"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them." ~ A.A. Milne

I love playing around with strong contrast, and this pair of earrings has quite a nice mixture of texture and different types of material.

The beautiful porcelain earring charms are by Terri DelSignore of Artisticaos.  They have all the qualities I love - beautiful color, nice lines, and endless possibilities for designing with.

 I decided to build an abstract sort of flowering weed.  I didn't want to add a lot of color to the top of this pair, keeping the focus on the colorful stems. I used dyed lucite berries and added some sweet vintage glass pearls for a little softness and light.  It's a nice sophisticated and versatile color palette this way.

It popped into my head to use some bold rustic metal bead caps to represent the withering sepal. Also, they complement the outline of the leaves. I think the rustic look of the metal lends a nice little element of surprise, too, and really brings the whole design together.

Thank you, thank you, for stopping by to see what's happening on my worktable today!

See you back here in a couple of weeks!  

Loralee xo

https://www.facebook.com/loraleekolton.jewelry/

Dear Heart ♡

Oh, deary, deer!  Winter came early here in the Midwest and I'm buried up to my neck in coats, sweaters, and scarves!  For this reason, and season, I like to create shorter designs ♡

These lovely little deer charms were made by Vincent Cav of Inviciti. I am drawn to matte finishes and these are a new favorite!  Inviciti makes charms in an array of colors and combinations.

I purchased the large freshwater pearls from Allegory Gallery.  They are the most beautiful and subtle peachy-pink with a slight opalescence.  Andrew has such an eye for choosing beads for his shop and this is a favorite haunt for me, even if it's only online.  Those lucky devils that live nearby - I'm so jealous!

The distressed finish also looks amazing with vintage faux pearls; there are so many directions I could have taken these charms.

 I was having just as much fun playing with the photography (if you haven't noticed) as making the earrings themselves!  It's been so overcast that I'm surprised I got as many good shots as I did.

Well, that's me for now!  I'll be back in two weeks, just before Christmas! 

 ♡ Stay cute and cozy! ♡

Loralee xo

www.loraleekolton.etsy.com

Lush Branches

Handmade ceramic branch carvings, by Foxpaws.  Beautiful textures, facets and shading are shown in these stunning beads!

I wanted to create a bit of dramatic mood with these unique pieces, so I added lush vintage glass pearls and golden druzy beads.  

These are up there with some of my all time favorite earrings; hope you like them as well! 

Thank you for stopping by today ♡

Loralee xo

Loralee Kolton ~ artful in beads

Metal Guru.

Hello folks! Hope I find you all well. It's been a  busy week so far with three out of my four grandchildren succumbing to a sicky bug that's had me running around with not much time to make. So if you think your eyesight is a little blurry - no - I left it  a bit too late to take my pictures today and the light was disappearing fast, so it's the pictures, not you!

This week I thought I'd introduce you to a new venture for my friend Helen Backhouse. She's begun to work with metal clay - silver, bronze and copper - and the results are beautiful. She's using the same moulds as she does for her polymer clay work - all individually hand made from natural found objects, not proprietary. The first pair today is copper, in a bark effect. I've given them the special treatment, with my new delivery of Basha Beads - magical colours that look like the beads have tiny flames inside.

The shells are some of my favourite shapes and they cry out for sea treasures - coral sticks and keishi pearls, all copper wrapped.

And finally- the silver. Oxidised heavily and polished back so the relief in these teasel heads really stands out. I've kept these simple with black pearls and Lucy Haslam's oxidised silver twisted sisters connectors. Gothic glamour.

 

 

So those are this week's earrings; all available in my Etsy shop. I'll see you in two weeks, hopefully bug-free! And by then, there will be only two weeks to Christmas - can you believe it?

 

Lindsay x 

 

My Etsy shop

                                                                  My Facebook page

It's a boy

Sooooo much has happened since I last posted a couple of weeks ago. I had mentioned that I'd soon be a "grand-maman" later on in April. Well, turns out that this little cuddle monkey decided he needed to come out 3 weeks early (!!!)

My husband and our brand new grandson, wrapped in a soft baby blanket that I designed

We had a bit of a scare because of some late-pregnancy complications. His mommy was going to be induced to get him out last Friday, but he decided to come out himself without medical help... a few days earlier than planned.

Thank God everyone is now fine, healthy and safe. Little Harvey (and his mommy) ended up going on a 50 minute Air Evacuation Helicopter ride when he was just 30 hours old to get him ASAP to the big hospital on the South end of the Island as he was having difficulty breathing.

He is ever so precious and we're all very proud and happy of this new arrival in our family.

So, in his honor, I was inspired to make something in 'blue' to celebrate our new beautiful grandson:

I created this design starting with some cool 'iceberg' blue (gray-ish blue) Czech glass beads at the top, nesting them in some Bali silver bead caps.

