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Thursday, June 28, 2018

Wired Butterflies

Hi, everyone!

I tried something a little different with these new earrings, which feature a pair of Cathleen Zaring's beautiful butterfly enameled-copper earring components: 


FYI, my usual go-to technique to use with components with top holes like these would be something like these earrings I made three years ago...


...and, believe me, I love these earrings and adore working with fiber and knotting this way.  But lately I've been having fun going back to playing with wire too.  

I'd made antiqued copper wire connector components before for necklaces (below is a detail) but had never tried to use them for earrings, and had never added beads to them. 



I thought it might be fun to see how the round connectors would work with this type of earring component, with just a few small beads in coordinating colors wrapped to them (and with a bead wrapped to each matching ear wire too!).  I didn't know what to expect, but they have a sleekness, a simplicity, and a modernity that I like--and I don't always end up liking my experiments.  😏  


They were also really fun to make.  I hadn't gotten my hands really messy in liver of sulfur in a while!  

These earrings can be purchased at Two Trees Studio.

Recipe for Wired Butterflies 
Enameled "handbag-shaped" copper earring beads by Cathleen Zaring
22 ga. round antique copper wire wrapped connectors
3 mm Czech glass rounds in amethyst and wine
15/0 Miyuki Delica yellow seed beads


Thanks for reading--I'll be back in a couple of weeks!

xoxo
Meridy 







10 comments:

  1. Meridy, you know I admire your wire work and chainmaille. So clever and I can imagine you must have tons of patience with those tiny jump rings. The wire connectors in these earrings are subtle and so lovely. Especially the tiny color accents of the beads mirroring the colors of the charms.

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    1. Thank you so very much, Janine! I really enjoyed working with the wire and beads with these earrings. It's fun trying to figure out the mechanics of things sometimes, even if it isn't really my strong suit. 😏

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  2. Fun combination! Love your creativity <3

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    1. Aww, thanks so much, Kare! I love hearing that, especially coming from my creative sister!

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  3. I love the wire wrapped and beaded hoops you created, and I love seeing them with the handbag shaped enamels..they fit together so perfectly. Beautiful! <3

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    1. Thank you so much, Cathleen--I'm so glad you like them! They were a really fun experiment that worked out well. I'm looking forward to more in the future. :)

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  4. Perfecto-mundo, Mer! Lots of fun to see and SOOOO hard not to want to duplicate your masterpiece! Let's raise a glass to the creative spirit!

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    1. Thanks so much, my dear Mer! Creativity is magic, isn't it? As you wrote not long ago on EE, you know when it's not quite there...and you also know when it IS. It's almost electric. Love you, my friend!

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  5. Great ideas with your charms Meridy! Very fun!

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