New Dress - New Jewelry

My brother is getting married this weekend, which seems like a fine reason for me to treat myself to a new dress.

 And with a new dress, comes the need for matching jewelry. Its hard to really see the pattern in the fabric from a distance.  Here's a close-up.  Lots of pretty jewel tones to work with in designing coordinating jewelry. 

Of course I'm still making jewelry the night before our flight to L.A. for the wedding. Its 9:30 p.m. and the earrings are done.  The necklace is only about half complete and I haven't even packed yet.  At this rate, I may be finishing the necklace in the hotel hours before the big event.  Oy !

The saucer shaped beads are Thai Hill Tribe beads that I bought long ago when such things were affordable!  I dangled 3 lengths of silver chain beneath the silver beads.

I placed Swarovski crystals above the silver beads and wire wrapped crystals to the end of each chain dangle.  The crystals are turquoise but they have an emerald green AB finish on one side, so they accent the 2 main colors in the dress.  And people keep telling me that L.A. style includes more bling than I'm used to.  So I definitely have the bling thing going on here.

 The necklace has Swarovski crystals too and some beautiful lampwork glass beads.  I'll share it on my blog after the wedding. 
Hope you are enjoying sunny weather!  L.A, will be hot!

Linda Landig Jewelry

Repeat Offender

For those of us who gravitate toward art beads---and who doesn't, really?---we tend to have favorite bead artists that we keep going back to, time and time again. Can't seem to shake em. And just when you think that 1.5 trays of their beads are going to satisfy your hunger, they list new components and you find yourself going back again for another fix, like a zombie in the endless pursuit of BRAAAAAAAINS. 

One of the bead artists on my short list is Marsha Neal. I remember buying from her years ago when I first started designing jewelry and I still buy from her to this day. Her abstract, organic shapes and earthy glazes have captured and held my fascination through quite a lot of creative growth on my part--through it all, her beads have always played a note in my cumulative song.

Some of my favorite beads are her twisted horns. It's clear that she takes great care in forming them but still lets them take on their own unique, evocative shape. I have yet to find two that match perfectly--that's part of the magic, for me.

For this pair, I used a slate blue-gray matte glazed pair of horns, stacked them with vintage German pressed wood beads, and capped them with rusty petal bead caps. Throw in some blackened soldering to fill the gaps, hang them from some of my extra long ear wires, and you've got two edgy pieces of art for your ears.


Happy Wednesday!
Nikki 
LoveRoot on Etsy

Hippie Things. . .and Abstract Stuff

Happy July. To those of you in the States, I hope you were able to enjoy a long weekend and are back to it relaxed and refreshed!

I think those of you that visit here know by now that I love Artisan Made Beads, all types. They inspire me! They challenge me! And they're simply beautiful art. Every once in a while though I need to challenge myself to create without them.

Well, a simple copper hoop is certainly not unique, and not very inspiring either. But it is a challenge; it's a challenge to do something with it that feels good and makes the hoop sing! 

So first I pulled out the torch and made the hoops. The beads I selected are Czech glass with an earthy Picasso finish. I love the way a jazzed up hoop feels, and the little ching ching you might hear when you turn your head. Each earring has six dangles with 3mm glass beads above and below. I initially planned to use tiny copper beads but when I weighed everything, they were heavier than I wanted. In the end, the small beads were a better choice. I added a half dozen small copper rings made of 16 gauge wire, placing one in between each dangle to add a bit of distance between them and one on each end. I find these simply refreshingly fun. 

"Hippie Hoops"

And now the abstract! This pair of copper earrings has plagued me with failed after failed attempt to do anything with them. I haven't even been able to simply let them be as they are, which is how I meant them to be! I have tried everything I could think of to hang them and it just wouldn't work. I soldered a small half hoop at the top, thinking surely that would be perfect but all that happened is the entire thing pointed nose down. I could not find a way to keep them in the position they were meant to be in, which is STRAIGHT! :) I tried cord, leather, wire in various places, and have put them aside every time without success. I was really determined this time. I made these; I should be able to control them.

