By The Light Of The Halloween Moon

Chandelier connectors by Inviciti handmade of pewter in a dark finish to set the mood!

Blackened rustic stars dangling next to the most glimmering golden druzy. 

Mysteriously masked, ceramic, man in the moon charms by Nadia Terra in a charcoal grey.

This is a photo of one of my most fondest Halloweens.  My boys were at that age where they lived for trick or treating and couldn't wait to get into their costumes.  That year the weather was absolutely perfect and the autumn colors were amazing - it was pure magic!  I will never forget it.

I love this poem by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater:

Wishing all the magic of Halloween!

Loralee xox

loraleekolton.etsy.com

The Hagstones

💀 Hallowe'en approaches and I'm getting very excited. The grandchildren have decorated their houses and planned their outfits - the youngest is dressing as the creepy clown Pennywise so I shall be reluctant to open the door to him!

On the eve itself Helen Backhouse, Lucy Haslam and I are having  a little event in our Facebook group where we take everyone on a virtual trip up Pendle Hill. Pendle was the home of the famous Lancashire Witches; the trials of the Pendle Witches at Lancaster Castle in  1612 are amongst the most famous witch trials in English history. Helen can see Pendle from her home and I'm about 20 minutes drive away, so it's a very real place to us, and has been since I read Harrison Ainsworth's 1849 novel The Lancashire Witches when I was about 11. 

So we've been making witchy things, and these are one of mine - The Hagstones. Hagstones were stones with natural holes in them, nailed up over stable doors in order to stop the hags (witches) from riding their horses out. And they're still in  evidence today on many farms. Old superstitions die hard. 

 

 

The spikes and gilded 'hagstone' connectors are ceramics by the one and only Petra Carpeau - who better, for gothic grunge? With Lucy Haslam's tangled earwires, swarowski crystals and gold seed beads.

 

Come and join us on our journey - it should be fun! The Very Nice Group at 4pm GMT on Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

 

See you again next week.

 

Lindsay x

 

My Etsy shop

 

My Facebook page

Neutral Bling

I love using hand components in my designs so I thought I'd share a few in today's post.  The beautiful and extremely versatile pewter hands are by Inviciti.  I used the same blank for the back and used the hands in 2 different ways.  I hope you like them.

Group shot

In this pair I attached large rhinestones and seeds to brass blanks using copper wire.  My attempt at 'sewing' metal :D.  In the original version I had 2 more lines of seed beads in space above the hands but the earrings looked really busy.  I love OTT designs but it wasn't working in this instance so I removed those 2 lines.  I think they look neater and the empty space brings down the bling by just the right amount.

For the second pair I attached the hands directly on to the blank, framed with opal white cup chain which also act as dangles.  I added little seed bead dangles on either side of the chain to complete the look.

So there you have it.  My attempt at making 'sewn' (softly) blinged up earrings.  These will be available in my show next Tuesday in The Jewellery Show FB group.  Hope you cam drop by.

Suhana 

My Etsy shop: Suhana Hart Jewellery

The Firebird

More than a year ago, I fell in love with these heart-meltingly beautiful resin wings by the wonderful Joanne Louvaine Bell of Twinkiedinky:    

They're perfectly made, with gold veins and just the right amount of sparkly gold dusting, fading into a beautiful padparadscha pink-red-orange color to die for.  I held on to these beauties for a long time, working on other projects, but I kept thinking about them...and I finally asked one of my favorite bead artists, Beth Mellor, to make some beads to go with them.  And did she ever! 

Beth's two-color hollow beads are perfect, with their swirls and streaks of gold over a delicious color that's a close match to the little padparadscha Swarovski crystals right beneath them.  The fiery colors, the lines, the heat of the earrings remind me of the title character of The Firebird, one of my favorite ballets: 

Ballerina Misty Copeland as the Firebird.

The Firebird.

Thanks for reading, all!  

I'll be back in a couple of weeks.  💗

xoxo

Meridy

My shop

My FB page

Harlequin

When I've had a good couple of weeks making - wise I tend to burn out a bit - the ideas won't gel, I push beads aimlessly around my table and generally make a huge untidy mess with little to show for my efforts. This is when I find fashion magazines to be an invaluable resource.

I was having my hair done last week and asked for a magazine while the highlights were developing (and no, I'm not ready to embrace the grey!). My hairdresser always has Harpers Bazaar, my favourite. So with a coffee or three, a piece of chocolate, Harpers and an hours peace and quiet I'm in heaven.

This was the picture I was drawn to - it's a quick snap, so excuse the glare. The rich, vibrant colours, the shapes, just perfect. Lots of scope for textures - something I'm drawn to in the colder months. 

