Earrings Every Day....still a Challenge

As promised, today's pair of earrings is inspired by Davy Jones of the Monkees who died a couple of days ago. The Monkees were made for TV and as contrived a musical act as any boy band or girl band of today.  But like today's commercial musical acts, the Monkees were cute and the music was poppy.  And they were a fun part of my teens.

Annnnnd i just happened to have two super sweet monkey beads!

Supplies:
(2) monkey beads
wood beads
(4) 8mm jump rings
22gauge non-tarnish brass Artistic Wire

20gauge wire would be stiffer and hold the hoop shape better.  Memory wire would work, too.

Hey Hey We're the Monkees

Of course headpins slide right through these beads. I thought i had the answer by doubling up on the headpins but the pins were too brittle and didn't hold up to a 2-coil wrap.  So i went with more of the same 22gauge wire and fashioned a bail.

Close one end of the wire by forming a loop.  Attach two jump rings to one of the bailed beads and slide onto the wire.  Fill the wire with wooden beads as desired.  Bend the wire on the open end to make the pin that goes through your piercing.  Trim and smooth the cut end. 

hey hey!

Earrings Every Day...lately...

Tonight!  The big reveal!  Are these earrings Oscar-worthy and, more to the point, would Angelina Jolie wear them?

 May i have the envelope, please.

And the Oscar goes to..............Chandelier Earrings!!  This style is a winner!  It works for the boho look and the elegant dressed up for prom look.  It all depends on the components you choose for the design.  Funky colored glass and antiqued brass equal bohemian chic.  Crystals and pearls say "Classy, lady."

Supplies:
(6) freshwater pearls
(8) 4mm Swarovski crystal AB bicones
(6) sterling liquid silver tubes
(8) bead tip sterling headpins
(2) filigree chandelier components
(2) leverback earring components

Thread a pearl, a crystal and a liquid silver tube on a bead tip headpin and make a wrapped loop, attaching the dangle to the chandelier before wrapping the loop closed.  Repeat 5 more times for a total of 6 dangles.

Thread a single crystal on a bead tip headpin and make a wrapped loop, attaching the dangle to the chandelier so that it goes through the top ring AND over the top edge of the chandelier component before wrapping the loop closed. 

This is harder than you might think for some reason.  I just couldn't "see" how to attach the loop so it would encompass the ring and the edge of the component.  I think the trick to making it work was to pull the tail of the loop open more than usual, allowing the bulk of the component edge to slip in.  However i managed to do it, it's a cool effect to have the bead dangling down into the "negative space".

Attach the finished component to the leverback earwires.  Leverbacks are very secure and when you are wearing high dollar earrings like these, you want secure. 

And voila!  A trendy and beautiful earring that swings, baby.  Can't you just see Angie wearing these?

Tomorrow:  homage to Davy Jones, the cute little Monkee who died yesterday at the age of 66.

Earrings Every other Day....

Seeing as how today is National Pom-Pom Day - thanks, Christie, for letting us know! - i made a pair of earrings in honor of this totally manufactured marketing effort by Lion Yarn to make us all run out and buy yarn to make pom-poms.  But so what.  At least pom-poms are fun!  And cute!  And who knew pom-poms would make fun and cute earrings?

So here's my contribution to National Pom-Pom Day.  By the way, you just might want to get in on the party because it'll be four years before National Pom-Pom Day rolls around again.

Supplies:
(2)  store bought pom-poms
(2) store bought feathers
length of 18gauge wire
(2) cord end crimps
(2) small jump rings
(2) ear wires

Pierce the pom-poms with something sharp and thread the wire through them.  Make a wrapped loop on each end of the wire. 
Place the quill ends of the feathers in the cord end crimps and squeeze closed.  Be careful when trimming the feather at the quill end because all the little fluffy featherettes will float away if you cut too far down the quill.  How do i know this?  Let me just say that i have learned SO much while making all these earrings!
Attach the pom-pom-on-a-wire to the crimped feather with the jump ring.
Open the loop on the ear wire and attach the pom-pom/feather combo.

Rah!  Rah!  Sis boom bah!  Cheer for another pair of earrings!

Meanwhile, waiting in the wings is my Oscar-worthy pair of earrings.  I think Angelina Jolie would have worn them and the world would now be talking about my earrings instead of her right leg.

Earrings Today if not Every Day...

Some days inspiration never strikes.  Some days it takes no time at all! 

Sheri gave me two clear craft marbles that she had cracked by heating in the oven and then submersing in ice water.  Very cool!  They've been sitting on the mat, waiting for inspiration to strike and when it did, i was stunned by the simplicity of it. 

Using pre-formed spiral cages so's that i didn't have to struggle with making cages from scratch, i popped a marble into each cage, hooked those puppies onto the kidney-shaped earwires and bam!  A pair of earrings in under, really, 5 minutes.  These aren't the Oscar-inspired earrings i was aiming for today, but they could be worn on somebody's red carpet!

Thanks, Sheri! 

Here are the instructions for making the cracked marbles.
Bake the marbles on a cookie sheet at about 325 - 350 for 20 minutes.  As soon as you take them out of the oven put them in a metal bowl or sink of cold water and ice. Use plain marbles usually found in the floral department of crafting stores. Any colored marble will work as long as it is translucent, the marbles that are fully colored like toy marbles are kind of useless because the cracks won't show up. This also works with glass stones.
(-from dream-it-make-it.blogspot.com via craftster.org via pinterest)

Having made earrings AND blogged in record time, i'm all for watching the Daytona 500 tonight! 
Zoom  zoom!

Earrings most Every Day...

There be dragons...

This time it's a Western pair of the little darlings, dangling at the bottom of a short stretch of Byzantine weave chain maille.  Too cute!

I haven't tried Byzantine weave in a long time.  The first attempt was woeful.  Let's leave it at that.  I've heard it said that one either has the vision for weaving rings, or doesn't.  I'm not sure i've acquired the vision yet but i did find a  website with instructions even i could understand.  There are plenty of well-known chain maille sites but visit DavidChainJewelry to see what i saw.  That'll make it a double vision!  Woot.

Speaking of dragons, who's read the Game of Thrones series by George R R Martin?  Are you watching the HBO series?