Abstract

Again I soldered a "handle" at the top at what I thought would surely be the proper angle but it did not work. Cut that off, sanded it down again with a Dremel. After trying a couple of other things I went back to one that I thought had a bit more success than the others, which is two copper jump rings, the same 16 gauge I used above, placing one on each side of the "rays." Put the wire through the two rings and had the wires meet in the middle. Now I went on a hunt for an abstract bead because I knew what I was going to have to do to make this work. I settled on the two funky Tyvek Beads, made by Carol Ann of BombPop, which is currently on hiatus. The end result, I knew, was that I was going to have to angle the loop, and voila, it worked! I love them! And they have been a true labor of love.

Abstract

Thanks for visiting! We do appreciate all of you. We appreciate your comments, questions, and feedback! I'll be back on the 19th. The Awesome Ms. Nikki Zehler, creator of all things LoveRoot, will be here tomorrow. Enjoy it!

Norbel Marolla
She Flies Again Etsy Shop 
She Flies Again on Facebook 
You can find me on Instagram

Blue dotted pebbles

Art Beads:
Painted pebbles - Plymouth Rocks

Other ingredients:
Milky teal Swarovski facetted rounds
Black wooden rice shaped beads
Twisted copper wire
Copper findings
Handmade copper earring hooks



All my best,
Malin
www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com

We're All Ears :: July Inspiration

I've always wanted to go to a hot air balloon rally. 

[Photo credit :: Catt Liu :: Unsplash]

Waking up at the crack of dawn wouldn't be so bad if I had this wonder to behold.

[Photo credit :: Michael Hirsch :: Unsplash]

I think that it is quite an impressive sight to see all the glittering orbs floating above the landscape as the sun rises. 

[Photo credit :: Daniela Cuevas :: Unsplash]

It would be so peaceful and quiet up there floating above the treetops with a birds-eye view of the patchwork quilt land below. 

[Photo credit :: Daniela Cuevas :: Unsplash]

I love the bright colors of the balloons, their shapes, the way the flames illuminate them from within as a glittering jewel. 

[Photo credit :: ellehem :: Unsplash]

I love the pop against the bright blue sky and the impossible sense of floating without a care in the world. It takes my breath away.

[Photo credit :: Kuponon Kuwamura :: Unsplash]

There is a local one to me called the Wausau Balloon Rally that is coming up next weekend. I don't know that I will be able to attend, but one of these days it is on my list!

[Photo credit :: Manik Rathee :: Unsplash]

I found these pictures on Unsplash (have I mentioned it is my new favorite place for pictures?!) that really captured my imagination and gets my head lost in the clouds.

What inspires you?

Join me in a flight of fancy on July 15th!

Amazing amazonite

Hello folks.
I hope you are all enjoying good summer weather, hopefully a holiday already.

Here in lovely, sunny Greece my daytime job is currently wreaking havoc with my creative bead time. No playing with beads for me at the moment.
So I show you some earrings I made a while back. I think perfectly summery earrings.

With beautiful carved amazonite and handmade lampwork beads by Debbie Sanders. Debbie is making such gorgeous glass beads, please check her out.

Thank you for stopping by. These are now available in my shop.
We here at Earrings Everyday love love love to read your comments. So please, don't be shy and write some, also on the posts of my wonderful colleagues.
I wish you a wonderful day with lots of joy, sunshine and happiness.

Janine

Esfera Jewelry

My etsy shop

My website/blog

My facebook page

Happy Fishes

Happy Fishes

Well, I was on a Jana Bližňáková bender when these little guys came to be--they are graduates from my hoard of Happy Fish supplies. I adore ceramic charms, especially Jana's! Here I've combined them with copper torpedo beads I hammered and antiqued for a little extra interest, sterling silver wire, tiny seed beads in translucent aqua, and a couple of turquoise Czech glass beads on my handcrafted earwires. These are so summery, they make me think of a Bahamian vacation! (Which I need.)

I just love the crackled glaze on these sweet little guys. Be sure to check out both Jana's webstore, and her Etsy shop, where she has loads of fabulous goodies available! You can follow Jana's studio doings at her Facebook page as well.

I wish you all a great summer!

Keirsten (guest contributor, Lunedesigns at Etsy)