Drops and Spikes

So here we are in December! I don't really do seasonal earrings, I'm afraid so had a little look in my beady stash for inspiration for this week's post, and thought I'd dip into my supply of Petra Carpreau's ceramic drops and spikes. No-one does drops and spikes like Petra. They are fantastically versatile, come in all the colours of the rainbow and they are just so tactile -gorgeous to hold. I love the way they look like they have been dipped in colour.

Then I got a little obsessed with the same design! I love these pretty czech glass flower beads, and thought they went so well with the drops. I added some antique brass spacers and sweet little yellow picasso seed beads. I love this turquoise version. Who doesn't love turquoise and yellow?

Here's some with rich red drops and gold seeds

Now for some spikes. I love this combination of brass and silver spacers - love the contrast in colour and textures. Some speckled blue spikes and seed beads for this pair

 And green spikes and gold seeds for this pair

Told you I get a little fixated with a particular design!
These pretties are available in my etsy shop, except for the turquoise pair, which have already found a new home.
Thanks for reading! See you in a couple of weeks

Sue x

We're All Ears :: 3rd Annual Use Your Leftovers Challenge!

For our US friends, how was Thanksgiving? It is always a binge-fest, isn't it? Everyone has their own traditions for this holiday, from what you make to where you celebrate. We go to my sister-in-law's house but I always get asked to make the desserts (which means that I, unfortunately, don't get all the great leftovers for days). I am always trying to make something fancy and new, but my husband warned me not to mess with the classic pumpkin pie, so I didn't (I made it even better!). But I did make some new things: apple blossom turnovers that were really beautiful (tasty, too!), a cranberry curd bar (that was exactly like a lemon bar but pinky-red! But WAY too fussy...will have to find a better way!)) and made from scratch whipped cream. I don't even like whipped cream, but I  can tell you I will never buy whipped cream again! This stuff is so much tastier.

I might not get turkey leftovers, but beading leftovers are no stranger to me. 

My studio perpetually looks like you pulled open one of those giant crackers and out popped all manner of beads, findings, leather, cord, clay, wire, metal and the like. When a bead rolls off my table (which they frequently do), I rarely bother to find out where it went. I just keep right on going. There is always another right there waiting.

If you are like me, then you have multiple projects happening at all times (and in my case, in various rooms of my house, much to the chagrin of my darling husband). When complete, the resulting project gets buried by the next one...literally. I imagine my studio is like an archaeological dig...strata of projects past are discovered as you dig deeper into the ever-growing pile. Every so often I feel the need to sort through it and {attempt} to put it away. (Never works.) But more likely than not, I am overstuffed from my marathon creating and I just push back from the beading table, vowing to tidy it up tomorrow.

There is only one thing to do with a bead feast craftermath like that: use your leftovers.

So in the spirit of the holidays, I invite you to play the  

2nd Annual Use Your Leftovers Challenge 

with me. Are you ready to play?

Make your own Keep Calm poster at http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk

First, take a picture of the craftermath from your bead feast. I know it won't be pretty! I expect that it will be littered with beady crumbs of all sorts. But think of those bits as delicious morsels waiting for your inspiration to strike!

Next, find a divided box, bin, baggies or small bowls and go through the stash on your festive table picking out coordinated sets that you can use to create earrings. They don't need to be same... this is a good time to practice asymmetrical earrings! Put these pieces together with ear wires, chain, findings, etc in each division of the box. I have found that a mini-muffin tin is a great way to corral these bits! Work quickly! Don't take too much time, just focus on filling the sections.Think of this like your staging area for Leftover Transformation.

Now, kick your creating into high gear! Put on some fun music (I like A Profoundly Funky Dance Party mix on Google Play). Consider this a Quickfire challenge...Set a timer (challenge yourself to see how many pairs of earrings you can create in an hour...or 15 minutes... or make one pair a day for 7 days... whatever works for you!). DON'T think about it too much (leftovers are supposed to be easy!), just make it happen. Sometimes the best things happen when you are on a deadline and you can't afford the time to overthink! 

Finally, share your bounty of tasty Leftover Transformation creations onFriday, December 15th by adding your link to the Linky Tools party right here. I would be surprised if you didn't make multiple pairs of earrings from this exercise. The bonus is that you will now have a ready-made collection of quick gifts for stocking stuffers, teachers, co-workers and friends just in time for celebrating all the winter holidays and festivities! (Or a different pair for you to wear each day until the new year!)

In the spirit of giving, I will offer a giveaway of an Emergency Earring Making kit - with beads and findings from my prodigious stash for you to use to make multiple pairs of earrings - valued at over $40. But in order to be chosen, you have to participate in the blog hop starting on December 15th! Winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries on December 25th (that will give you more than one full week to make your Leftover Transformation magic happen!). I'll even leave the LinkyTools party open until December 25th so you have lots of time to play!

