Kokopelli

Fertility deity, spirit of Music, and Trickster god, Kokopelli has been a favorite of mine for many years--not too surprising, I guess, since I  lived almost half my adult life in Colorado.  He is one of the most recognizable figures in the petroglyphs and pictographs of the Southwestern United States and is often pictured with a consort, a woman the Hopi called Kokopelmimi:

The Hopi Kokopelli was often represented as a human dancer, which seems appropriate, given his connection to music (and fertility rites, for that matter), and in my research for this post I found a lot of dancing "Kokes" and female partners...and even entire dance parties:

In recent times, Kokopelli has been adopted as a symbol of the Southwest U.S. and is a common figure all over the area (and is fairly common in other areas as well).  You'll find his flute-playing (or dancing, or drumming) figure all over, from stained glass windows:

...to garden ornaments:

...to tribal tattoos: 

...and jewelry.  You knew I'd get to that at last, didn't you?  :)  Our friend Kristi Bowman-Gruel made these beautiful Kokopelli components, and I had to make some earrings!  In the true Trickster spirit, I decided not to make them in classic Southwestern colors, but to choose whatever palette suited me:  

Trickster Dance  

Earrings "recipe":  colorful swirled lampies in teal, olivine, and chartreuse with black; little faceted ocean blue jade beads;  copper bead caps and beaded beads; all tied together with green Irish linen cording and hung from my petite ear wires.

I like to think that the two dancers on Kristi's copper teardrops are Kokopelli and Kokopelmimi, but whoever they are, they're a beautiful couple.  💗 

Thank you so much for reading--I'll be back in two weeks!

xoxo

Meridy

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Ancient and Modern

Something old....something new. In this case, some things VERY old indeed. A friend contacted me last week and asked if I was interested in any roman coins - she had come across a supplier and thought of me. I chose a couple of pairs on her recommendation and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the relief on them - really good for 2000 years old! I bit of googling and I could even identify the Emperor - Trajan.

Those connectors are new from Lucy Haslam - copper, soldered with silver but left rough and old looking. Topped with crusty old roman glass. Look almost like they have just been excavated. We have an old excavated Roman fort about 5 miles away at Ribchester - any place name ending in 'chester' came from the Latin 'castra' - a camp - and often go for  a wander round the museum.

Now I'm off in the 'ancient' mood, I dug out the pair of ammonite fossils I got at the Rock and Gem Show. From the Dorset coast, which is a treasure trove for them. Even older than roman coins. Millions of years probably. So special, I let them have my last pair of Basha Beads (but I have ordered more!) Just look at the light that emanates from within. Magical.

 

 

 

Both these pairs have already gone, but I promise more roman goodies soon. Have a great week everyone, and see you again in a fortnight. 

 

Lindsay x

 

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Spiral Path

I've had these spiral design ceramic tubes for so many years that I no longer even know when or where they came from.

So it's beyond time that they were put to some good use!  The design is simple, but the bold spiral lines make for streamlined earrings with a nice impact.

I paired the cream and black tubes with black and white striped, faceted stones, that I brought home from Oaxaca, Mexico a few years ago. I wrapped the brass wire down around the tops of the stones to create a decorative bead cap effect. I think these will be versatile earrings that can be worn year 'round.

Linda Landig Jewelry

"I Change My Mind As Often As I Change My Shoes"

Jetta again...I am here with my latest earring adventure.

I love the idea of getting several looks from one design. I have taken this idea to make necklaces become bracelets or two necklaces, but never earrings. So I played around with some ideas and came up with three Halloween/Fall/Gothic looks.

The first pair I am giddy to show because I used some of my newest Jetta Bug Jewelry ghost charms. I wanted to glam them up for an unexpected look. I had some vintage rhinestone sections of chain that was connected with jump rings. So I took two sections off and added even more glam with my newest ear wires from Lucy Haslam of Faery Stone. I used figure 8 jump rings and some tiny lobster clasps so I could just clip on charms to match my mood...bring on the charms!!

