The Earring Whisperer - Chain Tassel Earrings

Hello, 2017 Greetings! I am new to the Art Bead Scene team, my name is Loralee Kolton. I wish you all a wonderful, bright and creative New Year!

I was delighted to find that Chinese New Year falls in January this year, so I thought, how lovely for my first monthly feature to have an Asian touch!

I have to say, I'm pretty crazy about these; they have lovely movement and shimmer! Sexy stuff! They are bold and yet easy on the ear. Comfort and balance is always important.

Supplies:

1 pair, ceramic artisan charms with multiple connectors .

8, 3 mm vermeil  seed beads.

4, 4mm oxidized jump rings.

20 pcs., .75" black and gold chain.

6 pcs. of 2.5" - 3" 26g. oxidized copper or brass wire.

2 oxidized brass or copper earwires.

Charms:  www.josephinebeads.etsy.com

Wire: www.artwearelements.etsy.com

Earwires and jump rings by Vintaj.

Vermeil seed beads and chain: Many shops on Etsy carry these items.

Directions:

1. Taking the ceramic charm and one piece of 26g wire, thread it through a connector loop, leaving a small tail to hold down with your thumb. 

2. Begin to coil the wire around the loop,  going up as high or as low as you'd like. Snip the wire with cutters and press the end tail with your chain nose pliers until smooth. Repeat on all connector loops.

*Small vermeil seed beads were added to the top loop by slipping them on one at a time as you coil the wire.

3. Take two open jump-rings and add 5 pcs. of chain to each. Attach the jump-rings to the connector to form a tassel.

4. Add earwire to the top connector. 

Designing with Wood Beads

A few weeks ago, I was selling my ceramic beads in Pompano Beach, Florida and during a quick power shopping moment, I discovered natural wood beads and sticks at the Koru Beads booth. Tracey Jackson sells the most beautiful beads made from nature - shells, stones, wood, and so much more.  But the wood - I had to have it!  So many types and shades.  I was thinking earrings with the sticks and mini logs, pendants with the drift wood pieces (layering a beachy ceramic bead on top perhaps) and a stacking pendant with the longer sticks.  I also purchased a beautiful strand of Tibetan Agate that the color stripes matched up in pairs for earring accents.  Here's my haul:

So far I have made 2 pairs of earrings.  I made the birds out of mid fire buff clay and glazed one pair in shiny brown and one pair in shiny smokey blue.  So with the mini logs, a little bling gets thrown in to break up the brown tones.  I used 20g Vintaj wire and earring findings to wire wrap the pieces together.

The smokey blue glaze matched this pair of Tibetan Agate beads nicely.  I used the 2 shortest sticks, a crystal accent and again, 20g Vintaj wire and earring findings to wire wrap the pieces together.

Tracey will be adding the wood beads to her website this week, so be sure to check out www.truthjackson.com to get some for yourself!  I know I am excited to use the rest of my treasures in the near future.

Ceramic + Enamel = Fun Earring Challenge

It is time for the big reveal....Michelle from Firefly Design Studio and Anne from Gardanne each started with identical ceramic and enameled pieces and thought it would be fun to see what each comes up with.  Here is a refresher on what each designer started with:

Anne started the earring design with her fun surfboard shaped enameled pair of charms.  They are a bronze base with teal and pops of gold, lavender and blue.  Michelle added 15mm teal ceramic earthenware discs and 5mm coordinating spacer beads.  We each took these components home from the Bead and Button show, so we've had some time to think about our plan of attack!

This is what Michelle designed:

All Michelle added to the above components is 24g wire, 3mm spacer beads and earring wires, all made by Vintaj.  Cut 8" of 24g wire and fold it in half.  Squeeze the wire tightly together with your flat nose pliers.  Hold the disc in front of the charm hole and from the back, pass the folded wire (folded end first) through the charm and disc holes.  Stop at the half way point and bend the wire down at a 90 degree angle.  With your fingers, hold the wire in place at the bend and start to twirl the wire over the disc hole.  When almost finished, take your flat nose pliers and push the end down through the hole to give it a finished look.  With the double wire tail sticking up, place a metal spacer bead, a ceramic spacer bead and another metal spacer bead.  This will help with the components fitting together nicely.  Make a small wire wrap loop and place earring on the earring wire.  Repeat and enjoy!

