Autumn Glory Earrings-Czech Glass Fire Polish Beads Jewelry Tutorial

Sep 262017
 

Today’s project is just a little bit fall-ish. Autumn officially began last week, but it’s still feeling quite a bit like summer around here.

autumn glory earrings cover

I wasn’t quite ready to go all out fall colors, so just a few hints of fall with the gold, red, and dulled down greens. I really like the bright pop of those chartreuse beads for contrast.

Actually I’m NEVER truly ready for fall, not because fall in New England isn’t lovely, it’s always utterly gorgeous. But for me I’m always thinking that it means winter is on its way, definitely my least favorite season.

Of course, it’s always important to remind ourselves that for now we should enjoy where we are with the blessings we have at this moment. For we never really know what’s around the corner.

So yeah, trying to embrace fall…

The chandelier earring findings I used started out as a bright, somewhat antiqued silver. In the video I explain an easy way to change them to this antique patinaed brass look.

Because the paints that I used to change the look of the finding add thickness to all the holes, you may need to add a jump ring in between the chandelier finding and the earring findings, just so things move a little bit more freely.

And actually, the more I look at them, the more I think I may go back and add those leaf dangles I was showing you after all. That’s the awesome thing about making your own jewelry, you can take it apart and change it up anytime you want!

Tools and Materials:

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the Autumn Glory Earrings-Czech Glass Fire Polish Beads Jewelry Tutorial at YouTube.

Blue Iris Dagger Bead Dangle Earrings-Jewelry Tutorial

Sep 122017
 

Have you ever had too much of a jewelry supply you didn’t really care for? This project began because I found myself with a supply of far more copper split rings that I would ever want or need to use.

iris dagger earrings cover

The idea for using the split rings as spacers between beads started with seeing other designs that used wire coils as spacers in between beads. I really like the way the split rings slip and twist against each other, creating random movement.

crystal point earrings 1

If you are one of my $5 or above monthly Patreon supporters be sure to watch this video where I share a tutorial for these crystal point earrings. (If you are a patron, you can find the password here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/august-bonus-for-14044212)

The crystal point earrings are similar, but actually use spacer beads in between the dangles.

I love how the wire wrapping around the crystal shards has a kind of steampunk, industrial, sci-fi look. Or something like that… What would you call it?

Whatever you call it, I’m was really pleased with the final effect of this wrapping that leaves the interestingly jagged top edges of the beads exposed.

Tools and Materials:

For bonus patron project:

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the Blue Iris Dagger Bead Dangle Earrings-Jewelry Tutorial at YouTube.

Starfish Charm Earrings-Jewelry Design Tutorial

Aug 152017
 

Have you ever purchased beads or charms just because you liked them, but without any idea what you were going to use them for?

starfish charms earrings cover

Since I don’t have unlimited funds I try not to purchase things without at least an idea of what I’m going to do with them, but sometimes you just have to go for it and trust that the ideas will come later!

That’s what I did with these starfish beads. I purchase them at Michael’s, they come on a strand of 12 beads, four each in antique copper, antique gold and antique silver finish.

They would make a really cute dangly charm bracelet just by stringing them onto head pins with some other beads and hanging them all from a bracelet chain, but that seemed kind of obvious and I’ve made lots and lots of charm bracelets.

Sooooooo….

In today’s video I give you ideas for using many of your beads and charms in unique ways and I’ll also give you tips for making your earrings hang nicely and keep your charms facing the way you want them to.

Tools and Materials:

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the Starfish Charm Earrings-Jewelry Design Tutorial video at YouTube.

Feathered Fringe Boho Gypsy Earrings Jewelry Tutorial

Jun 132017
 

feathered fringe earrings cover

Although I have an Evernote folder called “Jewelry Video Inspiration” full of nearly 300 ideas,  sometimes it’s just more fun to pull out my supplies and see what happens.

Today’s earrings are actually a combination of an inspiration photo and searching through my stash for interesting things.

The feather charms on these earrings come attached to chain from the craft store, complete with jump rings, yay. Today I use them as is, but it would also be fun to color them with alcohol inks, embossing powders, Gilders pastes or the like. The same holds true for my hammered oval rings, although I used them just the way they came they could be also colored in a multitude of ways.

I really like the little hints of color that the mini dagger beads add. If you want to add more of these types of beads to your earrings one way to do it would be to add several more jump rings with the beads to the links of chain.

As I mentioned in the video, if this type of earring is not your style, a single unit of this design would make a great necklace pendant.

I hope you have fun adapting this design to your own supplies and taste.

Tools and Materials:

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the Feathered Fringe Boho Gypsy Earrings Jewelry Tutorial video at YouTube.

Bell Flower Bead Earrings-Jewelry Tutorial

May 162017
 

bell flower earrings cover

As is often the case these earrings started with the beads. I’ve had these cute little Czech glass bell flower beads for some time.