 

 

 

 I really thought I would be all over the place on what style the next charms would end up being. I guess because I started out with a Gothic feel I just kept being drawn to something not normally paired with rhinestones.

I found these darling matte chocolate brown ceramic hearts from Scorched Earth. Paired with the rhinestones and those amazing dark patina ear wires I could see these being glam enough to go with a little black dress or posh with jeans.

And last, but not least, I dubbed these Witch's Fingernails! Aren't these enamel charms fantastic?? I stumbled on this little shop that sells lampwork beads and enamel charms called Verre et Cuivre . She is in France and I love everything she makes. I highly recommend giving her shop a visit. I have been dying to use these charms and next to the rhinestones I am in love.

I hope you have a great week filled with creativity and beads,

Jetta



Glorious 🦋 wings

Hi everyone.  Today's post is all about resin wing earrings.  I love these so much...I actually love all wing charms, I have quite a stash of all things 'wingy', made of various mediums including enamel, glass, polymer, ceramic and resin.  Today's post is about resin wings.  These particular ones featured in my earrings are by Susan Linda Stokes of Art & Soul Studios.

Lets start with a group shot because it looks really good when I share the link on Facebook 😎.

I wanted the resin wings to stand out so I made them up in one of my signature designs but in a much simpler manner.  In this pair I added pink seed beads to pick up the pink/purple on the wings.  Not too over the top and quite apt for autumn?

There had to be an all purple pair.  Who doesn't like purple!  Same design as before but I kept it all purple with a little addition of turquoise seeds to break it up ever so slightly.  

And a third pair in a different design.  Did you notice how sari silk (and sari trimming on the third pair) have snuck their way into all these earrings.  That massive stash of all things fabric is proving to be very useful right now.  

I'm planning on doing a big Etsy shop update sometime next week.  These plus more will become part of that update....as long as my plan works 😅

See you again soon.

Suhana 💖💖💖

My Etsy shop: Buttoned Up Beads

Dragonflies and Faux Australian Koroit Opals

One thing about suffering from a chronic illness, I end up spending a lot of time (sadly) laying down, thinking and designing things in my head. One of things I do is work through various creative ideas in my brain, and try to work out all the kinks so that when I feel well enough, then I can actually implement things quickly. Kind of like hitting the ground running.

So, among the many ideas swirling around in my coconut, the idea of making some 'faux' Australian Koroit Opals had been swimming in there for quite some time. I figured it was time to try it out, and see what happens! Yay!!

So this is what I ended up with. I made several oval-shaped faux opals (some smaller, and these slightly larger ones), and picked a pair to use in these dragonfly earrings:

Faux Koroit Boulder Opals Sterling Silver Dragonfly Earrings by Nathalie Lesage

I'm also fond of charm necklaces, but wanted to make some 'charm earrings' since we're all about earrings here. Extremely lightweight (gotta love Polymer clay for reducing the weight on our earlobes!) these cuties are ready to play and explore the world with you! These measure 2.5" tall x 1" wide.

I used some 20g Sterling Silver wire to make the hoops, added a bit of textures while cold-forging, and decided to go with a pair of fun twisted sterling silver jump rings to suspend my faux opals. I kept the rest simple (truth: I made these quickly before running out of light to take pictures and write this post..... haven't been well at all lately)... so fun little Sterling dragonflies, and a few sparkling Czech glass beads became part of this little party.

I'm happy on how these turned out, but I want to try again and go a bit finer on the chunks of host-rock (the brown areas) I think. It's definitely fun, and I'll keep at it. Practice makes perfect!

I have a showcase planned on FB for October 1st. I'll be selling some faux opals and other polymer clay handmade jewelry components (Search for the Handmade Beads and Findings FB group to discover lots of great handmade jewelry components makers!).

