Stack 'em up

Hello there earring people!

So, I've been busy learning some new silversmithing skills, and so to be honest, I've not been paying attention to my beads and wire. I can get like this sometimes. If something takes my attention, I can be quite obsessive about it. But I wanted to create something non-silver for this blog, if only to prove I can still use that bit of brain!

So, I came across these glorious ceramic gold headpins and textured inky blue ceramic beads by the fabulously talented Claire Lockwood. There they were - having been hoarded in my beady stash for quite a while (I'm always reluctant to part with Claire's pretty things).

 I recently bought some very pretty lapis lazuli rondelles - two types - shiny/ smooth and rough and some pyrite. The inky blue of the lapis and the gold sheen of the pyrite are a good match for the colours in Claire's ceramics, don't you think? I thought they looked good all stacked up on the gold headpins. I like the matching colours, but also the contrasting shapes and textures. Stacking beads is a fairly simple design, but  a good opportunity to play with different shapes and colours.

That's me done for July! I'll be back in September
And these earrings will be available in my August showcase over on The Earrings Show in Facebook Land

Sue x
Utterly Lovely Stuff

Gorgeous ceramics

Hello! My turn on the blog again. Mojo has been lacking recently -too many things to do, and creative pursuits are always the first things to be shelved. But this morning, I had some time. And the mojo returned! 

Looking in my stash for some inspiration for this blog, I came across some seriously beautiful discs from the magnificent Claire Lockwood of Something to do with your hands. As always, with Claire's work -the colours and glazes on these ceramics are stunning. I worked on these gorgeous deep purple discs first.

I thought Jana Bliznakova's wonderfully tribal stoneware beads added a nice contrast to the glossy purple of  Claire's little concave discs. I added some pretty czech glass teardrops, brass chain and some purple glass spacers. 

For this next pair, Claire's ceramic discs were the starting point again. A gorgeous blue-green glaze on these. 

A dash of czech glass again (this time a little green flower in the centre of the discs) with more chain and a wrapped green czech glass teardrop. I went with some rustic, chunky African recycled glass beads this time. 

They will be in my etsy shop. Hope you like them. See you in December :-)

Sometimes simple is best

Hello!

For today's blog, I searched my recent haul from Claire Lockwood's shop update. Claire's ceramic pieces are exquisite. The colours are always a delight -vivid and earthy at the same time. They are so very beautiful that I use them sparingly, and often take them out of their box and give them a little stroke...

And so I faffed about with these for ages, believe it or not. Sometimes, the more beautiful the components, the longer it takes me to decide what to do with them. And I love these. I've bought several pairs of Claire's crescents/half moons in the past and love the shape of them. These are the most wonderful dark, indigo blue with a rustic stone coloured, textured  stripe.

In the end I stopped faffing, because sometimes simple is best....So i added some lovely oxidised copper links by Lucy Haslam and some pretty co-ordinating seed beads

So, if you're stuck -think simple! When it comes to beautiful components like these, you really can't go wrong. If you like these gorgeous components, be sure to like Claire's Facebook page -she posts details of when her shop updates are happening, and they sell like hot cakes so you have to be quick off the mark!
These beauties are up and listed in my etsy shop
See you in a couple of weeks!
Sue x

Earthy and tribal

Hello! It'll be a brief post from me today. A little pair of earrings I made recently with some components from my very favourite artists. And also illustrating my slight obsession with layering in earring designs!

Firstly, we'll take Petra Carpreau's beautiful ceramic droppers. Made with black stoneware, they are earthy and rather tribal.

I added some oval brass connectors at the back, which act as a frame for some rather fabulous red brass chain, which peaks out from behind the holes in the droppers and at the bottom of the earrings for extra swing! I had a pair of Claire Lockwood's gorgeous textured denim ceramic rondelles in my beady stash for a while. They were part of a set of earring beads that Claire sold in one of her shop updates (her updates are rare, but oh my word, they are worth waiting for!) and I really like both the colour (that pop of blue is a nice contrast) and texture of these (co-ordinates with the primitive, tribal vibe I think!). Finally, I added some greek ceramic rondelles and some copper twisted jumprings.

Hope you like them. They are available in my shop.

See you in a few weeks
Sue

Sun Spots

As I haven't had chance to photograph any of the growing collection of new earrings that I've been making, I thought I'd share a pair I made a while ago.

I just adore those sumptuous bronze and burnt orange lampwork beads (from Grace Lampwork, at Lima Beads). 

