Glorious Geometrics

Hi, everyone!  The first thing I'd like to say about these earrings is that I really loved making them...even if they were time-consuming.  😉

As a chainmailler, obviously I like working with metal, but as a woman who for years transcribed the (sometimes unintelligible) dictation of doctors, I now find myself with arthritic thumbs that aren't up to heavy-duty metal work anymore.  These days, the idea of making chainmaille in stainless steel--famously hard to work with--is a little scary at best.

But I really enjoy working with wire that's easily manipulable, and with chainmaille rings in softer metals.  So every now and then, rather than pair beads with beautiful components like these (made by Marlene Kazor Quigley of MarKazo Art), I create something out of wire instead.

 

In this case, I made circles out of several wraps of copper wire, antiqued and tumbled them, and wired onto them tiny beads in colors that bring out the vivid hues of Marlene's enameled copper triangles.  I even wrapped some little beads to the ear wires.

I always did like geometry.  💗

Thanks so much for reading!
xoxo
Meridy

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One Day I Will Be A Mountain...

...but today I am a fault. 

Oh, how I can relate. I mean, life is all about duality and growth, right? We all have sides to ourselves that make us proud, and of course the sides that make us want to do better. Sometimes it's extremely gratifying to walk in darkness, while other times we seek the light and peaceful way. Positive and negative, light and dark, life and death. I love exploring these dichotomies, both in my jewelry design and the titles behind each piece.

 


I especially love how these warm organic earrings evolved from cold hard metal. I used a simple fold-form technique on copper sheet to obtain the weathered "fault" lines. I then added in myriad punches for that decayed pock-marked look, and applied lots of pounding, heat, and magic to help to create that natural vivid red patina. The overall shapes are evocative of wings---or perhaps leaves---both of which bring to mind the idea of growth. See how many opposing adjectives I chocked into this paragraph? It's all about the dichotomies, baby.

The most wearable earrings for me are those that contain multitudes without overdoing the components, color palette, or the weight. I strive to achieve this balance in my designs, but it's also not bad advice for life, in general. 

It ain't always easy, but it's most always worth it!

Happy Wednesday!

Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Skyline

One of the joys of making my own beads is being able to make just the right thing for a particular design. Other times, I just make things that I think could be useful - shapes and sizes that I often find myself using. The little yellow discs in these earrings are an example of this.

I made a number of pairs and when I came to use these ceramic droppers, which I also made, these sunny yellow discs were just the thing.  Added to the geometric antique silver connectors, they give the earrings a graphic, mid-century look that is very much my bag.  They're listed here in my Etsy shop.

Whilst I'm here, a quick reminder: tomorrow is they day of this month's We're All Ears challenge blog hop. Head here for the details. There's still time to take part!

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

We're All Ears :: September Reveal

It was all about line and movement for me this month.

 

 

The challenge of translating a fast-paced music video like "Torque Starter" for me lies in picking something to focus on. I chose to focus on the section near the end when the glowing ball was making spirals that overlapped on themselves.

It took me a fair bit of trial and error, but I finally made something that felt right. Just a few feet of wire wrapped around two different size Sharpie markers made the base of the spirals, wired them totether and added a little glowing crystal rondelle for the flash.

I wanted the ear wires to be integrated into the design, so I came up with a spring that sort of unravels. And yes, I purposely made them asymmetrical! Nothing groundbreaking in this design, but it did open my eyes to new forms (I could see flowers like these) and how to manipulate the wire to suit my vision.

There was so very much in this interactive performance art that you could use to inspire your designs. I can hardly wait to see what you did!

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