What started it all???

I was searching the internet looking for instructions for making a pair of earrings for my father's "lady friend". I used to make bead jewelry (eons ago), but none of that was really catching my fancy. Then I saw a pair of beautiful earrings made of jump rings. I could do that! I had worked with jump rings many times before and already had lots of the tools needed. From there it exploded! By "it" I mean "everything". I researched designs, bought supplies, made a few pieces, got an Etsy account and opened a shop.
But how do I motivate myself to come up with new designs? I don't want to just make the same few pieces over and over again.
Answer: I have decided to take part in a "Pair-A-Day-For-A-Month" Earring challenge. I'll make a new pair every day for all of January. Follow along with me to see if I can really do it. If I can, maybe I'll start a "Bracelet-A-Week" project next!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Day 15

Butterfly Earrings:
This is a weave that originally was a chain. I deconstructed it to make single units for the earrings.  



 
 

Materials used:
2- silver ear wires
16- 20 gauge, 3.5mm colored copper jump rings (4 pink, 4 red, 4 teal, 4 blue)
10- 18 gauge, 5mm black nickel jump rings
16- 20 gauge, 6mm silver jump rings


Instructions:
I followed this tutorial to make the single units- http://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.cgi?key=24024
Then I added several single rings to attach it to the ear wire.

Experience Level: Beginner
Approximate Time: 20 minutes

I like this weave and thought it would make cute earrings. Unfortunately the wire gauges I chose were not tight enough to give the design much stability. The butterfly wings should not droop so much. The original design offers more stability because there are extra rings attached to the wings to chain the units together. This also spreads the wings out and makes them look less sloppy. I think I will play around with different rings until I find the right combination. I should also practice taking better pictures.
Mental note for the day: Don't work with small rings over your computer keyboard...
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