictured in the instructions!
Because I have only ordered online tutorials, I can only attest to their quality and delivery, but I was pleased with both. Emails with links were received immediately after my order was processed. Instant gratification! However, at $5-9 per tutorial, I find it adds up quickly to more than the price of a printed jewelry instruction manual (usually $15-20), so my recommendation is to pick out tutorials that are truly unique styles that you want to learn.
Eni asks that you not republish or share her tutorials and that you respect copyright laws when making and reselling jewelry pieces.
Bottom line: I do recommend Eni Oken’s Jewelry for anyone wishing to learn advanced wire jewelry techniques. The price of a single tutorial, in comparison to a full-fledged book, is high. However, Eni’s creations are unique enough that you will not find most of these styles anywhere else, and that does increase their value.
– L. Kvigne