Earring Design Challenge Sneak Peek

This year at the Bead and Button Show, I was surrounded by some of my favorite bead artists.
One is fellow contributor and friend Anne from Gardanne.  Anne makes some of the most yummy
enameled jewelry components I have seen.  We were visiting each other at our booths and thought it would be fun to take home the exact pieces and each come up with an earring design and show you how different, or similar, two artists creative minds can be!

Anne started us out with the surf board shaped earring pieces.  They are a beautiful tropical blue with specks of orange, gold and lilac.  I found some 15mm round discs and 5mm spacer beads that coordinated nicely with the enamel colors.  I made these out of white earthenware ceramic clay.  Here is our collection:

The first thing I reach for when designing jewelry is waxed linen.  I also love 20g wire, so I have
some fun ideas brewing.  We'll have to see if I can bring my ideas to life!

You will be hearing from Anne about the challenge before our big reveal, which is scheduled for
Tuesday, July 26th.  I am excited to see the finished designs!

Michelle McCarthy/Firefly Design Studio

Growing Garden Earring Tutorial - Free Project

I created these fun matchstick charms for a quick and easy earring option.  What I didn't know when I made them is how adorable they are as flower stems paired up with Czech glass beads. This simple wire project can be made in just a few minutes.

Supplies:

2 matchstick charms

2 14mm Czech glass coin flowers

8" 20 gauge brass colored wire

2 brass kidney wires

10 2mm copper beads

Directions:
1. Cut 4" of wire, center the wire in the middle of the matchstick charm and pull both ends up and around the top of the charm.

2. Bend one wire straight up, above the matchstick charm and wrap the other wire several times around the first wire.

3. String on the flower bead, create a wrapped loop above the flower, trim the wire and tuck in the end of the wire using needle nose pliers..

4. String the earring onto the earwire, add 5 copper beads. Underneath the last bead add a tiny drop of glue applying it with a piece of scrap wire to the earwire.
.

Resources: 
Matchstick Charms: Humblebeads. Flowers: Nirvana Beads (wholesale only, here is an alternative retail source.) Wire, earwires and copper beads: Rings & Things.

Tutorial Tuesday - Copper Disc Earrings by Ema Kilroy

Happy Tutorial Tuesday. Today I'll be sharing a tutorial with you for a pair of earrings using copper discs. I've been feeling like my creative juices are running low lately so I won't insult your creativity and say this is a full blown tutorial like you've never seen before... like Claire's Tutorial last week...wasn't that Tropical Silk Necklace spectacular! Let's just say it's more like a meeting of creative minds, bouncing ideas around and considering design options.

This past winter into early Spring I began working on the Natural Impressions pieces which I unveiled in a post here at ABS. When I began creating this line I was most excited about the toggle as a focal concept. They've been popular online and at shows so I've been busy making them. (I'm working to restock my shop as I write.) As I was creating the toggles I couldn't stop thinking about the discs as earrings. Big, round disc earrings. Now many months later I'm finally putting the idea together and sharing the design with you.

Materials for the project (detailed list below)

String a seed bead, lampwork bead and another seed bead onto a headpin.

 

Start a wrapped loop.

Insert the loop into the bottom portion of the disc and finish wrapping the loop.

Add the earwire to the top of the disc.

I like to make my earwires a bit square on the top. I find they stay in the ear better. I acheive the square by grasping the top of the earwire with flat nose pliers (preferably square flat nose pliers) and gently pressing the back of the earwire flush against the plier.

The finished earrings!

An alternative option....

The earrings pictured above have a slightly different design with accent beads above with the disc as the dangle. I have wire wrapped a jasper bead, a daisy spacer, and a jasper bead together and attached the disc to the wrapped set.

Materials list for the tutorial:

2 - 1.25" copper discs (available in Ema K Design's Etsy shop)

2 - lampwork beads (Ema K designs)

2 - copper headpins

4 - size 8 seed beads

2 - earwires

Thanks for taking the time to visit ABS today. I'd love it if you'd share your thoughts on the disc earrings. Do you prefer the pair that has the green lampwork as a dangle below the disc or the pair that has the jasper beads with the disc as the dangle? Or do you have another creative idea you'd use to turn these discs into a pair of earrings?  

