Classic Tribal Ceramics: New Design

I can't think of too many who do rustic tribal components and beads better than the wonderful Jana Bližňáková, and I'm fortunate to have been able to create with her distinctive art components for years. I'm happy to share these earrings, featuring beautiful classic rustic matte ceramic pieces by her, constructed with not much more than lovely red glass beads and 3-ply black waxed linen thread.

I love the "perfect imperfection" of these rustic pieces, and the shapes of the pieces themselves make them conducive to fiber wrapping.  Before I start working, I make sure my hands are clean, because dirt, oil, crumbs, cat hair (💗), etc., are not your friends when you're working with waxed thread.  (I can't tell you how many times I've had to waste time touching up photos because a fiber or a dog/cat hair showed up on my photos.)  I stretch the thread to straighten it and make sure it's not too waxy.  I thread the waxed linen through their various spaces, in and out, over and back, pulling it tight enough to make a stable earring but not enough to break anything (yikes!).  When I'm through, I tie the ends and then snip off the excess and go on to the next section.  There are four wrapped sections in this design.

When everything's finished, I glue the little thread ends to the back of the components and cover them with paper, which I glue and glaze after the glue dries.  I covered these earrings with red handmade paper:

The earrings are little (about 2 inches) and lightweight.  😊

Thank you kindly for reading!  I'll see you in the second week in August. 
xoxo
Meridy

My Shop
My Facebook Page

Happy earrings

Hello, hello,

First of all I wish you all a happy, healthy and successful 2019, full of joy, laughter, butterflies and sunshine. I hope you enjoyed a wonderful festive season.

My first pair of earrings for this blog are made with bright, happy links made by the ever so talented and lovely Jana Bliznakova of Happy Fish Things. Her fun and happy beads and components always put a smile on my face. I kept the design simple, with matching beads strung on the "arms" of the ear wires, before making a loop to attach the bead. 

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.
See you in two weeks.Wishing you all a wonderful day, full of joy, laughter and sunshine,
Janine
Esfera Jewelry

A Question of Balance.

Asymmetry. Not always easy, is it? To some it comes quite naturally, to others not so much. My head veers to the matching pair and I have to force myself to deviate. And how to achieve a sense of balance when your components/sizes/colours are different? This pair was a case in point.

 

 

These great neutral tribal patterned stoneware beads and charms are of course by the one and only Jana Bliznakova, but one is different in shape and considerably shorter than the other. The answer came in the form of this one off crusty soldered headpin that Lucy Haslam made for me. Fits perfectly with the design and balances the length. In the centre we have black crusty lampwork criffles by Kimberly Rogers - Kim and her husband Dave are about to set off from Alaska  to come over to the UK and we are hoping to meet up again (not least because she has a huge stash of stuff for me!) Criffles just make any design dance; like little ballet tutus. Joyous.

                                   Hope you all have a good week - see you again soon. 

                                                                 Lindsay x

                                                             My Etsy shop

                                                        My Facebook page

Easy Breezy Summer

When I sat down yesterday to make something for today's post I gave myself guidelines, not at all what I usually do. But the requirements were, only a Few Components (Easy), Lots of Movement (Breezy), Colorful (Summer), and Lightweight (back to Easy ;). Lightweight to me is anything under 0.22 oz, 6 grams and under. Once the earring gets up to around 0.20, it is definitely still lightweight, but the older I get, the less tolerant my ears are for weight. Something we've talked about here before. So I'm really happy when I can keep them around 0.18, all of which these are. But it does really limit what I can do.

Weighing the components in the top pair, I knew it wouldn't work if I used wire, so I wrapped them with teal waxed Irish linen. They still swing because the linen is wrapped onto soldered jumprings, so they move a lot. The other two pairs I used wire, using the X wrap that always adds a bit more of a rustic/edgy feel to me, and I was able to kept them all within the lightweight limits.

I also planned to make lovely, light and airy pictures to go along with the Easy Breezy vibe, but by the time I had them ready to photograph, it was 8:30 last night and we were in the middle of a thunderstorm. So quick-on-slate pictures is what I ended up with, and gratefor for them I was! :) I hope you can use a little imagination.

See what I mean about the imagination? The pics just don't do the summery, colorful earrings justice.

Top left: Bird Wing Manified Ceramic Slices by Petra Carpreau of ScorchedEarthOnEtsy - Lampwork Glass by Terry Turner of SilverFishDesigns - Raspberry Enamel Copper Beads by Alison Page of AlisonPageStudios

Center: Enameled Copper by Alison Page of AlisonPageStudios - Lampwork Glass by Julie Burgard of Outwest

Bottom Right: Summer Sunrise Ceramics by Jana Bliznakova of HappyFishThings. The other pieces are vintage acrylic and Indonesian glass.