Ideally you'd have the magazine to work from but a picture will do. The elongated black triangles are coconut shell, nice and light, hung on links of vintaj black oval chain. The red fritty enamel circles by Kimberly Rogers, the plum greek ceramic rounds and beads above all from Smitten Beads. Black copper earwires are from my friend Lucy Haslam.

 

 

 

Try it next time you're stuck for ideas - it adds a different perspective to your design.

These will be for sale at the weekend in Kimberly's Facebook group Numinosity where a bunch of us are getting together to show a range of designs using her components. Here's the link https://www.facebook.com/groups/967164829979604  

 

See you here next week!

 

Lindsay

 

 

My facebook page

 

My Etsy shop

Calavera Earrings

Three years ago, I was lucky enough to be in Oaxaca, Mexico for the Day Of The Dead celebrations.  It was magical. Words fail me when I try to convey the beauty, solemnity, humor and faith that filled the city that week.
People create altars all over the city and in their shops and homes.  The altars are decorated with flowers, usually marigolds, special breads made for the Day Of The Dead and brightly decorated sugar skulls or clay skulls, called calavera.

Skulls represent those who have passed away and sometimes have the name of the departed written on the forehead.

I made two pairs of skull earrings to share with you today.  I bought these fun skull beads at Bead Fest in October last year.  But I was so exhausted after vending at Bead Fest that I never made anything with them in time for Day Of The Dead. I didn't want to neglect them another year! This is the first pair I made.

The bright colors are typical of most Mexican celebrations and the flowers above the skulls represent the flowers on the altars that welcome the departed spirits back home.

I made the second pair of skull earrings using gunmetal finish wires and slinky chain tassels.

Follow the link below, if you would like to learn more about Mexico's Day Of The Dead celebrations. https://www.tripsavvy.com/day-of-the-dead-vocabulary-1588706  
Both pairs of earrings are available in my shop now.

Linda Landig Jewelry 

Guest Artist :: Nicola Morse

Today we welcome guest artist Nicola Morse to Earrings Everyday. Miss Nicola lives in United Kingdom. She has a real keen eye for color and pattern, influenced by folk art. Her hand painted metal components are truly special and she has a great sense of design when combining them with handmade beads and components from other artists.

We are pleased to introduce you to Nicola Morse.

Colour and Pattern

Hi everyone, this is my first post here in ‘Earrings Everyday’ so I thought I would start with these earrings I have just made using my own hand painted components. 

The base of my components are metal, usually copper, brass or aluminium to which I hand paint a design and add a layer or two of a jeweller’s grade resin. I love to experiment with colour and pattern and am also  influenced by folk art.

To create the earrings above I have matched my components with beautiful lampwork by Régis Teixera of Magma Beads and hand woven beaded components by Ellie Bead. For the earrings below I have again used lampwork by Régis Teixera with Vintaj bead caps and lampwork discs.

Check out more of Nicola Morse's work on her Facebook page.

We're All Ears :: October Reveal :: Mad About Plaid

I am not one to wear a lot of pattern, so I don't really think that there is a plaid shirt in my closet. But I do love the pattern of plaid. I like the criss-crossing patterns and the soft lived-in comfort. There is something quintessentially fall about plaid flannels, no matter what color they may be. But in looking for plaid inspiration, I found quite a bit more than just the well-worn vintage work shirts. Like scarves and pants and skirts and tights - oh my!

I decided that I would try to make some plaid components in polymer clay. Easier said than done! I first looked for a tutorial for some plaid canes in polymer clay. Most of them seemed a bit out of reach for me, or just too darn fussy and not all that precise. So I just grabbed some color of clay and started making stripes. Eventually, I flattened and stretched them enough, but they were still stripes. That is when I hit upon cutting the pieces up and layering them for that warp-weft fabric look. The look was starting to take shape!


I had wanted to learn from a tutorial I had found some time ago from Helen Breil. She is a master polymer clay artist. I am quite smitten with her folded beads, so I thought that this would be the perfect veneer for that. I made quite a lot of them with my plaid veneer, so many that I am dreaming of a statement necklace. But I found two pair that would work for the earrings.

Both outfits pictured here are found on FreePeople: dress; overalls.

I kept them simple by creating a wire hanger and dangling them from small small lengths of chain that I picked up from Vintaj this summer. The metal is copper, I would guess, that has been flame patina-ed, so they have this wonderful mix of blue, purple and red.

So now it is your turn! Show us what you made for your ode to Plaidurday!

Wings

Hello, hello, hello!