Ema Kilroy is a lampworker and metalsmith living and working in Central Massachusetts. 

Facebook - Ema K Designs

Ema K Designs on Etsy

Ema's Blog

Tutorial Tuesday: Harvest Owl Earrings

 

Inspired by this month's Art Bead Scene challenge I created these Harvest Owl Earrings for today's tutorial. These simple earrings use a petal headpin as the backdrop for a tiny charm.  

Supplies: 2 Petal Headpins, 2 Vintaj Arte Metal Owl Charms, 2 Copper Earwires
Tools: A pencil, buffing block, round and chain nose pliers, bench block, ball peen hammer

Directions:
1. Use a buffing block on the owl charms to highlight the metal details.
2. With the chain nose pliers bend the headpin to the right at an angle.
3. Wrap the headpin around a pencil to form a large loop.
4. Hold the loop with the chain nose pliers and wrap the wire under the loop several times.
5. With the wire in the front, slide on the owl charm.
6. Wrap the rest of the wire at the base of the loop, above the charm.
7. Hammer the loop with the ball peen hammer.
8. Add the earwire.

Special Offer: 
As a gift to our readers and to celebrate our new changes here at the ABS, I'm offering a special Art Bead Scene discount for Humblebeads.com from now until Friday.  Use discount code ABS20 for 20% off your order.

Thank you for following along and supporting our fun blog!  We so appreciate you!!!

Featured Designer of the Week- Sharyl McMillian-Nelson of Sharyl's Jewelry

Each week the Art Bead Scene features a Designer of the Week. One of our editors picks her favorite from the Monthly Challenge entries. This week's winner is Sharyl McMillian-Nelson

Here's what ABS Editor Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp had to say about this piece:

"As soon as I saw these earrings I felt they represented the chosen artwork perfectly! They have such a wonderful Asian feel to them without being overwhelmingly Asian. Beautiful enameled pieces that reflect the Style that is present in the painting with its colour and filigree. Wonderful!"

Marie is a Canadian jewelry designer and ephemera tile creator living in beautiful Calgary Alberta at the foot of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. You can read more about her work on her Skye Jewels Blog. You can purchase her jewelry in her Skye Jewels Etsy shop and her pendants and a handful of handmade findings in her More Skye Jewels supply shop.

On the 11th Day of Christmas: Snowflake Earrings

Merry Christmas! I hope you are all enjoying your holiday today, whether it be relaxing in front of a fire with a hot toddy or out playing in the snow! If you have some down time in your studios why not sit down and create these Christmas inspired earrings!

You can see that my original earring design incorporated waxed cotton cording but in the tutorial, I have used some thick 2mm leather cording instead. You can vary the supplies easily to transform your earrings into a unique design.

Here's what you'll need:
2- brass 2 inch head pins
2- brass 10mm snowflake components
6 inches 2mm cording
2 porcelain 15mm links
2 brass fold over cord ends
2 brass ear wires
2 size 6 seed beads

tools:
Flush cutters
Round nose pliers
Flat nose pliers

Cut the cording in half creating 2 3 inch sections. Thread one end through one porcelain link, and then back through the link again. Pull the two ends together and attach a fold over end.

Using on head pin string 1 seed bead and one brass snowflake component.

Push the headpin in through the center of the 2 cords and trim the headpin to about 1/2 an inch.

 

Using the round nose pliers form a loop around the cording. Use the flat nose pliers to get in there and tighten the loop against the cording.

Repeat all steps for the second earring. Hopefully my step by step photos will help you interpret my wacky instructions.

Resources:

Porcelain links: Joan Miller Porcelain
Brass fold over ends and snowflakes: Ornamentea.com
Brass ear wires and headpins: Vintaj.com
Leather cording: Ornamentea.com
seed beads: Fusionbeads.com


Find more jewelry designs at Lorelei's shops
Www.loreleieurtojewelry.etsy.com
Www.lorelei-Eurto-jewelry.myshopify.com
Blog: http://Lorelei1141.blogspot.com

Thinking Outside the Box part II

You should remember my last post about Thinking outside the box. If not, you may want to go HERE and read it first, before you start on this one. 
For part 2 I am honoured to share the designs of two wonderful designers. I challenged them to use my components thinking outside the box, look at them in different ways, and see what they could create that is slightly out of the ordinary. 