I bought them at the same time as I bought the pink tulip flower beads and the green leaves for the Sweet Spring Tulip bracelet thinking that they would go together in a project. However, once I put them together I thought the styles were just a little bit too different and although I had originally thought the red and the pink would be pretty together I just didn’t care for it.

sweet spring tulip bracelet insta

I’m always a fan of earrings with drooping flower dangles and decided these cranberry colored beads would look good with gold and white and crystal. My original thought had been to dangle them all from lengths of chain, which I still think would be a good look, but once I got started making the links with the freshwater pearls and crystal rondelles I thought that was plenty.

When you watch the video you’ll notice that I make a design decision right in the middle of the project. This happens all the time, I’m not one to plan things out with detailed sketches from the beginning, but usually only have a general idea of where I’m heading and make adjustments as I go along.

What kind of changes would you make to this design? Do you plan things in advance or work it out as you go along? Or perhaps design in a completely different way?

Tools & Materials:

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the Bell Flower Bead Earrings-Jewelry Tutorial at YouTube.

Crusty Boho Earrings-Jewelry Tutorial

Mar 282017
 

crusty boho earrings cover

These earrings are so simple to put together, but have so much going on! It was about time that I found a way to use the beads I made by mistake when creating the Faux Sea Glass Beads video.

Most of the work of these earrings in in choosing all the bits and pieces to layer together. This mix of shapes, colors and textures gives a great funky, earthy look, but you could just as easily get something elegant and sparkly by using glass beads and Swarovski crystals. Just use the design as your jumping off point to make a style that suits you.

As I mention in the video, if all your beads have large enough holes you can string the whole thing on waxed linen twine. Otherwise, use an eye pin to string most of your beads, then add a twine dangle at the bottom. 

Tools & Materials:

Btw, here’s the video I mention for wire wrapping undrilled pieces.

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the Crusty Boho Earrings-Jewelry Tutorial video at YouTube.

Beaded Fan Earrings-Jewelry Beading With Superduos Tutorial

Dec 202016
 

beaded fan earrings cover

Since Christmas is so close I figured we all could use a very simple, short and sweet project. These earrings may look complex but as I mention in the video I was able to put together one of them in 15 minutes. So a pair would only take you half an hour after assembling the materials.

Make sure to pick up some very fine bead weaving thread, like the Wildfire I show in the video, as each of the beads gets at least two passes and you need a fine thread to be able to do that through the small 15/0 beads.

In the interest of full disclosure I figured out how to make these earrings after first seeing this design from Linda’s Crafty inspirations on Pinterest. If you like bead weaving you’ll love her site! The original design is by Beth Clark and she has a free pdf of the design at her website. (Along with lots of other great designs!)

Tools and Materials:

Enjoy the video, happy creating and Merry Christmas!

Watch the Beaded Fan Earrings-Jewelry Beading With Superduos Tutorial at YouTube.

Copper Dome Earrings-Metal Jewelry Video Tutoral

Sep 272016
 

copper dome earrings

It is so satisfying to take a simple blank piece of metal and with the application of a few tools turn it into something quite unique and beautiful. I suppose it  would’ve been more satisfying only if I had mined the ore and rolled the sheet metal myself. 🙂

Perhaps at first glance you might think that today’s earring design is far beyond your available skills or tools, but in the video I show you how you can make them with simple supplies that you can get at your local craft store. Of course, below I will provide online links to the things you need as well.

Also in the video you’ll see what I mean when I say, “make visual decisions visually.” I started out with an initial idea on how I wanted to use my glass beads, but after laying them out realized I needed to change things a bit to achieve a nice design.

Tools & Materials:

In the video I reference a few other videos I’ve made showing helpful techniques:

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the Copper Dome Earrings-Metal Jewelry Video Tutorial at YouTube.

By the Seaside Earrings Video Tutorial

Aug 222016
 

by the seaside earrings

One of the things that we all love about making our own jewelry is that we can customize it to make it exactly the way we like. But sometimes it’s nice to be able to make something quick and easy, so how can we still customize those pieces?

Today I’ll show you how to make a quick pair of beachy earrings with tips for how you can customize them every step of the way.

First of all, you can make your own ear wires. For more information on that check out my Friday Findings Making Decorative Ear Wires video.

Next, instead of using purchased bead caps you can do some quick messy wraps with wire to make completely unique accents for your beads.

And finally, you can customize purchased charms by applying Gilders paste in colors of your choice.

So have fun making quick and easy and yet perfectly personal earrings!

Tools and materials

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the By the Seaside Earrings video at YouTube.

Friday Findings-Making Decorative Ear Wires

Jul 222016
 

ff decorative ear wires

Here’s yet another way to customize your jewelry and make it uniquely your own: create custom decorative ear wires.

What’s great about using these for your earrings is that you can make the ear wires an integral part of the design, rather than just a functional afterthought.

The wire working is simple and satisfying, and in the video I show a trick for making perfectly matched pairs of ear wires.

By the way, 20 or 18 gauge wire is  best for ear wires. Any thicker and it may hurt to insert them, any thinner and they could potentially cut through the ear lobes.

If you’re looking for ideas for interesting things to do with ear wires, check out this Pinterest search for handmade ear wires. Lots of cool designs!

Some of the tools you may need:

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the Friday Findings-Making Decorative Ear Wires video at YouTube.

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