Mermaids

Happy Thursday, everyone! 💗 

For this post, I wanted to make simple earrings that would incorporate elements I already had with some new items. 

I was inspired by a visit to Shannon German's great store, Miss Fickle Media, one of my long-time fave places to shop.  I found these wonderfully textured brass leaves with a beautiful verdigris patina...and a string of gorgeous tiny (2mm) Paradise Blue quartz heishi beads:

                

The brass leaves are small and delicate, about 1-1/8 inches long, and very lightweight, so I got the idea of decorating them with möbius rings (also called rosettes) at the tops.  I had some beautiful chainmaille rings in teal blue/green niobium "Mermaid" mix that worked perfectly for the rosettes, and also some sturdy sterling rings to attach them to the leaves.

I made a tiny wrapped loop on one end of some 26-gauge sterling silver wire and then strung on it the little blue quartz and some sterling silver heishi beads.  I guided the other end of the silver wire into the bottom hole of the leaf, pulled it snug, and bent it upward at the back, then trimmed it to about 1 cm. Then I slid a sterling ring through the loop in the wire and then through the top hole in the leaf.  Before I closed the sterling ring, I also looped it through the rosette of niobium rings.  

When I finished that step for both earrings, I glued blue paper to the earring backs to cover and secure the wire (see above).  The last step:  sterling silver ear wires, an extra from Miss Fickle Media (thank you, Shannon, my dear!).  💗

Thanks for reading--I'll see you all in October!  💗
xoxo
Meridy

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The Vivid Creatures Can

I don't tend to do green.

I made these cones for my last bead shop update, and decorated them with some new glazes I'd picked up. I was a little underwhelmed with the initial results so I added some teal blue stripes and popped them back in the kiln. When I fished them out I was much happier: they have a seventies ceramics look about them. I nearly kept them from the off but I try to resist keeping the best things when listing beads so I added them along with *a lot* of other pieces. Much of the stock sold quickly but, for some reason, these cones were overlooked. So, taking that as a sign, I decided to pull them out for my own use.

I topped them with some rusted filigree caps and hung them from some blackened vintage copper rings, which frame some pleasingly rustic African brass charms. Within the cones I've added slender lengths of sterling silver and labradorite chain and some patinated copper pieces from Miss Fickle Media. The colours in both work really nicely with the blues and greens in the glazes.... and I'm still highly tempted to keep them!

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com