AJE Earrings Challenge Reveal 18 weeks 37-38

Caught behind the eight-ball again with the earring challenge...but I coincidentally have three new pair of earrings to share!

Lily Pads and Roses

I soldered a bunch of copper rings, and patinated them in different colors; I mixed dye oxide patinas from B'Sue Boutiques to achieve this lilac-rose color. I thought I'd go girly and combine them with Czech glass dagger beads in moss green from Happy Mango Beads, and ivory lampwork in a lily pad theme from Kelley Wenzel. I put little Czech glass roundels in bubble gum on the earwires. (Also notice the little seed pods--from my Mommy's garden! I love new props.)

For these, I started with olive green copper rings, and fished around in my stash for some beads--aha! More Czech glass dagger beads from Happy Mango, in olive and azure, lampwork glass spacers from Julie Miller in cornflower blue, and Indonesian seed beads in olive green also from Happy Mango. I thought sterling silver would be nice (sterling silver beadcaps also by me):

Cornflowers and Moss

I just love this etched lampwork, it glows!

These remind me of fields of hay in September on the plains--golden! (More seed pods from Mom!)

Fields of Gold

I started with copper rings that I patinated with Old Lace and Violet dye oxide patinas from MissFickleMedia, and combined them with Czech glass leaves in caramel from BobbiThisnThat, lampwork glass "dragon eye" beads from Kelley Wenzel (somebody tell her to start making beads again, I mean it), glass tile beads in amber on the earwires, and antiqued brass.

Phew, that's all for now!

You can see more at my Etsy shop HERE.

The Cat is Out of the Bag

I think I can share this with you now because I saw it on the Interweave site.

Ta-Da!!!

My turquoise disc necklace is on the cover of the Oct/Nov issue of Step by Step Wire! They even spelled my name right. I think I have finally overcome High School.

Here Comes that Desert Feeling Again...

Whenever the weather turns cold (or damp, or damp and cold, or rainy and cold, cloudy, dark, etc.) I start yearning to be in the American desert. (Other deserts around the world do not appeal to me). Hence, these two bracelets. (Mostly got sucked in by an email notification that Studio Rent had reopened so I ran over there and she had a bunch of lampwork spacers in a pale sage green (opaque AND transparent), and some in "egg blue" and "feather white." These appealed to my subtle and refined nature.)

This bracelet features Studio Rent lampwork spacers, fabulous porcelain beads by Macarroll (they look like the abandoned homes of little creatures) in sage, cream, and cinnamon, a plump lampwork roundel by Kelley Wenzel in swirling cream, sand and sage, and rainbow Soochow jade in a coffee hue. (Proud of myself for making a relatively simple bracelet. Normally they turn out looking like part of Cher's "2016 World Tour"  wardrobe. And is she not looking AMAZING?)

This bracelet is sort of similar, but I took my cue from the large lampwork beads by Pat Redinger of Being Beads--they have a pale yellow base, with patterns of caramel and sky blue, all in a snakeskin pattern. I wanted to design a bracelet around the lampwork bead pictured at the top of the photo.

The whole desert thing seemed like it needed some leather (I guess it was all those spaghetti westerns I watched as a kid that were filmed in the California desert--holsters, saddles, boots, chaps, Clint Eastwood's hat, etc.), and I just can't get enough of this buckskin colored deerskin. I needed to weight the bracelet all around to keep interesting (i.e., heavy) parts from settling under the wearer's wrist, so I used another sort of similar lampwork bead (also from Pat) to form the toggle clasp, and added a white brass acorn charm at the bar end of the toggle. The acorn is amazingly heavy. (I have no idea what white brass is, but I like it). The iceberg blue beads are the "egg blue" beads from Studio Rent (and one vanilla from an old set), plus some caramel colored moukaite barrels, and little Larimar Blue Crazy Lace agate roundels. And more Soochow jade in coffee.

And that's all I have to say about that.

A Little Bit Different

I can live with that, but I prefer to be called "unique."

That reminds me. This bracelet I made is a little bit different. From what I usually make, I mean.



