Moonstone

Hello Earring People!

I'm really enjoying using gemstones at the moment. I love that they have their own special meanings, and whether you believe in their properties or not -it can make gifting them particularly significant.

Now my particular favourites at the moment are citrine, labradorite, carnelian and moonstone. Moonstone is the star of this blogpost and is supposed to represent new beginnings through promoting inner strength and calmness, enhancing inspiration and good fortune and releasing love. As we are still at the beginning of 2020, couldn't we all do with a bit of that?

So, these pretties started life as bits of sterling silver sheet and wire. I wanted to make something rather elegant to set off the pretty moonstone oval cabochons, so went for a diamond shaped setting, which I embellished with little silver balls. Those little silver balls are great to make! You just use some left over bits of wire or sheet and heat them with a torch until they contract into perfect little balls. Now one of those little minxes fell off when they were in the tumbler and I only noticed after I'd set the stone and you really can't solder a setting with a stone in! I didn't have the heart to discard them, so they'll have to stay a little imperfect!

I fancied doing something a little different with the earwires. These are just sterling headpins I made, which I then twisted round to make earwires. I rather like the twirliness!. I also love the flash of the moonstones. Like labradorite, moonstones have the prettiest flash of blue/grey in them. Delicious.

That's it from me. These will be available in my next showcase in Facebook Land  -on the Jewellery Show in March.

Sue
Utterly Lovely Stuff

Exploring the Ancient

Hi again - it's February already!
Welcome to my current obsession - sourcing old necklaces and chopping them up for interesting components. I have a stash of old necklaces left by my mum, who used to haunt antique shops and wander around flea markets looking for old broken necklaces to repurpose, so I guess it's in the genes. But hers are mainly old Victorian glass, pearls etc and although I often use them, I'm looking for something a little more eclectic. This week, it's old yak bone from Tibet. 

In the pair above, I've used old yak bone tubes above elephant ceramics by Majoyoal and wrapped the ends of the tubes with gorgeous recycled sari silk in deep blue, embroidered in scarlet and secured with vintage bronze wire. The earwires are handmade brass.

My second pair have wonderful deeply carved and aged yak bone beads, spacers and bronze wavy discs with tribal faces that Helen Backhouse moulded in polymer clay from a  piece of wall art I have. Great job too!

These two pairs will be in my Etsy shop, should you want either. Thankyou as always for visiting Earrings Everyday - we are always so happy to see you. And I'll see you again, in a couple of weeks.


                                                              Lindsay x

                                                         My Etsy shop

                                                        My Facebook page

Serendipity With Buttons

I had no idea what to make for this week's earrings, until I sat down at my work table last weekend. There, at the table, were all the leftover beads from a bracelet I'd made last week. I know, I know I should clean up after myself, but that's a whole different story.
Among the debris, I found these buttons that I'd bought at an antique/vintage store a couple of years ago. When I made the purchase, I planned to use them to create button closures for bracelets. But I suddenly saw these buttons in a new light.

I realized they could be used like earring charms or dangles! I dug through the other beads on my table and came across these really cool, rustic ceramic discs that I'd picked up at a bead show somewhere. They have very large holes in the center, so that when I attached them to the wooden buttons, the discs covered up the button shanks.

I added some accents and connected it all with brown Irish waxed linen. I love how they turned out. It tickles me that I could come up with a new, unusual way to use some old buttons. You can find these earrings in my shop now. Thanks, as always, for visiting Earrings Everyday. We love hearing from you in the comment section!

Linda Landig Jewelry

We're All Ears :: February Inspiration :: Sculpt the World

Jon Foreman is a land artist from Wales. He was inspired by the natural materials abundantly found in his seaside location to create his ephemeral land art sculptures. Stones, sticks, shells, leaves, sand, and more find their way into his hauntingly beautiful mandala-like sculptures. Can you imagine the delight in coming upon one of these out in the wild?