In the meantime, these earrings can be found in my Etsy shop HERE, along with other jewelry supplies. I've started to list some of my personal gemstones collection on Etsy too. I'm just too unwell to make much jewelry, and I need to part with some of my stash.

Have a wonderful weekend! I can't believe September is almost done already...

Cheers,
Nathalie
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Green Eyes and a Heart Of Gold

Hello, beady peeps!  Loralee here, so nice to be back!

One of the coolest discoveries I made at The Bead & Button Show this year was that Golem Design Studio  came out with a smaller size lentil bead, and it's perfect for earrings!  

Below is one of the sets that I purchased.  The folk art pattern is just so warm and friendly.  

I played around with a few ideas but that green looked so amazing with brass that I knew in an instant I didn't need to look further.  I then layered some decorative wire on top of the hammered discs. Since the wire was also shiny brass, I decided to add some patina paint to make them stand out a bit. 

Here are some small round Golem beads that paired wonderfully with  drops from Josephine Beads!   Don't they look like gourds?  The colors and pattern of the charms are like tribal, meets autumn, meets a 1970's kitchen!!  They just make you feel good.

While looking through photos I ran across this pair I did a couple of years ago. The colors just had to be included in this blog post, right?!  Rich green and the warmth of brass again...perfect. These etched and extra crusty glass beads are the creation of Kay Mallery.  So much texture like Roman glass.  Kay's beads are ones that I reach for time and time again.

I wanted each piece to stand out on their own so I made extra large hoops in the center.  I think it makes an interesting look.

I'm am so happy it's autumn, I feel totally alive!  I'm crazy in love with this season.

I'll be back in a couple of weeks!  See you then!

Loralee xo

Loralee Kolton Jewerly - artful in beads

My New Finds

Hello everyone! Jetta here, filling in for the lovely Norbel :)

I recently found these adorable tin charms by Star Spirit Studios. I am always on the look out for new and unique beads to go crazy over. I loved the way they looked and ordered 4 pairs.

I immediately fell in love with how they felt in my hands when they arrived. They are light weight and so easy to work with in lovely color palettes.

These have got to be my favorite pair of the four. The tin charms have a cherry flower pattern that made me think of Japan. I stacked red and grey lampwork beads from Jodie Marshall with black patina wire dangles from Miss Fickle Media.

The next pair have some beautiful powder blue flower tins. The dark blue lampwork beads are again from Jodie Marshall and the mint blue lampwork beads from Glass by Leese. I just wanted to finish them off simply so decided on some dainty Vintaj chain loops. And since the tins were a bit bigger than the others I chose tiny ear wires.

Another red pair I just saw circles when I looked at them! Va-voom red flowers on these tins I coupled with yummy red African recycled glass rings. But the red glass rings seemed lonely so I found these black twisted rings from Fallen Angel Brass. I am thinking the black is too dark. I haven't decided yet whether I will play with my patinas to lighten them or not

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The last pair are these cuties. I fell in love with these first, they have all the colors I am crazy about.
This was the last pair I turned into earrings so I went simple with orange enamel bead caps from Gardanne Beads and bright pink hand painted acrylic flowers from Vintage Meadows Artworks.

I love finding new artisan beads. But just as exciting, I got to use my older artisan beads, too!!

I hope you have a great week and it is jam packed with creativity and beads,

Jetta

Belt It Out!

I am participating in a upcycled art show in February.  A friend gave me an old belt of her husband's, that I might use as a base for a bracelet, for the show.  But in the meantime, I decided to do a little warm-up practice and make a pair of earrings with a section of the belt.

On the left, you can see that the belt was in really bad shape.  The woven pieces were so worn out, that they were useless.  So I decided to see what would happen if I removed them.  To my surprise, there was the underlying structure you see on the right, above.  All those holes!  Oooo!  I knew I could use those.  Each of my earrings today, consist of a strip of belt, containing two small holes and one larger hole.

I attached my ceramic ovals to the upper small hole.  The glaze I used on the ovals turns green and blue in random places during firing, so each piece is always unique. Then, I created dark green tassels to dangle from the lower hole. I finished them off with handmade brass ear wires.

