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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Cathedral


I've had these pretty Bails for awhile and decided to tweak them a bit and put a beautiful Glass Headpin through them top them with a coordinating bead and they turned in to beautiful earrings.

I think these were the first pair I made and they sold at the last show I did along with a few other pair I didn't get photographed.  But I dug around my stash and found a variety of bails I could use for this technique.








Kristi

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Brick and Mortar

Once again, I'd like to welcome our lovely friend and wonderful designer, Meridy Migchelbrink, of TwoTreesStudio, and thank her as well for giving us her time to design and create these earrings special for today. I love Meridy's style, her work; she is also one of the loveliest women you will ever meet. She works color expertly! If you have not yet, a walk through her shop is joyful.
norbel

I love well-crafted, beautiful, and whimsical earring components, so when I found these beautiful, playful enamels by Marlene Kazor Quigley of MarkazoI knew I wanted to make something with them! 

The enamels begged for RUSTIC, so I went looking in my stash to see what beads I might have that would work with them (I’m trying to cut back on my bead spending—yes, you may laugh now, I’ll wait).  After no immediate success, I remembered that I still had a pair of Leese Mahoney’s, GlassByLeese, gorgeous crusty-rustic cones in a perfect shade of green. 












So I started to play.  I needed a bit more red, so I pulled out some chunky 10mm red horn discs, which looked great with the cones and the enamels.  I also wanted motion, so I made small wire-wrapped dangles in red and olive green and hung them from matching green niobium jump rings (thank you, chainmailling habit—I always have plenty of rings to choose from!).  Since I wanted to use my signature fiber-wrapped earring technique, once I got the cones and horn discs onto the linen cording, I had to weave the cording through the holes in the enamels AND through the rings, making sure the linen was wrapped tight enough around the area between the enamels and the beads (so that all was secure) before I started the decorative wraps that drape over the tops of the rings.  

When I was happy with the look of the earrings, I trimmed the cord ends and made backings from red handmade paper and glued them to the backs of the enamels to hide the cord ends.  
 
And the finished product.  Pretty, whimsical, swingy, and definitely fun. 

And they’re even a tiny bit Christmas-y—which hadn’t even occurred to me until I had finished them!  ;)


Thank you for inviting me to sit in here at EE again—I always enjoy being here with you all.  J

Meridy Migchelbrink
Two Trees Studio on Etsy  -- 
Two Trees Studio on Facebook  -- 



Friday, November 25, 2016

Lampwork bell caps

I was lucky enough to snag some of Elaine Thornton's bell cap beads as they tend to go pretty quick. Here's a quick collage of most of the caps I got. I knew exactly how I wanted to use them. 


So I painted some brass wings


and made these earrings

Red bells


Clear gold bells


Purple passion scruffy bells


Frosted ice bells


Yep all in the same design but I do love them :D hope everyone else does too <3

I did make a couple of non 'wingy' pairs




Hope you like them.  The purple pair has sold and the rest will be listed in my Etsy shop over the next few days.  See you again soon <3

Suhana xxx

My Etsy shop: Buttoned Up Beads



Wednesday, November 23, 2016

What's Wrong With This Picture!

Do you see it?  OMG, I posted them for sale and splattered it all over social media...how embarrassing!   I really didn't notice until the customer who bought them had to point it out and ask me if I could fix it.  If you don't see what I'm talking about; the far left dagger has the glass bead at the bottom of the coil, not the top.

Excitement got the best of me and I just lost focus.  Well, we're not perfect are we?  Absolutely not, I can say this isn't the first time I've done this.  I wish I could say it won't be the last, but I can guarantee I'll be looking more closely from now on.






They're still a magnificent pair of earrings.  I love the colors, the bamboo design and Asian flare- ♥

The porcelain charms were purchased from Kiyoi Design. You can find her shop on ETSY.  I have purchased from Cheryl for a long time.  Never disappointed with excellent customer service.














The half moons shapes above are discs of round Kuchi gillets that I cut in half.  I took thick silver wire and bend it in half to create the daggers on the sides.  

I loved these so much that I ordered another pair from Kiyoi which I will be offering in my shop.  Trust me, these will be detailed correctly, ☺





Thank you for stopping by friends~
Wishing you and your family a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving Holiday ♥

Lynn Ferro aka Yucca Bloom Fine Artisan Jewelry

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Hip Chick Star Charm Earrings

First, does anyone know where Hip Chick has gone? I have loved her charms for... forever! I'll admit, I  stopped ordering a while back  when my jewelry designs went a different direction. But I still have a small personal collection I adore (horde).
 

Hip Chick beads & charms are sterling silver and have a rustic handcrafted appeal.



Today I bring you Hip Chick Star Earrings featuring small blue handcrafted ceramic beads by Cindy's Art & Soul Beads. (new sets coming soon!)

Wrapped in a thick gauge pure silver wire with tiny Indigo Swarovski crystals dangling below. 

Available at Art & Soul Jewelry...

Peace & love to you, 
today and always. 
http://www.artandsouljewelry.com/



Monday, November 21, 2016

Already?


These earrings give me a feeling of Christmas.
Red ceramic charms by a new artist aquintance of mine. Nadya Latirus from Russia. Lovely lovely work! (She sells both on Facebook and in her Etsy shop.)
The patinated chain is made by my all time favourite since many years, MissFickleMedia.


