AJE Earring Challenge, Week 18: Transformation

I'd like to start by wishing a Happy Mother's Day to all those celebrating today. There are many different dates marking mothering/parents' day around the world, some as early as February 12 in Norway, or as late as December 22 in Indonesia. What is important is taking the occasion to honour and thank the mothers and mothering individuals in our lives, both those who have left us and those we are fortunate to have with us still.

"Transformation" Earrings

I am continuing to look close to home for some of the OOAK elements I feature in earring creations. The large and colourful discs will be familiar to all who viewed the charms I designed for  the 2012 Art Charm Swap. Naturally, I made extras of each component! This time the discs have been paired with handmade wire Adrinka symbols from Ghana. These particular symbols are named "sesa wo suban" which means "transformation". 

I purchased the wires as headpins from Melody of Soul of Somanya, a non-profit organization bringing employment skills to the Ghanian people of Krobo. They also produce beautiful recycled glass beads which are hand-painted with intricate designs (which I hope to share in future designs). Melody also has a second shop on Etsy.

Normally, I would never dream of cutting up an artisan headpin, but I was inspired to use the design portion of one set as charms, with another set which I formed into ear-wires. I love the juxtaposition of ancient with modern, organic against bright and funky, and elements both near and far.

Make sure to drop by the Art Jewelry Elements' Pinterest board for lots of amazing earring designs!

AJE Earring Challenge Week 17: Playful Polymer

This will be a quick post. For this week's Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge, I have pair featuring my own polymer clay component formed from a kaleidoscope cane, thinly sliced and stacked for a geometric look. Kaleidoscope canes are formed from various other canes which are combined to form an elaborate picture. These remind me of little quilt squares!

Polymer clay alone makes a very lightweight earring for sensitive ears.

Kaleidoscope Quilt Squares 

Check out the AJE Pinterest earring board anytime. New earrings are posted regularly.

AJE Earring Challenge: Textured and Amber

Week 16 (or is it 17?) of the Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge. This week I decided to search among my own polymer clay beads for a source of inspiration. I came across a pair, 35mm/1-3/8" tall, basic black, impressed with a geometric design, and highlighted with mica powders.

Attached to a pair of handmade silver-finished earwires with ivory glass pearl beads, another example of Shelley Graham Turner's  "Dressed-Up Earwires". Glammed up with pairs of amber-coloured Czech glass dangles and some silver petite lilies filigree bead caps from Double Angel Design.

Polymer clay beads are a great earring option as they are relatively light for their size. Visit the AJE Earring Challenge Pinterest board anytime for lots of great designs... see you next week!

Glass and Silver: AJE Week 15

Still playing catch-up for Sunday past! Here's a pair for the Art Jewelry Elements weekly Earring Challenge. Back in August I designed a necklace using artisan porcelain and some lovely beads by Perth, Australia glass-maker Faye Blennerhassett of feyglass. These earrings, featuring more of Faye's lamp-work are a match to that necklace (which I still have and wear every chance I get!) 

Trinity Embossed Flower Charms and 2/0 Turquoise Picasso Czech Glass finish these nicely. Check the AJE Pinterest board often... new earrings are being added all the time.

See you next week!

AJE Challenge: All Purple, All the Time

Hard to believe it's been ten days since my last post! I had applied a while back for the second quarter of Art Jewelry Elements' Earring Challenge. I just got the email early this morning that I was accepted to join their Pinterest group for the weekly show-and-tell. I must get busy and catch up, as I've had some unproductive weeks lately!

Here is a pair I will assign to Week 14, which I believe is April 1-7:

All Purple, All the Time earrings

The starting point of my design is a pair of porcelain links: "Newt Charm Set in Teal & Red" by Nancy Schindler of The Rabbit Muse. These are attached to "Dressed-Up Ear-wires" in "purple-on-purple", handmade by Shelley Graham Turner and available in her Etsy shop Tori Sophia. The dangles consist of Greek ceramic spikes in "purple splash", with tiny light amethyst Czech faceted cathedral beads, attached via dark lavender DMC cotton (#208). As a lifelong lover of fabric and fiber, I am endeavoring to insinuate cotton, linen, and silk as often as possible in my designs. The earrings are an almost-shoulder-duster 85mm/3+3/8" length from the top of the ear-wires.

Please drop by the AJE Pinterest board anytime for the latest designs by lots of talented designers.