The Beading Gem's Journal

Don't Like Dangles? Make Spiral Stud Earrings!

2012-02-15T08:00:00.002-04:00

I'm not really fond of stud earrings as they aren't comfortable when I have the phone receiver to my ear. However, they do appeal to those who don't like dangles.

The good part about making your own is the ability to get the right length posts. Sometimes bought studs do poke because the posts are too long.

One of the easiest ways to make studs is to construct them from 20G wire using a spiraling technique. Having said that, Jeanette Blix Ryan's stud earrings tutorial on Beading Daily (you need to register for free to get the download) will need some practice if you are not experienced with wire.
Her design has the post in the middle while the end of the wire after scrolling for the spiral is used to form a smaller spiral on top of the first one for dimensional interest.

The little round accents in the middle is actually balled head pins which are cleverly wire wrapped

on the posts just behind the spirals. You could also use ordinary head pins and 4 mm gemstone rounds for the same look. The butterfly backs can be bought from many bead suppliers.

If you don't mind the spiral being "off center" for stud earrings, then check out Emi Harrington's video tutorial for an easier version.

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips

Signe Style's Awesome Statement Mixed Media Jewelry

2012-02-14T08:00:00.002-04:00

Signe Albertson who now lives in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area describes her mixed media style as similar to collage.

Signe also adds, "Having a background in acting and theater design, I find inspiration for my jewelry from many different areas: classic Hollywood films, art, music and literature. "

The stunning result is her collection known as Signe Style. She is able to bring together different jewelry making skills such as wire work, polymer clay, hand knotting and metal smith techniques.

Her stunningly bold and mostly one of a kind designs are created using a combination of precious metals, glass beads, crystals, wood, polymer clay and gemstones.

Bird in Garden

She explains her design philosophy, "When creating a piece of jewelry, I think about creating a picture that tells a story or evokes an emotion. I want each piece to express a point of view and, I hope, reveal something about the wearer." I think she succeeds admirably in her goal!

Big Blue Bouquet

Dragonfly

Baby Blue Lamb

Via

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips

ORRTEC's $35 Riveted Earrings Kit Giveaway

2012-02-13T08:00:00.004-04:00

Riveting is a fabulous way to make cold connections - i.e. join metal pieces without using any heat like from a torch. It is much better than using glue as the connections are secure.

One way is to use eyelets as I did in my tutorial on How to Make Riveted Recycled Soda Can Earrings.

But if you are not keen on the holes, then try nail riveting. The process is not difficult as you can see from Melinda Orr's fabulous tutorial on her blog. You do need a metal hole punch - it is an indispensable tool to add to your tool collection. But Melinda says not to worry if you don't have a riveting hammer (a much smaller and lighter hammer than the usual kinds). She suggests alternatives.

So with a hole punch, suitable hammer and rivets, you are ready to connect together all sorts of things and come up with different designs.

To get you started, Melinda has a riveted earrings kit - there are enough supplies for 3 pairs of earrings. But you'll have to supply your own creativity! What's more, Melinda has kindly sponsored this giveaway for one kit to one lucky winner!

If you are intrigued with nail riveting, also check out her new video tutorial for an easy riveted heart ring. I must add that I am increasingly fond of using ring blanks (long metal strips) over the wire wrapped ring styles. It helps to get the wonderful multi-size ring pliers shown in the video.

Melinda also created another free tutorial (kits are also available) - the gorgeous Sapphire Starry Night Patina earrings which I wrote about before.

Be sure to check out Melinda's Etsy store, Orrtec. She sells supplies as well as beautiful finished jewelry. The combination of some easy metal smith techniques and patinas is awesome! Here are some of my favorites :

Giveaway
To win the riveted earrings kit, all you have to do is make a comment below. Subscribers need to click on the post title to come to my actual blog. Scroll down and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank

Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower or also on Facebook Fan page or Twitter . If you also do shout outs about this giveaway on your favorite forum, own blog, Facebook or Twitter even Google+ those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments.

This international giveaway ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday, February 20, 2012. I will pick a winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Good luck!

Before You Go:

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips

Titanic Jewelry Highlight to Mark the 100th Anniversary of its Sinking

2012-02-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

On a chilly April 15 back in 1912, the great White Stars ocean liner, Titanic sank on her maiden voyage. The ship labelled as "unsinkable" had tempted fate. 1518 people perished.

The enduring fascination with this tragedy will peak once more with many planned events as the 100th anniversary approaches.

There are even Titanic memorial cruises! One $60,000 2-week cruise also includes an 8-10 hour dive in a submarine! Only for those with very deep pockets and who don't suffer from claustrophobia!

On April 11, Guernsey's Auctioneers will be selling off more than 5000 Titanic artifacts as a single collection. One of the items is this bracelet below. This very personal of belongings is a poignant reminder of this devastating event.

This auction is controversial as is the company which is selling the artifacts. The artifacts were collected via submarine from what is essentially an underwater grave site - something some people prefer it remain undisturbed. Having said that, artifacts are often salvaged from other wrecks which also involved the loss of human life, so the Titanic is no different except in the scale of the disaster.