Let's get this leftover party started...tell your friends to join in the fun, too!

You're in my Heart

Hello Everyone! Here we are at the end of November, gearing up for Christmas and all that goes with it. No matter what the negatives may be, Christmas is undoubtedly the one time of year that brings a more active sense of Love that isn't as strongly present throughout the rest of the year. People seem to experience and express more Joy, more Kindness. Not the "buy her a diamond" kind of kindness we get from TV commercials, but genuine expressions of kindness, giving, caring. I guess it's up to each of us individually to keep it going the rest of the time. 💖

I was definitely feeling Christmas 🎄 when I put these earrings together. Petra Carpreau's gorgeous Gold Filigree Heart ceramic components were such a great canvas to work with! That's ScorchedEarthOnEtsty. 😊 The "cap" is two separate pieces. The bottom piece is part of the Lotus Cap from FallenAngelBrass. The tops are a pair of caps I've been holding onto for a few years, purchased from a Destash, and this was the design for them. Creamy Pearls and tiny oxidized brass beads, all wrapped in deeply oxidized copper wire finishes the design. 

I hope you have a great time as the next few weeks fly by! 

Happy Days!
norbel
SheFliesAgain

Holiday Ferris Wheel Earrings

I've had fun making, what I call, my Ferris Wheel ceramic components, in a variety of color combinations.  So I thought, "Why not see how they look in holiday colors?".

So I made one pair with a green background and one pair with a red background.  The green background pair sold at Bead Fest and the other pair became the earrings you see here.

Gold always feels festive during the holidays, so I paired the ceramic dangles with gold plated beads and some satin finish, red "o-beads".

I will have these for sale at a show I'm doing this weekend, but if they don't sell, I'll be adding them to my shop. Do you like to wear holiday themed jewelry or not so much.  Let me know in the comments.

Linda Landig Jewelry

Home Sweet Home

Here we are on the brink of December with thoughts of friends and family, visiting and gift giving. I spent a long weekend visiting my husband's and my family for Thanksgiving. 'Home' and 'house' and 'family' were words that came up with every place we travelled.

I love house beads. Home and family, love and great memories all wrapped up together in a little bead. I decided to try making my own version in polymer clay. I am quite delighted with how they turned out.

I grew up in a little white house with a grey roof that is now over a hundred years old. My mom has lived there all her life and I lived there till I headed off to collage. This little house isn't the exact copy of my parent's house but I do get happy when I look at it.

I thought of making earrings with them and adding little key charms but I wasn't satisfied and kept digging through my beads stash. When I found these grey wooden paddles from Smitten Beads UK it just clicked.


















My little house was right at home on
that grey wooden paddle. So I dug some more. A Czech leaf with greens and reds and shimmery red peanuts all from my boxes of goodies from Smitten Beads UK finished my design perfectly.











Going home...trying to recapture good memories and building brand new memories for my two children in that white house with the grey roof is priceless. May all your visits with family this coming holiday season be happy, too.

 

Till next time,

Jetta 

All stacked up

Hello, hope all my American friends had a lovely Thanksgiving. 

So today's post is all about stacking up components which I have been doing a lot lately...maybe too much :D.  

Here's the group shot of my latest.

I used these beautiful lampwork drops by Australian artist Fiona Horne (I'm having trouble adding Fiona's facebook link here, look up Rhino Glass Beads on FB to find her).  Stacked up on top are my painted brass cones, silver plated brass caps, glass flowers

For this pair I used antiqued brass pins with painted brass cones, caps, claws and glass beads.

I've used brass pins again for the 3rd pair, topped by my painted cones, silver and raw brass caps and glass beads.  

These will be available from my Etsy shop soon.

That is all for this week.  See you again soon.

Suhana 

My Etsy shop: Buttoned Up Beads

Thankfulness

As I write this, on the day before Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., I'd like to share a new pair of earrings with you but also take a minute to thank all the many wonderful and varied artists who've made the beautiful

beads, charms, and other elements I've been privileged to turn into handmade jewelry over the years.  Just as I was drawn to the beauty they created, I hope I've been able to create some beauty in return.  

These new earrings are clearly a study in blue!  Lampwork artist Beth Mellor of Beeboo made all three sets of beads, in three shades of blue.  I love the beautiful streaky hollow beads that I recently bought from her, and the little heishi-like beads in a slightly darker shade.  I added to the stack of blues another gorgeous pair of Beth's rondelles that I'd had for a while, smaller, in a rich darker blue.    

I had a blast painting artist Kelly Luttrell's beautiful rustic pewter charms several different shades of blue, and then I wrapped everything together with lightly oxidized sterling silver wire and hung them from matching ear wires. 

One more thing.  I'm also grateful to everyone at Earrings Everyday for the friendship and the welcome I've always felt here.

I'll see you all next month!  💗

xoxo
Meridy
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