Kinetic Loops

Hi, everyone!  Before I show you my new earrings, bear with me for a moment.  Life has been kind of chaotic at Casa Meridy lately.  My daughter Rhia, her husband Ken, and their two children, Kaity (10) and KJ (almost 4), are moving out this week after living with Rog and me for almost five years!

As you can imagine, our house is full of boxes and piles of things to give away and pack...and our hearts are full of memories and love and mixed feelings.  The move has been a long time coming--and much needed--but even so, we've had such a wonderful time living together that it's a little bittersweet too...maybe even more than a little, to be honest.  😔

I haven't made a lot of jewelry lately, but my latest pair of earrings are a lot of fun:  Kinetic Loops!  As you can see, they're chainmaille (of the very easy sort), made of bright and shiny aluminum rings.  The aluminum is extremely lightweight, which makes the earrings easy on your ears.  They're 2-1/2 inches long and  move around like little kinetic sculptures in your ears as you move.

Here they are hanging:

Below they're laying flat--quite a difference from the movement you can see in the photo above.

The largest rings in these playful earrings are 3/4", made of 14 gauge bright aluminum wire; the smallest are 1/8" and 18 gauge.  These could be made with just about any metal, but I'd think they would get pretty heavy!

They're wonderfully versatile, since they go with anything, a dressed-up look or your most casual jeans. 

Thanks for reading, as always!

Our kids and grandkids are starting their move today as I write this.  They're only moving a couple of miles away, so we'll still see them a lot (and I'm a primary chauffeur for school pickups and after-school mom stand-in).  But I still need to make sure I have enough Kleenex for these next few weeks.  💗

I'll be back in two weeks with something new--it's my birthday week! 

xoxo
Meridy

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Seed Bead Tassels

Seed beads. Don't you just love them. They come in so many various colours, shapes, finishes and sizes. Just makes my mouth water.

Ingredients:
Seed beads of various colours and sizes
Tassels are strung on FireLine beading thread
Brass coloured large acrylic closed rings, light weight
Brass jump rings
Handmade Sterling Silver earring hooks, heavily oxidized

All my best,
Malin

✨ Bringing the Bling ✨

Hi, everyone!  This week, I made earrings that pushed me right out of my comfort zone.   Yes, I did--and on purpose too!     

Helen Backhouse's hand-painted polyclay leaves always take my breath away, and these particular leaves are so long and stunning that they seemed to call for something dramatic.

So I went for it!  These earrings are looong (a little over 4 inches).  They feature AB rhinestone rondelles, sparkly 12-mm aqua blue crystals topped by small leafy bead caps and little blue zircon crystals, fabulous spiky double bead caps, and clusters of blue zircon and bright yellow Swarovski crystals, dangling from teal anodized niobium jump rings.

One wonderful thing is that, being made mostly of thin leaves of polymer clay, the earrings are very lightweight and kind to tender earlobes.  Another wonderful thing?  I absolutely loved making these!  Who knew bringing the bling could be so much fun?  💗

Thanks so much for reading!  I'll be back with more to share in two weeks.

xoxo
Meridy
My Etsy shop
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Colored Feathers, Colored Stones

It's so great to finally be over the flu--and it felt so good to finally be able to sit down and make some new earrings (five pairs in all--I did say it felt good to get back to making things, right?).  ;)  It's also wonderful to be back here at EE with all my beady friends.

You can find these earrings here.

These earrings are a variation on one of my favorite styles.  I made them with these pretty little bumpy purple-and-fuchsia lampwork rondelles by Deborah Crow Roesly, paired with vibrantly colorful polymer clay tribal feathers by Helena Benkoczka.

Complete "recipe" for the earrings:  Deborah's rondelles, Helena's feathers, 3-mm fuchsia Swarovski crystals, scalloped copper bead caps, 3x5-mm tanzanite Czech glass rondelles, small copper jump rings, 15/0 dark fuchsia seed beads, dark fuchsia anodized aluminum jump rings, fuchsia waxed linen cording, and dark pink anodized niobium ear wires.  

The earrings are extremely lightweight and easy to wear.  The backs of the feathers are covered with glazed paper to keep the cord ends tidy and out of sight.

Thanks so much for reading!  I'll be back again in a couple of weeks with some new earrings.  :)

xoxo
Meridy

Two Trees Studio

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Have Pliers, Will Weave Silver!

I learned my first chainmaille weave about seven or eight years ago and have been hooked ever since.  I read tutorials, experimented with different weaves, and then discovered the fabulous "Spider," a chainmaille teacher well-known and beloved in the chainmaille community.  I got her DVDs and discovered that she was a young woman with a soothing voice and a way of clearly explaining how to get those pesky rings to slide into place and weave together to make intricately patterned jewelry.  I also watched how she held her pliers and how she opened and--even more important--closed her rings (there is a very particular way to do it).  And I learned.