There are conditions to this sale. The collection cannot be broken up and must be available for research, education and public display. So it will most likely go to a museum.

April will also see the re-release of James Cameron's 1997 Titanic movie in 3D format.

Perhaps it's been a while since you watched the movie. But do you remember that beautiful blue diamond necklace worn by the fictional heroine, Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet)? Check out the movie trailer which shows several scenes featuring this necklace.

Heart of the Ocean by Ben Sutherland via Flickr

The Heart of the Ocean necklace was created specifically for the movie. The London based Asprey and Garrard designed it using a blue cubic zirconia set in white gold.

There really was a blue gemstone necklace on board the Titanic but it was a square cut blue sapphire. It belonged to Kate Florence Phillips. It was a gift from her married lover, Samuel Morley. Both were fleeing to America to begin a new life. This love story is believed to have inspired the movie.

Morley did not survive the sinking. Placed in a lifeboat, Kate made it with just a nightgown, the necklace, keys and a purse. She bore his child, conceived on the crossing. Likely due to the shame of being an unwed mother and a husband-stealing one at that, Kate neglected and abused their love-child. She eventually died in an asylum.

Their daughter, Ellen Walker, lived until she was in her 90's. After Ellen's death, her ashes were scattered near the area where her father was lost. Ellen Walker had tried for years but failed to get her father's name put into her birth certificate. For some reason, she sold that necklace years before her death. More of Ellen's story is here.

Much of the jewelry that went down with the Titanic were small items. However, Lady Duff Gordon (played by Rosalind Ayres in the movie), a noted London fashion designer, had a $50,000 strand of pearls on loan from her jewelers in Venice. It was placed in the purser's safe which went down with the ship.

Madam Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon via Wikipedia

Also lost were her emerald and pearl cross earrings shown in her picture below. These were Duff Gordon family heirlooms, a wedding gift from her husband.

Madam Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon

The Sphere (London, 27 April 1912), p. 72

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (north-east of New York) where I live, is significant in the story of the Titanic.

Route and location of the Titanic via Wikipedia

Even though Halifax was the nearest major seaport with rail connections, the survivors were taken directly to New York because the captain of the rescue ship, Carpathia, had to turn southwards to avoid the icebergs.

The grim tasks of body recovery and burial were left to Canadian cable ships and the city of Halifax. 150 bodies were buried in various city cemeteries including that of Irishman Joseph Dawson who was a coal trimmer in the ship's boiler room.

Although James Cameron denied Dawson was the inspiration behind the movie hero, Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), busloads of young female fans nevertheless wore down the path to his gravestone which is simply marked, "J. Dawson". They left flowers, movie ticket stubs and so on there in the aftermath of the blockbuster movie.

One of several permanent collections of Titanic exhibits is located here at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Many of the artifacts were donated or loaned by the descendents of mariners who not only helped recover the bodies but salvaged floating debris as mementos in an old maritime tradition called "wreckwood".

A particularly poignant and moving exhibit at this museum is this pair of toddler's shoes from the body of an unidentified little boy. Unlike other personal belongings on the recovered bodies, no relative claimed them. They should have been burned along with other unclaimed items in order to deter souvenir hunters. But the police officer in charge was so overcome, he couldn't bring himself to burn the tiny brown leather shoes, so he kept them. Many years later, his grandson donated them to the Maritime Museum.

Titanic Lounge (Picture Source)

Halifax will inundated with visitors this year due to the anniversary. One interesting event is a historic dinner theater production called Titanic :The Fated Voyage . The tasteful production aims to set the right historic mood for the audience with the first class lounge setting, period songs and music and an authentic menu - the same that was served to the actual passengers on that fateful night. The cast of 8 will play real and fictional characters in the 3-act show.

References

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips

Book Review and Free Tutorials - A Bounty of Bead and Wire Earrings

2012-02-11T08:00:00.008-04:00

I absolutely adore making earrings. There are so many different designs to come up with and what's more, they are fast projects. There is nothing like instant gratification, is there?

So if you are also of like mind, perhaps you might be interested in this book sent by Lark Crafts for review. A Bounty of Bead and Wire Earrings: 50 Fun, Fast Jewelry Projects is mega collection of earring tutorials by various artisans.

Many of the smaller projects are very easy to learn to make especially if you are a beginner. Also useful is a two page article on the different types of beads. For instance, I did not know that a go-go bead (a round, off-center donut) is also called a magatama.

Many of the earrings are large chandeliers which will delight those who love statement earrings. One of my favorites is this clever bead cap and dagger earrings design called Red Lantern by Cynthia Deis.

I particularly liked a number of Melody MacDuffee's designs where she shows how to make delicate filigree inspired wire work by twisting fine strands together. The design below is naturally called, Filigree!

There are a couple of free tutorials if you'd like to see how they are written. Both are by the wire artisan, Eni Oken. Here is the Follies Chandeliers tutorial :

And here is the Bollywood Dreams one using carnelian beads and gold wire.

It's a wonderful collection of inspirational designs, for sure!

Disclosure

Before You Go:

______________________________
Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips