The Unknown

“I will not let you go into the unknown alone.”
― Bram Stoker

October Greetings, My Friends!

Today I have some lovely antiqued collage earring charms by Jill Stoffregen of Foxpaws to show you.  

The charms are made of thin porcelain ceramic and are quite delicate. I used a 4 ply wax linen cord to attach them to the rest of the components so there wouldn't be any metal rubbing against them.  In this particular pair, I frayed the ends of the cord to create a tattered look which also went perfectly with the slashes you see in the sleeves.  

I created a sort of gobbet using vintage bead-caps and amber-colored faceted beads.  Well, of course, we all know vampires don't drink....wine...However, they may offer you some to be hospitable. 

I hope you enjoyed your stay at my little bead table today!  It was wonderful to see you again!

Be well,

Loralee xo

www.loraleekolton.etsy.com 

 

Old love

Hello peeps,

How are you all doing? I hope you’re enjoying the fall.
Last week we spend some wonderful days exploring some ancient sites on the Peloponnese. The weather was wonderful, apart from one morning of heavy rain. We drove through gorgeous mountainous terrain, with lots of trees in autumn colors.

This is the Pantanassa monastery in Mystras, dedicated in September 1428. It is the only monastery on the site still permanently inhabited.

These few days traveling and exploring brought my muse back to live. I am back to my old love: bead embroidery.

Last weekend I made three pairs. Here is one pair:

A picture of a fourth- still in progress- project, which gives you an idea how I make these.

The design start with gluing components on ultra suede.Then I get to play with tiny beads which I embroider on the ultra suede.
One pair will take me about 4 hours to make.

Bead embroidery gives me the freedom to place the beads exactly where I want them.
The advantage of bead embroidered earrings is that they are very lightweight.

These, as well as the other 2 pairs are available in my shop.

Thank you for visiting. And you know the drill. I love to read your comments, so don’t be shy and write a few words. See you next month.

Wishing you a wonderful day,
Janine
Esfera Jewelry

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Verdant Verdigris

Philodendron in Verdigris

These earrings were designed around a pair of fabulous enameled, philodendron-shaped leaf charms in berry and iceberg blue-green from Gardanne Beads. I love how you can see the fine veining in them! I've matched them up with lampwork spacers in copper green glass from The Spacer Bead Shop, and tiny rounds of jammy rhondonite on the earwires.

I love the juxtaposition of the jungle-like leaves with the vintage-feel verdigris color--it makes me think of an Edwardian greenhouse full of exotic specimens from far-off lands.

You can see more at my Etsy shop HERE.

Architectural Details

Architectural Details

I keep making these architectural or hardware looking things. These earrings make me think of a corbel, a decorative bracket used to support a mantelpiece or a shelf:

Corbel from RWM

I had an idea--one of those stray thoughts that float into your mind in the shower, or while you're driving, or as you're waking up in the morning--about folding a tab of metal over the ball of a headpin to create a hanging loop. I tried it a few days later and it worked!

I love metal.

I picture these with a Victorian Steampunk-flavored ensemble:

Via Polyvore

You can see more at my Etsy shop HERE.