Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Four Earring Ideas

Did you see these earrings when they appeared in the Dispatch last month? In case you missed it...

These quick and pretty earrings are made with some of our brass stampings and some lovely Elaine Ray beads.  You are looking at four pairs, we just didn't show the mates, but you could mix them up if you wanted to. I was around for a previous mis-matched earring trend (hello, hoop-with-giant-key and drippy-rhinestone earring pair!) so I think I will match them up, thank you very much.


Can you see those tiny beadcaps on the 6/0 seed beads? Those are really, really tiny caps we have cast from pewter here in the U.S.A. We have them plated in a few of our lead-free finishes and I love to pair them up with tiny beads. I also used those bead caps on the bottom of the Magic Bean beads.

I know you've probably heard it from me before but we are really big proponents of jewelry parts and beads that are made here in the U.S. Especially for metal findings, chain and components I feel that knowing what's really in the parts you use is very, very important. There are recalls of imported jewelry all the time for lead, cadmium, hazardous surface finishes and more. Those jewelry recalls very rarely reach the craft market; but that does not mean our components aren't similarly adulterated. The factories that produce clasps and chain and charms for mass-market retailers are the same ones that make items for us. The mass-market retailers just don't come out and test all our components.


I have a blog post where I discuss this in greater detail if you are interested.

Click here to see all four of the earring ideas in detail, with ingredient lists.

1 comment:

  1. Ohhhh, I really love these!!! Would look so gorgeous with a long maxi dress or even with a graphic tee- love how versatile they could be! Happy I stumbled on your blog, it's fantastic!

    I Live For It

    Xx. Jewls and Liza

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