Spring Bo-Ho Fire-Polished Earrings
With Spring cleaning in full swing in my household, pulling out beads and findings I might have forgotten is a yearly ritual. This time I found one of my favorite types of beads, Czech Fire-Polished!
Here is a quick way to use up some of your jewelry supplies sitting around to make a fun, yet elegant pair of earrings.
Supplies:
2 Silver Plated Fish Hook Earring Wires 19mm
4 Silver plated 5mm Jump Rings
2 1 1/2 inch Silver Plate Eye Pins 22 gauge
2 2 inch Silver Plate Paddle Pins 22 gauge
8 Czech Fire-Polished Beads in Pale Purple 6mm
2 Silver Plated Lantern Beads 4x6mm
2 Rhinestone Metal Ball Beads 6mm
1 Pair of Jewelry Wire Cutters
2 Pairs of Chain-Nose Pliers
1 Pair of Round-Nose Pliers
Carefully thread two Czech fire-polished beads and one rhinestone metal ball bead on each 1 1/2 inch silver plate eye pins.
Thread onto each 2 inch silver plate paddle pins two Czech fire-polished beads and one silver plated lantern bead.
Using the jewelry wire cutters, trim off the excess wire of the eye pin with two fire-polished beads and rhinestone metal ball bead. Using the
round-nose pliers, curl over wire into complete loop by rotating your wrist forward. Close the loop, snug to the bead and repeat these steps with the second eye pin.
Using the jewelry wire cutters, trim off the excess wire of the
silver plate paddle pin with two fire-polished beads and one silver plated lantern bead. Making sure the flat side of the paddle pin is facing you curl over the wire into complete loop with the
round-nose pliers by rotating your wrist forward. Close the loop, snug to the bead and repeat these steps with the second paddle pin.
Both of the eye pins and paddle pins should look like the photo above.
Using two pairs of chain nose pliers start twisting the jump ring until the required opening is achieved.
*Do not pull open jump rings as this will distort them.
Thread both the eye pin and paddle pins on the open jump ring and close the jump ring with the two pairs of chain nose pliers by twisting the jump ring closed. Repeat this process for the second set of pins.
Open another jump ring and add a fish hook earring wire and close the jump ring. Repeat this process for the second earring.
Now you have the perfect pair of earrings for a casual or dressy occasion.
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!The Gift of Sparking Winter Jewelry, Handmade of Course!
With the past few months speeding past, with projects, orders, shows and daily life, I still make time to create handmade gifts for friends and family. No matter how much planning involved I always seem to end up making a few things last minute, but now that most of these pieces are on their merry little way I can share a few of my favorites.
I love getting random bead assortments from Fire Mountain Gems. In one of my last orders I received some sterling silver filigree bell beads. Hoping to create some form of jewelry set, I was not sure what to put with them. Pulling out of my bead stash I found clear crystals and chain from Fiona Accessories. They were the perfect addition to the bells, creating a delicate but beautiful mix of sparkle and sound in a Princess length necklace.
Taking inspiration from the 1920s jewelry styles I wanted to create a simple Opera length necklace. Once again using chain from Fiona Accessories and red crystals from Michael’s Bead Landing™ a graceful and lightweight necklace was created. While the red color is fitting for the holidays it also works well as a nice addition to dressy causal attire.
For this Matinee length necklace I used a mixture of miscellaneous findings left over from previous projects. The Aurora Borealis blue crystal beads went perfect with the patterned spacer beads. While the chain adds a more modern feel, the colors and spacers hark back to more ancient times.
When making jewelry gifts I just have to make earrings. Some beads just lend themselves to something delicate or have just the perfect flash of color to be made into earrings. Using beads and findings from Fire Mountain Gems, Fiona Accessories, Michael’s and many more jewelry suppliers these earrings were quick to make. A few almost could pass for tree ornaments, others found treasures and old heirlooms, making them perfect gifts for young or old.
What handmade gifts have you made or are making this Holiday Season?
Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
Enchanting Halloween Jewelry Charms
My favorite time of year, Fall is finally here! Cooler weather, plant-life changing colors and the promise of my favorite holiday of the year, Halloween just right around the corner. Now that I have a little more free time I am trying to find ways to use up a lot of my older art supplies mixed with new and interesting items. Scouring stores for Halloween decos, supplies, fabrics and ideas is favorite and seemingly a family tradition in our household.
I found at JoAnn Fabric Stores a wonderful line of Halloween charms by hildie & jo. The charms are sturdy, have a great finish and there is a great variety of carded charms. My only problem was most JoAnn Fabric Stores were selling out of the charms quickly and these were the only sets I could find. Each set had different themes and assortment of styles. I didn’t use all the charms yet but several I immediately knew what I wanted to create using up some of my older jewelry supplies.
The large two skull pendant set while advertised as Halloween charms I felt fit a Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) theme better. Noticing the skulls had a warm golden honey color rhinestone set in them along with a black enamel antiquing, I picked black and honey tone crystals from Fiona Accessories, silver flower and leaf beads to accompany the skull.
The rather adorable silver fang charm was just perfect as is, and I felt if I added any of the other charms to it, the piece would get lost. I matched the red enamel on the fangs to small red Swarovski crystal beads and silver-lined translucent red Miyuki magatama (oval) beads. By spacing the beads on the chain in irregular intervals, it created the look of crystallized blood flowing down the chain and past the fangs.
The tiny witch craft charms were so sweet and well crafted I felt adding them to silver earring hoops with purple Swarovski crystals was the best way to create a delicate but magical cascade.
The more tongue-in-cheek witch charms I turned into a bracelet, using black, green and pink Czech fire polished beads. The playful movement of the charms and drops added to the fun everyday style.
After having such a fun time creating these pieces I can’t help but want to haunt the stores for more!
What might inspire you to make some fashionably ghoulish accessories this season?
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
#Cre8time Jewelry Creations Inspired by Art History
Hello! With Spring in full swing I have been cleaning the plethora of crafting supplies I seem to always have. While I destash I can’t help but notice I seem to add to the collection without noticing! So this time I set myself the goal of using my more coveted supplies to create jewelry on a more regular basis. Today I wanted to show with you some of those jewelry creations inspired by Art History.
“Imhotep’s Gift”, vintage gold plated beads, Lapis Lazuli beads and vintage gold plated findings.
I have a serious love of Lapis Lazuli; the tiny highlights of naturally occurring Iron Pyrite always gives it a wonderful sparkle. Taking my inspiration from ancient Egypt, a matching set of chandler earrings and necklace was born.
“Roman villa”, gold foil and turquoise colored lamp-worked beads, Bead Gallery® gold rondelle beads, vintage gold plated findings and Blue Moon Beads® gold lantern focals from JoAnns.
The gold foil lamp-worked beads immediately reminded me of how ancient Roman glass looks when unearthed at archaeology digs. Using surviving Roman necklaces as a guide I used a link and drop design to create this necklace. I felt using the same beads would look a bit much for earrings so I went with lantern focal drops instead.
“Nepal Spring”, Sterling Silver Fair Trade beads from Nepal, vintage Sterling Silver spacer beads, Fiona Accessories black glass beads, Bead Gallery® turquoise tone Magnesite beads and vintage Sterling Silver findings.
I had bought the Nepal Fair Trade beads some years ago but could never think of what to do with them. I realized putting all the beads on one strand would be too heavy, so using only one bead as my focal I created a simple but stylish layout. The two additional beads from Nepal had their intricate details highlighted as earrings.
“Uranium Ball”, Neon green crystal beads (a discontinued line of crystals from Bead Gallery®?), vintage crystal and gold plated links, vintage gold plated spacer beads and vintage gold plated findings.
