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!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Day 28

Dragonscale Earrings:
When done properly (not as I have done) this is a really cool looking weave. The trick is getting the right combination of ring sizes.


 
Materials used:
2- black nickel earwires
4- 18 gauge, 5.5mm colored copper jump rings (black)
28- 18 gauge, 8mm black nickel jump rings
28- 18 gauge, 11mm black nickel jump rings
2- black nickel headpins
2- dragonfly charms

Instructions:
http://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.cgi?key=7902
Make a looped bead for the dangle. http://www.howtojewellery.co.uk/2008/02/10/how-to-do-a-wrapped-loop-using-a-headpin/

Experience Level: Advanced
Approximate Time: 30 minutes (for the one I finished)

My earring looks nothing like the ones I was trying to copy, so I only made one. This is what I was going for. For the life of me I just cannot get the AR right. I tried a dozen combinations and most of the time they were too loose and sloppy (like the picture). I did get one that I thought was going to work but after 3 rows it was so tight that I couldn't add any more rings. It was very frustrating. I will keep trying. I really like the way the are supposed to look.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)