Blue And Bold

Where to begin?  These earrings were made after a horrible day.  Without going into details, we had a potential health crisis in our family yesterday.  Everything turned out well in the end, but these earrings were made on an overload of panicked adrenaline. When they weren't turning out like I had pictured them in my mind, I found myself on the verge of tears.  I don't cry over failed earrings.  Really.  O.K., Linda, deep breaths.  It's going to be O.K.  And it was - eventually.

What I like about these earrings: 
- The teardrop shape of the metal loops echos the teardrop shape of my ceramic components at
   the bottom.
- The electroplated hematite dangles inside the metal loops adds a nice touch of bling.

What I dislike about the earrings:
- They are too long - over 3 inches.
- The wire wrapping on one of the earrings is too loose.

Given the circumstances of the day, there was no time to redo these.  Here's how I plan to improve them later:
- I can see a couple of potential spin offs from this design. -
I think that the metals teardrops, hematite and Czech glass flowers would make pretty earrings without the ceramic charms.  That would make them short enough to be wearable.

I also think the Czech glass flowers and the charms would make simple, but pretty earrings. So revision is in the cards soon.

In the meantime - Bead Fest! It's this coming weekend, Oct. 27th - 29th. Two of our Earrings Everyday members will be there: Kristi Bowman (table #516 ) and me, Linda Landig Jewelry (Table # 518)  Please come by our tables and say Hi!  And to make that easier, here's a coupon to save you a couple of dollars on your entry fee.  Just print it out and get in for only $3!  See you soon!

Linda Landig Jewelry

The Bead Fest Weekend Storm That Never Was

A possibly historic storm was expected to hit Washington State last weekend. It was predicted to be second only to the 1962 Columbus Day storm.  I was 9 years old in 1962 (do the math) and I still remember the tremendous winds (wind gusts to 160 mph!). There was widespread loss of electricity, lots of structural damage and the roads were carpeted with branches and trees. 46 people in CA, OR and WA lost their lives.

1962

No cell phones in 1962!

This was not a good forecast for the Fall Bead Fest weekend!  I was not surprised that many people chose caution and stayed home, (not surprised, but still disappointed). The biggest storm impact was supposed to hit on Saturday afternoon.  Anticipating periods of low shopper traffic, I brought jewelry making supplies with me, on Saturday.

Although the "storm" turned out to be no worse than gusty rain, I did have some time to create new earrings.  Kristi Bowman and I had tables next to each other, so I thought I'd start with a pair of Kristi's marvelous colored copper components.

I topped the copper with some dyed turquoise mother of pearl flowers.  At the last moment I decided to thread in some faceted AB coated hematite. It was the perfect finishing touch.

I was pleased with how these turned out and despite the non-storm turn-out, I had a lot of fun at Bead Fest.  What could be better than being surrounded by beautiful beads for 3 days (& buying bunches of them), hanging out with beady friends, meeting folks that I had only known online and even meeting fellow Earrings Everyday blogger Cindy Pack for the first time!  Cindy is a Washingtonian too.  We've talked about meeting before, but have just never pulled it off before this.  It was so great to spend time with her in person!  So I'll leave you with this picture of Kristi, Cindy & I.

Left to right:  Kristi Bowman, Linda Landig, Cindy Pack

Linda Landig Jewelry

Purple Fall Leaves

One of the fun things about having a new house is that you get to discover what you have in your garden as each new season unfolds.  We have a maple tree in our new front yard whose leaves are turning purple as the cooler fall weather is arriving.  Sure the leaves have tinges of the expected red, especially along the veins, but they are mostly an amazing and beautiful purple. In the morning the dew drops sparkle like jewels on the leaves and once more I am left in awe at the beauty of mother nature.

I've been making a lot of ceramic earring components for fall Bead Fest, which is only a week away! I've been inspired by the fall colors around me and so I decided to glaze these leaf charms purple.  Admittedly, they are not maple leaves, but we'll just chalk that up to artistic imagination.

The links the leaves are hanging from, came from some chain I got on sale.  The price was deeply reduced, probably because the chain is too large for most designs.  But I took all the links apart and they are awesome for use as components!

I dangled etched glass lampwork beads (Beads and Botanicals) from the links, along with some lime green seed beads. The earrings have a nice movement and are fun to wear. I love the traditional Autumn oranges, reds and browns, but its also fun to mix it up a bit with some purple!

The Purple Leaf Earrings are available in my shop.

Linda Landig Jewelry