Reposting an Old Favorite… Star Burst Earrings How-To

Hey everyone! Happy Independence Day to all of our USA readers and a happy Saturday to everyone else! It's a crazy busy weekend for me… haha! more so because of bead making than anything else (Are you surprised?!), but I'm happy for any excuse to spend more time with family so I'm planning on enjoying it with them too.

For today's post I'm reposting an old favorite from July last year with an added little treat of red, white and blue goodies at the end… I hope you'll enjoy this re-run of my Independence Day inspired earrings tutorial!

July 5, 2014… I've had a very busy week at work—both my "real job" and my studio job have seemed endless! And so waking up Thursday morning suddenly realizing it was my turn to post on AJE this weekend and feeling my brain start spinning as I realized I didn't have a post idea, was an unsettling way to start the day to say the least! My first thought was to show you my new beads… but wait those new beads aren't finished! My second idea was a tutorial—but of what?! I started making a mental list of all the cool beads in my studio and possible ideas. And then I thought of stars and fireworks—could I make jewelry inspired by the Independence Day celebration? I don't mean red, white, and blue. That's nice and all, but not my thing—in my mind those colors are for the flag and not wearing—that's me though and I never dress for any holiday. I wanted something that could be worn any day, no matter the occasion… My mind wandered onto some tiny howlite stars… hmm… olive-golden beaded beads from awesome AJE team member, Kristen Stevens… purple peacock faceted beads maybe?… Sounds interesting, right?

Anyhoo… all this going through my brain before coffee was a bit of a mess so I put the idea out of my mind and got on with normal stuff. Hot horses wanted their food and fly spray (right now!) and I needed to say "hi" to kitty before he thought I had forgotten all about him, and oh yeah, drink coffee… and then check emails.

All that out of the way, a second cup of coffee in hand—and star earrings here I come!

And a tutorial for you! Take a look…

Supplies you'll need:

- 22 gauge bronze wire

- 2 beaded beads

- 2 10mm faceted czech glass beads

- 8 4mm howlite stars

- earwires (again, I left this very minor detail out of my photo!)

Tools you'll need:

- tape measure

- wire cutters

- round-nose pliers

- flat-nose pliers

- bent-nose pliers

- permanent marker

- 800 grit sandpaper

1. Cut 2 lengths of wire each 3 inches long and 2 lengths of wire each 2 1/2 inches long. Smooth the ends with sandpaper—or if you happen to have one of those fancy schmancy tools actually made for removing burrs, by all means use it and make it easier on yourself—I had only sandpaper on hand and it works great in a pinch!

2. Use round-nose pliers to form a tiny coil at the end of one wire, put two stars on the wire, and form a second coil. Repeat with the 3 remaining wires. I like to work both earrings simultaneously to keep them the same.

3. Next mark each wire slightly off center with a permanent marker—make sure both long wires and both short wires are marked so when bent they will be the same length.  Grasp the marked point with the round-nose pliers…

4. …and bend the wire around, crossing the ends over…

5. …remove the pliers from the loop, grasp just below the loop and gently bend the stars down…

6. … so they look like this. Repeat with each wire to make your star charms.

7. Cut a 7 inch length of wire and take one of the longer star drops and one of the shorter ones and wrap tightly together. Repeat with the remaining star charms. Time to put the earrings together!

8. Cut an 8 inch length of wire and start to form a wrapped loop—don't wrap or trim yet!—slip a star charm onto the loop. Then add one of the beaded beads and glass bead.

9. Form a wrapped loop at the top of the glass bead… and finally wrap the loop at the base of the beaded bead. I did it this way because I didn't want a whole jumble of wire at the base—by having the wire already pulled tight after forming the wrapped loop at the top first, it was much easier to keep the wrap at the base flat and neat. Repeat for second earring and add your earwires… and go enjoy your new earrings!

And now some lovelies from the AJE team inspired by red, white and blue!

Bright and cheery ladybug earrings by Linda Landig

Sweet little red flower headpins by SueBeads… they look a bit like fireworks, don' t you think?