From his website - https://sculpttheworld.smugmug.com -

A creator of various styles of Land Art, he is ever in search of “different.” Be it with stones or leaves, inland or on beaches. He has even created works in derelict environments using materials such as broken glass or ashes and general debris. The scale of his work varies massively; he may use stones or driftwood to make something small and minimal. Otherwise he may be seen drawing massive scale sand drawings up to 50 metres across. His work is ephemeral in many differing ways; Most often the weather and immediate climate will make his work disappear (be blown down/washed away by the tide), and sometimes other people will interfere. This is all part of the creative process and has proven to benefit his work. Jon’s practice is not just something he enjoys but it is also a therapy for him, an escape from the stresses of everyday life. Jon began his journey making Land Art/Sculpture while in college but he feels his creative play with materials and innovative ideas are something which started long before. Most of his work takes place in an already beautiful setting such as the Pembrokeshire coastline. Having grown up there he saw the beauty of the coastline and woodlands and made use of them by collaborating with nature itself.

When I first saw these images on www.BoredPanda.com I immediately thought of beads! Each of these experimental sculptures is massive yet so intimate. The act of placing each stone, stick or leaf in just the right place based on color, size and shape is really remarkable. The circular shapes, with radiating rays and spirals are so very ancient and powerful. I imagine that there is a lot of planning that goes into these, and a meditative experience in completing them. Reminds me of my process of working with just the right beads that I "happen" to find in my beady landscape!

Be sure to look through both the 70+ pictures on the BoredPanda site for more inspiration as well as checking out his website for other materials and sculpture installations. There is even a short film of him working on a massive sand canvas piece along a rugged Welsh coastline. Beautiful! Well worth the time to watch. Show him some love, because his art is awesome!

Jon Foreman - Sculpt The World

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Of course you could just focus on the patterns and shapes that Foreman uses, or you could incorporate natural elements like sticks and stones and leaves into your interpretation. Lots of options! Hope to have you play along with me...and tell your friends, too! Be sure to come back on Friday, February 21st for the reveal!

Child's Play

In a previous life, these tin strawberry components were a vintage child's tea set.  Kimberly Rogers found the little plates at a rummage-type sale where she freeform hand-cut and filed each one.

Shabby chic, rustic with a playful history.  I love the roughed up bits on these charms as they show the many hours of fun some little girls must have had with them.

A row of pretty champagne colored rondell crystals added to the bottom for a little subtle bling.  

I love a pop of dark metal so I paired these with some handmade oxidized sterling silver ear-wires and blackened jump-rings.

Vintage celluloid strawberries in a beautiful iridescent cream, circa 1940.  I think they lend sophistication and polish to the mix and a lovely balance of color as well.

A sweet little Valentine for you all! ♡

Thank you for stopping by my worktable!

Loralee xo

www.loraleekolton.etsy.com

New Beginnings

Today we got to meet our new baby grandson, Kai Landig! Grandma and Grandpa got to hold him and give him lots of loves! See how content he looks in his Grandpa's arms!

However, as far as blogging goes, you'll have to forgive the blurry earring photos.

I'm editing them on my phone, in the motel room near our son's  house, whereas I usually take them with a regular camera and edit them in Photoshop,  on my laptop.

If you do crafts of any type, have you had days where your hands seem to have a total disconnect from your brain and they bungle anything you try to do? I was having such a day when I made these earrings. The first earring came together reasonably easily,  but the second - gah! Either the decorative, crossed wires on the pearl, wouldn't lay flat or the cross was too high up and couldn't be coaxed back in place or....you get the idea. I had to keep cutting it apart and starting over. And this was Sterling silver wire I was mangling! 

Anyway, eventually I wrestled it into compliance. 

The earrings feature my own handmade ceramic dangles, colored mother of pearl beads and sterling silver. I named them New Beginnings in honor of Kai's new beginning in this crazy world of ours. 💖

Linda Landig Jewelry 

Tribal Fun

Hi, it's very wet here and I just got soaked walking the dogs, I hope the weather has been kinder to you wherever you are today.

I thought I'd show you this fun pair of earrings that will be available in my FB group. They have quite a few elements and took a while to put together before I was happy with the design. I have used my hand painted/resin copper components with lampwork by Jolanda Van den Berg, small enamel components by Bea Stoertz, beaded components by Ellie Bead together with Czech glass bead caps, ceramic bead caps and black patina bead caps and ear wires.

With this design I thought it would be fun to echo the colour circles in different elements and give them my usual burst of colour. Adding the beaded caps gives them another dimension with a bit of a tribal twist resulting in an eclectic mix.

Thank you for taking a look. These will be available in my FB group today - Nicola Morse Jewellery & components.