On a different note - Washington and Oregon were blessed with rain today after several dry months and terrible wildfires.  The fires are not only devastatingly destructive, but the smoke has caused lung and eye problems as well.  My heart goes out to everyone who has experienced the opposite problem, with torrential rains and tornadoes.  Stay safe friends.

Linda Landig Jewelry

The joy of copper washers!

So, I decided to order some copper washers and have a go at using them in some earring designs. These versatile little copper hoops aren't just great for plumbing -oh no! The joy of bashing them with a hammer to give them texture, and oxidising them to give them added depth of colour, sanding them back to get just the shade of warm coppery goodness i want, and then waxing them to seal all of that prettiness in. Well, actually it was fairly laborious, but worth it! I wanted to show you a couple of slightly different designs using them.

Both of these pairs of earrings feature gorgeous enamelled discs by the fabulous Kimberley Rogers of Numinosity Beads and earwires by Lucy Haslam (a professional copper basher) of  Faerystone. This first pair echo the warm coppery tones of the copper washers, and I just added a jump ring wrapped with teeny tiny coppery seed beads.

This second pair have such a pretty lilac colour on the discs. I thought I'd pick this up in the lilac seed beads. Finished these off with some semi-wrapped handmade copper hoops from a design by Cindy Wimmer of  The Missing Link (a great wire-wrapping book)

Hope you like them! They'll be available over on The Jewellery Show on Facebook on the 25th Sept. See you in a couple of weeks

We're All Ears :: September :: Here Comes the Sun{flower}

Sunflowers never fail to cheer.

Today, I stopped at the local farmer's market downtown on the Square and picked up a humongous bouquet of fresh flowers. I was attracted by the bright colors, the gorgeous purple cabbage roses and the mini sunflowers. I had enough flowers to make three smaller bouquets that I shared with office-mates and the financial firm next door (I won the Packer pool last week, so I felt that I should share the love!), and one large one that graced my desk all day. All for $6. It makes me smile to see it.

In making the sunflower earrings for this challenge I wanted to focus on the iconic yellow and black tones of the blooms. That was kind of hard to do since I don't often buy yellow....anything!

I found these little neglected ceramic drops in the dark recesses of my printer's cabinet drawers, white with black polka dots, from Jennifer Heynen of Jangles. She isn't even making beads anymore (she is a brilliant fabric designer and quilter), and she hasn't been to the Bead & Button Show in many years, so these are practically vintage and totally one of a kind! I paired them with some frosted faux sea glass in a sunny honey color, wrapped up in blackened steel.

Next up I pulled out some new charms that I just made as part of my Papilio line, inspired by butterfly wings in macro photography for the challenge over on the Art Bead Scene Studio (come see our new website and you can read about my behind the scenes inspirations!). Yellow is a hard color for me and I don't have a lot of beads in that color, so this was serendipity that I had just made these. I like making a stack or grouping of spacers. Of course, they work well as a bumper between beads, adding texture, but together they pack a punch. Finishing it off with a golden Swarovski gives this just enough bling that ties in with the flecks of glitter in the wing charms.

Finally, I pulled out some enameled drops and mixed up some yellows and oranges, attaching them to an oval ring that recalls the shape of sunflower seeds. Up close the rings remind me of the black sunflower seeds in the center of the head. I like the movement they have even though they are very simple. I think I might have to wear these today for a pop of sunshine as I move about!

Now it is your turn to show off your sunny accessories! Add your links to blog posts or even Facebook or other sharing site below. Looking forward to seeing where this sunny inspiration takes you!

Gift of the Mermaid

I recently came upon these gorgeous enameled components in Raida Disbrow's Etsy shop, Havana Beads...

...and a dialogue started between my head and my heart.

