a wrapturous blog

YOJ10-15 Knotted Earrings 3

Knotted Earrings 3 (2010)
Sterling silver, fine silver, tourmaline
Constructed, cold-joined
L 3.7 cm x W 0.5 cm (W 1.45″ x L 0.2″)

Continuing on from last week, since I made several of the Monkey’s Fist knots, I made another pair of earrings!

I’ve been doing some experimenting with photography lately, putting my pieces on a white background instead of the medium gray.  I’m looking for ways to make the images “pop” more – in my recent work I’ve been using a lot of stones that have the same value as the background, and it makes the jewellery look dull.  “Value” in colour terms refers to how light or dark it is.  (To see check the value of your stone, stare at the photo with squinted eyes – if the stone disappears it has the same value as the background.)  In order for a photo to have visual interest, it has to be either lighter or darker than the background, otherwise the eyes see what’s there, but the brain registers “ho hum”.

It’s a bit more work to deal with a white background – inevitably, and even though I have a white balance setting on my camera – the raw photo comes out slightly grey.  Photoshop can adjust the balance it easily, but then I usually still have to do some extra clean up.  It’s a bit tricky to lighten the background enough to get rid of “noise” but not so much that the jewellery bleaches out.

From a print perspective, (putting on my editor hat for a moment), getting photos with white background is a godsend for layout.  I can plunk them down anywhere on a page and build text around them.  Or I can crop and put several images close together – something that isn’t possible when the jewellery is shot on a grey or staged background.   There are no distractions – you look at the jewellery and nothing else.

While they work for print and web, white backgrounds do *not* work well for jury photos.  I had the opportunity to sit in on a jury for a show recently (something I highly recommend BTW, it’s very educational), and I noticed that the photos with white backgrounds were always very jarring.  Backgrounds with a value of medium to dark (but not black) and *absolutely no props* worked best for jury photos.  Prop shots work well for Etsy, but are distracting in jury.

More photos:

Tags: bead, bridal, cold connections, cold joining, constructed, dianne karg baron, earring, earrings, etsy, fine silver, green, jewellery, jewelry, macrame, photography, silver, sterling silver, tourmaline, wire, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, wirework, wireworking, Year of Jewelry Project

YOJ10-14 Knotted Earrings 2

Knotted Earrings 2 (2010)
Sterling silver, iolite
Constructed, cold-joined
L 2.5 cm x W 0.7 cm (L 0.98″ x W 0.275″)

My life is all about choices:  if I choose to focus on one area of my life, another area gets sacrificed.  For the past few weeks, I’ve had to focus on some group endeavours, and so my work on YOJ projects ground to a halt.  I’m working towards finding balance, but haven’t found it just yet.

For this week’s project, my focus was on making bridal jewellery.  My thoughts were on “something blue” and “tying knots”.

The Monkey’s Fist is a classic macramé knot, usually used as a weight or ornament on the end of a rope.  Tying them in rope is relatively easy.  When I learned it as a child, it was just a matter of sticking a marble between two fingers, and wrapping the rope around the marble and fingers, then around the marble through fingers and then through the loops created by the fingers.  Then the loops were pulled tight.

In wire, the stiffness of the metal, and its tendency to kink makes tying challenging.  There is also the issue of trying to get the proportions right:  thinner gauge wire is more flexible to tie, but the knot becomes very small and fiddly.  I found it impossible to tie wire around a bead without it slipping all over the place.  Pulling the loops tight at the end was also a non-starter, so I had to make the initial wraps as close to round as possible – challenging since without a bead in the centre, the tendency is to wrap ovals.  I ended up creating an invent-a-tool to help.

It took a bit of practice to get consistent results (doesn’t everything?), but I did end up with a satisfying “knot”. To get the “blue” part of the earrings, I decided on adding some pale 2 mm iolites. I would love to try these in a larger gauge of wire, but I think that would really only be possible with fine silver.  Sterling just gets too stiff too fast.

More photos:

Tags: bead, blue, bridal, cold connections, cold joining, constructed, cordierite, dianne karg baron, earring, earrings, etsy, invent-a-tools, iolite, jewellery, jewelry, macrame, photography, silver, sterling silver, wire, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, wirework, wireworking, Year of Jewelry Project

YOJ10-11 Marquise Series: Bridal Earrings

Marquise Series:  Bridal Earrings (Interchangeable) (2010)
Sterling silver, pearl
Constructed, cold-joined
L 4.0 cm x W 1.6 cm (L 1.57″ x W .55″)

I was sitting at my computer on Tuesday night, minding my own business,  when inspiration struck!  It was one of those “bolt out of the blue” ideas that forced me to get up right then, get my pliers & wire and start bending.

*Contented sigh*

I love it when that happens.