I have a large collection of pearls - some of them I have purchased from one of my favorite Pearls seller on Ebay: Rainbow Island Pearls, and these large Keshei pearls with natural light shades of blue-mauve looked like a good fit. I love their uneven surface catching the light and adding movement... paired with a set of my small handmade polymer clay dagger drops.

These drops have specks of silver leaf, and swirls of greyish-blue. I used simple hypoallergenic Titanium ear wires to finish the design.

The polymer clay drops almost remind me of stars in the evening sky around here. They move a lot, and are really fun to watch. Very lightweight and versatile!

I think these earrings would be perfect to wear with a pair of jeans and a cool Summery tank top.  What do you think?

Have a wonderful weekend ahead!

Cheers,
New Grandma (Grand-maman) Nathalie :)
Visit my shops:
My Garden Of Love on Etsy
The Crafty Tribe on Etsy

PEARLS OF WISDOM

 Pearls. Calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, found in the soft tissue of molluscs. Doesn't sound too romantic does it? Yet what woman doesn't love them? Timeless, classic, graceful, with a lustre that illuminates the skin. 

                                Pearl - a metaphor for something rare, fine and valuable. 
 

Rustic, cultured, biwa, keishi; natural or dyed - I use them all in my designs. But there are times when you need a certain colour - a perfect match. It's then I turn to Swarowski crystal pearls. These beautiful new leaves from Helen Backhouse in shades of rose quartz and serenity (why didn't I have my hands on these last year when Pantone made it the colour of 2016?) demand the perfect soft pink that is 352 Powder Rose. A simple yet stylish pair of hand forged fine silver earwires and bob 's your uncle. Perfect Spring earrings - light and feminine.

 

 

 

 

 

So how do you effect your match without expensive guesswork? Well, Swarowski have this clever  resource that has every shade of pearl in every shape and size all in one little bag, with a chart. I'd thoroughly recommend you get yourselves one if you use pearls regularly - mine has been invaluable. In the UK you can get one from Jillybeads and they're surprisingly inexpensive. And a good range of the pearls - priced singly too.  I'm sure one of our US friends will identify a source over there.
Don't confuse them with cheap glass pearls that chip easily - these have a high resistance coating that lasts through environmental influences.   

 

 

 

       So there's your Pearl of Wisdom - a piece of advice. You can never have too many resources to hand.

 

See you next time

 

Lindsay x

 

 

                                                                      My Etsy shop

                                                                  My Facebook page
 

Looking back

Hi there,

sometimes life just happens, and many small things come together which make you unable to deliver what you had had in mind in the first place. Without going in to any details, this is exactly what has happened to me recently. Nothing bad or serious, just many small things. The result is, I haven't got any new earrings to show you today. Yet I wanted to share with you something inspiring today here on the Earrings Everyday Blog. So I roamed around a little in my archives for pictures of things to show you. I picked three pairs of earrings that date back a few years. I hope you enjoy them. :-)

Mis-matched earrings with all brass findings. The beads in the left one are: pale blue dimpled ceramic bead by ChelleV2, pale blue edged raku ceramic disc by Jubilee, and a roundish bone bead. The one to the right contains: ivory and gold vintage lucite ridged round bead, pale blue edged raku ceramic disc by Jubilee and a pale blue and bronze matte lampwork bead by Gardanne. 

All brass findings from Vintaj, stripy trade glass beads, white baroque pearls, and pale blue Griffin silk cord.

Stunningly beautiful Lapis Lazuli matte nuggets. Brass findings.

All my best,

www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.se

Re-Cycle, Up-Cycle....It's all Good!!!

I must say that creating jewelry is a lot more fun when you can add interesting elements to the mix. Up-cycling, re-cycling, re-vamping....what ever you want to call it, I love doing it!! Like putting a puzzle together; mixing the old with the new to create quite the attraction. I have my favorite local consignment stores I hit about every week or so and always find something with potential.

These little pretties show off Austrian crystal flower sections from a retired Sorrelli necklace with stunning Artisan lamp-work by the extremely talented Terry Turner of Silverfish Designs.  I love her beads!!!

I think they're pretty drop dead gorgeous and even though they've already sold, I still have the rest of the necklace to make other pieces with, ☺

So next time your looking through your old jewelry or inherited pieces from family members that you don't wear, give it some new energy, you never know what you might end up with. 









Thanks for stopping by and I hope I did my job and brought your some inspiration ♥

My Etsy Shop
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What inspires you? - Guest Malin de Koning

"What are you inspired by when you create your jewelry designs?"
We have all been asked that question, right. :-)
I myself could answer "basically anything". Nature, a film, music, art, people, other's jewelry and so on. But most of all I am inspired by the actual beads themselves and the materials I work with.

And as it happened - it was only the day after I was asked if I wanted to do a guest post here on Earrings Everyday that I received a shipment from Smitten Beads in the UK. It included a batch of large rustic pearls. I don't often work with pearls in my jewelry. But these rustic ones (oh I've bought them before in different colors) are just to die for. So it was easy to make up my mind that I would create earrings with large rustic pearls for this post. And as I am a big fan of art beads I also wanted each pair to contain at least one set of art beads. I made three pairs.

