Every year my other half, the children and I head down to Cornwall to spend some of the summer holidays with his family, and every year we go to some of the amazing beaches and collect lots of lovely beach treasures, which inevitably (what with me being a hoarder) end up coming home with us and being put into the "one day I will do something with all these lovely bits" box....
The Contents of the Box
So this year I decided I really need to start using some of these treasures and what better way to start then by making up some earrings....
Making Waves Earrings
To make these earrings you will need
A pair of sea glass pieces (mine are 15mm x 10mm)
8mm/20gauge sterling silver wire (The amount of silver you will need for this project will depend on the size of your sea glass and how long you like your earwires. 1/2 meter should be enough to make two or three pairs of earrings).
2 2x1mm sterling silver crimp covers
Wire cutters
File
Flat nose pliers
Bail making or round nose pliers
Hammer and anvil
Easy solder paste
Soldering equipment (including safety goggles and apron)
Safety pickle
Optional
Tumbler
Dremel with a 1mm cup burr
Making the Back of the Earring
Cut two lengths of wire long enough to wrap around your cabs and then shape them so that they are ever so slightly smaller then the sea glass, trim and file the ends so they fit together perfectly flush these will become the back of the earrings
Forming Waves
Take approx 3 inches (more if you are using large sea glass pieces) using your pliers form tiny waves, this can be a little fiddly at first. Once shaped gently hammer your waves so they are flat and cut off and file small sections to fit neatly inside the back sections you just formed (they must be touching each side).
Soldering in Place
Cut 4 small pieces of wire, they need to be twice the height of your sea glass and file one end perfectly flat. Arrange your pieces on your soldering block/charcoal block as above and apply small amounts of easy solder paste to all of the joins.
Soldered in Place
Gently solder. I use solder paste as I find it a lot easier then flux and solder pillions which all ways pop apart when I heat them! Once the solder flows wait a few seconds to cool slightly and then using your soldering tweezers place in the safety pickle after a few minute rinse and give them a brush over with a wire brush and check that your joints are strong.
Trimming the Bezels
Using your flat nose pliers gently bend your prongs 90 degrees making sure that your sea glass still fits snugly inside. Trim the wires so there is enough to bend over the top of the glass to hold it in place and then file the wires flat. I use a 4 sided nail file for this as I always have one laying around.
Forming Earwires
Cut x2 three inch long pieces of silver, file one end flat and using your bail making/round nose pliers form a neat eye pin. Heat two small scraps of silver to form little balls. Open your eye pins and thread on the prong settings, close the eye and place them onto the soldering/charcoal block. Place a small amount of solder paste onto the join in the eye pin and place the ball on top, very gently solder (it will not take long at all but be careful not to heat any of your other joints) cool for a few seconds and place into your solder pot (using tweezers of course) after a few minutes remove from the pickle and wash in bicarb and water.
Finishing Touches
Give your pieces a good brush over with the wire brush and shape the eye pins into ear wires using a pen and a pair of pliers. At this point I like to use a cup burr to neaten up the prongs. I tend to use a blob of blue tack to hold my piece on a stone while I use the cup burr in my dremel so my fingers don't get too hot, then I pop them into the tumbler for an hour so they come out beautifully shiny and then carefully using my pliers I bend the prongs over the stones and they are finished!
Finished Earrings
You can also use the same technique (and a bit more patience) to make the following bracelet....
Summertime Challenge Piece
And now you are left to wear your wonderful holiday memories!
For me, nothing means the start of summer more than the first lightning bugs (aka fireflies) making an appearance and s'mores around a fire. However, I chose fireflies as a theme a year ago and don't want to repeat-even though building on my original design would be a fun challenge too.
Then I bought my first watermelon this summer and it got me thinking about one of the best things about summer...the fruits that come into season. Nothing says summer more than the first *good* strawberries showing up at the grocery store and signs for U-pick berries popping up along the road.
Watermelon might be one of the last types of produce unavailable year round. Not only is it delicious, but it's so pretty to look at. JC Herrell shared the below photo of her lampwork beads a few days ago on her instagram account. And while all the beads are stunning, that watermelon bead won my summer loving heart.
Lampwork beads by JC Herrell. The watermelon bead caught my eye as quintessential summer while scrolling Instagram a couple days ago.
This started my obsession with finding handmade watermelon beads. They are more difficult to find than you might guess, so perhaps a subject worth exploring before the end of the month.
The ceramic bead below was made by Kylie Parry. It is currently sold out, but I love it so much, I wanted to show it anyway.
If you want to try your hand at making your own polymer clay watermelon beads, here is a tutorial for buttons that might be a good place to get you started.
