Use What You Have Pt III/Fun With Earwires

I was musing in the car the other day about my strands and strands of tiny top-drilled gemstone teardrops which I have so far found mostly useless. I wondered if THIS might work:

Tangerine Dream

I played with it in the car, and I almost had it. Fiddled with it some more at home, and eventually figured out how to wrap it so it would stay put and look good. (Hopefully I'll remember how I did it later...) Tumbled this pair for hours and the design was solid.

These are carnelian teardrops with faceted red/black agate rounds.

I also did up a pair in amethyst:

Purpophilia extremesis

It was a bit of a challenge finding drops that were roughly the same size, but it's kind of a rustic design anyway so there's some leeway.

I have lots of glass drops too that are more uniform--looking forward to giving those a try too!

I love the immediate gratification of earrings.

Have Dremel, Will Travel

MONTHS ago I wired up this pineapple quartz point, and did the two short strands of Czech yellow opal crackle glass. I've been carting them around in a baggie ever since, waiting for sufficient motivation to accumulate in order to finish it. Last night the mouthy little angel on my right shoulder was telling me I should be productive, and I thought, I know, I'll do that thing that's already half done. And I'll add that chain I already made. All I really had to do was link everything together and polish it. I Dremeled the wrapping on the pendant, and hit the strands of glass with my steel wool and then the Dremel. The Dremel makes me unspeakably happy. The chain is currently doing another round in the tumbler. I  just love this pineapple quartz--the entire strand has swirls of iceberg blue that glow like Galadriel's Phial when the light hits them.

Unfortunately, I think the bead shop where I got these, and my favorite apple green howlite roundels, and other fabulous stuff, is going out of business. Her inventory is dwindling and she's not replacing it, and I haven't had the heart to ask if she's closing up shop. If she is, though, I'll have to go make a BIG SCORE at her closeout sale!!!!

For more information on this item, CLICK HERE.

Call Me Crazy

Crazy Horse Stone with annealed steel and garnets. Made 'em myself. CLICK HERE for more info or to purchase.

OK, I Changed My Mind

I DO like making earrings now. I felt all productive and junk this weekend--look, SEVEN things I made! In one weekend! Seven...tiny little things. And it wasn't quite the struggle as it usually is to get them to be the same length. Not sure why that is.

Still hooked on the color thing. I think because it's so dreary here right now. We lost our fall color to a flash freeze--went from green to an ugly paper-bag-brown crispy overnight. Got robbed. And it's socked in, so I've had about enough of bronze, gunmetal, silver and the like. Picked up some scrumptious howlite recently--one strand of dime-sized coins in a vibrant goldenrod-butterscotch kind of melange with nifty veining, and a strand of Granny Smith-apple-green howlite roundels. There was another strand of some kind of pumpkin orange stuff (forgot what it was), had to drag myself away. Probably have to go back and get it. And then I sort of accidentally made these wrapped eye pins. I was going to use them in a necklace, but then I thought they might add some interest to earrings. So I did it to death this weekend. Probably use them in a bunch of necklaces and bracelets too, in different metals. They are a bit labor intensive, but I think they look cool. Sort of adds a little different texture. Going to mess around with it some more.

So here is my treasure trove from the weekend:

Yellow howlite with iolite and sterling silver

Brecciated jasper flowers and turquoise seed beads with sterling silver

Apple green howlite and serpentine with sterling silver

Pink jasper with sterling silver

Blue coral, apple green howlite and wood with sterling silver

Copper, blue peacock pearl and kyanite

I feel like I'm cheating. It's so much easier to do stuff with bright colors!

I'm sort of frustrated by the selection of bead caps out there though. I'm kind of tired of the fancy variety, and just want some plain, round caps--all the bead caps I have are all a bit MUCH. (Anybody know a source?) Best poke around some more on Etsy. I am actually contemplating buying a couple metal punches (one for making big circles, one for making tiny) and a dapping set so I can make my own simple bead caps. Got the tools all bookmarked--itching to click "BUY NOW"!!! I could buy raw brass and copper sheet and oxidize it myself. Got my source already for that too. Maybe get a couple metal stamps. Oh man. That would rock, but the seemingly unending OUTGOING stream of money is making me a tad uncomfortable. (Although these tools are not expensive). Even if it is, sort of, being used to purchase things that supposedly, theoretically could make more money. One day. To some extent. A limited extent.

At least I'm not spending all my money on Beanie Babies or shoes.

All Tarted Up With Nowhere to Go

I recently went through my shops and noted which items weren't really attracting any attention. This one wasn't, and I was dismayed by how anemic and pathetic it looked to me. Even the photo was bad:



I removed it and tarted it up and relisted it:







But alas, I think I probably missed the "summer" boat with this one. I tried to suggest the idea in my listing that it was actually a "winter" pendant (i.e., to wear during your mid-winter island getaway) but I'm thinking that probably isn't going to fly.

There are many other exemplars of my early work in my shop that are likewise anemic and pathetic and will have to be tarted up. Especially the earrings. I hate making earrings. Does anybody really buy earrings online? Maybe in multiples. 3-for-the-price-of-2? Half-price if purchased with coordinating necklace?

I have also had to go back and completely redo some of my early wire-wrapped pieces. Clearly I did these prior to purchasing my first pair of reading glasses or perhaps I was wearing mittens. Rather gratifying though to see how much my motor skills have improved. I've also quickly gotten over my aversion to wasting sterling wire, as my most crap-tastic pieces were of course done in silver. It's the cost of learning--learning curves are always a little expensive.