different earrings

I didn't list anything new in my shop last week while I was out of town so today I'm sharing a other couple items that I made this summer.  They aren't intended for specific people, but I haven't decided if I want to list them or not.

I bought the focal beads for both sets of earrings with the intention of making earrings out of them.  Bead shopping is one of the few areas of shopping in which I have little self control so I have to make the majority of my purchases with specific projects in mind.  When I saw both the dominos and the triangles, I immediately thought earring pairs.

Do you remember the domino beads from one of my bead excursions back in June?  The triangle beads that I used in the next pair are buried in those bead bags somewhere, too.  I was originally thinking of creating a simpler design with single bead loops, but of course I have trouble creating almost any beadwork that is very simple anymore so I had to try the double loops.  I still think that the single loops would look good, too.  Any preferences?

I do think that these earrings fit with the random, fun nature of my shop so I'm more tempted to list these than the next pair.  I have more domino beads, too, so I can easily make additional pairs.

I'm sure that many of you already know that I love triangles.  I'm not really sure why I do, but I know that's why I was drawn to these beads.  I do not work with a lot of pink, not for any particular reason.  I love this design.  It's so simple and elegant.  The main reason I'm hesitant to list these earrings is that I'm not planning to make a lot more like them.  One of my goals for 2011 has been to narrow the focus of my shop.  The earrings that I currently have listed are:

1) beadwoven
2) involve buttons
or
3) shell earrings that coordinate with my shell bracelet line

But maybe it's good to have a couple other things in there, too.  Again, any thoughts would be appreciated.  I've also thought about saving the pink earrings for Breast Cancer Awareness in October and using them as my freebie item then.

triangles and newest custom order completed

I listed my newest skinny embellished cuff this week.

The cuff is available here.  I don't even remember when I first decided that I should make a triangle embellished cuff.  I ordered the first three sets of triangles well over two years ago.  This past fall I finally got motivated to find one more set to round out the color combination and to make sure that I had coordinating cubes.  These pictures really don't do the color balance justice.  The green and purple blend beautifully with the blue.  I'm pleased with the overall look, especially the chunky triangle side fringe.  I would love to make another one of these if I can ever put together another great set of triangle beads and cubes.  Triangles can be hard to find.

I also completed a new custom order this week.  I am almost as excited about the story behind this order as I am with the finished jewelry.  Shannon (beadsandbabble) has a friend (acquaintance? not really sure about the connection) contact her about a jewelry order, using some of Shannon's beads.  Shannon is super busy right now getting ready for her son's wedding and filling tons of orders for her shop.  So she referred her friend to me and sent me a note as well about the order.  The request seemed pretty straight forward.  We worked out all of the details.  She ordered the beads, which I shared here previously, and had Shannon send them directly to me.  As soon as we got back from Milwaukee last weekend, I got to work.

I'm not sure why the bracelet picture is a little more vivid.  The seed beads are from the same hank as the necklace beads.  This was definitely a little different endeavor for me.  It was a pretty straight forward project, but like with just about any new crafting technique, there is a little learning curve.  Honestly the hardest part about these pieces for me was mastering the square knots.  I got my directions from this tutorial and kept them in front of me the entire time I was working on both pieces.  Otherwise the stringing and clasps weren't too difficult.  FYI, if anyone is planning to make pieces like these: it's really important to glue every square knot.  You can wait until the end to glue all of them, but I found it easiest to keep everything tight by gluing as I went.  I use Loctite Super Glue, which is some of the best glue you'll ever find.

Both pieces have extender chains so the length can be adjusted on either as needed.  Both pieces can also be worn straight or twisted.  These pieces are gifts for a good friend of the buyer.  Hopefully she'll be as pleased with them as we are.

I also have to give Shannon another huge thank you for the referral!  I never would have gotten to do this without her.  As always, her beads were wonderful to work with for both pieces.  I am not in a hurry to make anything like this in the near future, but it's tempting to just so I can order another Czech seed bead hank.

I'm waiting for my massive load of leaf beads for my next custom order now.  While I'm waiting, I'll be working on my Art Beads piece and the plan for my next EBW challenge piece.

I keep forgetting to post my newest crafty hub here: Shipping and Packing Resources for Online Jewelry Sellers.  If you've missed any past hub links, all of my crafty hubs are linked on the right side of my blog now.