Earrings Every Day...and studio dreams...

Before we get to today's earrings, let me show you a before photo.  See this mess?  Once this mess is cleared out - and by the time i took this photo, i'd spent 45 minutes hauling stuff out so you know there is a LOT of mess! - ima gonna put me a workbench and storage area in its place!  Whoa!  That sounds like i might have a - dare i say it? -  studio in my future.  This area will be for big messy projects.  I might even finish that dollhouse kit i bought twenty years ago for $100.  Wellll, looky there...i've got a big messy project already lined up! 

And now for the earrings of the day.

This pair is called Red and Blue Make Purple.  See if you can figure out why.

Supplies:
(2) red recycled glass beads
(2) blue recycled glass beads
(2) dyed magnesite cross beads
(2) black oxide twisted connectors
gunmetal headpins
(2) gunmetal ear wires

Gunmetal vs. black oxide findings:  not sure so i went looking and now i'm still confused.  Most of the plated findings are brass underneath although ear wires are often stainless steel to minimize irritation.
 
Black oxide is a process done to ferrous materials, copper, and other metals.  It provides corrosion resistance and an attractive finish.

Gunmetal plating can vary from a hematite gray through gun blueing shade to shades of gray-brown. Finishes can be shiny or matte. Many gunmetal platings are by definition "black nickel" plating and people with a sensitivity to nickel might want to test wear these findings. 

Black nickel plating is a typically plated on brass, bronze, or steel in order to produce a non-reflective surface. This type of plating is used for decorative purposes and doesn't offer much corrosion resistance.

It should also be noted that the colors of plated metals are determined by a large number of factors including the material to be plated, the mix of plating chemicals, the method of plating, the time the metal is in contact with the plating chemicals, etc.  Yikes.  So just like fabric, yarn and seedbeads, there will be color variations from batch to batch.  Clear as mud thanks so much.

The glass beads are from the Krobo Odumase region of Ghana, West Africa, where making glass beads from reclaimed and recycled glass is a longstanding craft.  Check out the photos on this website here.  Then come by the shop and see the honkin' large ones we just bought from our favorite African bead trader.  Oh yeah.  There's some cool stuff out there in the world!

Earrings Every Day...or not...or feature a guest artist!

Mardi Gras must have been a bigger party than i thought. 

I could not finish a pair of earrings for yesterday's blog.  I tried two different designs.  I had a glass of wine at hand to release the muse. I was MOtivated!  But no worries.  I took the night off.  And i'm off the hook again because today's earrings were made by Melissa.  From glass and wire.  From scratch.

Melissa is a talented bead artist who works in several media.  We've always looked to her for her expertise in beadweaving and her strong technical skills.  Recently Melissa has ventured into metalwork and is creating beautiful cold-joined jewelry.  Her metalwork classes at the shop are very popular.  And very affordable, i might add.  Get more info here about classes.

Melissa is also a lampwork artist and she made the headpins used in today's earrings.  Very cool.  And by the way, Melissa's glass beads are available at...the shop.  How convenient!

Supplies:
(6) glass topped 5inch copper headpins
(2) ear wires

Th-th-that's all, folks.

Make wrapped loops incorporating a fancy wire technique and connect them as you go. Pretty!  And swingy!  That's a good thing!Thanks, Melissa!

Until next time, y'all...bead happy!

An Earring a Day says "Laissez les bons temps rouler!"

Dinosaur Egg at Indian Head Park
near Study Butte, Texas



Heading towards Presidio, Texas





Wanna guess what today's inspiration is?  Mais oui!  C'est Mardi Gras, mes amis!  Laissez les bons temps rouler! 

 I've always felt Mardi Gras should be the first day of the party season, rather than the last.  Let's make it so!

Anyways.  Earrings.  Since it's Carnivale just about everywhere in the world where folks love a party, the scope of the inspiriation board is pretty wide open and just about anything - let me rephrase that - anything goes. I kept it simple and went with the colors of Mardi Gras in New Orleans - purple for royalty, green for money, and gold for beer.

You buy that?  Sweet!

Actually, according to the official -well, it looks official -Mardi Gras website for the great city of New Orleans, the colors signify Justice, Faith and Power.  Initial caps, even.  Still don't believe me?  Check it out for yourself at  http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/mgcolors.html 

Supplies:
(2)  6.5mm round faceted amethyst beads (amethyst is Feb's birthstone btw)
(18) Swarvoski bicone crystals in various sizes and colors of green and purple
(6) 8mm or so gold round jump rings
(8) 4x6mm or so gold oval jump rings
(a few) 3mm gold round beads

(2) 3inch pieces of 20gauge wire for ear wires (i used 18gauge - ouch)

gold headpins (i only had 26gauge wire so i faked it)

Assemble components and wear them to the party.  Or, better yet, Parties.  Initial cap, even.

