Day Thirty, Time to Party!

Cheers from both myself and Hubby~!

  ...Okay, so it's not a perfect rhyme, but it's more fitting than anything else I could think of.

Today we celebrate the (almost) end of my month of earrings. I have one day left, but I couldn't think of a more fitting time to throw a mini-party with my readers. See, I have reached over 1,000 page views to this blog. I am almost up to 50 posts. And I'm starting up a new post-a-day challenge as of Sunday!

Today's post kills two birds with one stone, metaphorically speaking. My earring-of-the-day is part of the special giveaway that I've been hinting about for a while now. SURPRISE!

 

First, the materials. The black beads are glass (the smaller ones) and ceramic (the REALLY small ones on the earrings, and the larger round ones), and the colorful beads are made by myself, out of comic book paper. Archie, to be specific-- I wanted that "retro" feel. Coated in Mod Podge, of course, to make them a bit more water resistant. The ear wires are made from Sterling Silver, so you can wear them without fear of the dreaded "green skin" syndrome!

One lucky winner will get both the earrings and the bracelet. Leave a comment on this post for your chance to win-- I'll be choosing the name at random on Sunday, April 8th, around 12 PM (aka "Noon") Eastern Standard Time, so be sure to put your name in before then!

I'll be announcing the winner on the blog, so I STRONGLY recommend that you follow the blog in some way (either Google Friend Connect or Linky Followers or RSS or whatever you choose). If the prize remains unclaimed after a reasonable amount of time (I'm not talking one day late, guys!), I'll draw a different name.

I'm super excited to be offering these items to all of you. Please don't hesitate to ask if there are any questions about this. Good luck, godspeed, and thank you for helping to make this blog as amazing as it is! I "luff" you all, as one of my friends often says <3

Day Twenty-Eight, Moving Along at a Fantastic Rate!

So, I have an exciting bit of news. I'm getting awfully close to 1,000 page views for this blog! While these are mostly repeat views from my faithful viewers, it's a very exciting milestone for me. When I reach 1,000 page views, I'll announce a special giveaway. It should be very soon, at the rate we're going on this blog!

Keeping this blog entry short and sweet. Here's the latest and greatest earrings:

Side By Side By Side, to quote a musical~

I love my trusty old teacup and piano bench...

And a new photographic surface emerges-- the cherry wood silverware box!

 Back to the pearls, I know-- it's just so hard for me to stay away! These ones are two different colors and shapes of freshwater pearls-- golden and dark brown, imperfect and oval and irregularly round. I made these to match a necklace that I designed a while back...

A matching pair of pearls-- shades of brown, just like autumn!

This is one of my favorite sets! My mother-in-law wore it to her church's Lenten Bible Study meeting tonight, and got *MANY* compliments. I have four sets of pearls that are similar in style but different in color, that one of my friends described as a "set for all seasons"-- this includes the green one previously posted, as well as this brown one, and two sets that I haven't shown yet on this blog, one of blues and another of browns and pinks.

Since this set (and the green one) turned out so well, I'll have to do the same for the others another day. See you all tomorrow~!

Day Twenty-Three, A Shopping Spree!!

And by "shopping spree," I mean that we got some new stones-- some stones I've been looking at for quite some time with wistful longing!

I was feeling quite down-in-the-dumps about a few things today, all of them related to one thing~ my health. Things are getting more complicated with my Endometriosis; my "bad days" now outnumber the "good" ones, and I'm spending an increasing amount of time bedridden and nauseous from the pain. Which means I'm missing out on life's events, both big and small.

Hubby knew I was upset about this, and came home with a FABULOUS "care package" for me. Most of it was consumed with great deliciousness; the beads (which are beautiful but not quite edible) will be posted up on the business blog as soon as I'm done over here.

In any case, onto the earrings!

I think this officially counts as a "streak" of pearly posts...

These lovely pearls were designed to match the necklace that was posted on Valentine's Day:

Honestly, while this photo isn't horrible, I'm glad to see that I've improved my photography techniques quite a bit!

The set is made from freshwater pearls; shades of green and gold meet an irregular white oval at the focal point of the necklace. For the earrings, I chose to use only the "accent" pearls, as you can see below:

I'm experimenting with a different background for the earrings-- this one shows up fairly true to color~!