The ceramic drops are some that I made: I really love the slight puckering in the old gold glaze. They're listed here in my Etsy shop.

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com
www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com
www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

The Vivid Creatures Can

I don't tend to do green.

I made these cones for my last bead shop update, and decorated them with some new glazes I'd picked up. I was a little underwhelmed with the initial results so I added some teal blue stripes and popped them back in the kiln. When I fished them out I was much happier: they have a seventies ceramics look about them. I nearly kept them from the off but I try to resist keeping the best things when listing beads so I added them along with *a lot* of other pieces. Much of the stock sold quickly but, for some reason, these cones were overlooked. So, taking that as a sign, I decided to pull them out for my own use.

I topped them with some rusted filigree caps and hung them from some blackened vintage copper rings, which frame some pleasingly rustic African brass charms. Within the cones I've added slender lengths of sterling silver and labradorite chain and some patinated copper pieces from Miss Fickle Media. The colours in both work really nicely with the blues and greens in the glazes.... and I'm still highly tempted to keep them!

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

First And Last

I'm drafting this post on 21st December - some days before it's due to be posted. It's one of the last work-related things I have to do before shutting down for 'the holidays'. And boy, do I ever need to shut down...

But it's also a first. I'm taking up contributing regularly again. Well, fairly regularly: I'm taking on one of Cindy's days, so I'll be posting once a month. 

It's nearly a year since I stopped doing a regular post. I needed more time to focus on developing my silver work. Today I'm sharing some simple pairs made with my ceramic drops and silver post components. (I'm sure there must be a more elegant term...)

I made a number of these recently and most have sold. However, there are a few pairs left available in my shop. 

Wishing you Happy Holidays and a whole heap of the best of things in 2017, 

Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

Bold Colours

Hello, today's earrings feature a number of artisan goodies.  I got carried away as the colours matched so well. 

Ceramic caps by Claire Lockwood

Enamel connectors by Cathleen Zaring

and polymer charms by Elsie Smith

I have also added a pair of my own wrapped connectors.  Short and sweet for today.  Hope you like them. See you again soon <3

Suhana

Mt Etsy shop: Buttoned Up Beads

Curve With Silence

Since I started doing ceramics, I've been ruminating on trying to make my work more 'from scratch'. I recently started doing metalwork classes to help me to this end. The thing now is trying to co-ordinate all the different lines of development/experimentation that I'm doing with these different materials. Do I sit down and sketch designs then make all the elements? I don't tend to work like that. I've always favoured the chance, 'hands on', combining of things, the designs that come to you when you happen to have some of the materials in front of you.

I've just finished (and listed!) a large batch of beads. When making them I did make the time to make some beads just for me, to use in pieces that were already formed in my head. This pair of earrings is one example.

Admittedly there wasn't much to add. Really, sometimes, I'm just a sucker for 'sticking a pearl on top'. I did stretch to a pair of blackened vintage bezels, drilled to make bead caps, and a couple of etched brass rings.

And I don't think they need any thing more. They're listed here on Etsy.

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

Frayed Sun

I listed twenty one pairs of earrings earlier this week (yes, 21!!). So, I'm spoilt for choice on which to share today. I'm going with these:

I got the fabulous krobo beads a few weeks ago. They came on a satisfyingly hefty strand - one of those lovely-to-hold, hard-to-cut-up ones. As I sat happily holding the strand, enjoying the piped white flourishes on each bead, I remembered these vintage enamel bead caps that I had. I had them in pale blue, but I knew I'd seen some white ones somewhere. Of course, I had to track them down and order some.

The blistered ceramic drops at the bottom are some headpins that I made. I've also added some slim black wheels of African recycled glass, and some fluted vintage brass beads.  They're listed here on Etsy.

Bye for now, Claire 

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

Skyline

One of the joys of making my own beads is being able to make just the right thing for a particular design. Other times, I just make things that I think could be useful - shapes and sizes that I often find myself using. The little yellow discs in these earrings are an example of this.

I made a number of pairs and when I came to use these ceramic droppers, which I also made, these sunny yellow discs were just the thing.  Added to the geometric antique silver connectors, they give the earrings a graphic, mid-century look that is very much my bag.  They're listed here in my Etsy shop.

Whilst I'm here, a quick reminder: tomorrow is they day of this month's We're All Ears challenge blog hop. Head here for the details. There's still time to take part!