This design fulfills a long-standing desire of mine to create a pair of earrings with interchangeable bits.  The pearl drops can be removed and replaced by other drops, or can be left off altogether.  The result is a very versatile earring that can be worn with everything – from dressy to casual.

The sleek styling makes this an elegant earring for a wedding:  With the pearl, it can be worn by the bride, or without, by her bridesmaids.

These earrings are available from my Etsy Shop.

More photos:

Tags: 2010, bridal, constructed, dianne karg baron, earring, earrings, marquise, pearl, silver, sterling silver, wedding, wire, wirework, year of jewelry, yoj

YOJ10-04 Marquise Series: Earrings 2

Marquise Series:  Earrings 2 (2010)
Sterling silver
Constructed
L 10 cm x W 0.8 cm

This week I decided to go back to and adapt the project I made at the beginning of this Year of Jewelry.  I wanted to explore it a bit more. The idea was to create a “string” of marquise shapes.  The result was a pendant and this pair of earrings.  They remind me a bit of palm fronds!

The most challenging part of the construction was getting each of the marquise shapes to end up on the same side, rather than having them alternate.  Made with hard wire, it had to be twisted very gently, because there was a high risk of snapping.  Getting the pattern to repeat in mirror image was also very tricky and took several tries.  (I have several pendants!  LOL)

I intended the earrings to be large and they are!  They make a very dramatic sweep from the earlobe to mid neck.

More photos:

Tags: 2010, constructed, dianne karg baron, earring, earrings, leaf, marquise, palm frond, series, silver, sterling silver, wire, wirework, year of jewelry, yoj

YOJ09-44 Marquise Series: Earrings 1

Marquise Series:  Earrings 1
Sterling silver
Constructed, cold-joined
L 5.4 cm x W 1.4 cm

The next logical step from the Bracelet I did for YOJ09-43 was to make a pair of earrings.  I liked the idea of making the earwire in the same shape as the link – it gives the earring a chain-like look.

Tags: cold connections, cold joining, constructed, diamond, dianne karg baron, earring, earrings, earwire, jewellery, jewelry, marquise, silver, sterling silver, wire, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, wirework, wireworking, Year of Jewelry Project

YOJ09-41 Goddess Jewels

Goddess Jewels (2009)
Constructed, cold joined
Sterling silver, Preciosa crystal

The opening of the Metal Arts Guild of Canada exhibition “MAGC 2067 – Crafting the Future”, held on November 7 at Arta Gallery in Toronto, was a costume ball.  In connection with the theme of the show, people were encouraged to dress up in character.

I originally planned to wear a costume, but then, in the week before the opening, the issue I had been dealing with in my personal life came to a head.  Although able to attend, I didn’t have the emotional or physical energy to dress up.

My character was “an acolyte of the Goddess” – a jewellery maker for a matriarchal society devoted to worshiping a Gaia-centred deity.  As part of the costume, I made a couple of “Goddess Jewels”.  These are very loosely based on Bajoran earrings, of Star Trek fame.  My version has a chain of handmade spirals, two Preciosa crystal drops, because I love dangles and sparklies, and is worn via an earcuff on the centre of the ear, and a spiral earwire through the lobe.

I used to wear these a lot, and had forgotten how much fun they are.  It’s been several years since I made one.  Usually only worn on the left side, this time I wanted the pair.  Someone took this photo of me at the opening, where you can see one of them.  The whole set of photos from the show is worth a peek.

Tags: Arta Galery, bajoran, bead, briolette, cold connections, cold joining, constructed, dianne karg baron, earring, earrings, exhibition, jewellery, jewelry, MAGC 2067 - Crafting the Future, Metal Arts Guild, silver, star trek, sterling silver, wire, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, wirework, wireworking, Year of Jewelry Project

YOJ09-40 Knotted Tourmaline Earrings

Knotted Tourmaline Earrings (2009)
Constructed, cold joined
Sterling silver, fine silver, tourmaline

Recently members of the Starving Artists Etsy Team did a critique of my Etsy shop.  One of the comments that came up a couple of times was that my descriptions tend to be a bit on the sparse side.  I generally give information about the piece, what it’s made of, basic sizing, etc., but only rarely is there a “story”.

My reply to one of the ladies who asked me about this was “Well, sometimes the design is the result of nothing more than “I had this idea and decided to play around with it.” ”

The truth is that I just have no talent for writing bullshit.  What I write has to feel authentic, otherwise it doesn’t work for me.  Hmmm…. maybe I need to look into a creative writing course…

Anyways… I was playing around with some scraps of wire left over from working on my Clip-on Earrings tutorial.  I tied the wire up in a small knot – not quite as tight as I would have liked, but it worked.  I have a “thing” about dangles, so I added these little tourmalines.  I love the vibrant pink – they’re just juicy!  The result is a cute pair of earrings that works for everyday wear.

