How Many Earrings?

A teacher in one of my workshops years ago brought her gemstone catalogue to look at during our breaks. Surely, she didn’t plan to look at it during my “captivating” lecture! She told me that she just loved to make earrings. At the time, I thought that sounded pretty boring. How many ways could you make a pair of earrings? Little did I know what a silly question I had asked myself.

This week as I prepare for an upcoming art show, I’ve been trying to make some relatively inexpensive earrings to sell. I previously made a number of pair using various copper shapes and doing some riveting and etching on a few pair. Yet, in planning for this next set, I wanted some unusual designs that differed from what I usually make. Luckily, Magpie Gemstones (www.magpiegemstones.com) offered an online tutorial of how to make your own ear wires and that got me started. Rather than tell you about some of the pairs I’ve made, how about a gallery of a few?

circle ear

      coil long tiger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

coil short turq

               

swirl hanging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                            swiggle ears two

 ear turq                                                                                                    

I have allergic ears and don’t wear earrings so my mother kindly tried all the above sets on to be sure they worked OK. There were a few pair that she noted she wouldn’t wear, but she said perhaps someone might like them. She’s so tactful!

I didn’t even ask her to think about wearing these bottle cap earrings. Let’s just hope someone does like them! There IS a limit when you’re almost 90.

botttle cap ears two

My next step is to make a few of these pair in sterling silver. Can you tell I’m having fun with these? I hope that teacher, wherever she is, will forgive my initial unkind thoughts about her love of making earrings. I think the passion for them is beginning to grow on me.