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

Union City

I've had a bit of an earring making binge in the last week or so.  I made getting on for thirty pairs. So, I'm kinda spoilt for choice in picking a pair to share today. I've plumped for these.

The pink points are coated pyrite. I've topped them with some rusted up caps, some button pearls, and some twisted oxidised rings. The stoneware connectors are some I made. 

Here's where they're listed.

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

Happy Accidents

Sometimes I could beat myself round the head. You know when you do something very stupid and vow to learn from it? Well, some time ago, I came up with this idea for a pendant/charm that I wanted to make - a calla lily sort-of-a-thing, like these:

I spent several hours figuring out how to form them, then making a batch of about eight. I was mid-bead-making-marathon, so rather than move the new things that I'd spent all that time making out of the way, I put them in a little tray and shifted them to one side of my table. You can guess happened. Some hours later I caught the tray somehow and sent all my hard work tumbling to the floor. Where it smashed into pieces. Excellent. 'What a fool', I thought, amongst other thoughts, 'I won't do that again!'

Recently I started making these cone caps. 

I've since made them in a number of wares, but these, and the first ones I made, were made from porcelain. I'm not sure what I was thinking as porcelain is far more of a fiddle.  Anyway, I made a tray of them and.... 

I really was furious with myself. But when I picked them up I found that only two had broken - and they were a matching pair.  And, with a very gentle bit of hit-it-and-hope, I manage to get the breaks on the two cones to mirror each other.

My sneaky wee inner-goth couldn't resist colouring the interiors red, and giving the outsides a black satin finish. Given what I used to colour them, I expected the black to be totally matt, but I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the kiln to find that the vitrification of the porcelain had turned the surface to something like vinyl, or even leather. This is one of the things that makes me love porcelain in particular. While it can be unforgiving to work with, when it is fired it transforms itself into such a beautiful material, and in doing so it can ultimately be the most forgiving of wares. 

I'm sorely tempted to keep these earrings as I'm unlikely ever to replicate this happy accident. For now they're listed here on Etsy. As for knocking trays of greenware off my desk, I have no doubt I'll be doing that for a good while to come.

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

Here's to 2015

So, it's fallen to me to wish you a happy new year and share the first pair of earrings of 2015!  How I wish I had a new pair to share with you! I've not made many earrings for a few weeks now and those I have made are for magazine submissions so they're under wraps.  Lacking new earrings, I thought I'd look back, on my blog, to see what earrings I'd made this time last year and share those. To my amazement, I found that the earrings I made a year ago are the first pairs I shared on this blog, which means I've been a contributor for a whole year! I can't believe it!  Since that approach didn't work either, I thought I'd share one of the most - what's the word? - significant(?) pairs of earrings, personally speaking, that I made in the last year.

These earrings were the first thing that I made with my new ceramic beads when I started making them last summer. (The lampwork drops were made by Anne Gardanne.)  Starting to make ceramic beads and getting a kiln were certainly the most significant jewellery-related events of 2014 for me. Perhaps the most significant thing full stop! I love it and I'm looking forward to doing much more of it in 2015.  What have you lined up for 2015? Whatever the year brings you, may it include many, many earrings!

Anyway, once again, let me wish you all a Happy 2015!

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

Collective

It's been a little while since I posted here, with one thing and another, but I'm back today with another asymmetrical pair of earrings.

I love these washed out blues. I've teamed a deep blue Scorched Earth drop with a ceramic feather that I made. Then I added a beautiful streaked czech glass rectangle and a sodalite hoop. I also mixed in some more czech glass and some teeny moonstone wheels. 

They're available here in my Etsy shop.

Bye for now, Claire 

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com

Amber Iron

It's going to be a short post from me today.  I woke up at 5.30am following a nightmare and I don't function well with too little sleep!  I have managed, however, to fix up some new earrings to share with you today. I'm picking up where Nikki left off yesterday, with more crustiness.

The rusty droppers are some I made a while ago and they've been hanging out on my desk, as beads do, waiting for a fit.  I particularly like this rusted iron patina, which I've dotted with yellow dye-oxide.  You wouldn't think they have a polymer clay base.  These earrings are available now in my Etsy shop.  Similar beads can be found in my bead shop.

Before I go, a quick reminder about tomorrow's blog hop.  I hope you'll think about taking part.  I've got mine made!  There are also some beautiful earrings up for grabs, along with some fabulous components and a rather splendid earring stand and there's still a chance to enter.  Click here to read all about it and get involved.

Bye for now, Claire

(something to do with your hands)