A New Earring Design!!

I've been plugging away, building earring and necklace inventory for our busy Alaskan summer tourist season, relying on tried and true designs.  Then, just 2 days ago, a new idea popped into my head.  It's actually a variation on a design I did a few years ago and allowed to fizzle out.  I love when this happens -- just when you think you'll never come up with something new, there it is!

I started with one of my sterling silver tornado elements and wrapped size 15 seed beads all around it.  Yes, I have done this part before.  The new variation is the dangle on the bottom.

I will probably list a few pairs in my etsy shop eventually and the rest will be for my booth at the Alaska State Fair and my fall craft shows.

Whiskey Quartz cubes with gold seed beads

Garnet Briolettes with rosy seed beads

Amethyst Briolettes with purple seed beads

And yes, there are plenty more pairs completed and several more in the planning stages!

Totally Green

No, I'm not talking about my eco-friendly lifestyle.  I'm talking about a brand new pair of earrings.  These chrome diopside briolettes really spoke to me when I found them in Tucson.  I suspended them from fine silver circles I fused from wire and added a bunch of vesuvianite (often mistakenly called vessonite, which is not the name of any stone) rondelles.

These earrings have lots of movement and the two different greens really work well together.  You can find them for sale in my etsy shop.  Click on the photo to go directly to the listing.

Some New Earrings

Even with the new puppy taking so much of my time (not complaining, just explaining), I was able to complete some new earrings and even made some time to photograph them and list them in my etsy shop.

smooth green amethyst with a cluster of soft pink pearls

a cluster of amethysts

moonstone teardrops

Click on any of the photos to go directly to the listings.  Thanks for looking!

Rutilated Quartz ... to die for

The strand of briolettes that these 2 came from was amazing ... and these are the only 2 that made a pair.  I find that incredibly frustrating.  I guess many necklaces will follow.

These brios are quite large and I didn't want to cover much of their beauty, so I used the "large-hole-silver-bead" method of finishing them for earrings.  This method secures the bead and hides the wire wrapping above the bead without obscuring any of its beauty.  Plus it makes a nice little nest for the pearl to rest in.

These earrings are for sale in my etsy shop.  Click on the photo to go directly to the listing.

Coppery Pearls

These earrings are brand new and feature freeform wire elements that look like smashed bird nests.  To me, anyway.  They started life as round beads that I bought in Tucson.  I didn't like the way they looked when suspended from a pair of earwires.  So what did I do?  I put them on my bench block and hit them with my hammer.  I like them much better now.  Actually, they are far more interesting and they look better as earring components.  Smashing stuff is fun.

Click on the photo to go directly to the listing in my etsy shop. 


Thanks to all of you for your warm thoughts and condolences on the passing of my Xena.  It means a lot to me.

Matte Finish Chalcedony

I must admit that I don't really understand these beads, but I knew I had to have them as soon as I saw them.  They are honey colored chalcedony with a matte finish.  I have no idea how they do that and I didn't think to ask at the time of purchase.

While making these earrings, I was about to attach the drop to the earwire, when I thought "booooring".  Then I had a stroke of brilliance -- it happens so rarely.  I added that beautiful vermeil spacer to the mix.  Wow, I thought, that looks great!  It adds to the warmth of the chalcedony and golden pearl and provides a nice contrast to the oxidized silver.

Just when you think you've run out of new ideas ......

Cubes or Geometry I Can Understand

Actually, I was always good at math in school and geometry was one of my favorites.  Maybe that's why these gemstone cubes really appeal to me.

The bottom one is London blue topaz.  That is followed by amethyst and garnet.  These sophisticated yet playful earrings are for sale in my etsy shop.

Bi-color Quartz

At first, I thought these briolettes were too long for earrings, so I only used them for necklaces.  But now I feel differently.  They're not  huge,  they aren't real heavy and they have so much sparkle.

The colors are pale lavender and pale blue, so of course I teamed them with tiny periwinkle colored tanzanite rondelles.  You may have noticed that I've been using my tanzanite rondelles a lot lately.  That's because I recently re-found them.  Yup, they got lost underneath some larger beads.  Poor things.

If you click the photo, you will go directly to the listing.  When you do, you will see that the photos with the white background show the bi-color-ness of these stones much better.  Thanks for looking!

The Deepest Red Garnets

And they're large too!  These garnet briolettes were so spectacular, I bought 3 strands of them.  I don't often do that, but I had never seen such large garnets.

The color is so hard to capture in a photograph.  Trust me, they're gorgeous!

Garnets and Labradorite Earrings

Just listed in my etsy shop, these earrings are sleek and sophisticated.  I wrapped tiny rondelles of garnet and labradorite along the bottom edge of a hand formed sterling silver hoop.

The hoops swing freely from the earwire.  All of the silver has been oxidized and tumbled for a super shiny steel gray finish.  Click the photo to go directly to the listing.

Ruby In Zoisite

Ruby in Zoisite is a super interesting stone, that I don't see much of, even while gem shopping in Tucson.   It is the occurrence of ruby and zoisite crystals, all in the same specimen.  Zoisite is generally green with black inclusions and everyone knows that rubies are traditionally pinkish red.

