Industrial Lantern Earrings

I have a whole set of 'lantern' earrings going: somewhat-spherical beads, topped by bead caps, and ending with chain. These are the most austere and modern of the group. I love all the different chains involved. Yay for chains of multiple metals all grouped together!

The beads are snakeskin agate, the beadcaps are gold (I got them as a gift... what, you though I actually bought any non-copper findings?... actually, my partner has talked me into purchasing some gunmetal, so, yes, yes I have... but no gold, yet...) the hooks and headpins are copper, and the chains are copper and silver (and probably some aluminum-- I deconstructed some necklaces I had as a kid and that's where the non-copper came from!).  

Industrial Archaism Necklace

This is a collaboration between me and my partner-- he wrapped the big chunk of 20-gauge wire in smaller wire and gave it to me to do something with. I stuck some chain on both ends and added some wired swirls and pretty gray beads, and, voila, instant necklace!

I like jewelry with an industrial component (gray, lots of non-gold and non-silver metal, geometric shapes), and this necklace successfully gives me that vibe-- however, the copper-wire swirls and the shape of the front piece remind me of ancient Greek jewelry, hence the name.

This necklace is short and delicate, sitting just around the collarbone. It's made of copper chains and findings,  size 20 copper wire, size 28 copper wire, size 22 copper wire (going through the beads and making the spirals), and czech glass beads.

Omoi Earrings

More of a descriptor than a name, omoi means "heavy" in Japanese. These earrings are actually quite heavy to wear, but, more than that, their weight-like structure and metal components give them an overall feeling of heaviness, hence the name.

These earrings are pretty long, and they're constructed of copper findings and copper chain, with tiger's eye and ruby quartz beads. I'm not sure of the metal of the hardware bits-- I'll have to go back to Home Depot, heh.

I really like these earrings-- they're modern, vaguely Steampunk, and they make a bold statement. It just goes to show that you don't need to just use metal made for jewelry when you make your jewelry!

Everything But The... Necklace

Shamelessly inspired by some of my favorite Ben and Jerry's ice cream, the Everything But The... Necklace is a strange mishmash of awesomeness. It sprung into being when my partner, a former library putting-books-in-order guy who's very sensitive to detailed organization, decided to take it upon himself to organize my (hopelessly jumbled) bead trays.

Thanks to his hard work, I had a bunch of beadwork components- unfinished earrings, extra bracelet bits, things that I wire-wrapped just for the fun of it- that I didn't have anything specific to do with.

What does any self-respecting crafter do in that situation? She puts them all together!

Thusly was this necklace born.

Again, I can't give you the size right now, but it's pretty long. I haven't had the opportunity to wear it yet, but I think it would go well over some very simple clothes, to give them a bit of an artisty spark.

Autumn Cascade Earrings

I've been wanting to try constructing jewelry with wire a little more, and these are the result. They were inspired by a photograph of maple leaves in the fall, and I tried to catch both the color and the feel of a shower of cascading momiji.

I don't have them on me, so I can't give you the size specs right now, but you can see by the standard hooks that these are fairly small earrings. They're very light, too. They're constructed with 20-gauge copper wire as the base with size 8 seed beads strung onto it, a variety of copper chains, and some czech glass AB red and yellow beads.

I can't wait for autumn when I can wear these more often!