Birthstone Earrings (Or, How I Found My Muse!)

Earring Inspiration

It happens to all of us. We finish a project, and then clean up our workspace (well, at least I do!). We start looking around for ideas for our next endeavor and find that we have no inspiration whatsoever! Bead long enough and creative block will occur.
The few times this has happened to me, I went through my beads, hoping they would inspire me. When that did not work well, I went through old beading magazines. Still nothing moved me.
The way I found a path out of my funk was to go back to the early days when my skills were not as developed. I picked something easy to make, like earrings, and then a theme. When this happened to me, I chose a theme for birthday earrings and pulled out my stones, crystals in the gemstone colors, and two bags of earring findings, one in silver and one in gold. I set to work after I little more preparation.
First, I researched the traditional birthday stones on the Internet. I printed out the following list:

• January - Garnet
• February - Amethyst
• March - Aquamarine
• April - Diamond
• May - Emerald
• June - Pearl or Alexandrite
• July - Ruby
• August - Peridot
• September - Sapphire
• October - Opal or Tourmaline
• November - Topaz or Citrine
• December - Tanzanite, Zircon, or Turquoise

I also brought out a bag of pearls so that I could have more than one type of gem in the earrings. Putting everything in front of me, I started with January's birthstone: garnet.

A little bit of chain, a bit of wire work, and the January birthstone combined with a few pearls got my creative juices going. It was time to move onto February. Sticking with the gold findings I came up with a very simple design, but one that highlighted the high quality of the amethyst stones that I had.

On to March! For this pair of earrings I decided to switch to silver components as the color of that metal is cooler and in keeping with the watercolor of aquamarine.

Although not a gemstone per se, the aquamarine Swarovski crystals are just as pretty and are more economical.
Diamonds are for April, and they come in a range of colors. However, clear quartz crystal can be a suitable substitute, as can be clear Swarovski crystals. Leaving that month behind, I went on to May, but not before deciding to look into herkimer diamonds or the costs of black diamonds. Herkimer diamond is the generic name for a double-terminated quartz crystal. I think these would work well for an April birthstone earring.
Emeralds, the stone for May, can be just as expensive or more expensive than diamonds. I remember that I made a pin with opal, emeralds, and tanzanite, (see below), but I knew I had a few leftover emeralds in my stash. I decided to make a pair of bead crochet earrings in which I randomly placed emeralds amongst the seed pearls.

Now that I have looked at my chart of birthstones, I noticed that the pin has three birthstones its design: not only emerald for May, but also opal for October and tanzanite for December. This is a pin that I could wear with several of my birthstone earrings!
You would think that I was born in June for all the pairs of pearl earrings that I have. Here's just a few of some of my designs:

Notice that the micro-mail background for these pearls is a peridot color? This pair of earrings could also be considered a pair of birthstone earrings for August! This makes the point that colored wire can also help us design towards a theme.
Another pair of earrings I had made previously took some time, but several colors of pearls were used in the design. Lucky are those born in June as they have several colors of pearls from which to choose!

So far, techniques have gone from wire working to chain maille, beading around a cabochon, to stringing fringe. What a great way to practice your skills!
July is ruby, another expensive gemstone. For this month I would probably use Swarovski crystals, and put them in a design like the one below, which used sapphire crystals.

We've already seen a pair of earrings that uses peridot colored craft wire with pearls, but we could also use peridot Swarovski crystals with the design such as the one above for the month of August's birthstone earrings.

For September, using sapphire gemstones does not have to be as expensive as you would think. I found these sapphire stones for a reasonable price, and decided to show them off with the wire wrapping technique known as herringbone.

We've already seen the opal that most of us are familiar with used in the pin design shown in this article, but there are several type of opals: fire opals, Australian opals, Peruvian opals, and Ethiopian opals to name a few. Like pearls, the choice amongst opals are many. For October, here's an example of a pair of earrings made using Peruvian opals.

The same type of opals also come in pink:

Tourmalines come in a variety of colors from pink, green, to black, so the options there are also just as numerous.

November's stones are warm colors, with topaz and citrines being yellowish orange. Simple studs can be beautiful if using stones, but all the designs open up if you use crystals in this color range.
And December is similiar in that dyed howlite can take the place of turquoise, or if you want earrings with natural stones, turquoise goes from yellow to blue to green. Here's a pair of earrings made with Sleeping Beauty blue turquoise:

By choosing a theme, several design ideas can present themselves. By going back to easier work, you can revive your interest in beading and have your muse whispering new ideas in no time.

Payloadz.com - Selling File

Payloadz.com - Selling File

New pattern from Need For Beads gives beginner beaders instructions on how to make a beaded bail.

More on Knotting

So you have some favorite beads that you want to put in a necklace together, but there's one problem: Beads with different size holes. This presents a problem when a knot is big enough for one bead but not big enough for another. The knot will slipped into the bigger hole.

I faced this problem when I wanted to string some polymer clay beads that Bette Abdu had made and that I had won in a Yankee swap at the Bead Society of New Hampshire Holiday Party. The holes in the polymer clay beads were much bigger than the holes in the pearls that I wanted to use, ones that matched so perfectly. Betty had strung the polymer clay beads with spacers. However, the spacers also had holes that were too big.