Gorgeous soaring bird beads…

…and drifting feather beads by blueberribeads

A radiant silver and chalcedony heart pendant by Bits By Niky

Stunning autumn red bracelet focal by THEA Elements

A little leaping lunar hare in silvery gossamer white by yours truly, Tree Wings Studio.

Athena's Owl pendant by jdaviesreazor

The most adorable little red, white and blue sail boat you ever saw! Also by Lesley Watt of THEAElements

And last, but certainly not least—a beautifully rustic Aqua Spiral Fossil connector by Starry Road

I hope you enjoyed my re-run post for today!

Wishing you all a most wonderful weekend… holiday or not… I hope it's fabulous in every way possible!

Rebekah Payne

Tree Wings Studio

Blog: treewingsstudio.com

Shop: treewingsstudio.etsy.com

May Component of the Month - Beaded Beads with Susan Kennedy

Today is the big reveal for the May Component of the Month - Beaded Beads. These beaded beads are the mandala rondelle designed by DatzKatz and beaded by me. If you recall, these are the beaded beads I had available:

And here's a list of participants:

Guests

Elisabeth Auld

Mischelle Andrade

Karen Martinez

AJE Team

Susan Kennedy - Hostess

Jennifer Cameron

Diana Ptaszynski

Kristen Stevens

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Lesley Watt

Melissa Meman

Linda Landig

Caroline Dewison

Lindsay Starr

Niky Sayers

Please check out what everyone made with the beaded bead challenge! Thanks for stopping by!

Susan Kennedy

May Component of the Month Giveaway! Beaded Beads!

It's my turn to provide the May Component of the Month, and after taking a poll of the AJE team members, I decided to offer a pair of beaded beads! 

I've really enjoyed making beaded beads in the past using round wood beads and size 15 seed beads.  I had purchased this tutorial from Datz Katz on Etsy (Debra Schwartz) and really enjoy coming up with different color combinations!

These are the beaded beads that I will choose from. Want to play along?  Here are the rules:

• I will give away 1 pair of beaded beads in the colors of my choice to each of 3 winners selected randomly from those who leave comments below this post. Your comment must include your EMAIL address and BLOG url so we can contact you should you win. Please note, this is required, I can't choose you if you don't provide both.
• Please — only leave a comment if you can commit to creating a finished piece and blogging about it on the reveal date.
• The names of the 3 winners will be announced on Saturday, May 2, 2015.
• This giveaway is open to US and international countries, but please be aware that international addresses will have longer postage times… sometimes up to 3 weeks.
• The blog reveal will take place on Sunday, May 31, 2015.

Good Luck!

Susan Kennedy

SueBeads Etsy Store

SueBeads Web Site

SueBeads Blog

Make Your Own ~ Country Goldenrod Earrings

It's earring making time again! Seems these days, I only ever make jewelry for tutorials… but I do like the break from beadmaking once in a while!

The stars of these new earrings are a pair of lovely beaded beads from our very own Kristen Stevens—I love her beaded beads!

Come see how to make your own earrings…

Supplies you'll need:

- 22 bronze gauge wire

- 2 silver earwires

- 2 beaded beads

- 2 8mm silver beads

- 2 8mm round beads (I used turquoise howlite)

- 2 5mm round beads (turquoise howlite for these too)

- about 16 inches of ribbon or fabric

Tools you'll need:

- scissors

- tape measure

- wire cutters

- round-nose pliers

- flat-nose pliers

- bent-nose pliers

1. Cut two 16 inch lengths of 22 gauge wire. Put a silver bead on each wire and wrap the wire once around, leaving a 3 inch tail.

2. Place the beaded beads just above the wrapped wire.

3. Cut the fabric or ribbon into pairs of three lengths. I did two pairs 3 inches long and one pair 2 inches long. You can do these whatever length you want—just keep in mind that the longer they are, the more bulk you'll have on your finished earring and you made need a longer wire for the wire wrapping.

4. Take the long end of the wire and thread it through the fabric, folding as you go. Place the 8mm howlite bead just above the folded fabric.