I do hope you are all having a wonderful Spring. . . . . it's been Summer Weather here for a while now. Weather we used to have in July, maybe, for a few days, seems to have become the norm, and months earlier. 95 in May, in Michigan, is just weird! lol Lots of people love it, so for all of you I am very happy. :) I wish everyone the Best Summer Ever!

Thank you for stopping in and letting me share my stuff with you.

norbel
SheFliesAgain

insert catchy title here ;)

Hello! Happy February to all of you. I do hope this finds you and yours healthy and well, and enjoying the days.

I have a new shop to share with you today. Ceramicists, Gail and Arnold, husband and wife, who spent the majority of their lives in South Africa and are now residing in Germany. I would imagine at least some of you have stumbled into their shop. Its name is SandCeramicBeads. Their style is unique and rustic.

earrings are available here 

In the first pair I used two different focals. The top beads are made with a rich  brown clay and have a tribal design in aqua, and aqua bars that have two holes. They were made for and sold as "closures," toggles, but I could not resist using them off label as connectors. ☺

African Fabric Beads
can be found here

One of my favorite things made by SandCeramicBeads are these really lovely tiles that are inspired by African fabrics. I used a pair in the second pair of earrings; this is a small set in soft, muted tones of salmon pink, an almost wheat-like yellow, pale blue and a deep blue. Gail has a new series in the shop right now that have a bit different coloring and a wonderful story. All of the upper beads I used were handmade in Africa. Beautiful unusual bright peach recycled glass beads and blue beads from a strand of handmade African seed beads. All of those beads were purchased from a nicely stocked shop, RedEarthBeads.  

earrings are available here

The third pair has a southwest vibe. Beautiful blue leaves by Gail and Arnold; awesome and rustic, natural ceramic disks were made by Jana Bliznakova of HappyFishThings.


I had great fun working with these pieces, and will no doubt be using more. Here are a few of the others I have in my collection. They also make and sell many, many strands of beads. I'm sure you will enjoy browsing.

The earth and moss beads are calling me. :)

As always, I thank you so very much for spending a few minutes to check out what we're doing here.

If you have any questions about anything in the designs, let me know. I didn't discuss any processes, nor many of the accompanying beads. I was excited to share SandCeramicBeads with you.

Thank you! May your days be filled with lots of creativity! It is therapeutic and then some!

Gratefully,

norbel

SheFliesAgain

I am also on Facebook and Instagram :)

p.s. I hope everyone knows that when I share new shops the way I do, it is because I've fallen in love with their work. Etsy is what I call a "sea of shops." There often is no rhyme nor reason to why one shop sells and another doesn't. When I see unusual, quality work, made by caring artisans, I want to share it with anyone who might be interested so that the makers can potentially achieve the success they deserve. 

Scorched Earth, Inviciti, Numinosity & More!

Hello! I do hope everyone has had a joyful Christmas and is looking forward to a fresh, new year. It always seems to be a time of hope, regardless of what recent times have been like. There's no real reason to expect new and different, but to me a "fresh start" nonetheless increases the sense of change is in the air.

I have had a rough couple/few months. And the little girl of a muse that usually accompanies me seems to have vanished right before my eyes. I don't know what to think about that! :) But it has me bogged down in many ways, or rather, I suppose she's gone because I am bogged down in many ways. Onward and upward!

There are always one to three days at the end of the month that aren't covered with our regular twice a month schedule. That is when our visiting artists come in to share their beautiful creations. This month Kristi and I are picking up the two extra days at the last minute. Not having anything prepared, I decided to do what Lynn did yesterday and share with you some of my personal favorites from the last couple of months, and maybe a couple have been used as part of a post? Not sure! lol These have sold, but I believe some could possibly be available for custom orders.

BTW, you'll notice a new Artist Contributor appearing at the end of the column!! There are actually two; we don't have a design picture yet for the second. I'll wait and let you be surprised by who it might be. I, for one, cannot wait to have them both share their amazing work with all of us. They will be starting the second week of January! :)

Please note that the captions under the photos are links to the shops whose pieces were used in the designs.

NuminosityBeads
NomvulaCrafts
TheFickleBead

NuminosityBeads
EclecticPrairie
DyedBoneBead

DyedBoneBead

NuminosityBeads

HappyFishThings
DyedBoneBead

NuminosityBeads
DyedBoneBead

Inviciti
CrowsCache

ScorchedEarthOnEtsy

ScorchedEarthOnEtsy

My wishes are for all of you and all of your families and friends to experience a New Year filled with love, laughter, joy, and above all, peace of mind. I am honored to be able to share my work with you. Thank you!
norbel
SheFliesAgain

Versatile Components - Wire and Fiber Connectors

Have you had a chance to see Anna Pierson's wire and fiber components?