I knew there had to be a way to get around this problem. One thing that I was taught during a knotting demonstration was that knots do not have to be on either side of every bead to make a knotted necklace. So, what I did was look for beads, small ones, that would not go through the holes in the clay beads or the spacers, but had holes themselves that were about the same size as the pearls. Then the design process started.

Getting my bead board, I laid out all of the beads, and checked to make sure that there would be enough knots in the necklace to keep the drape supple. What I wanted for the necklace was a string of pearls in the back, so that the necklace would be comfortable to wear, and then the other larger beads in the front, to showcase them.

I had planned to finish this necklace with silver findings, so what I chose for beads that would control the knotting were tiny silver round beads. This not only would incorporate silver into the necklace, but would match the findings.

I have done a lot of knotting lately, and have learned that one of the best things I can do before starting to string the beads is to check the silk thread or the silk cording that I'm using on a few test beads to make sure that when I knot the bead, the knot will hold and not slip through the bead.
After testing a few different options, I decided that FFF silk thread, doubled, would work the best. The silk cord that I had was too thin. So, confident that I had the right thread for the beads I was going to use, I started stringing the beads in the order that I had laid out on my bead board.
With all the testing done and the design completed even before I started, once the beads were strung all that was left was to knot the beads and attach the findings.

Here are the results:

Another picture shows a closeup of the knotting:

Notice the knots on either side of the pearls. Also notice how the silver beads fit slightly into the larger holes of the polymer clay spacers. The necklace has a wonderful drape despite the fact that some of the knots are about an inch to an inch and a quarter apart.

Even though I could have knotted just the pearls, I put a tiny silver bead in between to continue the design of the necklace itself. By using design techniques such as this, I ended up with the necklace that is a true memento of my friendship with Betty Abdu and a piece that will go into my personal collection.

If you have beads that you want to knot and face this problem, consider using this technique. You may find that you can make the knotted necklace you want. Have fun making it, then wear it, and enjoy!

Refurbishing an Old Piece

This is a necklace that was given to me by my son, from a friend of his who traveled extensively throughout Asia. The piece was from India.

Originally, the piece was strung with monofilament, brass clamshell findings, and silver-lined seed beads as spacers. The necklace was not only very stiff, but plastic was sticking out of the clamshells and was very scratchy.

I did not wear the piece, because it was unattractive, and uncomfortable to wear. However it was a keepsake and meant quite a bit to me.

I decided to re-do the necklace using knotting techniques. I added gold beads in place of the tarnished silver-lined beads. The necklace was a little tight so I decided to chain. To that chain I added a decorative dangle. The new findings were 14KT gold-filled instead of brass.

Other than the updated findings and stringing material, I did not change the design of the necklace, as I wanted to keep it as close to the original as possible.

The stones are beautiful, and I will always treasure them. One picture shows the basic design of the necklace.

Another picture shows a closeup of the stones used.

And lastly, the third picture shows how I completed the necklace, with clasp, chain, and dangle.

To show you what the necklace looked like before, here are a few pictures. The knotted technique improved the drape tremendously, and the new style is very attractive.

If you have piece that you are not wearing, consider giving it an overhaul. You may need some new findings, but the beads are reusable and you will save money making your new piece. Then wear it, and enjoy!

Carnelian Necklace

I purchased these faceted carnelian beads several years ago, and they were so beautiful I wanted to make sure I did something very nice with them. At the time, I knew how to string using flexible wire and crimps, but I did not know how to knot. The stones are all faceted, and in three different sizes, all mined from the same source. The color match is therefore excellent, and the smaller beads in the back make it very comfortable to wear.

It took several years to become proficient with knotting and I did several weeks of research on the Internet to learn the best way to knot these large-holed, heavy gemstones.

What I learned, was that heavier beads such as these should not be knotted with silk, but rather knotted with nylon, because the weight of the beads is less likely to stretch the thread.

I checked my supply of stringing materials, and decided upon a two-ply nylon cord number 2 manufactured in Mexico. I had been using this to do bead crochet with 8/0 Miyuki beads. I found that using it to knot these gemstones work just fine if I doubled it up. That gives you an idea of how large the holes were. If I had used flexible wire, the beads would have jiggled on the wire. I wanted better quality than that, and I succeeded by using the nylon cord.

This close-up shows the beads in the front and the knotting.

This picture shows the graduation of the bead sizes. I finished the necklace with a 14 karat gold lobster clasp, and a large jump ring.

Peacock Pearls from India

While I was in India in December 2009 with my colleagues from the Halma plc companies, we took a break from the work we were doing in the executive development program to vist a bazaar where vendors were selling distinctive Indian goods.

As you can imagine, I found the jewelry they had for sale very interesting, and I stopped at several booths to see the offerings.

At one booth, I found pearls. These were on my list, and I am always sure to bring a list, because most bead shows have such an overwhelming variety of goods, that it is easy to forget your intentions. The same held true at this bazaar. There were several wonderful things from which to choose.

Pearls from several geographical sources are drilled in India, and I wanted to do some pearl knotting. When I found five strands of beautiful peacock pearls, the bargaining began.

