Sekai, Suspended Earrings

I finally got these working! I played with chain and jump rings for a long time before they all finally fit within the rings and suspended the wrapped loops in a stable way.

Sekai means world in Japanese, and these earrings are so named because the little blue Picasso-finish beads (oh, the beautiful, lovely, delicate, gorgeous beads... can you tell I love them? Because I do. Mine! All mine!) remind me of the sea and a coastline, and these micro-worlds are suspended within the big copper circles.

I suppose you could probably work some serious symbolism in there-- didn't the circle represent the spiritual world to the Ancient Greeks?-- but for me they're just an intersection of two of my favorite things- circles, and these beads.

The copper circles are about 4 cm in diameter. The wire is copper, 22 gauge, the beadcaps, chain, and little copper beads are (what else?) copper. The beads are Czech glass.

These are big, but they're so simple I find them very wearable.

Obsidian Cascade Earrings

Another entry in my 'I <3 Real Stone' blog series, here are my Obsidian Cascade earrings. The obsidian chips swing within and below the hardware bits, adding an element of organic design into what is otherwise a very industrial style.

Although I love colors, I find designing in black and metal to be very easy.

Everything is copper, except for the obsidian and the hardware ring-dealies (again, their technical name). The ring-dealies are about 1.5 cm in diameter, and the earrings measure about 6 cm in length.

Gypsy Hoop Earrings

I am a big fan of drop beads. A BIG fan. I will attach them (via wire or thread) to pretty much anything if you give me half a chance.

I am also a big fan of circles.

Thusly, the gypsy hoop earrings were born. They're about 4 cm in diameter. The circles are brass but the wire is copper (22, IIRC) and the drops are Japanese and tiny and pretty.

These are big statement earrings, somewhat out of the ordinary for me. Although I do wear a lot of hoop earrings... it's mostly for a geeky, fangirly reason.

Lilac Cluster Earrings

Another beading project heavily influenced by my partner. He was bored and wanted to do something with wire-- I told him to look through my bead stash and find pairs of purple beads. Once found, he put them on headpins and made simple loops, which I then put on jump rings and strung into lines. So this was a joint venture, really.

These guys are about 4 cm long. The beads are primarily glass, though I'm not sure about the big shiny trefoils.

Queen Bee Earrings

I have always loved jewelry that gives off an 'evil queen' vibe. Not that these do-- but the bright red and spiky oxidized copper aren't the most inviting of design elements. Neither are bees.

However, these earrings aren't so bad. They're kind of cute, stylized and odd, and I think they would add an element of playfulness into an otherwise austere red and black outfit.

They're about 3 cm long, and the bees and wire are copper, as are the bead caps-- the beads themselves are Czech glass with a pretty AB finish.

African Lantern Earrings

These beads were thanks to my partner. We were visiting a bead store and, in an effort to stretch my creative horizons, I asked him to pick out some things that he liked that he thought I would never choose for myself.

He chose these agate beads. I thanked him, bought them, and then left them in my bead stash while I worked on all of the glowy yellow, twilight purple, or watery blue elements that I had bought for myself.

One day, however, I took these out and messed with them, and the design came naturally. Like all my lantern earrings, these feature copper bead caps. There's also copper chain, 4mm swarovskis, and snakeskin agate beads. They're about 4.5 cm long, and the agate beads are about 1 cm in diameter.

Geology Pendant

I used to want to be a geologist, and glass (even picasso finish glass...well, maybe picasso finish glass...) doesn't hold a candle to real stone to me. I made this pendant, and, as with so many pendants, I still don't know what to do with it. (Hey, I just thought of something! Pendant <--> pendulous... there must be some kind of etymological relationship. Does 'pending' get involved too? I bet they're all from Latin. Yep, they are. Actually, seems the jury's still out on 'pending'-- it may be from French. Which may ultimately be from Latin anyway.)

This pendant is based on a design from a wirework magazine-- I don't have it with me at the moment, so I can't tell you whom it's by-- but I've added some design elements (particularly the curled wire). I really do like this thing and all its earth tones, oranges and yellows and coppers. Its focal point is a picture jasper bead (ha, try googling 'picture jasper' and see how many stone images you come up with... There's a preponderance of young actors named Jasper or playing characters named Jasper, it seems) with more jasper, size 4 and 6 swarovskis, picasso finish glass and non-picasso finish glass, and lots of 26-gauge copper wire (with a little 22). It's about 4 cm in diameter.

Carmine Blossom Earrings

I like a lot of my earrings. They're cute, pretty, or fun. But I really like these because of how they stand out. Also, I feel like I can wear a green shirt and these earrings and have a floral outfit, which is kinda neat.

The large flowers are glass, and everything else is copper, except for the fire opal and gold shadow swarovskis. These earrings are 4.5 cm long and the flowers are about 1.3 cm in diameter.

Reclamation Earrings

This is another of my re-purposed hardware jewelry creations. It's very industrial chic.

These earrings have another hidden benefit: they are windchimes. If I turn my head quickly while wearing them, or a breeze blows through them, they ding gently.

Delightful in some circumstances, but, I'd assume, more than a little irksome if one is attentively focused on something and doesn't desire to hear a soft, "ding, ding, ding" from one's earwear of choice.

These guys are about 5 cm in length, while the largest of the rings is about 1.5 cm in diameter. They are made from copper chain, copper jump rings, and round hardware thingys (yes, that is the technical term) of various materials.

Desert Sea Earrings

These little guys were pretty scary to make. My wirework is chaotic (Only your wirework, huh, Uzume-chan?) so the idea of making two (2) pieces of identical wire-spiralled turquoise was daunting at best.

Once I did get up the nerve to try it... they were surprisingly easy. Huh. Guess that just goes to show that life doesn't always go how you expect it to go.

Turquoise, 20-gauge wire, size 4 pacific opal swarovskis, which are arguably my favorite swarovskis of all. About 3.5 cm in length and 1.5 cm in width.

Constructed Angel Bracelet

This has the same clear-and-copper theme as the earrings of the same name. It's all chain, randomly strung copper beads, size 6 (and one size 4) Crystal AB bicones, bead caps, and just a few moonstone-like Czech glass drops. It's about 20cm long, which, I guess, says more about my wrist than anything.

Constructed Angel Earrings

These were inspired by a large (well... large for a solitary hobby-crafter, anyway) of copper beads and AB Crystal swarovskis. I love the combination of crystal and copper, but these didn't do it for me until I added in the tiny copper spirals.

I've got this strange Steampunk-y (or CLAMP-y, I suppose) image in my head of an angel partially made of machinery (or at least in very industrial-looking armor) but sparkly things and a lot of white light surrounding him/her. These earrings sorta invoke that for me.

They're about 3.5cm long, with tiny little .5cm spirals. They're made of hollow copper beads, 6 mm swarovski bicones in Crystal AB, and yellow Japanese size 8 seed beads. 

My Favorite Earrings

I honestly don't know why I love these so much. I wasn't crazy about them when I first made them, I thought they needed something else to them. But they don't. They're swingy and wonderful and I love the way they look. Plus, I feel like I can wear them with just about anything. Maybe it's the asymmetry that makes them awesome.

They're about 5 cm long, they're copper chain and glass beads, with one copper bead cap on the largest bead.