More popular than watermelon are berries. There are all kinds of hand crafted berry beads out there. They vary in realism and whimsy, depending on the artist's style and attention to detail.
I've seen the work of lampwork artist Elizabeth Johnson, who created the bracelet below, in person. It is incredible. These berries look like they have been plucked directly from the plant and are ready to eat. You can purchase by the berry from her etsy shop.
GlassBerries created this Fruit Bracelet using her lampwork fruit beads that you can't even tell are not edible fruit. I would love to do an entire post on her fruit beads, but not today.
Have you ever heard of, seen, or eaten Gooseberries? I have not done any of those, but this summer I am thinking that needs to change (since I now know they exist). The below gooseberry necklace is a riot of lampwork berries. I admit I really love the photo with the sun shining through the pretty glass too. Polina (MyGlassBerry) sells her berry beads in finished jewelry and also by the bead.
MyGlassBerry created this stunning Gooseberry necklace using her own beads. You can purchase several different types of berries, by the bead from her Etsy shop.
Mary Harding is another favorite beadmaker of mine. Her attention to detail in the natural world is stunning. Here she shows some beads she made to look like peaches after being inspired to create them through a book she read for book club. You can read more about that here.
What symbols define summer for you? Why? Think you can convey it in beads or in jewelry? Then join the summer theme challenge. The big reveal is set for June 30th and we would love to have you join us! Click here for more details.
The very phrase reads in my head as a slow drawl, unhurried, redolent of heat and relaxation.
I confess that I am writing this post after a Memorial Day weekend at the beach that was relaxed and unhurried; marking the beginning of the summer season.
Summer isn't all beach! So many wonderful treats and traditions of the season.
So for our theme COM this month - the team decided to keep it easy, breezy...
What does summer mean to you?
Diana: "Beachcombing at the shore ... wading in the rolling surf and searching for treasures on the beach. I also don't mind a relaxing, sunny day in the pool with the smell of bbq cooking." Caroline: "Lazy summer evenings...when the heat of the day is gone and you get the warm and fuzzy end of day sunshine. Love it at home in the garden or sitting outside our tent on holidays.
Jennifer: "Nothing says summer more than sitting around a fire at dusk with friends and a bottle or two of wine, the lightning bugs out, kids catching them and temporarily putting them in a jar, making s'mores, or playing ghosts in the graveyard or flashlight tag." Karen: "Not wearing shoes. I couldn't wait for it to get warm enough I could start going without shoes all summer" For me ( and Susan agreed) the beach is a definite summer tradition. I have always lived a few hours from an ocean, either one, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Jenny's "Summer" collage. Growing up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, crabs, done right in Old Bay, were and essential summer tradition. They still make me think of my grandfather to this day.
Still looking for inspiration? Check out "Picturing Summer" a compilation of art by Tor.com
The theme challenge details
1. Goal - Have fun! Try something different! Be inspired by any of the myriad aspects of summer! Make something that fits within this theme. This can be an artist bead, a component, or a finished piece of jewelry. There is no give away this month but you are free to use any artist bead/component in your design.
You must have an active blog.
Email and blog address requested in comments.
2. Share/Reveal - Reveal date Thursday, June 30th!
If you would like to be included in the blog reveal at month's end, please email Lesley at theajewellery (at) sky.com Include your name, blog name and address... Since this is open to all, this is the most efficient way to be included. Plans change... this confirms your participation in the reveal/blog roll. Emails need to be received by June 28th to be included. (Commenting here is not a guarantee of inclusion in the blog roll on reveal day)
See you then... and don't forget the sunscreen!
Footnote:
The song "Summertime" was composed by George Gershwin in 1934 for the opera/musical "Porgy and Bess" which came out the following year.
Lyrics: Summertime, and the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high Oh, your daddy's rich and your ma is good-lookin' So hush little baby, Don't you cry
One of these mornings you're gonna rise up singing And you'll spread your wings and you'll take to the sky But 'til that morning, there ain't nothin' can harm you With Daddy and Mammy standin' by
It's yet another grey, wet and cool day here in the UK and quite frankly it's getting rather tedious. As we head to wards June there should be some sign of sunshine, blue skies and fluffy white clouds surely...
Well rather than sit around and wait I decided to go in search of some substitutes for the real thing so sit back and enjoy some summer eye candy, even if it's hot and sultry where you are you can never have too much eye candy...
And if these aren't enough to brighten up your day then check out this AJE Etsy treasury full of art bead and jewellery goodies full of summer cheer - just click on the picture to see more.
