Mis-matched earring swap!

Elaine Ray, magical bead maker, participated in a Mis-matched Earring Swap organized by Diana of Suburban Girl Studios. This swap sounded pretty exciting to me, but this time of year I can't take on any more 'extra-curricular' activities. I abstained.

I was actually pretty surprised that Elaine DID the swap. Read her blog post to find out why I was so surprised. 

Kudos to Diana for organizing the swap. I know, first hand, how MUCH work goes into planning and executing a swap. It can seem kinda thankless when you are the organizer, up to your eyeballs in charms or earrings or bead mixes. It can seem overwhelming. Diana did a fab job on this swap, however. I especially love the theme. Mis-matched earrings are super-trendy right now (yes, again!) as you can see right here on this website among others. We have super-hip 20 year olds making them at our work table every week.

What do you think about mis-matched earrrings? Are they for you? Is this a trend you'll wear or ignore?

Earring Wardrobe Class

Have you joined us for Earring Wardrobe yet?

This 3-hour class is our idea beginner class. You'll go from confused to 7 pairs of earrings in just 3 hours. If you aren't a beginner, you can bring wine and go from sad to cheery with 7 pairs in just 3 hours.

Amazing how that happens.

Find all the dates, here.



I shot this video a way long time ago in the class. I think it was winter...

New Tutorial - the Long Drink of Water Tassel Earrings

click here for full instructions 
these earrings are pretty quick to make, but look like a million...

New Tutorial - The Lisbon Earring

 

click on over here for this new earring tutorial...kinda nice, huh? 

New Tutorial - the Trillium Necklace and Earring Set

get a free PDF of this project by clicking here or stopping by the store.

get free projects emailed to you every week-click here to sign up for our free Project Dispatch.

New Tutorial - Caracas Earrings

These earrings use one of my favorite quick-earring tricks - hoop findings. The wire is already cut, already curved, already pierced. Yay.

You can click on this post title to download the free PDF now.
You can sign up here and I'll email you two projects every week, for free!

Tutorial - Venice Lace Earrings

click here for the full instructions

new tutorial - the Ximena Hoop Earrings

create a pair of colorful hoop earrings using chain tinted with alcohol inks and Swarovski crystal drops...

the full instructions are here

sign up for the dispatch here so you don't miss the next tutorial!

Create easy beaded hoops...

I love adding a few letters to the bottoms of these hoops. Or keys. Or watch parts. My hair is longer and I'm rethinking the whole earring thing lately.

See the project instructions here.

Lotus Dangle Earrings

A beautiful new earring project from designer Tracey Johnson. These swingy stacked bead and filigree earrings are lightweight and detailed. See the project instructions here.

Oui ou Non? What's it gonna be, girl?

Try this sweet project using our new French charms...and a bit of suspense! Instructions here.

And don't miss the next project-sign up for the Dispatch right here and get 2 free projects delivered to your
mailbox every week! Of course, we don't share or sell your address...

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.

Earring of the Week - Sparkly!

Are you looking for something sparkly to make for New Year's Eve? This might be just the pair for you. They are sparkly enough to be festive, but not so glittery that you couldn't wear them for dinner with a friend in late January, and then to a concert in March, and to Mother's Day brunch in May...

You'll need:
openwork leaf and branch connectors in antique brass
Palace Green opal Swarovski chain
crystal chain ends
8 mm black diamond Swarovski rhinestone  balls 
1 " antique brass head pins
tiny metal spacer beads (or use crystal beads in a color to match the Swarovski)
antique brass simple ear loops

For information on how to close the crystal chain ends, please see this tutorial


These lovely earrings were made by Tracey Johnson.

Earring of the week: Pretty dangles

This week's earring is a pretty little pair that features tiny flowers from our Autumn Blossom Mix stacked with crystal bicones. The head pins that hold the crystal and flower stacks onto the Flower Trio Dangles are simply looped in the back. This is called a loop rivet and you could add a dangle behind each leaf but I like this simple treatment.

These earrings were designed by Jane Mormino.

Scissor Earrings-I'll cut you!

These sweet and not dangerous earrings were created by Andrea Souza in our store. I love the way she put a tiny acrylic flower from our Autumn Blossom Mix into the hole where the two halves of the scissor were joined. These would be a clever gift for a sewing friend...or my mom.. Shh!

Make your own!

Autumn Blossom Mix

brass scissors

brass simple loops

tiny wire mobile connectors

head pins

seed beads 

jump rings

Filigree sale...75% off regular price

Selected filigree, like the ones pictured above, are now 75% off original price. We have limited quantities of some, lots and lots of others. These earrings are made with gold-plated filigree and took just a few minutes. Stop by the store or visit the sale page to see more. Hurry, things don't last forever at 75% off!

Flared Bead Cap Earrings - free project!

Tracy has created another great video project for you! Go check it out...

All the local ladies! Earring of the Week: Filigree Crystals

This lovely pair of filigree earrings is crazy-easy to make. We have recently helped a spate of Tori Burch flat-wearing ladies make similar pairs. Seems a certain local boutique is selling bead-adorned filigree earrings for $100 a pair. Hmm.

You can make these for just under $6 a pair at our store.

In four minutes.

You'll need:
filigree
ear wires
bead caps
head pins
beads (the beads shown are 6 mm Swarovski rounds, we don't have them on line but you could call us or check out your bead stash)

Leafy Lovelies

These sweet autumnal earrings feature our light-as-air frosted acrylic blossoms and leaves and nifty hand made twisted wire ear wires. They were designed by Tracey Johnson and you can make a pair on Tuesday, October 19th for just $2. All day, we're saving you a seat...

Too far to join us on Tuesday? Click here for the flowers and leaves, here for the wire, here for the tools.

Lovely floral earrings

These lovely earrings were created by Jane here at our shop. They feature tiny plastic flowers, 3 mm crystal beads and Swarovski crystal posts. Jane used headpins and just coiled them around on the backs of the leaves like tiny vines. These earrings are just sparkly enough, and quite lightweight. See the full parts listing here.