Bold

and beautiful?!

I went for big for today's post.  I rescued these lampwork flowers (Yuliana Goldin-Dunn)

from a previous pair and attached them to brass flower blanks. I'd already punched some holes on the blanks as I wanted to hang stuff from them....but I had no idea what.  I'm sure I'm not the only one that designs half of an earring with absolutely no clue about what to do with the other half!

So top half done including the 2 teeny butterfly charms hanging on either side.  My mind went completely blank after that.  I tried hanging so many different charms to no avail.  The truth is I was feeling lazy...I wanted to just find the perfect charms to attach with jump rings, easy peasy - but it wasn't happening.  I knew I needed to make something.  I gave up in the end and went for these brass oval frames which I wire wrapped (the number of times I nodded off during wrapping......just coz I didn't want to do it) with blue and orange cup chain to match the lampwork.  

All matched up now and I think they look good.  If you like them, they will be available for purchase in my next FB show - on Monday in The Earrings Show group.  Hope you can stop by. 

Suhana <3

My Etsy shop: Suhana Hart Jewellery

Bubblegum Fun

Fun play with colours and lightweight components.

Ingredients:
Bright orange-pink 'ball in a ball' acrylic beads
Khaki green faceted acrylic rounds
Transparent with gold fluted glass beads
Silverlined transpaernt large seed beads

Pink waxed linen cord
Brass coloured large lucite rings
Vintaj brass jump rings and earring hooks

All my best,

Malin

Corrugated Brass And Beaded Beads

Ingredients:

Beades beads by Malin de Koning

Corrugated hollow brass beads

Brass findings

Vintaj brass earrings hooks

All my best,

Malin

❤💗💚 Colour Me Hippy 💙💜💛

Hello, how about a splash of colour this week?  Ok maybe not a splash, maybe a flood of COLOURS!!  You may need to get 'them' 🕶 on.

Here are this week's offerings in their group shot. Very colourful wouldn't you say?  I felt the need to brighten up everyone's days as I've been seeing lots of snow on my FB feed lately.  

1.  First pair features painted resin and brass charms by Martin Hart, layered (I used to do a lot of layering, now that I've re-discovered it....you will see a lot in this design) with vintage enamel flowers, topped with brass spacers (I have softened the colour on these a little, can you see?) and finished off with delicious sparkling rocks by Maryse Fritzsch-Thillens.

2.  Painted resin and brass charms by Martin Hart, layered with those stunning vintage flowers, sitting on top are Carolyn Saxby tyvek beads.

3.  Painted resin and brass charms by Marin Hart, layered with vintage flowers, topped with Roman glass discs, Maryse's sparkling rocks and sari silk.

4.  and a 4th pair in the same design.  I had these vintage flowers in 4 colours....didn't want to offend the cream/white pair by leaving them out 😁.

There we have it.  A riot of colours.  All of these are now listed in my Etsy shop.  See you in a couple of weeks. 

Suhana <3

My Etsy Shop: Buttoned Up Beads

Shell Lantern Brass

Wishing everyone a very happy new year 2018.



Ingredients:
Lovely lucite beads in a milky very pale blue with gold/brass
Small firepolished facetted brass/bronze colored beads
All the other components are in brass

All my best,

Malin

Fall Beauties

Hey everybody! I hope you're all doing great and that the weather is behaving in your neck of the woods. I'm sorry I went MIA a couple of weeks ago. I injured my knee the day I was supposed to make earrings, take pictures and write a post, and my coconut just totally zonked out with the pain killers and the ice.

My knee is fine, thankfully... my coconut, well...... it's getting older. I'll leave it at that LOL ;)

I've got a showcase coming up on FB on Nov. 2-3rd in the Handmade Beads and Findings group (I hope to see you there!), and I've been making various things, including these:

But, my heart wanted to make something with one of the pairs I had made, so I grabbed them and here's the pair of earrings I designed for you today:

Handmade polymer clay round earring connectors featuring modern leaves, with shades of orange, russet, and aqua blue, with a touch of brass. I love how the colors play against each other.

I added copper tone chains for a feminine wispy look, on which I suspended a pair of pretty TierraCast hearts. I've also included some cool funky shaped 'tube' Blue Apatite gemstone beads that i bought many many years ago (yes, I'm a hoarder!!), sandwiched between some rustic TierraCast rondelles, topped with sparkling yellow glass seed beads.

These will be available for sale in my Etsy shop HERE over the next couple of days, as well as new handmade polymer clay jewelry making components!