Once again the beads were my starting point of the design, the odd, almost glowing hue of the crystal beads made me think of Uranium glass. Uranium glass (also known as Vaseline glass), was glass tinted with Uranium to striking tones of green, was made into tableware and household items in the 1800 and early 1900s. Taking inspiration from the jewelry styles of the 1910-20s I created this set using mostly broken vintage jewelry pieces I have collected over the years.What type of wearable art could you create with a Spring destash of supplies?
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
Fall Miniature Art Supply Finds
With the first day of Fall fast approaching I swear I can almost smell the cool air, soon to be falling leaves, pumpkin pie and Halloween candy to come! It also has me haunting stores in search of new art supplies, in particular items perfect for Halloween and my eternal addiction, miniatures. Sit down for a spell, pour yourself a cup of tea and let me speak of some of the crafting bounty.
These 1/12th Scale Miniature Cocktail Glasses I found on Amazon. They are clear plastic and rather lightweight so gluing them down or filling them with resin, such as I did to create a miniature Happy Hour with the help of Amazing Clear Cast, is highly suggested. My tutorial on how to fill these darling cups can be found HERE. No two cups are alike in the set so if you would like to have doubles or to create a table setting you will need to buy several sets.
Even though Thrift Shop Ephemera Pack by Tim Holtz Idea-ology® paper embellishments has been out for several years, and easily found at most craft shops, I had thought it wouldn’t be of much use to me. Once I finally got a good look at the pack I broke down and bought one. I saw some of the mini photos and insect prints, once opened I found some really wonderful miniature advertisements and bottle labels perfect for Playscale (1/6th)and 1/12th scale miniatures. I would say only about 1/4th of the pack is good for miniature scenes but since I do a lot of mixed media work I thought it was a great buy.
The previous pack encouraged me to go ahead and buy the Curiosities Ephemera Pack by Tim Holtz Idea-ology® in the Halloween crafting section of Michaels. It is mostly Halloween with a tiny bit of Fall themed paper embellishments. I would say almost the entire pack is perfect for Playscale (1/6th)and 1/12th scale miniatures along with mixed media art. Just full of reproduction prints, in miniature, of postcards, decorations, bottle labels, advertisements and science lab posters, this is a must have for any fan of Halloween and vintage prints.
Another product that has been out for awhile but normally shoved into the scrapbooking sections of most stores is the Tim Holtz Idea-ology® Decorative Domes. I would honestly call these domes mixed media and jewelry findings with a nice overlap into scale miniature. The glass domes are rather thick glass with a sturdy brass loop on top (which with the addition of a jumpring would make a cute pendant). I found most 1/12th scale skulls, or in this case beads, fit inside the domes. Glued down with a little moss, they look perfect as specimens in a science lab!
Another scrapbook section sequestered collection is the Tim Holtz Idea-ology® Corked Domes. Taller, and thinner glass than the Decorative Domes, without a brass ring on top, these are more mixed media and miniature use. With the cord base it is very easy to push metal wire, pins and bases in and put the dome on top to create still life and museum miniature replicas.
I found at my local JoAnn store Maker’s Halloween™ Littles and Art-C™ Mini Black Metal Keys. The little resin skull and bat was in the floral department as decor for miniature fairy gardens. There is quite a few resin pieces to pick from but the skull stuck out as a prefect miniature desk decoration. The keys can normally be found in the scrapbook embellishment section or jewelry charm section. I added the keys to a large black enameled jumpring to create keyring. JoAnn doesn’t seem to carry these items online, so check your local store to see what they have in stock!
These new Pemberley Tray Charms and Multicolored Tea Set Charms By Bead Landing™ I found at a local Michaels but you can also find them at their Online Store. They have quite a few charm sets but my favorite is the matching Tray and Tea Sets. While intended as jewelry charms, and the plates have tiny holes in them, they are around 1/12th in scale. If you place a cup just right or add a tiny biscuit, to hide the holes in the plates, they are a lovely addition to miniature scene.
After I unpacked all my miniature finds I quickly found I had a perfect scientists’ Halloween soirée!
What lovely miniature treasures will you find in your travels?
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
Ancient and Contemporary Inspired Artistry