Below a close up of the lovely drops.



All my best,
Malin
www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com
www.etsy.com/shop/MalindeKoning



Friday, November 18, 2016

We're All Ears :: November Reveal

The description of the taste of this vintage 1800s candy recipe called Nectar sounds so intriguing... "It's very hard to describe. Sometimes it tastes a bit like pound cake. Sometimes it tastes like almonds. Sometimes other flavors. And it seems to change when you suck on it. It's a delicious flavor and one that translates well in the 21st century."

The beautiful amber color of the candies was a perfect choice for November. Topaz is the birthstone for the month and there are plenty of beads and stones that give that same effect.
I used citrine, agate and even millefiori glass beads for my drops.

I love the look of that old hand crank machine that they used to make these candies. I find it so inspiring that something so old can be brought back to such a sweet new life! It has a very steampunk Victorian quality to it and it is fascinating to watch. To bring in the element of the antique candy press I used steel washers, twisted links and even beaded links (I wish I could say who the artist is who made them!).

For my contribution, I made four different pairs of earrings inspired by the candy making video and the fact that the candy changes flavors as you suck on it.


 


So what sweet treats have you cooked up for us this month? I can't wait to see what you did!

[Note: The InLinkz tool is something I love using but they increased their price substantially. So I am trying out a new link-up service. Please be patient as I work through this!] 


Thursday, November 17, 2016

Simple As Black And White

I'm usually the kind of person who sees so many sides of any issue that making a decision can become challenging.  But sometimes things really are as simple as black and white.  Okra or ice cream?  Handmade or mass produced?  Birthday party or a dentist appointment?  No shades of gray there.  These choices are as simple as black and white.
 I recently met with seed beader extraordinaire, Lindsay Starr, when she was visiting her in-laws here, in Washington state, (see her post about this here).  We met at Shipwreck Beads, which is close to my house.  While there, both Lindsay and I bought strands of of these really cool, wavy, black and white beads. Today, when I saw her blog post about our visit, I remembered those beads and decided to see what I could do with them.
I used some black Artistic Wire to connect the black and white beads to some lampwork flower shapes.  I topped them with some faceted onyx beads, then I wrapped the wire back down across the onyx and over the face of the black and white beads.
I like how the black wire wrap creates a diagonal line across the center of the earrings. And now that I've sat with these earrings a bit, I am thinking that I should oxidize those Sterling silver ear wires. I'll add that to tomorrow's To-Do list.
Shall I wear these earrings now?  The answer to that question is as simple as black and white.
The Simple As Black And White earrings are available on my website.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

I Give You Nothing

Those who know me know that I don't get political with people. It's not my thing. It does not feed my soul. I believe what I believe, and that's enough for me. Likewise, I get nothing out of complaining. Especially aimless, complaining-for-the-sake-of-it complaining.

I try to live a purpose-driven life, and getting worked up over these sorts of things does not serve me. It's a trait that I had to develop and nurture quite a few years ago after hellish anxiety took me for a nosedive. I gently keep after it, as one softly blows on an ember to coax it into a steady fire. I remind myself that we have control over how we live our lives. It's a matter of accepting that control.  
So, I'm going to stay true to form and stop myself right here. I am only going to leave you with a quote that a beautifully kind, like-minded soul gifted me recently. It's from Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes". It dawned on me this morning that it applies pretty damn well to..........well, things of late: 

 


He gathered the boy somewhat closer and thought, evil has only the power that we give it. I give you nothing. I take back. Starve. Starve. Starve.




Today's earrings were named for these powerful words. They feature wee, smooth, matte nuggets of veined howlite. I fell in love with these beads at a local show recently--small, soft little pebbles that roll through your hands like tears. I appreciate that they aren't polished to a shiny gleam--I wish more stones were matte finished. I kept it simple, wire wrapping them in links of three and dotting them with blackened silver solder. 

Keep the fire burning and be strong, my friends.

Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Twisted


Twisted Copper and Steel wire with beautiful Jasper Points hanging below.
I adore the look of these 2 metals twisted together and the Jasper look so with it!


I must say it is challenging to twist small lengths of this wire together so that they match but I'm getting the hang of it the more I work on them. They are worth the effort in my opinion.
These have beautiful Lampwork Headpins by Leese Mahoney dangling from them!


Kristi

Friday, November 11, 2016

Stars!

It's all about stars this time. 

I made the wire wrapped hoops for my components show but decided to keep them for me to use in my own jewellery (as you do sometimes).  I added cubic zirconia crown caps (absolutely love this stuff!) and a couple of clear glass flowers on top. I don't think they needed anything else. 


I loved making the first pair so much I went ahead and made a couple more.

This time in my favourite red and turquoise with raw brass crown caps


And a third pair in everyone's favourite colour purple.


I finished off by making this statementastic pair with enamel stars by Bea Stoertz, daisy flowers by Elise Canning and my wrapped rings.


Another short and sweet post for you.  Hope you like them.  The 4th pair has sold but the rest are available in the Earrings Show group. 

See you again in a few weeks time.
Suhana xxx

My Etsy shop: Buttoned Up Beads


Thursday, November 10, 2016

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