Ingredients:

Cognac brown rustic pearls

Electroplated hematite faceted square heishis

Rust red greek cog washers

Rustic Tin Works caps pins - CrowsCacheSupplies

Silver ear hooks (oxidized) - RubyMountain

Ingridients:

Electroplated hematite saucer beads

Bronze and swirly polymer clay disc - HumbleBeads

Bronze bicone bead with edge pattern - GracefulWillow

Green and yellow drop shaped rustic pearls

Copper ear hooks (oxidized) - RubyMountain

Ingridients:

Beaded beads - Malin de Koning

Olive colored rustic pearls

Patinated brass flower patterned boat shaped dangles - MissFickleMedia

All my best,

Malin de Koning

www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com

Not your grandma's pearls

I've accumulated an extensive stash of fresh water pearls over the years. I hoard them. 

I really think I need an intervention group or something for my bead-hoarding...

(but I'm guessing that we'd all end up participating in the group lol)

The other day, when Miss Erin showcased the new 2015 Pantone colors, I started looking through my stash and pulled out a couple of strands of pearls that caught my eye with their soft cool hues.
They seemed to match really well with this year's palette.

When I use pearls in my designs, I aim to set them up in a non-traditional way, so that we don't end up thinking that we're wearing our grandma's pearls ;)

So this is what I've come up with for this design:

Designer Pearl Earrings by Nathalie Lesage at NatLJ.com

The fresh water pearls featured at the top are a soft cool blue, almost a dusk blue (Pantone 16-4120). Although the color is soft, I think these two pearls at the top really 'pop' and add a touch of brightness and spunk to the design. They seem almost luminescent :)

The set of pearls at the bottom is a Titanium grey (Pantone 17-4014) that picks up

the same metalic hues as the Hill Tribe Fine Silver Squares.

Soft cool grey hues inspired by the Pantone 2015 colors

These hollow HT square were very plain originally, but a few years ago, I had heavily distressed them to use them in a project, and I ended up using something else instead. I kept wanting to do something with these, and it seems that today was the right moment.

I hope that you'll agree that these are not your grandma's pearls :D

You can find these earrings HERE on my website.

Have a fabulous day!

Nathalie

Metalsmith & Jewelry Artist

www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com

Luminita

I've had these lovely porcelain charms by Round Rabbit for years now (I can't be the only one who hoards these things, right?) but since I am so hooked on using Irish waxed linen here lately, well...inspiration (finally) struck on how I wanted to use them.

                                You will find this pair available on my website here.

                                              These are available here on my website.

                            I can't decide which pair I like the best....what about you?

Thanks for stopping by...have a great weekend!

Kristy Abner

kristyskreations.com  

Athena Earrings

I have an extensive collection of pearls, including some beauties from the Sea of Cortez, some salt water pearls and large cultured freshwater pearls (as shown here). I've been hoarding them for some time, and I do make the occasional special jewelry with them, but other than that, I keep my stash close to my heart.

I've decided that they really need to come out and play. It's not fair to keep them stored away. They are meant to be enjoyed and worn. It's just hard to let go sometimes...

So today, I introduce you to my Athena pearl earrings, featuring a pair of large (~10mm) natural cultured freshwater pearls, wire wrapped in 14kt gold-filed wire and surrounded by an eclectic cluster of sparkling Labradorite gemstones that seem to 'dance' around the pearls.

These sassy earrings would go great with this adorable little quilted Jeans dress, don't you think?

Athena Summer Outfit by nathalie-lesage featuring a flower arrangement

You can find these modern flirty pearl earrings HERE on my website.

I will be making more in various colors of pearls/gemstones combinations... they make me happy :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Don't forget to participate in our We're All Ears May Challenge! (details HERE)

Nathalie Lesage

Metalsmith, Jewelry Artist

www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com

Neutrals

As a designer who is constantly challenging myself using color, this time around I wanted to create something a bit more neutral for the blog today. These delicate dangles feature some beautiful Smoky Quartz beads in a unique squared rectangle shape. I layered these beads with some deep red garnet drops and some tiny freshwater pearls.  I think that these muted tones could be worn with anything and always look great!

You can find these and other great earring designs in Lorelei Eurto's Etsy shop!

All outfits shown are from Anthropologie

Bohemian Wrapsody

I have a new component I'm calling Earring/Bead Bails, last week's Snakeskin Swivel Earrings Everyday post from me was the first time I showed them off.
 Now I've made them bigger and turned them upside down.


Bohemian Wrapsody on Etsy

My friend Staci of Staci Louise Originals inspired and encouraged me to go bigger and bolder!!

So I did just that!

Earring Bails in Copper with Houndstooth texture outside Paisley texture inside.

Bronze Freshwater Pearl discs, Lampwork by Radiant Minda and

amazing Green Kyatnite daggers.

Kristi
KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy
KristiBowmanDesign.Artfire