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 7, 2012

Day 7

Fireman's Hold Earrings:
This weave is easy, as long as you have the right AR; nearly impossible if you don't.



Materials used:
2 gold ear wires
4- 18 gauge, 5mm gold jump rings
16- 18 gauge, 1/4in anodized aluminum jump rings (8 red, 8 orange)

Instructions:
I followed the tutorial from this website, http://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.cgi?key=24123

Experience Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Approximate Time: 20 minutes

I started with a 18 gauge 5mm ring for the whole thing, but the AR was a little to small. So I moved on to a 16 gauge 3/8in. It worked, but the AR was too big and it looked sloppy. Next! The best fit I could get was the 18 gauge 1/4in. It was tight, but I found that if I opened the rings up a little bigger than I normally would and used the needle nose pliers I could get the rings in place and closed. The ones I made don't have very much "swing" to them. I think they would be best as a pendant addition at the bottom of a length of chain. As a stand alone I'm on the fence about this design.
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