She does her business primarily in her facebook group as SagaHus Components

She makes all matter of lengths and color with her "cocoons" and mixed some with glass and pearl beads as well for charms and connectors.

I did a something a little different with the wire wrapped saffron cocoon I got from her and doubled them up and dangled my torch fired enamel "numi-sticks" against salmon skin leather shields here.

Here I have left them full length and I thought they became complete in this simple design with HappyFishThing's organic and bright ceramic charms

Anna is having an event in her facebook group today but don't worry if you miss this one as she posts  new collections often.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Kimberly Rogers

www.numinositybeads.etsy.com

Numinositybeads component group

Jana + Wire = Fun!

Hello! And depending on where you live, Happy Summer! And Happy close to the end of June, if it's not summer for you. ;)

Copper wire is one of my favorite things to work with; ceramics made by Jana Bliznakova of HappyFishThings are another favorite.

These beautifully painted ceramic bars were resting in an open box with many other wonderful pieces I'd just received from Jana. 

I sat down to play with wire. A little soldering fun sounded like a very good idea that day. A bit of fire play is invigorating! I played with spirals and hoops, triangles and ovals, teardrops and a shape trying to be squares, hearts and birds, but nothing was catching my attention. It's been a bit of a down time for me creatively after having to let go of our almost 13-year-old Lab; she was a beautiful girl, Angel, and a constant, loving companion throughout those years. The muse doesn't seem to be able to break through the emptiness just yet.

As I was wrapping the wire 'round and 'round a pair of step pliers, these pieces caught my eye and I thought, hmmm, I can offset the open end of the pattern on these, which felt right to me.

Jana + Wire = Fun

Halfway through the first earring, I noticed the pattern on the second piece was identical, not a mirror image. Oh No!!!! my symmetrical leaning brain alarm sounded. How do I do this then? Do I wire the second one on the same side as the first, balancing the open side of the design. . . . . which absolutely felt wrong to me. So no, of course I was going to wire the second one on the opposite side. 

Either way, I was going to end up with an alarm going off. :) But I have slowly learned to ignore that alarm, firmly burying it and its silly notions, feeling totally comfortable that the two pieces aren't identical. Thanks to many of the Oh-So-Talented Jewelry Designers here on EE, as well as others, I now am okay with it, and may even prefer them that way! That was not the case a few years ago. I suspect I would have scrapped the idea altogether and moved on. The one thing we know about life on this planet is that things will always change. That's a good thing. ;)

Jana + Wire = Fun

The red beads I paired with the ceramics are natural Red Sandalwood Seeds. They grow this vibrant shade of red. I had never seen them before, and purchased these at the very cool TheFickleBead shop on Etsy. Debbie is the shop owner, a wonderful lady to work with; customer service is at the top!

The earrings below weren't made for today's post, but I wanted to show you another Jana/Wire pair. I melt looking at the primitive, soft blue sun design. 

Soft Blue Primitive Suns

I hope you have a happy week, filled with love, laughter and peace of mind.

Thank you for stopping by! I will be back on the 5th of July. 

Angel Baby

Norbel Marolla

She Flies Again Etsy Shop 

She Flies Again Facebook 

Ancient Symbols, and other similarities

Hello, and Happy April! I made two pairs of earrings over the weekend and decided to share them both because to me they have commonalities, and I also couldn't decide which I wanted to show you. :) I love the spiral and sun, ancient symbols, and love to see them in jewelry. Two of my favorite ceramic artists made the elements; two of my favorite lampwork glass artists made the beads. They both include antique Venetian glass beads, and the main colors are two that I have had a serious hankering to work with! Oddly enough. Both are colors I've rarely used, and I've been happy to find myself actively seeking out different palettes. Anyone else out there find half their shop or accessory wardrobe is made up of one recurring palette? Even though my tastes are diverse, I still find the color thing an issue now and then. So that's that! Here's the first pair:   

The soft and lovely blue spirals were made by Jana Bliznakova of HappyFishThings. The Caramel Raku lampwork beads are by Leese Mahoney of GlassByLeese. Copper-plated accent beads, vibrant blue antique Venetian glass beads, hand-dyed ribbon, oxidized copper and black Niobium ear wires finish them off. 

The small, vibrant orange/red suns were made by Petra Carpreau of  ScorchedEarthOnEtsy. The rustic yellow with a hint of green lampwork glass beads are by Kimberly Rogers of Numinosity and NuminosityBeads. The dangles are strung on waxed Irish linen and include antique Venetian glass beads, Czech glass beads, Red Creek Jasper Heishi beads, and rustic Green Garnet nuggets. Another Green Garnet sits atop the yellow canvas of Kim's glass beads. Again wrapped with oxidized copper and hanging from black Niobium ear wires. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us today. The ever so talented and fun Ms. Nikki Zehler will be here tomorrow, I believe. A visit with Nikki is always worth the time! Thanks again. Have a great rest of the week. Sincerely, norbel

She Flies Again on Etsy

Move The Faders

Happy New Year to you all. I hope the holiday season gave you either time to make many earrings or many earring-shaped gifts. Or both! I have a ton of earrings to photograph that I've been busy making but today I'm sharing a pair from before Christmas.