I love these earrings, and I love the set they belong to. However, tomorrow I am going to try my absolute hardest NOT to make another pearl earring set. As much as I love working with pearls, I think three days in a row is quite enough of that, thankyouverymuch.

Until tomorrow, faithful readers~!

Day Twenty-One, A Tale Has Been Spun

As much as I love making a pair of earrings every single day, there are some days when I'm sick and only have enough energy for a single project. I am very happy that I challenged myself in this way, and I'm even happier with the results~ but I'll be glad to have the time to make other things!

Today's earrings were created to match a necklace that Hubby made, called "Fish Kisses." I'll post a photo of the necklace when he stops holding all the jewelry hostage...

As my high school Spanish teacher would say, it's all about the "Escoochi Smoochi"~!

With garnet hearts, and freshwater pearls that are shaped like fish, this whimsical design is equal parts classy and fun!

Hubby and I have crazy nicknames for each other-- it's truly a long story as to how they came about, and even if I had the time to tell you, I'm pretty sure it's one of those "had to be there" moments. Perhaps one day I'll figure out how to explain the story... but for now, suffice to say that one of the pet names that we call each other is "Fish."


It's a term of endearment.

I'm not going to lie, I had WAY too much fun "posing" the earrings for this photo!

Anyway, Hubby found these beads at our supply shop, and he knew right away that he had to get them. The hearts, he knew, could be used for many designs because they coordinated so well with many different stones and colors. In fact, you all saw them the other day, matched up with the rose quartz beads!

The fish, on the other hand, he knew would be used for something special-- as he told me the day he got them, they are just as fun, and almost as unique, as the woman who would be using them. Such a charmer, he is. And so smart, too~ he knows which hand is going to toss pellets into the tank, metaphorically speaking!

This design is special to me, because it is an enduring symbol of our love for each other. Like the fish in the earrings, I want to stay together forever as a pair, showing our love and affection until the end of time itself.

Thank you for all the love you give me, my darling Fish <3

Day Twenty, Earrings A-Plenty

So today's earrings are VERY simple designs-- nothing fancy, and not my most intricate work!-- but that was not their primary purpose. Rather, they were created to coordinate with a necklace and bracelet that I made late last night. My first full set!

Giving a big "shout-out" to my friend Megan, who let me borrow this book. Not only is the book itself interesting, it is absolutely PERFECT for jewelry photos! Love ya' Meggie <3

For the set itself, I used small seed beads in three colors-- a green-ish teal, a  faded yellow, and a bright electric yellow-- all three of them translucent, like beach glass. I used bigger seed beads, in a shade of bright green, to vary the texture of the pieces. I used black ceramic beads, smooth and round, to help accent the bright yellow glass beads used as focal beads for the set.

These earrings are ready for their close-up!

I chose not to use the large glass beads for these earrings for a few reasons. I was going to elaborate, but my list got eaten by an angry Blogging Monster who had a bone to pick with me. He's a big bully... he should pick on someone his own size ~!

Although that begs the question of what a Blogging Monster *looks* like, and causes me to wonder just how big they are. Can anyone verify their existence as a species? Or are they in the same category as "Big Foot" and "Sasquatch" and "Nessie"?

... When bloggers start creating their own nemeses, you know that it's way too late to be putting together a post. Looks like it's my bedtime, guys... see you tomorrow!

Day Nineteen, Fit for a Queen

Alright, so I didn't drop off the "bandwagon" entirely, I've just had a rough few days, health-wise. I've been bed-bound the majority of the time, and I've *written* blog posts for every single day, but I haven't been able to actually put them "live".

I don't have a lot of energy, so I apologize for the brevity of these posts.

Today's earrings are designed to match a necklace that Hubby made. He is still holding most of our jewelry captive-- still trying to take photos of it-- but I'll see if I can grab the necklace for a short bit.

Not my best work, as a photographer, but I'm very proud of them as earrings <3

The earrings are made by hand, with brass wire. Ear wires and everything else was made by me-- and I put a faceted jade bead, colored teal in the middle of the spirals.

Thank goodness I'm done with the "teens"~ onto the last third of this challenge!

Day Ten, Let's Do It Again!

