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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Leafy Greens




I had a really cool earring idea that I have been working on all week for today's post and last night after they were out of the tumbler, I put them on.....well, lets just say I need to go back to the drawing board...they didn't hang right and just didn't work in the way I had envisioned!  So, in a panic, I pulled together these sweet leafy green earrings!

I have been chomping at the bit to use new Czech glass beads I indulged in from ArteBella...if you read my personal blog, you know that I am a bit obsessed with them!  I have been focusing a lot on my torch-fired enameling as well, so I decided to use these brass leaves I had just gotten and enameled them with 2 of my favorite shades of green - bitter and mint!  They remind me of some variegated hostas in my yard that are just now unfurling their lovely leaves.

The combination of the candy-like Czech glass flowers and the enameled leaves just pops.  I used copper wire and some sweet little copper lever-back earwires, which are a bit of a departure from my usual style, but I thought these were so cute!

These and more of my designs can be found in my Etsy shop and my new website.

14 comments:

  1. Really pretty, I just love them

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  2. Lovely, as always! Those are darling leverbacks, the ones I have are so plain! Your enameling is superb! I have some of those aqua Czech wheels myself, they are wonderful, aren't they? Love the translucent/opaque marbling effect, with little shots of other colors.

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    1. Keirsten...I got those leverbacks at artfulmarket.com (she also sells on etsy)...I use some of her findings for enameling, but saw these and loved them. If you sign up for her newsletter she sends our coupons frequently!

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  3. So pretty and summery. The enameling on the leaves is so cool. After seeing your purchases from Arte Bella on your blog, I popped over to her shop and made several purchases to help build up my stash. I'm just staring out in the beady world and don't have much to start with, yet. :)

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  4. Love your creations and these are no exception! The colors and shapes just drew me in!

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  5. Those leaves have been enameled to perfection! LOVE these earrings!

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  6. Love the enameled leaves Melissa!

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  7. These are just lovely. I adore both the Czech glass and the leaves. Wonderful!

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  8. Lovely earrings and great enameling jobs. Barbara Lewis says that brass can't be enameled so I'm very curious to know what you used. Were these raw brass leaves or Vintaj brass? Inquiring minds want to know!

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    1. Barbara and I had this discussion and I agree with her that a lot of brass findings dont take enamel very well (tends to chip off), but in some instances you get lucky! In this case it is raw brass. I have used cut sheet brass with great results as well.

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    2. Thanks for the info. I'm enameling tomorrow so I will give some raw brass a try. Hmmm, I wonder if red brass would do better. I can't remember if it has a higher copper content. I guess it's just a matter of experimentation.

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  9. Love Karen's Czech glass always, but the colors on those enameled leaves are really special!

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