January gallery of handmade earrings

January is only half over, but I've been super busy! I've been on an earring-making spree this month and while I've showed photos of all of these in previous posts, here they are in a gallery. All are available at Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

Gold wire wrapped earring designs

A few months ago, I ordered some 20 gauge square wire in 12 K gold. It's beautiful; very delicate and lightweight. My original plan was to use the wire to make a bracelet, but I ended up making these four pairs of dangle earrings:

While none of these designs are particularly original -- I've made them all before -- they look and feel a lot different in gold than silver. I especially like the double teardrop earrings. It's such a classic shape, one that I think looks good on almost any type of ear. They elongate your profile, but aren't so large that they take attention away from your outfit.

I will get around to making that bracelet eventually, but these earrings make a beautiful addition to my collection!

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewellery, head to MayaGirl Creations.

Funky abstract gold wire necklaces and earrings

As part of my plan to get my jewellery into stores, I'm creating various lines of products. One of my collections is my abstract gold jewelry line.

All of these pendants and earrings are made of 14 gauge 12 K gold wire. It doesn't look much like wire, right? It looks more like metal because it's so thick. But is indeed square, full-hard wire, which I bent into various funky geometric shapes and then hammered for texture. I made shapes that I feel that I can replicate should a store want to purchase these designs in bulk.

Some people probably would've torched the wire so that it could be annealed and made softer, but I've found that in doing that, you can sometimes make the wire too soft. I wanted the texture to be a bit rough and raw, so I kept it as is; it was a bit of a challenge to bend it, but it was possible.

I've made several of these pendants before and what's interesting is that most of the buyers have been European. I'm not sure why that is; I guess people in the United States have different taste when it comes to wearing jewelry.

I'm still thinking of a name for this particular collection. As I've been watching the Olympics, "Go For The Gold" is coming to mind, either that or "Gold Stars." What do you think? Here are my latest gold wire wrapped designs:

To purchase my jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewelry, head to MayaGirl Creations.

Brass and lattice garnet wire earrings

I originally designed these brass and lattice garnet wire earrings for a princess. That's not a figurative princess, either; we know a young woman who is royalty is Nigeria. I made her a pair of these earrings for Christmas and chose these colors because she looks amazing in jewel tones, like deep red. She loved them and has actually asked me to design a matching necklace.

I don't usually design for royalty, but when making jewelry for friends, I do try to think about what colors look best of them. What surprised me about these earrings is that the garnet and gold combo looks great on almost anyone who has dark hair. I have brown hair and eyes and pale skin, but I liked how they looked on me.

It took me many hours of practicing to get the nine-loop lattice design down, but now that I know how it, I use it often in my jewelry. One of the things I love about the lattice is that it's perfect for hanging gemstones on the bottom loop. I just love the shape of these, as well as the colors.

I've unofficially named these my "princess earrings" in honor of my friend.

To buy my jewelry, check out Naomi's Designs. or http://www.artfire.com/users/NaomisDesigns.