Handmade wire wrapped triple tier earrings with briolettes

I've written before about the woman who's become a regular customer and sent me bags of beautiful briolettes. She's always coming up with interesting design ideas and suggested that I use her briolettes in my wire wrapped triple tier earrings:

I've been making these triple tiers with Swarovski crystal hearts, but they work with briolettes, too. Honestly, I hadn't used many briolettes in my pieces until she came along, but the teardrop shape of these stones is so classic and elegant. I can see why she likes them so much.

Some briolettes were too heavy to use in the triple pattern, so she requested that I make very simple dangling earrings. I've made several variations of these for her, but the clear crystals are my favorite:

Thanks to this customer, I've gotten much better at wire wrapping stones. I use 26 gauge wire, which is super thin, but very sturdy. A single strand isn't that strong, but an entire bundle of the wire is tough. I wrapped each briolette about halfway down so there is enough wire to hold it in place, but not so much that it covers the color.

Since I've been doing so many fused glass projects, my designs have become more complex, but it's nice to sometimes go back to jewelry that's simple and pretty.

Check out the rest of my jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Wire wrapped jewelry: wire wrapped fused dichroic earrings with crystals

When I began working with fused glass a few months ago, I made a whole bunch of test pieces. This included two blue/green squares that I fused onto white glass. I wasn't sure what I'd do with them; if I'd make them into earrings or make more and design a chain. I ended up putting them aside and frankly, forgot I'd ever created them.

I came across them the other day while organizing my work area and decided to turn them into earrings after all. I added green crystals, which bring out the blue and yellow specks in this gorgeous green. They reminded me of peacock feathers and I named them my "Peacock Earrings."

Happy with how those came out, I made a few other pairs of earrings. The trick to firing earrings properly is to slightly underfire the glass. I usually keep a piece in the kiln for three minutes, but earrings are usually smaller than pendants. Three minutes has turned out to be too long, as I found out when I overfired blue earrings and they came out a dull gray. But 2 minutes, 40 seconds seem to be just right for 12mm earrings. I love the way the yellow pair turned out. The yellow had a bit of orange in it so I chose the red to round out those warm colors. I call these my "Heatwave Earrings."

I've been playing around a lot more with firing times in my kiln. It's something we do in enameling and is one way to alter the glass powder's color and texture when it hardens. I'm learning to employ similar techniques with glass fusion. For instance, I have this beautiful magenta glass that has light blue undertones. When I fire it for two-and-a-half minutes, it turns a deep maroon. But if I fire it for three, the glass is more of a purple color. I'm still learning as I go.

Check out the rest of my handmade jewelry collection at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

Revisiting a classic design: silver wire wrapped triple heart earrings with clear Swarovski crystal hearts

Last week marked six years since I had surgery on my broken ankle. While this is a milestone in of itself, it's also important in regards to my jewelry-making history. It was during the four months that I was out of work that I took up making jewelry as a way to pass the time. I just didn't expect to fall in love with it and for it to turn into a career.

My first few designs were pretty simple, but classic -- and many still sell. These wire wrapped triple heart earrings are a good example:

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Anyone who's read this blog knows how much I love my Swarovski crystal hearts -- and if you haven't read this site, well, now you know this very important, scintillating bit of info on me. :-)

Anyway, I made these tiered earrings using hearts in two colors. It reminds me of something I might have owned as a kid in the '80s. But I liked the earrings and to my surprise, others did, too. I often try to make my jewelry more complex, but some people -- myself included -- like wearing minimalist and traditional pieces.

Well, I recently had a customer request that I make these using three clear Swarovski hearts instead of the colorful ones. I made her earrings and was surprised at how such a small change could enhance the earrings. Though there are no bright colors, the clear hears actually stand out more and are striking against a solid-colored top. They're so simple, but elegant. My other triple heart earrings are cute and fun, but this version looks a bit more upscale.

I'm so busy thinking of my next project and working on my next design that I sometimes forget about my old standbys. I need to revisit more of them and see how I can update my classic collection.

Check out my handmade jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Handmade wire wrapped jewelry: wire wrapped triple daisy dangle earrings in blue and silver

I recently received a fun request from a customer: she found me on my kids' jewelery page, MayaGirl Creations and asked if I could make an adult-sized version of my double daisy dangle earrings. These earrings had large blue wire wrapped daisies hanging from smaller silver daisies. I made them based on the fact that my single daisy earrings had become so popular. So I was now going from one flower to three.

I gave her a choice of a silver-blue-silver combo or blue-silver-blue and she went for the latter. She also asked that the highest daisy be the smallest and the bottom flower, the largest -- and that all three fit into a 2 1/2 inch frame.