Day ten of my personal challenges, and I'm still going strong! Earrings du jour:

This teacup has become my new best friend...

This beautiful pair is a personal favorite of mine~ lapis lazuli centers, flanked by golden freshwater pearls (shaped like doughnuts, yum yum!) and small black onyx beads. They were designed to coordinate with a necklace that I had in mind for a while, and finally finished up today as well.

The lapis lazuli is a little out of focus here, but it gives you an idea of the colors against a darker surface~

Now, I absolutely LOVE this set. I love the way it looks, I love the stones, and I love the colors. But I have to admit that when I saw them on the neck form... no matter how I tried... no matter what angle I took the photo... no matter how I moved the earrings around, and the necklace up or down... it looked like the face of a deranged cookie monster.

"C" is for "color" AND "cookies"!

Fortunately, it does not have this same effect while on a person. I speak from experience on this.

However, I will have to be EXCEPTIONALLY careful when I put them on display these for sale. No need to scare the customers away from the booth...

Day Seven and the "Green Machine" Set!

... Did anyone else find the Top Chef reunion special as amusing as I did? 

Anyway, I can't believe it's been a full week of making earrings! Every day that I do this, it gets easier and easier... today's project matches a necklace,designed a while back, and actually sold at market three weeks ago! It got a lot of attention, and sold the very first day it was on the table, so I made it again-- this time with a pair of earrings to match!

I like to think of this set as "The Green Machine"!

These earrings contain two stones-- bright green agate, marbleized with darker tones of green and shades of brown, and round green jade. Large enough to make a statement, small enough to not make *too* large of a statement. They were made to match this specific necklace, which has a large "yellow" turquoise stone as the center focal. Yellow "turquoise" always intrigues me, since it comes in a wide array of colors, not all of which are actually yellow! Despite being part of a matched set, these earrings also coordinate with other pieces:

If these earrings were students, they would be rated positively for "plays well with others"~!

I like to "test" my earrings out whenever possible, to make sure they stay put. These are the same earrings, with a different necklace from my jewelry collection, out and about in their public debut. Don't they look lovely? I like the earrings, but Hubby would say that he thinks their model is much prettier.

Anyway, these earrings passed muster... they were worn to Hubby's church, for a Lent reflection/bible study/prayer group/dinner party. All in all, a successful evening!

Day Seven-- VICTORY!!!

Day Two of My Challenges~ COMPLETE!

I'm so proud of myself for this pair! I made a completely different pair using those same swirling glass bead "focals". Why don't you take a look for yourself~

Inspired by the swirls in the beads used in yesterday's post, I created curly-q swirls of my own in these earrings! Brass wire was used to create the ear hooks and the mini-rings, and used the glass beads previously mentioned.

Those beads are nothing unique or overly special~ I've had them for years, most likely purchased at some craft store-- probably owned by millions of people-- but I always loved the look of them, and have just been waiting for the right project to come along. Seems as though they were waiting for these earrings!









Oh, and just for good measure? A photograph of the earrings, put together with the necklace that they "belong" to~

This necklace is actually much longer, as seen in yesterday's photo, but I wanted to capture the details on the earrings and in the glass.

Day Two of my challenges? COMPLETE!

Day One of "March Madness" Earring Challenge, and NaBloPoMo~ COMPLETE!

So not only am I doing the whole "earring a day" personal challenge, I've decided to take part in March's NaBloPoMo, also known as National Blog Posting Month. I remember taking part in the original incarnation of this, which only happens only once a year-- "NaNoWriMo" (National Novel Writing Month). I kind of miss the "specialness" that this event used to have as a yearly event, but on the other hand I'm glad that there are opportunities to do this EVERY month now, since this means I can combine both my own personal challenge and the NaBloPoMo challenge. Hooray for me~!

My first pair of the month are simple, but classy, and the first pair made from my new ear wires. Take a look!

I'm also trying out some new photo techniques~

I made them to match a necklace that I made earlier in the week. Here, you can see the combined set:

As an added bonus, you can also see my knitting needles and my stash of leftover bits of yarn!

Not my best photo, but you get the idea. Day One of my personal challenge, as well as Day One of NaBloPoMo complete~ only 30 more to go!