Filigree Sale

Filigree Earring DIY Ideas

We've got a few new filigrees on our site, and a secret code you can search for...find it and you can add a free item to your $25 filigree purchase. Hurry, this offer expires on April 14th.

Sankofa African Trade Bead Exploration

Today I took an idea I'd had in my head for a long while and played and played until it came out right. That doesn't always work, but today it did.

I've been wanting to use these pipe or quill beads for a long time to create a ladder-like necklace. I love the pretty horn color and knew that's what I needed to do with them. Somehow, each time I tried to make this necklace it did not work. I tried stitching them with leather (red!) Nope. I tried attaching them to chain (gunmetal!) Nope. I tried mixing them with copper and seed beads (whites, neutrals, metallics! Nope. 

I had actually kinda given up on them. Then, today, I was on a roll after making a pair of neon-and-gold filigree earrings (what can I say, my style is diverse!) The earrings are for a tutorial and a kit and everything worked just perfect. I even shot a quick video on Vine showing how to do them. 

Yes, I know you can't really make the earrings by following this super-quick Vine, but I shot it in between taking the how-to shots for the tutorial.

After I was done I still had a bit of time before I had to leave work. Hmm...what to do? Answer emails? No. How about make another piece of jewelry for another tutorial? Yes!!! That's it. I grabbed a tray that had some of our new Sankofa beads on it and headed for the store to 'shop' for my tutorial. I spied those horn beads...hmm, the idea has been in my mind for so long. I didn't know if I could make anything work, but I grabbed 5 yards of linen, and a wire choker frame and sat down...I swear I didn't even know what, exactly, I was going to make. A knot, a wrap, a trim, some notes were taken, some photos shot and BOOM. A necklace I LOVE LOVE LOVE.

How does it work for you? Do you just find that sometimes, ideas flow out and just work, while other times they seem to not work at all, no matter what? Do you have a good, getting into the flow technique? If so, I'd love to know it...

Watch for BOTH of these very different projects in the next week.

New Tutorial - Flower Fireworks Earrings

This new tutorial we sent out to our Dispatch readers last week uses pretty Swarovski Margarita beads set into these flower dangles I love. I have liked this dangle for years...and used it a lot. Isn't it funny how we can return, time after time, to the same component and it always does something new?

Click here to see the full tutorial or download the free PDF instructions.
And don't forget the Blog Hop De-Stash! Read the rules here, post every day for your best chance to win.

Don't get our twice-weekly project Dispatch? Sign up here. It's free and of course, we never sell or share your information.

New Tutorial - Create Lotus Flower Hairpins

Tutorial - Venice Lace Earrings

click here for the full instructions

New Tutorial - Filigree Lattice Necklace

there is a new tutorial up on the website...just for you!
click here to see it
click here to get our tutorials emailed directly to you

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.

Lucette Earring Tutorial

Here's the actual link...sorry for the previous spammy link! We were hacked!

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.

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!

Free project download at Lark Crafts

You can go download a free earring project from my book, Beading With Filigree on the Lark Crafts blog. I like the part where Nathalie Mornu talks about 'rooting around in her junk' to find earring parts. Wow, that has never happened to me. Junk rooting. Beads. Weird.

You can subscribe to the Lark Crafts blog right there on the page. I do.

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)

Filigree Butterfly Ring How-To

You can get the tutorial here...
I used teeny-weeny screws that you see in the center of the clock and flower to make this ring...I love the mechanical look they add to the design.

Happy Friday!

Silver Deco Earrings

These simple-but-elegant earrings are made with silver-plated filigree endbars, small bits of chain (about 1 1/2 inch per earring) and crystal bicone beads. They have a lot of nice motion and sparkle.

See this filigree and many more here.

Filigree Swing Earrings

These filigree earrings were created with large cupped filigree drops, a scrap of chain (less than 2 inches in the pair), two 6 mm beads and a smaller filigree drop. The filigree sparkles and presents a nice background for the crystal. The larger filigree drops are on sale here at 40% off.

Filigree Cup Earrings

This pair of earrings is made with a gold plated domed filigree, 14 mm faceted beads and long (2 inch, I think) head pins. The bead is nestled in the cup of the filigree. We happen to have these lovely filigree on sale...right here.

Earring of the Week

Welcome to a new feature here on the blog: Earring of the Week
I'll post an easy-to-copy earring design here and you can imagine how fab my ears look as I sport them. Seriously, I need some new earrings as I have been wearing the same few pairs for a while now. This feature on the blog is all about solving one of my personal wardrobe problems.

Okay, this week's earring is a neutral, metal-only design that goes with so many outfits. The pendulum drop featured in the center of the earring is a made-in-the-U.S.A. machined brass drop. Solid brass, but not too heavy to wear. The filigree finding used is also a lovely three-strand end for a bracelet or necklace (see the loops - 3 on one side, 1 on the other!) That sweet birdy earring holder? Sorry, it's vintage and part of my personal collection.

fly away, butterfly! special new tutorial...

We have a new exclusive tutorial for Ornamentea.com. Find the full instructions here and a downloadable PDF, too.

November Contest Inspiration

Inspired? Try Art Bead Scene's November Challenge and you could win a nice prize package. I am thinking that this artwork deserves some gold ribbon lace, brass filigree, mica and maybe a few dozen lace imprint beads.

Information on the challenge and how to enter is all here at the Art Bead Scene Blog.