I've literally made thousands of these wire wrapped flowers -- seriously, I've had dreams of them -- but it took a couple of tries to get them to meet her requests. The small daisy kept coming out too big... which meant I had to make the other two even larger and then the earrings were too long. I finally solved my problem by adding only six petals on the smallest, while the other two have eight each.

I'm always tweaking my designs, but customers often beat me to the punch and come up with a good idea for my shop! These triple daisies make a great addition, especially for spring.

Check out the rest of my handmade wire wrapped, glass and enamel jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Funky silver wire wrapped dangle earrings

While I often experiment with making new designs or using different techniques, I sometimes like to return to my old standbys. In this case, I felt like creating some silver wire wrapped earrings:

You can't go wrong with a classic item. These earrings go with any outfit and are modern, but will always be stylish. Even better, they're fun to make! While I do think of these as "classics," I like to see how many new ways I can twist the wire. I'd never before made the triple spirals in earring form, though I've done it for pendants. On the other hand, I feel like I can never go wrong in making anything with a pretty heart design.

I feel very accomplished when I tackle and complete and complex item, like a particularly detailed pair of chandelier earrings. Simple can be beautiful too, though, and I still get satisfaction from making these items.

Check out the rest of my jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations. Follow me on Instagram, too!

Colorful silver wire wrapped party earrings with Swarovski crystals

The first pair of earrings I ever sold at a craft fair were these silver wire wrapped earrings with rainbow colored Swarovski crystals. I call them my "Party Earrings" because the crystals look like confetti. I love making these because I don't have a set pattern for the crystals; I simply take out a handful and sting them on the wire. I never know what combination I'll get, which means every pair is slightly different.

I haven't sold many pairs online, but I've since managed to sell a pair at every craft fair. Perhaps they don't look as interesting on Etsy, but in person, they're very colorful and fun. Many customers have said that they were drawn to them because they're different from other jewelry they've seen around.

I recently updated my collection with these variations on my "Party" line; I made the earrings using crystals in shades of purple, blue and red:

They're not as colorful as my original pair, but they're still fun and will hopefully attract people who prefer muted tones over multicolored. My personal choice is the blue. Blue is my favorite color, anyway, and I love the way the aqua and dark blue stones look when they're together.

My next craft fair is in a few weeks and I'll be selling these along with my original Party Earrings. Here's hoping my lucky streak continues -- and people like these new pairs, as well!

Check out the rest of my jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Silver wire wrapped Rhodonite earrings with Swarovski crystals

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing holiday. Mine was pretty busy with jewelry and book-related stuff (not to mention holiday parties!), but things have settled down as they usually do at the start of the new year.

Happily, my enameling class kicks off the winter/spring session tomorrow; meanwhile, I've had time to make several new jewellery pieces.

A woman recently purchased my silver wire wrapped pink oval necklace with pearls and asked if I had any matching earrings. I'd just happened to buy a string of small, pink, oval Rhodonite stones, so I came up with this pair of earrings to go with the pendant:

Though it's difficult to tell from my photo, the stones are quite small; maybe 3/4 of an inch across at the widest point. I tried making them with pearls to perfectly match the necklace, but the crystal pearls I have were just too big for the design on this size stone. The wire kept buckling and the pearls wouldn't lay right.

After a few attempts, I moved on to using Swarovski crystal bicones, which are much smaller than the pearls. I tried to make the design with two crystals, but again, they didn't fit right. Finally, I went with only one crystal, but enlarged the spiral... and voila! I came up with a design that works!

I'm not a huge fan of pink, but I like the rose color of these Rhodonite stones. The pink isn't too bright and the dusty shade gives the stones a vintage look, especially with the oval shape. When I see them, I think of cameo jewelry, which is why I get a vintage feel from these pieces.

I was surprised when I discovered I'd sold all of my pink stone pieces. When I went to purchase a new batch of beads (yes, these are technically beads, even though they're so large), I couldn't find the stones I'd originally bought -- probably about two years ago or so. Thankfully, I came across these large Rhodonite beads at Fire Mountain Gems.

I haven't used pink that often in my work -- but these pretty stones have made me rethink my color scheme. Check out the rest of my handmade wire wrapped and enamel jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations. And check out LOVE NOTES, the anthology which features my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Silver wire wrapped star earrings with Swarovski crystals

One of the new items I've made are these cute, silver wire wrapped star earrings with Swarovski crystals and squiggles. I wanted to make something that's pretty and playful, and this is what I came up with:

So far, I've made these three sets ... though when I saw a larger version of the blue stars, I realized that the crystals are different colors! One earring is dark blue and light blue and the other is blue and purple. Oops! Right now, I'm listing them as a choice where people can order one set of colors or the other... but I plan to make another pair with correct color combos.

