Title : Tuesday Tutorial - Earrings, and I Hate to Make Earrings!
Tuesday Tutorial - Earrings, and I Hate to Make Earrings!
This is a quickie post about making something I hate to make----EARRINGS. Making earrings to me is the art equivalent of torture. I am not inspired by, nor do I wear, earrings. I love to look at earrings and am totally jealous of the gorgeous designs I see so many artists creating. I wish I could get that sort of inspiration!
I used to wear earrings. Back in the day I wore HUGE, CHANDELIER shoulder duster earrings that went great with my permed mohawk. GOD BLESS THE 80s!
I've moved on....
Anyway, occasionally I sit down and force myself to make earrings. Usually with dismal results. The other day I was fooling around with some 20 gauge sterling wire and this happened. AND I LIKED IT. Mostly by accident, I had been making head pins and these red jasper disc-ish beads happened to be laying in front of me. I started messing around and viola! I made earrings I actually like and would possibly even WEAR.
Now, I DO NOT CLAIM that this is some never before seen design. I'm sure there are tons of these out there. In fact, a friend of mine commented that she had seen this style before. So much for my perceived GENIUS...
But, if you want to make a simple. organic style earring that works really well for flat-stacked and disc designs, this is it.
What you need per pair: A torch (I use a micro torch), four lengths of 6 to 8 inch 20 gauge wire, a chasing hammer, steel bench block, needle nose pliers, flat nose pliers, needle file, a drill or hole punch (Eurotool) with a 1/16th bit, sanding sponge and sandpaper (med/fine), pickle if you want, disc beads and flat-ish accent beads of your choice.
What you do: Ball the ends of all four lengths of wire. Clean how you see fit. Pickle if you want a super shiny wire or hand finish with sandpaper/sanding sponges for a more rustic look. Hammer flat the balled ends of two pieces of balled wire. Punch or dill a hole in the flattened end of each and clean with a needle file. To assemble, thread a small accent bead on to a length of wire with a balled end (here I used a lovely little enamel disc by MaryAnn Carroll). Thread that through the hole in the flattened end of the second wire. Add a disc bead or two (whatever, stay single if you are using a fatter bead, make a stack of flat beads in graduating sizes, etc.).I used a turquoise disc here. The wire with the flat end and hole is the actual ear wire, so orient that up, bend the wire holding the beads flush with the back and do a simple wrap to the ear wire to hold it tight (I like a messy, knot-looking bundle of wire here so I use more). Trim excess wire with snips, tuck the end in with needle nose pliers. Now make the bend in the ear wire any length you like using flat nose pliers. Curve the wire in the back, snip to whatever length you like. File the end nice and smooth. I give the bend a couple whacks with the chasing hammer to stiffen a bit. Repeat for the other earring. THE END.
Since each earring takes two pieces of wire, you can make cool mixed metal earrings too! Copper and silver wire is next on my list...you could even thread a small bead on the ear wire and wrap in in place with the thread wire. Many possibilities here! I could conceivably make a ton of these, but I probably won't because...earrings. So, you GO NUTS! If you do make some, share your pics!
Oh, and did I mention that I AM GIVING TWO PAIRS OF THESE EARRINGS AWAY??? You're welcome! Simply comment here what your favorite 80s song or group is. If you are too young (Oy) GOOGLE IT. For example--Prince's Purple Rain (the entire album) was my JAM. I played it (cassette, people) until the tape BROKE. LET'S GO CRAZY, LETS GET NUTS!!!
I will be giving away the turquoise/enamel disc and red jasper pairs you see here--yummy!
Your turn...I will plug your names into a random generator and post the winners here and on our Facebook page Saturday the 27th. Get out your leg warmers and DANCE!
Your turn...I will plug your names into a random generator and post the winners here and on our Facebook page Saturday the 27th. Get out your leg warmers and DANCE!
Now GO MAKE SOMETHING AMAZING!
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