"Lost pieces" - Earrings

Again I challenged myself to create more delicate earrings. The first pair may be not small but just delicate but I think they still count! ;)

They look old to me. Long lost or maybe carefully hidden a long time ago. 

The chain and the tiny flowers are from the old jewelery I got from Rumpels mother. She gave me a big bag with jewelery to take apart. Oh, how I love this! I can start sorting the single pieces later for hours and hours!

I used moonstone in both earring pairs with copper headpins. I still have some chain parts left but already started to use them for more delicate and small earrings.

You can get both earrings also in my etsy shop here and here. :)

Chain ideas - Playing with material

Okay, one of my own self-inflicted challenges is to create more necklaces. I am getting there, slowly and one step for me is to play a little bit with chains or rather with chain-making. I wanted to show you some of my ideas / experiments.

This one is just a connection between donut/rondelle glass beads (they are lovely and quite irregular in size). This chain moves beautifully, falls nicely and adds a nice weight without being heavy.

I also connceted thwin beeds with jump rings. Because the holes in the twin beads are relatively small and I aso had to use tiny jump rings, I could just fit one bead on one jump ring. Hence there is always a connection jump ring in between. 

It looks lovely and normally I am more bold in style but this fragile looking delicate chain I just adore :)

Quite easy one but also effective: Connecting big jump rings with small ones. For me I need to balance this by adding more of the smaller jump rings between the big ones.

This is how the chains started ;)

Or how about connecting vintage mother-of-pearl buttons with bronze rings? I never can decide which side of the button I prefer: The shiny one or the organic, rough one with the rest of the shells visible :)

An example of just wire wrapping beads and connect them. This are some of my precious (although originally cheap ones!) pressed glass beads. They have a feeling / looks that always brings past times into my mind. If you know where I could get more, please tell me!

Okay, I couldn't edit this image! I already have more chain versions on my table but need some more time to take pictures. :)

On my worktable

Truth is: This was my worktable in 2014. Still it looks quite the same and most of the projects are not finished up until now. Above you see my little soldering set-up (also where I torch fire my bronze clay... in case you wondered why there is such a big hole already in my coal block ^^). I was already getting some experience in metal work when I was in the 9th grade. If you know my blog, I already showed some of my pieces I did then. Honestly? I am more impressed than ever what I did back then!

I already know the theory, I did this internship in the 9th grade as well as a weekend workshop end of 2013 (where did the last year go?). What is missing is the practice and more importantly: The feeling for the material. There is no reading, watching, whatever helping... except for practice. So, I am on my way!

What else: I am playing with chain ideas. More of this the next days, just as a small impression this little chain fragment made with swarowski bicones. I got them from a friend and used them all up. Now I need to get some more. I really like the look and movement this simple chain gets and with the wire wrapping the bicones really looks great. I am not a too big fan of shiny with more shiny things but the antiqued wire combined with the clear sparkles of the bicones is something, that speaks to me.

I am a little bit stuck with this necklace. Even though I already love it! It is a piece of ceramic a friend found at the ocean and gave it to me. I bought the tutorial "Starry Shards" from fanciful devices / Marina but insteadt of making the starry shards I framed/soldered the ceramic piece. The little white bead is one of my polymer clay beads and I also used several glass, stone and metal beads. I just run out of fitting pieces... so I am still incubating ideas in my head how to go on.

The lampwork beads I caught in a facebook auction and are made by Sue Reynolds (aren't they lovely?) and combined them with some hammered wire (silver filled with copper). 

Some more polymer clay beads in various stages of creation. All of them far away from being finished.

But you may already get the organic, rough texture...!