The lovely yellow ceramic charms are, of course, from the lovely Jana of Happy Fish Things. 

All best wishes for your 2016s!

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com

There's A Name For Everything

Another one of those happy coming-togethers-of-things...

I've mixed Indonesian and czech glass with a rustic ceramic bullseye connector from Happy Fish Things.  

Short and sweet from me today! 

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com

Departed

When I saw these ceramic leaves, made by Jana of Happy Fish Things, I had to have them.  The glaze is just stunning. It took me some time to decide how to use them - it would have been easy to simply set a bead or two at the top. I felt they demanded a more elaborate design, but one that wouldn't detract from the lovely focals. I added czech and Indonesian glass, some vintage beads and drops of blue fluorite.

They're available here in my Etsy shop.

And don't forget: tomorrow is the reveal day for this month's We're All Ears challenge!

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com
www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com
www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

Softly Whisper

I have been making crusty beads for so long now that I have neglected my matte etching solution for my lampworked beads. I'm afraid the strength of the little I had left had diminished too much and I was nearly out.

I finally secured a new kind that can be shipped as crystals and was anxious to try it out.

My other technique using baking soda on my glass has a way of obliterating some of the great shiny metallic iridescence. Colors can change radically with that treatment as well.

Anxious to try out the etching solution on my newest batch of beads I committed to etching the entire series of the day.

I was more than pleased as some colors and effects were enhanced and there was a beautiful subtle blooming of colors that I didn't expect along with the silky matte texture.

I had these dainty pink and black daggers from HappyFishThings that happened to get near enough to the beads on my worktable and make this surprisingly great combination that I don't know as I could have planned. Serendipitous designing I would call it.

You can also find Happy Fish Things on facebook

Thanks for looking! 

Kimberly Rogers

www.numinositybeads.etsy.com

www.facebook.com/numinositybeads

 to see how other designers are using my beads here is my Pinterest page

https://www.pinterest.com/numinosity/designers-using-numinositybeads/

Sila

 One of my favorite color combos is a light aqua paired with purple (and fuchsia looks great with aqua too). I've paired lampwork by my favorite lampworker (Bubby & McGurk Beads) with some Happy Fish Things ceramic spike drops. A simple yet dramatic pair of earrings.

 These earrings are available here on my website. 

Thanks for stopping by and having a look!

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations

 

Tribal

The rustic tribal look is really popular these days but not something that I do very often, but when Jana (Happy Fish Things) sent these to me, I had to give it a try! I thought that these lampwork beads by Bubby & McGurk Beads paired nicely with the drops with their shades of green and cream.

                                          These earrings are available here on my website.

Thanks so much for stopping by.....have a fabulous weekend!

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations

Santa Fe Stones

I love these rustic spiral ceramic beads by Jana of Happy Fish Things! If you haven't checked out her Etsy shop, you should...you won't be disappointed. I paired them with red coral beads and turquoise heishi beads and Vintaj ear wires of course! The colors reminded me of the Southwest.

I think they would look great with this outfit.

 

Southwest Style by kristyabner featuring a red shirt


These earrings are available HERE on my website

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Kristy Abner
Kristy's Kreations
 

Sun King

 I always have my iPod on while I am in my studio creating and I had to laugh while creating these because The Beatles, 'Sun King' came on and I immediately thought to myself, "That's the name!". Love when the happens because often times I struggle with a name. A few months ago, my mom was going through old jewelry to donate or throw away and these sun charms were on a pair of earrings so I scooped them up and now I'm glad I did. Recycled into these beauties. The lovely ceramic drops are by Happy Fish Things . Have I mentioned how much I love Jana's work? It's lovely, you should definitely check out her Etsy shop.

 

You will find these earrings for sale HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous weekend!

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations

 

Happy

I treated myself to a few of Jana's gorgeous ceramic pieces for my birthday. I love pairing red and turquoise together and these came together quickly and effortlessly (love when that happens!). Check out Happy Fish Things and pick up something for yourself. I promise you won't be disappointed. The Czech glass Picasso beads are from Stinky Dog Beads. I thought they were a perfect touch!

Standing Proud by InLightImagery 

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous weekend!

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations 

Kristy's Kreations Website 

Kristy's Kreations Facebook Page

Kristy's Kreations Blog