From The Rubble A Vision Arises

Photo above...New project made from a past "failed" project.  A pair of classic black & white earrings.

Not long ago I was struggling with a project, just couldn't seem to get things to come together, well more like couldn't get them to "stay" together. 

Photo above...The Mess !!  My pile of inspiration and a dream that wouldn't go from vision to reality.

The project was supposed to be a necklace and I was using some handcrafted jumprings that I fabricated from copper filled, silver coated wire however the rings kept opening up.  Twenty gauge wire should have been strong enough but I overlooked the fact that it was a copper core wire, which takes a bit more effort to harden.  Pounding the wire with a hammer worked but it also created a flat jumpring, not the look I was going for.

Anyway, following the advice of a number of my blogging friends, I decided to put the project on hiatus...but!  Yes there's always that "but" isn't there?  But I found myself drawn to those black and white drops that had already been crafted and I hated to bury them in my "to get back to at a later date" drawer.  I have projects in that drawer that date back to 1999 !!!

Photo above...Black and white Czech glass disc beads that I had made wire wrapped bails for.

Sooo I used those drops along with some new, hardier 18 gauge, ready-made jumprings and fashioned a pair of swinging earrings with them.  The earring hooks are 20 gauge sterling silver and are handmade by me. I like to craft my own ear wires as I can embellish them to suit the design.  Here I've added a small 4mm black glass bead to each wire.

Photos above and below...Finished earrings.  I call them "Day & Night".  They salvaged those neat little disc beads that I had spent so much time crafting bails for and make me feel like that time and effort  was not totally lost.

These have a lot of movement to them and even though there seems to be a number of beads and wire on the earring, they are not at all heavy.

The Donut Diet...

A couple of years back I developed a passion for donuts...purchased at least 40 with plans of devouring every single one. Fortunately these were non-fat donuts and also non-edible donuts, yeah I know, what's the fun of that ? Well the fun is when they are beautiful gemstone donuts.

I had taken a couple of wire work classes at the Miami Bead Expo and had gotten the bug for embellished wire and beaded donuts. Had even bought a half-dozen or so assorted gemstone donuts...Black Onyx, Red Jasper, Turquoise etc. With enthusiasm I crafted a number of lovely casual pendant necklaces focusing on the gorgeous 40 mm donuts resplendent with dangling beads, bits of chain, and lots of wire...sterling wire, gold filled wire even warm, lush copper wire. It was the height of the Southwest craze and my pendant necklaces had that hot, spicy southwest flavor that sold quickly. Afterwards I went overboard and purchased, as I mention before, approximately 40 maybe even 50 more in assorted gemstones...all 40 mm. However about the same time I began to notice a wane in the southwest fad so decided to hold off and see if it (the fad) would resume or peter out. Turns out it was definitely ebbing though it would always have it's die hard followers.

Now, a couple of years later, I find myself confronted with my over zealous past appetite for donuts. I have come up with a couple of slider bails made from my favorite Delica seed beads and adorned with a mulligan stew of assorted beads and pearls. I've made the slides large enough to easily fit over a strand of 6 to 8mm beads but I think these tasty donuts would look just as lovely on a simple black cord or a thick chain. Guess that's what makes them so nice, they can be quickly changed from necklace to necklace to create a totally different look...I've always loved variety and a multi-functional piece holds my admiration and respect.

Above: 40 mm Red Jasper Donut with seed beaded bail embellished with freshwater pearls, leopardskin jasper chevrons, carnelian rondells and Czech glass beads all topped with tiny #14/0 Charlotte beads...some in 24kt gold plate. Had to use a #15 beading needle in order to make multiple passes through the tiny beads.
Below: 40 mm Sodalite Donut with it's cool blueberry tones...yummy...think I'll go grab a blueberry muffin !