Over the weekend, I made these earrings from a free tutorial by Anacely Olmedo that happens to be the most popular pin on my Pinterest boards.
I tried to make them as close as possible to the tutorial and give feedback for anyone else interested in making them. You can see the post here.
In general, I like more width to my earrings, so I decided to make the eye much larger.
I still started with a 6 inch piece of 18g wire. This time I used copper.
Then, I bent the wire in half, flattened the edges together and separated the wire to make the peak.
This shape reminds me of a flower bud or lotus.
I had problems making 4 twists on the last pair of earrings, so I cut it down to two. I was able to do them evenly.
Added a couple of spirals. I didn't measure the remaining wire, just trimmed so both earring frames are even.
And I thought some dangles might be a nice addition, so rather than an additional spiral I added a loop.
And by doing that - it occurred to me that these can now hang either way. That's interesting!
Hammered and my new frames are all done - ready for some beads!!
I'll try to embellish these frames with wire and beads tonight and have show and tell tomorrow.
Yesterday, I decided to re-work the design a little. I've only got as far as the frames, but here is my version.
In general, I like more width to my earrings, so I decided to make the eye much larger.
I still started with a 6 inch piece of 18g wire. This time I used copper.
Then, I bent the wire in half, flattened the edges together and separated the wire to make the peak.
To make the circle, I used my large Three Step Wire Looping Round Nose Pliers
and used the largest barrel.
This shape reminds me of a flower bud or lotus.
I had problems making 4 twists on the last pair of earrings, so I cut it down to two. I was able to do them evenly.
Added a couple of spirals. I didn't measure the remaining wire, just trimmed so both earring frames are even.
And I thought some dangles might be a nice addition, so rather than an additional spiral I added a loop.
And by doing that - it occurred to me that these can now hang either way. That's interesting!
Hammered and my new frames are all done - ready for some beads!!
I'll try to embellish these frames with wire and beads tonight and have show and tell tomorrow.
Well, it only makes sense, doesn't it? You can build the earrings around a certain pair of beads, making the eye as large or small as you need. Well done!
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you - and now to decide what to fill them up with!
DeleteThese are great--I love the versatility of hanging them either way.
ReplyDeleteMe too! Sometimes, it's just dumb luck - but I guess you have to be open to the possibilities.
DeleteThank you so much for posting this. I am new to jewelry making and found this very helpful. I learned some new techniques and was able to follow your instructions easily. Very well written and good pictures.
ReplyDeleteGreat! I hope you'll find other posts and tutorials helpful. I try to write it all as I do it because it helps me too. I can't tell you how many times I used to find an old project that I'd want to make again and I can't remember how I did it or what tools I used. Now that doesn't happen nearly as much - lol.
DeleteI wish I could show you my last iteration of this tutorial. I made a pair in copper with green beads, in 18 gauge, which my older daughter promptly borrowed and is refusing to return. I don't have a huge variety of wire in larger gauges, but I had acquired some 12 gauge colored aluminum wire a few months back, and since it's super-easy to shape, I thought I'd give it a try. I used red, with red glass beads and silver 28 gauge wire. Since the color comes right off, I didn't hammer the twists. But the effect is marvelous, and they ended up being very flashy. I will put a pic on my Pinterest board. My camera isn't great, but I'm not trying to sell them, so it doesn't matter, right?
ReplyDelete