Creative Weekend

This past weekend was long-awaited and extra special for me!  Once a year I steal away with one of my best friends to South Haven, Michigan to attend the "Inspired By Nature" jewelry retreat. The event is hosted by Heather Powers of Humblebeads.

One of the many projects we worked on were these lovely faux tin components.  I actually made this pair using our "practice sheet" of tin, before using our fancy copper sheeting.  The practice run was supposed to let us get a feel for applying the transfers and baking which can be tricky.  However, I thought they turned out so well I decided to make a pair of earrings with it!

I oxidized all the copper accent beads and jump-rings to coordinate with the dark navy blue floral pattern and cut tiny squares of tin for fringe (nothing wasted!).

This gauge of tin was extremely lightweight and so nice for earrings.  The charms I made on copper sheeting will have a little more weight and be sturdier however, both materials are great in their own way.

Here are a couple of pendants I've made with copper backing.  Definitely more substantial.  I'm still working on them but wanted to show you.

Here we are working away like little elves in one of our cozy cabins.

All the lovely elves!  ♡

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I'll be back in a couple of weeks with some new things!

♡

Loralee XO

www.loraleekolton.etsy.com

Springtime, at the Edge of Winter...

It's nearly Winter Solstice, but I'm still loving florals, especially 

when they're as pretty as the flowers created by

Beth Mellor and Raida Disbrow, here and below.  

These earrings can be found and purchased here.

Such gentle beauty and color from Beth's glass tulip beads (with their blue petals laid over

 underlying green) and Raida's lovely floral enameled copper charms!  I complemented them

 with small blue Czech glass tulip beads, 4-mm olivine Czech glass discs, tiny rosy bicone 

Swarovski crystals, and small leafy copper bead caps.   

Thank you so much for reading!  I'll be back soon. 💗 The happiest of holidays to you all!

xoxo
Meridy
Two Trees Studio

Sister Earrings

Hi, everyone!  It's good to be back.

First, let me thank Norbel, who covered my last blog date at the last minute.  I really appreciate it, my friend! 💓

I've always loved the idea of "sister" jewelry:  pieces that resemble each other but aren't the same.  I hadn't made any sister anythings in a while...but then, about a month ago, I bought these exquisite rainbow leaf earring components from Kristi Bowman Gruel:

From a strand of four beads (by one of my favorite glass artists, Beth Mellor of Beeboo) I picked two that would be perfect with the leaves:  beautiful little round-edge cubes with colorful swirls and teal blooms. They would make a gorgeous pair of earrings.  So I made them, adding some copper beads, Czech glass rondelles, and Swarovski crystals:

These sold quickly (thank you, dear lady!), but I didn't forget that I still had two more of those wonderful floral beads.  Two or three weeks later, Kristi had another show, and I found leaf components that resembled the original leaves. 

 
I used different copper accents for these new earrings, making them more airy, and they're also a bit longer and more slender than their sisters.

These "sisters" are clearly separate designs, but they're definitely family!

  


Thanks for reading!  xoxo
Meridy

My shop
My FB

Coronas, Crowns, & Diadems...

Lately I've been making earrings finished off with small crowns, or coronas...

These earrings can be purchased at Two Trees Studio, here.  

The earrings above, "Night Gardens," are new in my shop, made with gorgeous lampwork rondelles by Terry Turner and beautiful flower headpins by Pati Walton.  I'm not really sure what has caused my current infatuation with these little crowns in recent earrings.  I'm not sure we ever really know what moves us to create in our own particular ways, but I think that's part of the fun.  I like the idea of letting creativity have its way!  I do know that I love these little bead caps with their open-wire scallops--there's a gentle femininity to them--and I really enjoy using them to cradle colorful little beads, usually Czech glass rondelles in lots of colors.

The earrings above are brand new, also with beads by Terry and headpins by Pati.   I had an awful time getting a good photo of them because it had been raining here for days, and the gloom left me with not enough light to do justice to Terry's beautiful lampwork beads...but the rains finally stopped and the sun came out!    😊 

The pair above is also new, made with Terry Turner's beads and gorgeous copper pieces by one of my all-time favorite artisans, Kristi Bowman-Gruel.  This time my "crowns" are lavender-dyed jade beads with bead caps made like flower petals rather than scallops--though you might notice that my favorite scalloped bead caps still make an appearance!  😉

I hope you're all having a great start to 2018.  Love and best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year to you all, and I will see you in a couple of weeks!  💗

xoxo

Meridy

My shop

My FB Page

Autumn Flora

Your saying to yourself- Autumn again? Oh yes, Autumn again. Here in SW Washington is such a glorious spectacle of color I think we all get a little caught up in it. Pumpkin spice flavored everything... sweaters, boots and hats come out of hiding. It's just a wonderful time of year and I love it!

