9th Day of Christmas: Deck Your Lobes!

It's that perennial 'winterval' problem: how to make festive earrings that aren't too, er, festive. I know there are some who are happy to go for a splash of red, green and gold when celebrating on Christmas day or at a work's do. There is also the popular alternative of something more understated featuring symbols of the season - snowflakes, holly, stars.  But, what if you want something that is striking and (dare I say?) party-ready, while subtly seasonal, and suitable for year-round wear. That's a lot of boxes to tick! But the design I'm sharing today could be an answer. All you really need, aside from your art beads, is some short lengths of chain and some three-to-one connectors. There's a huge selection of the latter available out there - you can go as simple or as lavish as you like.

(l-r: The Paris Carousel; Finding Your Element; Legendary Beads)

You may well already have some in your stash. If you find the ones you have a little plain you could always try adding patina - to co-ordinate with the rest of the earring perhaps?

But what are we making? These...

As you can see, it's a relatively simple construction. I've grunged up my connectors which were some large vintage copper ones. But this is totally optional - you might prefer plain copper, for example. The only remaining consideration is what art what beads to use. Here I've used a pair of Linda Newnham's icicle-like, frosted lampwork headpins, topped with some spacers and tiny sparkly crystals. The size of connectors will determine how wide the central art bead(s) can be. You don't have to opt for long, thin focal beads. You could take some smaller art beads or charms and mix them with other beads to form stacks or columns in the centre. The chain and the centrepiece are all attached to the connector with 4-5mm jump rings. This first pair can serve here as a kind of blueprint. Once you have the basic idea you can be as elaborate as you like.

The connectors in this pair are some very unusual little vintage fairy/angel(?) figures that were linked together in a chain. There's a loop on each hand, but also another on the foot, from which I've hung a winter-y white Scorched Earth drop. I've added more vintage connectors at the bottom of the chain, wrapped round with some pearl-y seed beads, and I've hung a little faceted glass drop at the very bottom.

I think either of these pairs of earrings would be great for the holiday season, however you really could wear them all year round. Such earrings also make for great gifts: how much nicer to get someone something they can feel winter-y in, yet can be worn in all seasons!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

On the 9th Day of Christmas: Kissing Balls

A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point.  That's basic spelling that every woman ought to know.  ~Mistinguett (Jeanne Bourgeois), Theatre Arts, December 1955

The evergreen kissing ball is a romantic tradition dating back to 18th-century England. As the charming custom goes, a young lady stands beneath the ball and receives a kiss, removing a berry, until all the berries (and kisses) were gone.

Create these mock kissing ball earrings in just three easy steps.

Materials:
Enamel balls - Barbara Lewis, PaintingWithFireArtwear.com
Brass and gold plated bead caps
Swarovski crystals
Vintaj brass ear wires
Vintaj eyepins

Instructions:
1:: Gather your materials. Find some round beads, like these emerald green fluted enameled balls from Barbara Lewis of Painting with Fire fame. Sting onto brass eyepins.

2:: Pile on an assortment of bead caps with various looks. Stacking your bead caps is an instant way to add texture and interest. Try stacking bead caps of differing metals, like brass with silver or gunmetal with gold.

3:: Add some sparkle with Swarovski crystals to catch the light and draw his eye. Attach to ear wires of your choice, I prefer these long swingy ones from Vintaj.

{Kissing Balls - available on Etsy}

Put these modern-day kissing balls on your ears and be prepared for some smooches!

Studio Saturday with Lori Anderson

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process, or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive, we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

This weeks winner is BeadRoe. Congratulations!

You have won a bag of goodies from Erin Prais-Hintz!

Send Erin an e-mail with your address and she will send you those treasures!

This has been a hectic week here in my studio!  I went to the Bead and Button Show (brought lots of goodies back in case you want to try for the Big Bead Giveaway!), met with my book editor, did a video interview for promotional purposes down the road, met a million wonderful people, and did a bit of damage to a credit card I'd just paid off.  But I was good, actually, compared to some years.

Needless to say, my beading table and lampwork studio are either piled up with clutter or getting dusty.  I'm behind.  Soooo behind.  I feel like the White Rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland" .... "Late, late, for a very important date!"

source

When I have so many things piled up and a ton of deadlines due, I tend to get, shall we say, frazzled.  The running-down-the-street-waving-my-hands-over-my-head-screaming type of frazzled.  So I've learned to set aside the deadlines, if only for an hour or two, and do something that gives my mind a break.

Two things sooth this savage beast, and one actually helps me get the pile on the workbench under control.

One:  I sort beads.

It's SO cathartic for me to pull out a box of beads and sort.  Beads in too large a baggie get poured into a smaller baggie.  Ahhhhh, there.  Nice and tidy.  Beads that are rolling all over the table, driving me (and the cats) mad, I scoop up and corral into their proper spaces.  My mind can just drift, and I actually feel like I'm accomplishing something without having to think and plan and design and create and, and ..... and.

my bead storage cabinet

Another thing I do when my brain is on overload and I need a mental break is make earrings.  I sell a ton of earrings at craft shows and always try to keep at least 200 or so pairs on hand, so days when I'm overwhelmed are deemed Earring Days.

This time of year, believe it or not, I start preparing for holiday earrings.  My show season starts in mid-October, and patrons expect to see those snowflakes, so out comes the ho-ho-ho and away I go!

beads by Moonraker Lampwerks

I think we all have days when we're just completely overwhelmed with Life.  Life has a way of sneaking up on us and yelling, "BOO!" in our ear just when we've thought things had settled down.  It's always good to have a backup plan, and these are just two of mine.  Depending upon the day, my backup plan could be a nap and a box of chocolates, but then, that would have been a short and boring blog post, now, wouldn't it?

So here's my question to you -- what is your favorite way to recharge your batteries when you're overwhelmed with being a jewelry designer?

 

Answer this question in a comment below, and a winner will be drawn at random next Saturday.  The winner will receive a nice healthy helping of my Bead Soup, styled to your favorite color palette.  Mmm, soup is good food!

Lori Anderson writes the blog Pretty Things and creates jewelry for her web site, Lori Anderson Designs.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party.