Here is what they came up with...
Donna Martin Bradley was the first one I asked.  I asked her to use one of my large 1.5 inch round pendants, in a different way.

She turned it into a fantastic large Bracelet focal, instead of using it in a necklace! Fantastic results! With Spring coming soon, it's a great time to start thinking about making your summer jewelry!

The use of woven ribbon inside the chain is always a wonderful extra touch. You can find Donna on Facebook on her STRANDED BEADS page! Her beautiful designs are also available on Etsy! 


Next I asked Diana Ptaszynski. I thought it would be fun if Diana could make some earrings. 


Here is what she came up with...

Great idea to mix and match different charms and make the earring asymmetrical! I love that she incorporated her own handmade sea shell charm and bead links.

These look fun and beachy! You can find Diana on Facebook on her SUBURBAN GIRL STUDIO page! Her Fun original jewelry is available in her Etsy shop.


It was a complete coincidence that both designers used Ocean inspired pieces. I did not pick the components, so it was fun to see that they went so well together!


To get your own fun, quality Ephemera pieces, please visit my More Skye Jewels shop and shop around or feel free to request something special! For more ideas on how to use them you can also visit my Skye Jewels Blog.


Thanks so much for stopping by!


Marie

Thinking Outside the box!

If you are like me, you love a good challenge to get those creative juices flowing. I have put together a few fun things to help challenge yourself into seeing your Art beads in a new light!

To start here we have one of my own Ephemera pendants. When you see this you think of a necklace, something maybe a little mythical or "Avenging Angel"! lol

Well, what if you had two...

Now this could be interesting... so think outside the box! What would you do with a pair of wings? You could certainly put one on each side in a necklace, or you could...

Make Earrings!!  These are quite large of course, but that is the fun of thinking outside the box!
So here is the next idea...

A beautiful Pendant by Summers Studio! As you can see, the pendant has two holes at the top and one on the bottom. It is made to be hung a certain way, with a dangle at the bottom.
Well, think outside the box!

Turn the pendant sideways and add dangles to two of the holes, in unexpected places! 

What a fun and unique piece it becomes! It hangs beautifully and you would never know it was meant to be done a different way!

What else can you do? How about using a Toggle in a different way?

Love this toggle from Vintaj! Beautiful shape, texture and colour!

Why not change it into...

Earrings! You just add your Art Beads {in this case lampwork by SueBeads} to the combo, sideways with jump rings as an extra out of the box touch! These are really perfect for spring and you know no one else will be wearing them ;)


Keep an eye out for my next post, it will be a continuation of this one, with pieces made by other designers I have challenged to "Think outside the box!"


Marie


All Jewelry pieces and ephemera art beads are made by Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp of Skye Jewels. Ephemera pieces are available at More Skye Jewels on Etsy

On the 9th Day of Christmas: Kissing Balls

A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point.  That's basic spelling that every woman ought to know.  ~Mistinguett (Jeanne Bourgeois), Theatre Arts, December 1955

The evergreen kissing ball is a romantic tradition dating back to 18th-century England. As the charming custom goes, a young lady stands beneath the ball and receives a kiss, removing a berry, until all the berries (and kisses) were gone.

Create these mock kissing ball earrings in just three easy steps.

Materials:
Enamel balls - Barbara Lewis, PaintingWithFireArtwear.com
Brass and gold plated bead caps
Swarovski crystals
Vintaj brass ear wires
Vintaj eyepins

Instructions:
1:: Gather your materials. Find some round beads, like these emerald green fluted enameled balls from Barbara Lewis of Painting with Fire fame. Sting onto brass eyepins.

2:: Pile on an assortment of bead caps with various looks. Stacking your bead caps is an instant way to add texture and interest. Try stacking bead caps of differing metals, like brass with silver or gunmetal with gold.

3:: Add some sparkle with Swarovski crystals to catch the light and draw his eye. Attach to ear wires of your choice, I prefer these long swingy ones from Vintaj.

{Kissing Balls - available on Etsy}

Put these modern-day kissing balls on your ears and be prepared for some smooches!