How are you all doing? Some of you might have seen this post on Monday already. Yep, I completely messed up my days and Sue's posting. My apologies Sue!

I hope you are enjoying wonderful autumn weather. We are still in the Netherlands and it is unusually warm and sunny for this time of the year. We are not complaining, it is so lovely. Especially as I have seen some pictures of snow (!!) already from bead friends.

Well, I have been very busy this weekend. I found a new addiction....polymer clay. Not that I have time for a new addiction, just trying to squeeze as much activity in a day as possible. After all, who needs sleep, he he. I worked with polymer clay before, many many years ago, but actually never made beads. This weekend I did.....

And I let my fantasy have its way with the butterfly wings shaped charms.Here is my interpretation of butterfly wings. I hope you enjoy them. They will be on offer in my next show coming Saturday, hooray.

Thank you so much for looking and your support for Earrings Everyday :)
And you know I love to read your comments, so don't be shy and leave some words.

Wishing you all a wonderful day, full of sunshine, laughter and butterflies.
Janine
Esfera Jewelry

::: Do I Thrill You ~ Do I Chill You :::

Oh, let's begin with the little ghosts by Jeni Houser Alasad! They are constructed and made of hollow polymer clay and are super lightweight.   I fell in love with their rustic yet adorable good looks.  The glass striped beads have large holes which move freely up and down the blackened chain. Being made of glass also gives them just enough weight so they hang beautifully.

 ♡

Striking enamel skull charms by Cathleen Zaring!  

I've noticed that I have a natural tendency of following shapes and patterns throughout a design - many times I don't even realize I'm doing it until I've already chosen my components and have begun constructing a piece of jewelry.  Looking at this design now, I see that the red silk tassels follow the shape of the jaw in the skulls.  Also, the striped pattern from around the eyes is repeated with the black and white striped beads below.

Once again the glass beads give the very lightweight tassels some swing.

The head actually moves independently from the tassel which gives this design movement and personality.

 ♡

Little bit gypsy-boho-vampy!

Lush red, vintage copper patina hoops, by Missficklemedia. 

I attached wire-wrapped tiny black skulls adorned with Swarovski crystals on their heads for a pop of color and flash.

I love the fringe effect and the crystals really dance in the light.

Many thanks for dropping by!  I will see you all again on Halloween Day!  If you have any questions always feel free to leave a comment or message me!

Loralee xo

loraleekolton.etsy.com

In the night sky

Hello!
So the nights are drawing in, and what better way to mark this than with some celestial beauties by the goddess that is Petra Carpreau of Scorched Earth!

Petra sometimes includes beautiful little porcelain stars and moons in her updates, and I always look forward to stocking up on these when they appear. These beautiful little stars with aqua glazed porcelain are just gorgeous! I matched them with my current favourite African spacers, punctuated by teeny tiny turquoise seeds. I finished these with another silver spacer and sterling earwires. I wanted them to be quite long and stacked. Simple, but striking.

This second pair had little crescent moons as well as  stars. I used the same components as with the first pair, but went for a different design. Oxidised brass geometric hoops  provide a frame for these stellar beauties. I may be keeping them for myself...or there'll be making an appearance at my next showcase over on the Jewellery Show in Facebook Land at the end of the month. You can message me if you'd like them :-) 

See you next month! x

Sue

Mermaids....are not just for summer

I've just finished a trunk show for earrings only so earrings were probably the last thing I wanted to make even though I do love making them...I was a bit earring-d out if you know what I mean.  I looked at some of my own components that never made it to the show as earrings.  I had planned on making several mermaid earrings but ended up only making one pair for the Trunk show.  But I did paint several pairs so there were quite a few left overs to choose from. 

Here is how I turned them in to earrings.  

I wire wrapped them on to big hoops, chose dark sapphire cup chain to match the scales and matte gold seeds to echo the golden upper part of the mermaid.

As these hoops were quite substantial in size (30mm) I knew I couldn't add any big beads to go between the hoop and the ear wire. I wire wrapped brass hearts in a central position so I could just attach some ear wire directly on to them.  I did that but the earrings did not look or feel right....something was missing.

I picked up these blue glass flowers which were the perfect size and attached them to the hearts.  Now they were complete.  

This was the only mermaid pair I made for the show.  Here I painted the mermaids in rainbow colours, applied resin on the rainbow area and sprinkled some glitter for fun.  I hung them from brass connectors which I had wire wrapped with glass spikes, flowers and crown caps.  

I hope you like my efforts.  The first pair is now listed on Etsy.  Have a fab weekend <3

Suhana 

My Etsy shop: Suhana Hart Jewellery