Heart:  Oh, my gosh, those are GORGEOUS.  Look at those colors!
Head:  Ohhh, but those can be such a pain to work with. They're handmade--those things are never even, you have to fight to get them to hang straight--
Heart:  But I've got beads the same color as those little violet-pink dots!!  And lots of pink rondelles--
Head:  --hey, come to think of it, there's that stash of rhodolite garnets that haven't been used in about seven years!




That argument didn't last long.


Since I did have a goodly stash of little Czech glass rondelles in various shades of pink, the garnets, and sterling silver beads, jump rings, and headpins, I gave in to the lure of the Boho chandelier earring--and I loved it. Now that my heart has helped my head get over its jitters, I aim to make more. 💗

And, funny thing--they do hang straight after all.  😉

Gift of the Mermaid

Thanks so much for reading!  I'll be back in two weeks.
 
xoxo
Meridy
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Boo!

Hallowe'en - one of my favourite times of the year.

'Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Hallowe'en is a time of celebration and superstition.'

Thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, it was a time when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts, believing that at the end of summer the barrier between our world and that of the spirits became much thinner.

With Christianity, it became All Hallow's Eve - the day before All Saints Day on 1st November. Hallowe'en was made popular in the USA by Irish immigrants in the 19th Century and it is there it has really taken off, with trick or treating and pumpkin carving. And those films....I recall watching 'Halloween' when it was first released in 1978 and being scared absolutely witless. But on the other hand, we have had some really fun parties for Hallowe'en over the years and I still decorate the house for the seemingly hundreds of local children that come around.

A couple of weeks ago a customer of mine asked me to reprise some earrings I made this time last year. They were great fun to make and had 'ingredients' from some of our lovely team here on EE.

The spooky copper faces are, of course, from Kristi; the squashy pumpkins from  Jetta ; the
sari silk (mummified?) connectors from Anna Pierson; they have vintaj copper leaves and earwires by Lucy.

 The second pair have great wine and orange colours. They're little devils to photograph as they don't lie flat, and really need to be seen hanging!

  The darker pair are reserved, but the first available in my Etsy shop. Do you like Hallowe'en? And have any family traditions? Do tell us about them.

See you next time - stay safe!

Lindsay x

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Jhumka

First of all I hope all of you who or whose family or friends have been caught in the cross hairs of either Hurricane Harvey or Hurricane Irma, please know you are in my thoughts. My heart goes out to you and I hope you are all safe.
And I am not sure this is the right place to say this but for all of us who are safe and haven’t been affected by these terrible disasters, I hope we can unite and give help or donate to one of the many charities. As well as for help to the many many displaced people across the World.

As some of you might know my husband and I were fortunate to be able to live in Nepal and India for almost 1 year (10 years ago). I love both countries: the people, the colours, the food, the culture, the nature and of course the jewellery. One day I hope to travel these countries again.

One of the wonderful earring styles I came across is Jhumka/Jhumki: earrings in a shape of a bell from which dangles drop. Every region has its own distinct design. Gold, silver, with or without enamel, with or without (semi) precious stones.

Credit

What I have been able to find on the Internet is that Jhumka started their journey as part of the southern Indian traditional temple jewellery – earrings made to adorn the deities in the temples.
They were originally made in pure gold and studded with rubies, diamonds and emeralds, their shapes mimicking the domes of the palaces and temples that hosted these deities.

I also found a similar style used during the Qajar dynasty (Persia) and I found pictures of similar style earrings in Yemen.

And apparently the word Jhumki exists in Arabic and means earring. 
 

This is my take on Jhumka earrings. I used filigree bead caps and made dangles with seed and Czech glass beads as well as Swarovsky crystal. I so enjoyed making these, so I couldn't stop and made four pairs. Next time I am going to paint the bead caps to mimic the enamel in some designs.

I hope you like these.

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope to see you again next month. As you know we at Earrings Everyday love to read your comments so please, don’t be shy and leave one. It doesn’t have to be in English :)

Thanks for looking!

 Janine

Esfera Jewelry

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