These earrings feature gorgeous briolettes of Ruby in Zoisite.  I added a genuine ruby rondelle alongside to highlight the red component of the briolette.

As always, you can click on the photo to go directly to the listing for these one-of-a-kind earrings in my etsy shop.

New Necklace . Soft Colors

These three understated stones work well together.  There isn't one trying to get all the attention.  This is because they all low on the saturation scale.  Harmony, for sure.

From left to right: moss aquamarine, rose quartz, lemon quartz.  All of the metal is oxidized sterling silver.  This lovely necklace is for sale in my etsy shop.   Click on the photo to go directly to the listing.

Simply Labradorite

I say simply labradorite because, well, it is a very simple necklace.  Labradorite is one of those stones that can stand so well on its own.  Sometimes I like to embellish it with a small stone that complements its inherent blue flash, but this time, I decided to leave it be.

Photographing labradorite has always proved difficult for me.  Even when I can clearly see the flash in the viewfinder, it isn't always visible in the digital image.  This photo captures it pretty well.  Yes, I made this exact same necklace for myself, mainly because it seems to go with almost everything I wear!

If you simply must have this necklace, click on the photo to go directly to the listing in my etsy shop.

Shades of Green

Just when everything around me is finally turning green, I made these yummy earrings.  I hand forged the copper circles -- you've seen these before, as I use them quite often.  Along the bottom I used sterling silver wire to attach little rondelles of peridot and olive green cubic zirconia beads in a pleasing pattern.

This style is working well for me.  Trying to work efficiently, I made a series of these using all sorts of tiny rondelles and beads in interesting color combinations.  First, I made a big batch of the circle elements -- some in copper, some in brass and some in sterling.  Then I did all of the wire wrapping.  It's amazing how many pairs of earrings I can crank out when I'm organized and think through the process before I start.  They looked so pretty all lined up, waiting to be carded and priced.  I think I made 12 pairs.

This pair featured here has just been listed in my etsy shop.  Click the photo to go directly to the listing.

Sometimes Simple is Best

When faced with absolutely gorgeous stones, I rarely want to do much to draw attention away from their beauty.  Instead, I tend toward designs that are simple.  Then one can focus on the stone.  It's not that I don't love elaborate wire wrapped designs with plenty of stones, because I do.  I'd rather leave that work to those who do it best.  Me, I'll continue to keep it simple.

These London Blue Topaz briolettes are extremely clear and the color is a deep, deep aqua.  Pure perfection.

They are for sale in my etsy shop.

Brand New Whiskey Quartz Earrings

If you read my blog on a regular basis, you know that I love marquis shaped gemstone briolettes.  There's just something about the way they taper to a point at the bottom.  It is so very graceful and appealing to my eye.

These earrings feature whiskey quartz briolettes in that shape.  The color is like warm honey.  Working with that warm theme, I added a small briolette of orange-y mandarin garnet alongside each one.

These earrings are for sale in my etsy shop.  Click on the photo to go directly to the listing.

Big Moonstone Briolette

When I bought this strand of really large white moonstone briolettes, I envisioned a series of necklaces.  Surely they were too large for earrings.  I was wrong.  Yes, they make a bold pair of earrings, but they're definitely NOT too big.

The stones have a nice blue flash to them, when viewed at certain angles, yet they are neutral enough to wear everyday.  They are for sale in my etsy shop.

Large Brown Pearl

The pearl I selected for this necklace is large and a deep, chocolate brown.  It is hanging from the center of one of my messy wire wrapped elements (aka, twisted tornado).  It's a fairly simple design, that takes quite a bit of sterling silver wire to complete.

You can click on the photo to go directly to the listing.  There is a matching pair of earrings too -- a separate listing.

Pietersite Earrings

Over the years, I've been intrigued by the stone Pietersite.  Most of the beads I've seen have been brown and black with lots of golden swirls.  This particular strand of briolettes I purchased this year in Tucson had no golden color at all.  As a matter of fact, they had an unusual wood-grain look to them, even though they are perfectly smooth.  They do have the chatoyance that is typical of Pietersite.

Needless to say, I love these earrings and will most likely make a pair for myself before all the beads are gone.

Click on the photo to go directly to the listing in my etsy shop.

Brand New Fluorite Earrings

I've been having more fun with my new beads.  I created these lovelies with the cardamom (?) cut fluorite briolettes.  I can't find any reference to this cut online, so I think that gem dealer may have made it up!  We're just going to call it a marquis cut, k?
 

Anyway, I wrapped them and suspended them from some of my fine silver fused circles.  After fusing the circles, I hammered them flat and patterned them with little circles.  I think it's kinda cute.

The only bad part about those fluorite briolettes is that those 2 pictured above is one of only 2 pairs I was able to get from that strand.  The rest don't seem to be close enough matches to make pairs.  The rest are destined to become necklaces.  Oh well.

Click on the photo to go directly to the listing!