We gon' have some fun on the bayou!  Aiieee!

 

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An Earring a Day

A bit of business...if you want an email notification when we post a new blog, there's an app for that.  ha ha!  No seriously.  I won't share your email and you'll get an email only if i post.  Any luck on this end and you'll get one most every day!  Sweet.  Go ahead.  Sign up.  You know you don't want to miss a thing.

Today's design has been percolatin' in my head for some time.  I like to knot pearls and even gemstones so i thought i could incorporate knotting into an earring desing.  Design, even.  The only string i had on hand is C-lon in a burgundy and micro C-lon in a redder shade.  The micro was too thin so i went with the burgundy and for beads i used glass drops.  C-lon, by the way, is a nylon cord that comes in four weights, or thicknesses, and a wide variety of beautiful colors.  It's great for macrame and kumihimo, and we carry it at the shop.

For a knotting project you need string about three times the desired finished length.  Knotting uses a surprising amount of cord.  Not really knowing how long these earrings would be, i cut a 24inch piece and threaded on the bottom bead and tied a knot above it with both strings.  Then i just alternated clear glass drops on the left and right strings and knotted in between, tied on the soldered ring and attached the whole shebang to the gunmetal ear wire.  Not bad.  I think i'll put a gunmetal crimp cover over that last knot which will minimize it and add a touch of black to the top of the design.

Don't know how to knot?  Come see us;  we're knotty girls.  A couple of good web sites include http://www.karipearls.com/ and http://www.jewelrymaking.about.com/ .

Woohoo!  Two pair in two days!  I've got a streak going!

Home Again Home Again

We're baaaack!  Got home last Wednesday evening after 5,580 miles of road.  Whew.  What a great trip.  Family, friends, and the great American West.  What's not to love.  Sweet moments and bittersweet ones, too.  I won't be going home again.

But enough about me.  Let's talk earrings!!

After a hiatus of...ummmm, several days shall we say?... i've made a pair of earrings!  Go me.  My inspiration was from the book making beautiful bead and wire jewelry by linda jones (small caps as shown).  She has a pair of "starburst" earrings that she says were inspired by Bollywood style.  JUST in case you aren't familiar with the term, Bollywood is the informal description of the Hindi-language film industry that is based in Mumbai, India (thanks, Wikipedia!)  But i digress.

A variety of factors kept me, again, from following through with the project as presented.  For one, i couldn't pull together a satisfactory combination of beads.  For another, i didn't really cotton to the finished design so i wasn't too sad that the bead combo didn't jell.  BUT...i did take a main element and use it in my design.  And sometimes, that's all you need.  KISS, right?

And the best part, the focal beads are from Mom's eclectic collection!

Supplies:
20gauge copper wire
2 x Mom's glass heart beads

That's all. I made everything from the 20gauge wire.

One thing new i tried was "working from the coil" of wire instead of cutting of short lengths.  It seemed like i used less wire so it might be worth a try.  If you try it, you'll have to give some thought to the order of the beads you are threading on, and what end of the component you are making first.

So, using a cylinder of a size you like, wrap the 20gauge around a couple of times to make two complete circles and then cut like you would for jump rings.  These are your hoops. Bend one end of the wire circle to form a loop as on the left end in the photo. Then twist the wire so the loop is to the back of the circle.  Alternatively, you could leave the loop on the side, but i like the look of them to the back.  After you thread on the drop, make a loop on the other end of the wire circle.

The design idea i "retrieved" from the pattern was the long center drop, or stem, as ms jones calls it.  But instead of loading it up with beads, i placed only the one focal and left the remaining wire bare.  Different look!  Thread the drop onto the hoop.

Next, make two simple ear wires and two good sized jump rings from the 20gauge wire.Open a jump ring and thread on a loop, an ear wire and the other loop of the hoop.  Close the jump ring and repeat for the other earring.  Cool beans!  I like 'em!  I'm wearing them now and the copper wire is not bothering my ears.  Yay for that.

So there ya go.  Another pair of earrings.  I've lost count and lost track but what the hey.  We're having some kind of fun and that's what matters.  Cheers!