Rusty Green Ceramic Earrings

These earrings feature some of my newest and first ever Ceramic beads. I am having a wonderful time experimenting with glaze and texture.

 Working with porcelain and making beads are not new to me. But making porcelain beads is. This will probably be a life long learning experience for me and I am ready for the challenge! 

There is so much to do and so much to learn. I cannot imagine this ever getting old. We'll see. 

 These beads have a leafy pattern imprint and "turquoise lagoon" glaze.

I really love how the colors look rusty. 

Like an old rusty green metal thing you'd see out in the woods.  

Yeah? Click for more inspiration on Pinterest.

 

These earrings can be found on my website

at ArtandSoulJewelry.com

☮ Cindy

Peace

I made these Stylized Peace signs awhile ago in White Copper
 but I just decided I needed to make them in Copper and give them 3 holes.
 I paired them up with these pretty micro faceted Pink Stones and I love the look!!

They have lovely long Antiqued Copper Earwires handmade by Julie Thelen, that I've embellished with a wonderful Silver Bead and a few twists of copper wire to keep them in place.

I went for mixed metals in this one which I always love!!

I'd love to see these earrings with a super funky Hippy Bohemian outfit like this.

LoLoBu.com

They remind me a little bit of the Bell Bottoms I wore as a young teenager!

These earrings are available

HERE

at KristiBowmanDesign.com

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.com

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

We're All Ears :: July Inspiration

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Two-Sailing-Boats-Puget-Sound-Washington-Posters_i3511549_.htm

Since it is July 4th, I wanted to do something with just a little nod to this patriotic holiday. These racing boats have very graphic sails that really grabbed me. The shape of the sails puffed out is another thing that I loved. The dark navy water against the light blue sky and the rolling waves behind  are a great grounding color palette.

 What inspires you about this graceful watercraft?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To participate in the We're All Ears creative challenge:

Make earrings inspired by this picture.

Write a post on your blog.

Add your exact blog post URL link to the InLinkz code right here
on Friday, July 18th.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wood and water

I love seeing the latest czech glass bead shapes.  I also really love a spiky bead.  So when I started seeing these thorn beads on different suppliers' sites I knew it was only a matter of time before I gave them a go.  When I got them I was a bit surprised.  They were nowhere near as large as I had anticipated.  (I gather I'm not the only person who gets caught out - a lot - by not checking the measurements on listings...)  The plans I had in mind needed a re-think. These tear shaped hoops are what I came up with.  I mixed in more czech glass and a variety of Indonesian glass.  I've made several similar pairs now using these thorns.  I've also been stocking up on more in different colours.  So, despite their size, they've joined my list of czech glass favourites.

These earrings are now available here in my Etsy shop.

Bye for now, Claire 

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

Designing for Yourself

One of the biggest perks of being a jewelry designer is the ability to create killer accessories for any outfit. If I see a dress that I'm dying over and can't stop daydreaming about, not only can I treat myself to it, but I can also create handmade one-of-a-kind jewelry to go with it. No need to shop around, find something that's in my style, compare prices, hem-and-haw...I can just sit down and make it myself. Your friends and family can all be jealous, it's ok.

 
Over the years, one of my favorite Etsy clothing designers has been Gaia Conceptions. Andrea makes "eco chic apparel for the global nomad" using "certified organic and sustainable fabrics which have inspired simple, timeless, and ethical designs rooted in comfort and multifunction". Love? Love. I've got quite a few of her skirts and dresses and find myself wearing them all the time, including this one.

I've been experimenting with creating bezel-set stone earrings in sterling silver lately. Up until now I've just been making rings, but I'm now starting to branch out and create these designs for ears, not just fingers.


 




These picasso jasper stones went perfectly with the rusty orange of my dress, plus added some summery sage green and magenta - they remind me of a sunset in the desert. Simple, organic, full of energy and color, yet not overwhelming. 

Sometimes I end up listing the jewelry I make for myself, and sometimes it ends up on the ~MINE~ jewelry stand. Hey, we've got to pay ourselves every now and then, right? :)

Happy Mid-week!
Nikki

LoveRoot on Etsy

Pyrotechnics

As the celebration of our country's birthday approaches, our thoughts go to a long holiday weekend with barbeques and beaches. Time for fun with friends and family at the height of summer! The highlight of the 4th of July holiday, of course, are the many fireworks displays that will be topping off the evening all across America. And being America with its competitive spirit, each town or city strives to outdo their neighbor with more extravagant displays.

In the spirit of the 4th of July, I channeled my inner pyromania into these rustic copper earrings with glowing red English cut Czech glass beads. To mimic the burst of lights, I wire wrapped small English cut Czech beads to my hammered copper connectors in a varied color pattern. They are listed in my Etsy shop.

Gloria Ewing
Chrysalis Too on Etsy
Chrysalis Jewelry on Artfire

Stormy Skies

We're having a bit of a strange Summer so far... 

It's our first time spending any length of time in Northern Alberta, 

so we're not sure if this is the norm, 

but someone told us that they see snow once a month here.

So far, June has been snow-less (but it came close a few times). Pretty much every evening, 

we end the day with a storm. I see so many clouds, and they really fascinate me.

So in keeping with our stormy skies of late, I've designed this pair of earrings, which

features various shades of grey, and lines representing clouds and lightning:

This design features a pair of gorgeous Artisan Lampwork Beads (I've lost the seller's info, I bought these a long time ago), a couple of chunky nuggets of Labradorite, and natural grey freshwater pearls.

Coupled with Sterling Silver, and these earrings have all the shapes of a cool storm, if you ask me :)

You can find these earrings HERE on my website!

Happy stormy days...

With love and inspiration,

Nathalie Lesage, Metalsmith/Jewelry Artist

http://www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com