I wish you all a Beautiful Fall season (and my heart goes out to all those still dealing with all the fires, and other storms going on at this time)

Cheers,
Nathalie

Visit my shops:
My Garden Of Love Jewelry Supplies
The Craft Tribe Instant Download Printables

Green Eyes and a Heart Of Gold

Hello, beady peeps!  Loralee here, so nice to be back!

One of the coolest discoveries I made at The Bead & Button Show this year was that Golem Design Studio  came out with a smaller size lentil bead, and it's perfect for earrings!  

Below is one of the sets that I purchased.  The folk art pattern is just so warm and friendly.  

I played around with a few ideas but that green looked so amazing with brass that I knew in an instant I didn't need to look further.  I then layered some decorative wire on top of the hammered discs. Since the wire was also shiny brass, I decided to add some patina paint to make them stand out a bit. 

Here are some small round Golem beads that paired wonderfully with  drops from Josephine Beads!   Don't they look like gourds?  The colors and pattern of the charms are like tribal, meets autumn, meets a 1970's kitchen!!  They just make you feel good.

While looking through photos I ran across this pair I did a couple of years ago. The colors just had to be included in this blog post, right?!  Rich green and the warmth of brass again...perfect. These etched and extra crusty glass beads are the creation of Kay Mallery.  So much texture like Roman glass.  Kay's beads are ones that I reach for time and time again.

I wanted each piece to stand out on their own so I made extra large hoops in the center.  I think it makes an interesting look.

I'm am so happy it's autumn, I feel totally alive!  I'm crazy in love with this season.

I'll be back in a couple of weeks!  See you then!

Loralee xo

Loralee Kolton Jewerly - artful in beads

Let's go to the Fun Fair?

Scene: You have an extremely messy bead table. So many ideas and concepts tried out over a long period, which has left a myriad of beads and components just laying there. You sit and plainlessly fumble around with your beads. It's such an enjoyable process indeed. Then suddenly, you have something you didn't ever consider in the first place. But you like it somehow.

There is something about these earrings that make me think of some kind of fun fair or a merry-go-round from around the turn of the century 1900. Or a spinning top toy. You know the ones where you press a rod at the top and they start spinning. When I look at them I feel like I am happily swirling round and round.

Art beads:
White distressed matte glaze on dark ceramic cones - NadiaTerra
Green and lime glazed on edge raku fired on dark ceramic heishis - Jubilee

Other beads and components (from bottom):
Brass head pins
Brown 8/0 seed beads
Turquoise rubber heishi spacer beads
Gold and white distressed plastic bumpy heishi beads
Turquoise rubber heishi spacer beads
Red rubber heishi spacer beads
Red coral heishis
Opal white gilt lined 6/0 seed beads
Oxidized brass wire, messy wrapped
Brass square profiled rings
Vintaj brass earring hooks

All my best,
Malin

www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com

Rock And Chain

Art Beads:
Facetted polymer clay rocks by Barbara Bechtel of SecondSurf/Floridity.

Other components:
Brass chain and findings

I really like the three-dimensional shapes that are created when this type
of chain hangs vertically and freely like this. I lack the words in English
to properly explain what I mean, but I hope you understand from looking
at the picture above.

Note:
I am so lucky to still have quite a few of Barbara Bechtel's components
in my stash. She is/was one of my favourite art bead artisans. A wiz with
the polymer clay. Inventive and groundbreaking. Check out those faceted
rocks. She was the first one who started making them some years ago.
Now we see many using that style, and in different materials. Nowadays
she is focusing on her art carreer more than the jewelry side.

These earrings are not for sale at the moment. They will be worn on
stage by one of the singers in my son's band.

-----------------------------------------------

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

You Little Rascal

Art Beads:

Ceramic drop charms - ScorchedEarth

Purple patinated hammered copper rings - MissFickleMedia

Other beads and components:

Dupioni Silk

Copper findings

Fabric glue

Handmade oxidized copper earrings hooks

All my best,

Malin

www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com

We're All Ears :: February Reveal

As soon as I saw this statue, I knew that I needed to use brass or bronze for the metal.

I had to hit up my local hometown hardware store for some other items when I took a detour down the copper and brass fittings aisle. I love the myriad of tiny little drawers with diagrams of the metal bits within. In this particular aisle, the drawer wall was so very tall that a rolling ladder stood at the ready nearby. I climbed up gingerly when a sketch caught my eye for a compression nut. I liked the wide opening at the bottom and the smaller hole at the top along with the hexagon shape reminiscent of the dais on which the Buddha was standing.