5. Thread the other 3 inch length of fabric, add the 5mm beads, and the last length of fabric.

6. Scrunch everything down on top of the beaded beads and form a small wrapped loop.

7. Wrap the tail of the wrapped loop down over the top of the fabric and howlite beads to the beaded bead. Wrap tightly, adjusting the folds of the fabric as you wrap and trim any unruly fabric with scissors. Lastly, wrap that first tail of wire above the silver bead. Repeat with the other earring… add your earwires and you're done!! Enjoy!

Happy earring making!!

Rebekah Payne

Tree Wings Studio

Make Your Own ~ Star Burst Earrings

I've had a very busy week at work—both my "real job" and my studio job have seemed endless! And so waking up Thursday morning suddenly realizing it was my turn to post on AJE this weekend and feeling my brain start spinning as I realized I didn't have a post idea, was an unsettling way to start the day to say the least! My first thought was to show you my new beads… but wait those new beads aren't finished! My second idea was a tutorial—but of what?! I started making a mental list of all the cool beads in my studio and possible ideas. And then I thought of stars and fireworks—could I make jewelry inspired by the Independence Day celebration? I don't mean red, white, and blue. That's nice and all, but not my thing—in my mind those colors are for the flag and not wearing—that's me though and I never dress for any holiday. I wanted something that could be worn any day, no matter the occasion… My mind wandered onto some tiny howlite stars… hmm… olive-golden beaded beads from awesome AJE team member, Kristen Stevens… purple peacock faceted beads maybe?… Sounds interesting, right?

Anyhoo… all this going through my brain before coffee was a bit of a mess so I put the idea out of my mind and got on with normal stuff. Hot horses wanted their food and fly spray (right now!) and I needed to say "hi" to kitty before he thought I had forgotten all about him, and oh yeah, drink coffee… and then check emails.

All that out of the way, a second cup of coffee in hand—and star earrings here I come!

And a tutorial for you! Take a look…

Supplies you'll need:

- 22 gauge bronze wire

- 2 beaded beads

- 2 10mm faceted czech glass beads

- 8 4mm howlite stars

- earwires (again, I left this very minor detail out of my photo!)

Tools you'll need:

- tape measure

- wire cutters

- round-nose pliers

- flat-nose pliers

- bent-nose pliers

- permanent marker

- 800 grit sandpaper

1. Cut 2 lengths of wire each 3 inches long and 2 lengths of wire each 2 1/2 inches long. Smooth the ends with sandpaper—or if you happen to have one of those fancy schmancy tools actually made for removing burrs, by all means use it and make it easier on yourself—I had only sandpaper on hand and it works great in a pinch!

2. Use round-nose pliers to form a tiny coil at the end of one wire, put two stars on the wire, and form a second coil. Repeat with the 3 remaining wires. I like to work both earrings simultaneously to keep them the same.

3. Next mark each wire slightly off center with a permanent marker—make sure both long wires and both short wires are marked so when bent they will be the same length.  Grasp the marked point with the round-nose pliers…

4. …and bend the wire around, crossing the ends over…

5. …remove the pliers from the loop, grasp just below the loop and gently bend the stars down…

6. … so they look like this. Repeat with each wire to make your star charms.

7. Cut a 7 inch length of wire and take one of the longer star drops and one of the shorter ones and wrap tightly together. Repeat with the remaining star charms. Time to put the earrings together!

8. Cut an 8 inch length of wire and start to form a wrapped loop—don't wrap or trim yet!—slip a star charm onto the loop. Then add one of the beaded beads and glass bead.

9. Form a wrapped loop at the top of the glass bead… and finally wrap the loop at the base of the beaded bead. I did it this way because I didn't want a whole jumble of wire at the base—by having the wire already pulled tight after forming the wrapped loop at the top first, it was much easier to keep the wrap at the base flat and neat. Repeat for second earring and add your earwires… and go enjoy your new earrings!

Have a most wonderful and creative weekend!

Rebekah Payne

treewingsstudio.com