My favorites so far are the hot pink stars. I wore these last week to a friend's birthday party and they got a lot of attention! One friend couldn't understand how I could bend the wire into such precise shapes; it isn't hard with some practice. The earrings are a bit longer than what I usually wear, but they're extremely lightweight.

I'm not sure if I'm going to list these on my kids' line. I think they might be too long for younger jewelry wearers. But they're a lot of fun to make and I'm going to experiment with some more crystal patterns.

Check out my jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Funky silver wire wrapped earrings with Swarovski crystals

With a new season approaching, I've been on a bit of a jewelry-making kick. Sales are picking up again and I have a couple of craft fairs on the horizon, so my creativity is flowing! For the past few days, I took a break from making my enamel Christmas ornaments and have been working on some new wire wrapped silver earring designs:

The ones that feature the rainbow Swarovski crystals and spiral within the square are actually an old design which I've updated. I used to make these with nickel wire, but the 20 gauge silver plated is better looking and easier to work with. I like the randomness of the crystal colors. I call them my "party earrings" because the different color stones look a bit like confetti.

The triangle and zig zag earrings are also a tweaked design. I had a pair of similar looking wire wrapped earrings for sale, only these had triangles with fewer turns of the spiral. I've received several requests from customers to play around with crystal colors so I thought I'd try out a few new combos of my own. The red, orange and yellow triangles remind me of the fall or a fiery sunset; meanwhile, the purple, blue and green earrings feature cool colors and look like water.

The spiral squares are a variation on the geometric triangle earrings. It's the same concept of playing with different shapes, but I hadn't yet made anything with this particular combination. While cleaning out my jewelry supply boxes, I came upon a bag of off-white Swarovski crystals called "sand opal" and decided to use them in these earrings. I really like how they go with the peridot green and pink crystal bicones. I think I'm also going to make these earrings with a bolder colored group of crystals.

Fall is my favorite season so I'm looking forward to working and trying out some new ideas. Meantime, check out my shops Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Wire wrapped lapis lazuli necklace and earrings

Two things have been happening this year: I've been getting a lot more orders from Europe and Australia. I've also been getting many requests for custom pieces. The second matter is especially fun for me because while I think I'm pretty creative, it sometimes helps to get some influence from another person.

The latest custom order came from a woman who purchased my wire wrapped lapis lazuli necklace. She wrote to me asking if I could design a pair of matching earrings. She didn't have a specific vision so I suggested that I create earrings that have a similar, but not exact, design. This way, there would be a little contrast between the jewelry pieces. She agreed and I came up with this jewelry set:

I like working with lapis because the blue color is so striking and the surface is so smooth. It just feels good to have it in your hands! I wrapped it copper because I love the way the wire looks against the stone.

I'm always open to new ideas, so keep those custom orders coming! You help keep my creativity alive!

Check out more of my jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Photo Gallery: My Top 40 Wire Wrapped And Enamel Jewelry Pieces, Part III

This week, in honor of my 40th birthday, I'm posting my picks for my top 40 wire wrapped, enamel and anodized aluminum jewelry pieces. Below is my photo gallery for Part III. Be sure to check out Part I and Part II. Almost everything can be purchased at Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

You probably recognize my rainbow "Happy Heart" earrings from the main photo on this blog. I love the bright, fun colors -- and apparently other people do, too, which is why these silver wire wrapped earrings remain one of my most popular items. I also like the purple chandelier heart earrings. I took my basic filigree design and expanded on it to come up with these funky statement earrings.

That spiral silver wire wrapped ring is a favorite of mine because it's so simple and elegant. Meanwhile, that copper ring with the Swarovski crystals is one where I was playing around with copper wire and came up with that design. What's interesting about it is that I only used one long piece of wire to make it; it continues to amaze me how a simple piece of wire can be turned into something intricate.

That enamel skull piece is something that I made for my dad -- and is the only thing that I've ever made for a male. I've had some men purchase my items, like the infinity rings, but I mainly market to women and girls. Perhaps I should make more skull items? It's different from my usual style.

That wire wrapped snowflake necklace is something that I put together during a long, dull craft fair. It was a terrible holiday fair where the CD broke and played "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" literally about 200 times. Meanwhile, the fair organizers basically took the vendors' money and ran, so there were almost no customers who came through. While sitting there waiting, I made this necklace ... so something good came from a bad day.

As for that mixed metal triangle necklace, that was a semi-finalist in the Fire Mountain Gems And Beads 2012 jewelry making competition. It didn't go as far as my "Nefertiti's Kiss" necklace, but I was proud of my work.