Speaking of sweaters... I have this long gray sweater that I wore the heck out of last year. Nothing special. No designer tags on it, but It's my favorite. I know these earrings would go great! 

(sorry no picture of the sweater) Actually, my sweater looks just like this one, but it's long... https://www.pinterest.com/pin/269230883949700299/

The colors in the glaze are only from two jars but they produce a lovely array. The brick red speckles are just enough to set off that golden caramel and lift the blue gray.

Pinterest inspiration photo: 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/269230883949700243/

Happy Autumn! 

Cindy ~ Cindy's Art & Soul Jewelry

http://www.artandsouljewelry.com/

Poseidon's Garden

Poseidon's Garden

These colors remind me of Caribbean waters.

View of Caribbean Ocean from Bodden Town, Grand Cayman Island,
Courtesy Wikipedia Creative Commons

For these earrings, I started with a pair of my copper tulip caps, and gave them an aged blue-green patina. They made me think of blooms from a deep-sea garden! I chose gemstones in the same hues--I just love the way this aqua chalcedony glows, and the sea green aventurine nuggets match the patina on my tulip caps so perfectly. I dotted the earwires with Czech glass in a matching aquamarine blue.

I would pair them with a gown worthy of Amphitrite (especially if she was guest-starring on Downton Abbey--this dress is so Lady Sybil):

Amphitrite by lunebijoux featuring a chiffon dress

You can see more at my Etsy shop HERE.

Plum Poppies

Plum Poppies

These "fairy flower" lampwork beads from Mermaid Glass are a delicious, pale plum color. They make me think of poppies! And plum jelly. I love the burst of amber in the center. I've wired them onto sturdy 18-gauge copper earwires, and accented them with little square glass beads in iridescent butterscotch and lilac glass rounds.

As usual, I picture them with jeans! And some wild shoes.

Purple poppies by lunebijoux featuring lace up boots

You can see more at my Etsy shop HERE.

Spring Walk

 We have had our first taste of winter these last few weeks.  Today the snow is all melted and it's 50 degrees.  Oh how quickly we yearn for the next season!  I'm ready for walks in wooded paths, where daffodils are sprouting up and birds are chirping in the distance.  

These sterling silver earrings offer a fun take on traditional hoops with a rectangle design.  The tiny buttercup beads are handcrafted from polymer clay, each color a different layer of clay formed to create the pattern.  

You can find them here in my Etsy shop.

spring Walk by humblebeads featuring camper shoes

Click on the thumbnails above for more information on each item featured. 

Flower Hoops

I am torn. I don't want to give up the flowers but yet I am embracing the Autumn season too. These earrings are a cross between both. Gorgeous deep Autumn colors but with a floral motif.
Available in my etsy shop

I put together this inspired outfit to wear with these earrings.... I totally love everything here. I think I need to go shopping now....

Autumnal by lorelei-hill-eurto featuring knit fingerless gloves

Floral Hoops

These beaded copper hoops were so fun to create. Shannon of MissFickleMedia crafted these fine hoops for easy embellishments. I added some lampwork glass, tagua nuts, carved bone, chain, carnelian and silver flower drops.
The inspiration behind these earrings came from this sweet floral top from Sundance Catalog. Make a colorful statement with either of these fashionable pretties!

You can find these new earrings at my webstore!

Lorelei Eurto
www.loreleieurtojewelry.com

Spring Blossom Earrings

Tropical inspired orange blossoms are embellished with a cascade of crystals and glass.

The flowers are hand painted polymer clay charms that I created using an antique decorative spoon from my grandmother's collection. Crystals drip in warms shades of brown, green and golden orange.  The earrings can be found in my Etsy shop.

I asked my teen daughter to put together an outfit to match the earrings and this is what she came up with - makes me want to go shopping!

Orange Blossom by karaminx