I naturally took a cue (inspired by other jewelry makers who have done the same) from Lorelei Eurto and used a couple lengths of chain as a feature in my bracelet, as I felt it was time for another exercise in asymmetry.



I found these great mystery beads at my local bead shop (being in the $1 dollar bin gave them an extra special cachet), and especially loved the matte finish. Couldn't tell what they were at first, but after pawing them for several days with my apparently greasy fingers they darkened and I discovered they were Chinese jade. Now they have great color and they're still matte. And I suppose covered with a fine patina of grime. I combined them with ultra shiny, organic-looking bead caps from Cathy Dailey's store on Etsy, and a bunch of other green stones and pearls.



The stones include nearly transparent green fluorite (a gift from a customer), green aventurine, and forest green moss agate. The pearls are in a pale mint green, and a really stunning gunmetal green. Interestingly, the fluorite appear green under incandescent light, but look more periwinkle in daylight (or daylight bulbs, as in my photos here) or under fluorescent bulbs. So, a two-fer.

I attempted a simple toggle clasp, which actually worked out! The two lengths of chain are hand-forged by Moi. It simply wasn't ornate enough though, so I added some dainty hammered sterling spirals to the jade portion. Phew. This was also my first attempt at messy wrapping with lots more silver wire than I usually use, and I like the effect. It's almost like a bead cap.



It only took me two lunch hours at work, part of an evening and most of a morning to make. And a shitpile of sterling silver wire. Now I have to order more. I really hate doing that. But this order will include some sterling sheet metal, for bead caps. Assuming that experiment proves successful with copper and brass. Haven't quite gotten around to that yet. Just can't find the time. If there were more stoplights on the way to work I would do it in the car. On the way. Although I can steer pretty good with my knees. If I could SEE with my knees too I'd do it on the road. The metal punch and doming block set are just too dang heavy to take to work to do on my lunch hour. And hammering somehow doesn't seem appropriate in a law office. I don't think that would go over well.

My Best Inanimate Friend

This is my beloved little mini vise. I call him Hermann. Hermann
fits in my purse better than a chihuahua. It's $7.99 at Jewelry Supply. (How many people can say they have a vise in their purse? Or eggs?)

Here is a picture of Hermann in action, holding a pendant ready to be wrapped with wire.



Hermann really is MINI. The opening only goes to 1 and 1/4", and the table top you see (it's one of those cheapie laminate desks from Staples) is pretty thin and that's about the limit for that vise, it won't fit on a heavier table top. And as you can see, it isn't very deep either--the pendant that's pictured there is pushed all the way down and that's as far as it goes. For larger items you would need a bigger vise. But I've never found I needed anything bigger for jewelry. Best $8 I ever spent. It's amazing how much better my wrapping turns out when I have TWO hands free--I can use one hand to hold the loop at the top steady so it doesn't twist when I start wrapping, and I can use the other hand to wrap the wire. I can wrap a briolette or pendant really fast with Hermann. With no cussing.

Color Inspiration!

I've really been knocked out by the copper pieces Esther of Mes Illusions Baroques and Mary Jane of Maire Dodd have been doing, with lots of rosy tones, peaches and lavenders, so I decided to haul myself out of the green-and-copper rut. Rifled through my bead stash and found some stuff I forgot I had bought (hmm, bead "blackouts", might have a problem)--really loved this peach aventurine (I got at a 75% off going-out-of-the-bead-part-of-our-business sale) with the copper, and then just had to stick the garnets in there. Couldn't bear to leave any unadorned links. I've really loved the purple-pink-peach-copper palette so many other artist bloggers are doing, HAD TO COPY IT!!! I really hate wrapping briolettes, so this was my desensitization therapy. I wrapped 8 of the little bastards. Rule No. 1: Always use a mini vise. Unless you have three arms. (But from what I've seen, third appendages tend to be more decorative than functional. Even if you have three arms you'll probably still need a vise.)

Made the chain yesterday while I was pretending to watch football (go Griz) with the BF and his offspring. It's like knitting. Except with a hammer.





OK, off to make earrings to go with this before my brio-wrapping-aversion reasserts itself.