Weird silver wire wrapped abstract geometric earrings

Something that I find to be a lot of fun is coming up with shapes in my jewelry that I haven't yet created. I can only make so many spirals, squares and triangles! I had some leftover 20 gauge silver plated wire, so I played around with it and came up with these weird-looking wire wrapped earrings:

I don't know what they're supposed to be. They look a little like a profile or maybe a deconstructed star? I should take a poll and see what people say. Maybe I can turn the responses into a personality quiz...

In other news, my husband and I spent the day at the Museum Of Natural History in New York City. We wandered around several exhibits, but walked through a couple of the ones that feature ancient civilizations (Africa and the Pacific Islands). I've always enjoyed going to museums, but I now have a new appreciation for the complex jewelry pieces that were made thousands of years ago. Nowadays, some jewelry is made with machines and computers, whereas they made these gorgeous pieces with simple tools. I think that's why I like working with wire so much. All you need are a few tools and you're set. I enjoy making things from scratch and having to figure out the "architecture" of a piece. I like wearing things and knowing exactly how they were put together.

The 92nd Street Y actually offers a class in ancient jewelry making. I've considered taking it, but something has always come up -- in this semester, I'm taking a memoir writing class, for example. But maybe I'll sign up next time. It would be fun to return to museum and be able to say, "Hey, I can make that, too!"

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations. Also, check out my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Funky silver wire wrapped triangle earrings with Swarovski crystals

One of the first things I ever made for my Etsy shop, Naomi's Designs, was this pair of silver wire triangle earrings. I was still experimenting with wire and learning how to make wire wrapped jewelry, and was playing around with shapes. I was very pleased when I successfully made these funky spiral triangles:

As I mentioned in my last post, my "classic" items are suddenly selling. I've been trying to update a few, taking the old designs and adding a new twist -- usually beads or pearls or crystals -- to brighten them up. I did that with the triangles, adding Swarovski crystals in blue, green and yellow.

I initially made these as a surprise for a repeat customer. To this date, she still hasn't received them so I don't know what she'll think of them, but she likes crystals and unusual color combinations. I hope that she likes them because I do! The colors actually remind me of my childhood bedroom, which was blue, green, yellow and white.

I think that the zig zags and crystals turn this simple shape into a fun design. I especially like how the triangles sway when you wear them and capture the light. The earrings are longish, but jewelry should be worn to get noticed, right?

To purchase these or my other wire wrapped jewellery designs, head to Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

Silver wire wrapped square earrings with black and clear Swarovski crystals

It looks like I'm going to be missing yet another enameling class because of snow. We're expecting about 10 inches here -- nothing to sneeze at. I'm frustrated because it's been more than a month since I've done any enameling and I have so many ideas for pieces.

The good news is that I've had plenty of time to spend making wire wrapped jewelry, especially since I've been working with that client and her requests. The latest wire wrapped earrings that I made for her are these silver squares with black and clear Swarovski crystals.

I originally made these with large purple beads on top, but she asked me to use something smaller so I went with these crystal bicones. It's a very simple design, but sometimes less really is more.

Meanwhile, I think that the jewellery making is getting to me! The other day, my husband and I went to see the movie HER. It's a really good film -- kind of creepy and a little weird -- but very engaging. Anyway, there was one scene where Olivia Wilde's character was wearing these huge, silver, triangle spiral earrings. They were really eye-catching! Instead of paying attention to the characters, I was busy examining those earrings, trying to figure out what they were made of and how I could replicate them. I think I need help, LOL.

I have plenty of other wire wrapped jewelry in my shops, though. Check it out at Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

Yet more silver wire wrapped earring designs with Swarovski crystals

I have a repeat customer who really likes earrings, especially ones that are adorned with beads and crystals. While she likes many of my original plain silver wire wrapped earring designs, she's requested that I add Swarovski crystals to them; she also likes unusual color combinations. I've had a good time working with her as I come up with some new ideas for my classic pieces:

I really like how the triangle earrings came out. When she suggested that I combine reds with a pink, I feared that the colors would clash, but they actually look pretty nice together -- perfect for Valentine's Day. I also like the green, black, purple combo, which is also an unexpected blending of colors.

Finding the perfect blue/purple combo has been more difficult. The problem with these colors is that they blend a little TOO well, especially when photographed. If you look closely, you'll see that the spiral zig zag earrings really do have different variations of blue/purple. I like the light blue/purple/turquoise best, but I think she prefers the one with the clear crystal in the center. I kind of like seeing all of the earring combos together; it reminds me a bit of when you go to the housewares store and pick up paint samples.

I'm always up for experimenting with colors and custom designs. It's exciting to have a customer who inspires my creativity!

Check out the rest of my jewellery at Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.