The wavy lines of the Buddha's robes captivated me. I had an idea that I wanted to do something with a tassel shape and the compression nut would make a great cap. But instead of soft threads or fibers, I used a brass wire in 16 gauge. How to make a hard material appear soft? After filing the edges I used a pliers to make gentle waves in the wire. Flattened, then used a texture hammer provided some lines. They give a gentle wiggle when the earrings are moved.

To bring the teal bloom of the time-worn patina, I used some Vintaj metal patina paint in Onyx, Aged Bronze, Moss and Verdigris. Wiped off and sanded, this gives the perfect appearance of age.

At the top are some polymer clay disk beads from Humblebeads in teal with tiny blooms reminiscent of the flowers carved on the hand of the Buddha. The face of Buddha is so tranquil, serene. So these are called Tranquil Waves.

But I can never stop at just one pair. ;-)

I made a second pair inspired by the flame rising from the top of the Buddha's head and the swirl bindi on this forehead. I remembered that I had some vintage NOS (new old stock) hammered brass disk post earrings. These paired with the inverted flame-shaped dangles and some perfectly swirled silver plated beads. To make the different metals and shapes compatible, I used the same Vintaj patinas. The flame on the top of Buddha's head is referred to as The Flame of Enlightenment. Simple name for simple earrings.

Your turn! I look forward to seeing how you translated this ancient artifact into your earring designs. Share your version of the inspiration in the links below.

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Looking back

Hi there,

sometimes life just happens, and many small things come together which make you unable to deliver what you had had in mind in the first place. Without going in to any details, this is exactly what has happened to me recently. Nothing bad or serious, just many small things. The result is, I haven't got any new earrings to show you today. Yet I wanted to share with you something inspiring today here on the Earrings Everyday Blog. So I roamed around a little in my archives for pictures of things to show you. I picked three pairs of earrings that date back a few years. I hope you enjoy them. :-)

Mis-matched earrings with all brass findings. The beads in the left one are: pale blue dimpled ceramic bead by ChelleV2, pale blue edged raku ceramic disc by Jubilee, and a roundish bone bead. The one to the right contains: ivory and gold vintage lucite ridged round bead, pale blue edged raku ceramic disc by Jubilee and a pale blue and bronze matte lampwork bead by Gardanne. 

All brass findings from Vintaj, stripy trade glass beads, white baroque pearls, and pale blue Griffin silk cord.

Stunningly beautiful Lapis Lazuli matte nuggets. Brass findings.

All my best,

www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.se

Chain Gang

I designed these earrings around these wonderful African brass beads from Afrobeadia, and my embossed sterling silver rings. I fashioned copper chain links to join the beads together.

I had so much fun with the design, I did it again with my copper embossed rings, and fine silver links! Both pair feature Argentium silver earwires embellished with copper beads and brass wire.

And here's a little tune from the Pretenders to start your work-day off right!

Burnished Berries

Berry Delicious!

These plump copper beads (from Afrobeadia) are my new favorites--they are just the size of a small blueberry, and even the ends are puckered like a real blueberry! I gave them a liver of sulfur bath, buffed them up a bit, and popped them in the tumbler--and out they came in this delicious, plummy-rosy color. I gussied them up with leafy brass caps and sterling silver.

The Real Thing

I think I rather like the metal ones better--if there was a way to gobble them up, I would!

You can visit me at my Etsy shop HERE.

Stargate: A Mixed Metal Twofer

Stargate

Lately I've been trying to juggle fixations on both mixed metals and colored glass beads. Right now the mixed metals are winning! Today I'm going to share two very similar pairs of earrings I made on Saturday, using fabulous brass beads I've had forEVER--so long in fact, the seller doesn't even carry them anymore (I should have bought MORE--this is why you always buy lots of them)--with some of my hand-crafted copper petal beadcaps and a dash of sterling silver. (I'm also obsessed with these metal torpedo beads--these are from Monsterslayer.) These make me think of the fabulicious costume stylings in the wonderfully weird 1994 "Stargate" film--maybe they would be worthy of Jaye Davidson...

I used a different pair of brass beads, and larger, slightly different petaled beadcaps for the pair below, and hammered the wire on some of my wraps. I think I'm going to start doing that more often, that cut end of wire on a wrap is starting to bug me...

Stargate Redux

Plus it will give me more opportunities to hammer things, which I like.

These are available in my Etsy shop.