The SATeam critique did confirm one thing: my photography is pretty good. It never stops surprising me how much time it takes to get the photography done. Nowadays, I’m not only doing photos for my regular record keeping; I’m also doing set up for Etsy. “Product” photography is different from jury photography – attention must be paid to angles, and multiple positions. A lot of people on Etsy photograph on elaborate backgrounds. I have yet to find one that works for me, so I’m still working with the “jurying grey”.

Photographing studs is difficult at the best of times, but these earrings were particularly challenging. There was just no good way of laying them nicely to get a straight-on shot. Finally, I decided to cut a upright display card out of an old layout board and poke holes in it. Voilà! It worked!

Other views:

Tags: bead, briolette, cold connections, cold joining, constructed, dianne karg baron, earring, earrings, etsy, fine silver, jewellery, jewelry, photography, silver, sterling silver, wire, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, wirework, wireworking, Year of Jewelry Project

Tutorial – Clip-on Earrings

For people who don’t have pierced ears, finding handmade earrings they can wear is a real challenge.  Back when I did shows, I’d occasionally get requests for clip-on findings, and lost sales because I didn’t have them.  Commercial findings were not an option for the types of shows I was doing.

So when, about a year ago, someone posted a message to one of the forums I’m on asking if there was a pattern for clip-ons, I thought “What a great idea!”.  I got out an old pair of my mom’s clip-ons and studied them to figure out a way to make a pair in wire.   And today I’m very pleased to announce the release of a new tutorial – Clip-on Earrings!

The Clip-on Earrings tutorial includes two variations:  Variation 1 makes a basic spiral, with a loop for adding a dangle.  Variation 2 forms a base on which you can add your own embellishment, so if you have a favourite bead, or button, you can add it.  Variation 2 also has a loop for adding a dangle.

13 pages, 45 photos and 40 steps
USD $8.00

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Tools and Materials You’ll need:

Tools:
3-Step Pliers
Flat Nose Pliers
Round Nose Pliers
Flush Cutting Wire Nippers
Permanent Marker
Measuring Tape/Ruler
Jeweller’s File
Rouge Cloth
10 mm Dowel/Knitting Needle (for Variation 2)

Materials:
15″ (38 cm) 20 ga. Hard Round Sterling Silver wire

Substitutions:
20 ga Half Hard Silver wire can be substituted.

Available from my tutorials page and my Etsy Shop.

Tags: clip-on, clip-ons, clipon, clipons, DIY, earring, earrings, earwire, earwires, findings, how to, jewellery, jewelry, non-pierced, pattern, silver, tutorial, Tutorials, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, wirework, wireworking, wrapture

YOJ09-38 Star Earrings

Star Earrings (2009)
Constructed, soldered
Sterling silver
L 1.5 cm x W 1.5 cm

I’m about a month behind in my YOJ postings due to a personal crisis that has blown me completely off track.  It’s been a very emotional couple of weeks with some highs and a lot of lows.  I am determined to catch up, but it’s going to take some time.

I figure the easiest way to get ahead of the game is to focus on earrings.  Since I’m stocking up for Christmas anyways, this is a logical course of action.

So… first up is a pair of Star Earrings.  I wanted to make a simple pair of stud earrings, something neat and clean looking.  Making this design and trying to wrap the tail around the stem would not have given me the look I was after, so it was time to break out the torch.  Yes, Virginia, I do solder!

It’s been a while since I’ve soldered anything, and I discovered that my solder is really old.  Initially, the solder absolutely refused to flow.  I ended up melting the wire.  After I pickled the pallet, it worked better.

These earrings will be available for purchase from my Etsy shop.

Tags: constructed, earring, earrings, jewellery, jewelry, silver, soldered, sterling silver, wire, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, Year of Jewelry Project

YOJ09-14 Lame-O Earrings

Lame-O Earrings (2009)
Sterling silver, Preciosa crystal

I’m feeling completely tired and shagged out.  And I haven’t even squawked!

I’m working on meeting a print deadline this week, so my focus is not on jewellery.  I do have an idea for my next major undertaking, and did work a bit on that over the past few days, but it’s still in the prep phase, not the construction phase.

So now it’s Sunday, and I don’t want to be late two weeks in a row.  So I’m posting a pair of lame-ass earrings, constructed in about 1 minute.  Don’t have the energy for anything more this week.

Tags: bead, cold connections, cold joining, cold worked, constructed, dianne karg baron, earring, earrings, jewellery, jewelry, silver, sterling silver, wire, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, wirework, wireworking, Year of Jewelry Project