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Thursday, December 14, 2017

Red Creek Goddess

You know how you sometimes get ideas for a design from things that are tangentially related?   :) 

A while back I made a pair of sterling silver earrings using an ancient Japanese chainmaille weave...


...and just recently I began making a copper bracelet using the same weave.  Here it is in progress: 


It occurred to me that the first segment of both the earrings and the bracelet (the large ring + the two small doubled joined rings + the larger ring) resemble a goddess figure (do you see it?).  So I thought it might be fun to create a pair of goddess earrings that could be offered to customers with a number of variations.  

I decided to make my first version in copper antiqued to a gleaming, warm brown, with sterling silver highlights (the ear wires and the rings that connect them) and 4-mm Red Creek jasper and Swarovski crystal beads dangling from the bottom ring.  


These earrings can be made in sterling silver, bronze, or colored anodized niobium rings, and with just about any semiprecious stones, pearls, or whatever else you can imagine.  They're only about 2 inches long and very lightweight, so they're a good everyday earring too--pretty but not fussy.  



As always, thank you so very much for reading!  I will be back in two weeks' time.  :) 

xoxo
Meridy


10 comments:

  1. My goodness Meridy, these look so very difficult to make. You are so clever. I absolutely adore these earrings.

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    1. I already start sweating just by looking at the tiny rings going through the larger ones. The patience this takes.

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  2. Thanks so much, Janine! I'm glad you like them! :) They're much easier to make than they look (I know I always say that, LOL!). The tiny rings all need to be closed before you start (or you can close a number of them at a time). You never have to put any of them through the other rings; they get scooped onto the opened larger rings, so the process isn't too tortuous. You'd never be able to close those little rings properly if you tried to construct the weave any other way. There's always a method to chainmaille madness. ;)

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    1. Ah! Thank you for this Meridy. Why do I always choose the hard way lol. Perhaps I am going to give chainmaille another try one day. You make it sound doable.

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  3. These are stunning! I've been enjoying seeing your chainmaille in my newsfeed

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    1. Thank you so much, Sue! The thing I love about this design is that it can be made so many ways simply by changing the metal and the beads. And I'm glad you're enjoying seeing the chainmaille. I'll be listing a bracelet in this same weave one of these days soon. :)

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  4. Meridy, your imagination nailed it! Yes I see it, and I love it. I also am amazed by your skill, patience and dexterity in chainmaille! This is a winning design. ❤️

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    1. Thanks so much, Norbel--so much appreciated! xoxo ❤️

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  5. I envy your patience Meridy - these are forever pieces x

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