Last week I blogged about my recent purchases at a local Bead and Gem show. Among my new beads were some wonderful cabochons of Red Creek Jasper. I fell in love the set you see on the right and stayed up very late making the mountings for new earrings. I just couldn't resist working with my new purchases!
By 1 AM I'd finished 2 bezel settings and was trying to solder on some decorative bits. Then in an awkward moment, I dropped a mounting.
Awk!
I could hear it hit the concrete floor of my garage. A quick search didn't lead me to find anything -other than the realization that I really should clean under my soldering station. So I got a flashlight and searched everywhere!
Drat! I couldn't find it. Half an hour later, I gave up, thinking I could look more thoroughly after a good night's sleep.
The next morning, I must have spend over an hour searching for the missing mounting, and cleaning up in the garage as I went along . There was all kinds of crap under my soldering table - boxes from purchases, plastic bags, chemicals, stored stuff I might use some day - but no more.
I didn't want to give up. I'd spent too much time on the setting -as well as the time I spent searching for it- and it had to be somewhere.
After going through every inch of the floor, through the trash, underneath the cars, I decided to search my trash can once again. Maybe in my frenzy it got thrown away with the trash.
I looked through it, unfolding the little bits of paper and small plastic bags I'd crumbled and thrown away. Then finally, when opening up an old plastic bag, something fell out and I heard the sound of metal hitting the floor. THERE IT WAS!
Yes, now I could finish those earrings. FINALLY.
And now, I can finally show you what I made!
I'm pretty pleased with how these earrings turned out. They're different than anything I've ever made before. The stones are bezel-set with a decorative "frame" around the bezels. I also antiqued the silver to highlight the stones and the settings. These earrings have a real hand-crafted artsy look to them.They not demure little earrings. At about an inch and 1/4 in height, they're are large and make quite a statement. The photo on the left gives you some idea of the perspective.
I'll be listing them in my Ety shop soon. AND I have more new jewelry to show you in the coming days.
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16 comments:
Your earrings turned out beautifully. Had the experience of losing a bezel cup in a jewelry class. Very frustrating. It took 5 of us to finally locate it.
The settings are gorgeous and I absolutely love the jasper!
Great work...and I have to admit it's a little fun reading about someonelse losing something, for a change:) Yesterday, while taking my pics, I somehow lost one of the rings that I had just purchased. I take my pics outside and the wind was blowing, it could have been anywhere...I looked all over nothing! Later on, while making dinner, it hit me. I went out on the patio and there crammed in between my 2 folded craft tables was a piece of paper towel (I had just cleaned the ring) with the ring inside...Whew!
It seems like I'm always losing something - and it could be right in front of my nose but I don't see it.
At a last resort, I get my daughter to help. Sometimes a fresh eye is all you need.
Glorious! Those beauties won't last 10 minutes in your Etsy shop!
So pretty!!! And I am a dropper too ...
Those turned out gorgeous. I've been waiting to see what you did with them. I love jasper and those two stones are outstanding. Congratulations on finding the setting and the way they turned out.
http://KayzKreationz.blogspot.com
http://KayzKreationz.etsy.com
Those are gorgeous! I bit big for my tastes, but still absolutely lovely. Glad you found the setting for them!
Gorgeous! I love the setting!
They're bigger than earrings I usually wear, but sometimes you have to try something different.
BTW, I just listed them in my etsy shop.
http://www.contrariwise.etsy.com
:-)
they're absolutely gorgeous, I love them!
Wow! Those are really pretty! I'm glad you found your setting, it would have been a terrible shame if it had been permanently lost!
I probably spent more time looking for the lost setting than it would have taken me to make another. But it was the principle of the thing!
That jasper is gorgeous and you did a brilliant job. Not too much around the cabs to show them off.
What great bezels. The "extra" frame really sets these off--and gorgeous stones deserve equally gorgeous settings. Eye popping. Teri http://www.sandtcreations.com/wordpress
those turned out very cool! love the design. ...any chance of you posting a tutorial on how to make earring posts?! :)
hopestudios,
Ha! I'm the one who needs the tutorial! I broke the first post in half while soldering it, had to melt it off, and then solder a second on.
I can never figure out the best way of holding them in place. I need to look into it.
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