I love it when I get into a rhythm weaving a pattern from the rings, watching my project take shape.  It is surprisingly meditative.   I've made necklaces, lanyards, earrings (these below are antiqued copper in European 4-in-1, with spikes by Karen Totten)...

...and bracelets (this one is copper woven in half-Persian 4-in 1, with a pretty dotted heart by Kristi Bowman-Gruel):

I once even weaved a flat piece of chainmaille to use as a mesh backing on which to connect a LOT of little jasper gem dangles for the focal of a necklace.  This is the back of the focal, showing the mailled mesh:  

And the front of the necklace...

That said, I haven't been making much chainmaille recently.  There just seems to be too many other things competing for my time, creatively and otherwise.  But a few days ago, out of the blue, I got the urge to spend some time "weaving silver" (as Spider would say), so I decided to make some new earrings especially for Earrings Everyday.   They're made in one of my favorite weaves, Japanese 12-in-2, and are sterling silver from top to bottom.  I love their graceful, sinuous shape.  

These earrings can be found here.

As always, thanks so much for reading--I'll see you all again in two weeks!  

Meridy

xoxo

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Getting Stuck and Looking Back

I know many of us get in a so called, "unproductive-stuck zone",  when it comes to thinking up something different to make. I dispise these times, but they are inevitable, at least for me.  It was just last week I was reading the comments of a fellow beader that said they just wanted to give up, going no where, sales were down and feeling so discouraged.  Well, welcome to the club.  These emotions are not uncommon and I've found they don't last.  Those of us who love this release of energy love it too much to quit.  I suppose the challenge is there for me too, it's all part of the process.

One thing I do when this happens is to scroll back through my sold items.  I can see new ways to re-make an older design utilizing the inventory I currently have or a whole new idea all together.  This past week I created versions of an older design and remembered just how gorgeous they are.

The only thing that remained the same from this original design is the stones and the old metal wraps above them. Everything else was new based off of some previous work I just finished.

Similar design using green Kyanite with Prehnite above, silver saucers and chain fringe on each side.

One must have some earthy goodness with Mystic Quartz in a lovely root beer color mixed with copper, gold and silver though out.

So there you have it, we've all been there and it's OKAY.  You'll find your mojo eventually and perhaps going through some old designs will help you get there, ♥

Thanks for visiting this week and always, appreciate your feedback and comments, ☺

Much Love- Lynn Ferro aka Yucca Bloom

Earthy Ceramics

I'm a big fan of ceramics and porcelains in my pieces and I'm always on the look out for new works.  I just happen to stumble across ETSY shop Butterfly Emporium who started offering these little ceramic charm sticks/slabs.  I was drawn to them for their rich color, organic textures and overall pricing.   I ended up purchasing three sets to start and all sold in just a short period of time.  They are super light in weight and all come with a wire loop.  

I love this bursting blue flow,  I just happen to have some lovely lamp-work glass caps that were some what mismatched in color, because the drops had such a variety of tones, there was no problem combining the two, ☺

Another great earthy look with more mismatched lamp work square glass beads.  Bottom pair is combined with Etched Agate rounds and porcelain spacers.

So head on over and see if there is something you cant live without,  I guarantee your gonna love em!!!

See you in a couple weeks friends, ♥

Lynn Ferro

My shop-Yucca Bloom on ETSY

Boho Fringe

Oh how I love the Bohemian look! Peasant blouses, broomstick skirts, scarves...and of course long earrings that dangle.  I am going to see Fleetwood Mac on Tuesday and I think I need to make a pair of these earrings for myself! I need to decide what I am going to wear first...decisions, decisions....

                                          These earrings are available here on my website.

Don't forget about our giveaway here on the Earrings Everyday blog! 

We're All Ears  February Inspirations + Earring Love Fest

I will be giving away my "Gypsy Boho" earrings that were published 

in the 101 BNE 2014 Issue.

 Winners will be announced here on February 20th.

 Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous weekend!

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations

Sand and Sea

Sand and Sea

I just love the colors in natural impression jasper--the milky green of Caribbean waters, and warm sand beige. For these earrings I paired a couple roundels of impression jasper here with etched copper, new jade, and pale green aventurine.

I picture them with a funky hippie ensemble:

Hippie sea green by lunebijoux featuring chan luu

I am feeling so wild I would just about almost wear a dress.

You can see more at my Etsy shop!

Crazy Love

I picked up this strand of Crazy Lace Agate on impulse--I love the random mauves, lilacs and cinnamons in it. I had to combine it with copper! It's accented with little glass beads in violet.

I picture something classic and feminine with this:

crazy love by lunebijoux featuring cross body messenger bags

I'm taking a short break, but you can see more in my Etsy shop in a couple weeks!