After my purchase, one colleague mentioned he wanted pearls for his daughter, and that he would want to give her a necklace. I promised I would send him a list of other materials he would need, as well as directions I knew were on the Internet for pearl knotting. I sold him a strand at a price that was a 67% gross margin over the price I had just paid.

My colleagues thought this was hilarious, as you must remember we are all business professionals. To us, buying low and selling at a margin comes as easily as breathing. It seems even though we had a night off, it was business as usual.

They asked me then what I was going to do with the pearls, and I said make jewelry. Again, the laughter came. They wanted to know what the design would be. I had no clue. That is not how I design. I promised them I would send pictures of the jewelry when it was done.

Yes, I know it is almost two years hence, but sometimes the ideas do not come as quickly as the purchases. I thought I would incorporate a little pearl knotting design tips in the telling of this story, and show how that leads to the jewelry. At the same time, my colleagues can see what I did with these pearls.

First, pearl knotting is not just for pearls. The reason you knot pearls or beads is to protect them. The knotting material, which is traditionally silk, can be nylon (for strength), a Spectra-based thread (like Tough Thread), or cording. Silk, with a thin needle, comes on cards in various colors, but also various sizes of cording. The diameter of silk threads sold on spools are from 0.20mm, which is very thin, to 0.419 mm (size FFF). If you buy silk cording on cards, the thread diameter is from 0.20mm up to over 1.0 mm (Size 16).
You can string pearls on flexible wire, but if you do, you lose the drape you will get from silk. So knotting pearls with silk gives you a necklace that has the wonderful drape of silk. And if the necklace breaks, you will lose only one pearl at most. Knotting pearls is a way to protect your investment in these beautiful gems.
Of course, there are drawbacks: the silk needs to be treated correctly. You don't want to get it wet, because unlike nylon, it will not last long if you do. You don't want chemicals on it, so you spray your perfume on yourself and let it dry before you put on your pearls. This careful treatment of the silk extends to the pearls at the same time, but even the best of care will not protect the silk from wear. Your necklaces will eventually have to be re-knotted.

Decades ago, I was in the Bahamas buying jewelry, and nearly passed up the chance to buy a necklace and earring set made from black coral. I was walking away because I thought black onyx looks the same, and I always find a necklace like that. The vendor called out to me and told me that the coral reefs were dying, and that the purchase would an investment, as the black coral was becoming rare. The necklace was on monofiliment, had gold beads, and was beautiful, and so I took her advice and bought it. Black coral is much lighter in weight than black onyx, and so wearing it is more comfortable.
After 35 years of wear, the gold beads were misshapened enough to make the necklace unattractive. I cut it apart, and then knotted it with black silk, replacing the gold beads. I kept the original design:

The necklace was certainly an investment when I bought it, but with the coral beads now knotted with silk, I have added to its value. This great momento from that trip now hangs with a fabulous drape.
So, what did I do with the peacock pearls I bought in India? The first necklace, I used white silk cord, size 6, with the pearls and some Swarovski Dorado gold crystals:

The color of the thread makes a big difference. The white thread is part of the design. When I used blue thread (not cord, because that makes a difference as well), I have a traditional pearl necklace, as shown below. This one will become part of my personal collection, as I will keep it to remind me of India:

Nothing, in my opinion, is so beautiful as a traditional pearl necklace. There are other ways to design, especially today when we have pearls in so many different shapes. This next one uses coin pearls with the same peacock pearls from India breaking up the design:

To show what these three would look like together:

That gives you an idea of how three necklaces made from the same pearls, with different pearls and crystals added, can give you fashion options. I would wear these three together on white. White velvet would be gorgeous, and since I have returned to sewing, I bet I could pull that ensemble together.

Finally, to show you the knotting differences, here's a closeup of the three necklaces:

Returning to one of the points I made earlier, pearls are not the only beads knotted. Any fine stones can be knotted, and so can crystals. The necklace below is one made from rare Ethyopian opals. Taking a picture of opals is problematical. The colors just don't show like the real thing:

One way I can give you an idea of the colors in these opals is to take the above photo into PhotoShop, and remove the white. Then you get this:

Looks surreal, doesn't it? But it does show the fire in the opals.

Finally, you might wonder what type of clasps I use on pearl necklaces. You have probably seen these many times. The filigree in the clasp gives a traditional look, and the clasp is one that works even if it unlatches. Losing your pearls, black coral beads, or opals is unlikely.

Once I finish a set of designs, I start wondering. What would the pearls look like with the gold crystals and black thread? Would it look better with blue? The 2mm Dorado 2x Swarovski crystals used in the above necklace are not readily available at the moment. That probably has something to do with the price of gold. Which leads me to the last bit of advice I have for jewelry designers: Buy what you can when you can, even before you have a design in mind. There is no guarantee of future supply. That is why I bought all the peacock pearls I found in India, even though I had no idea what I would do with them.

Farfalle Seed Beads - What to Do with Them?

Farfalle seed beads – what to do with them? These beads are also known as peanuts or bowties. They've been out for a few years, but I haven't seen too many designs that employ them. I've done a few things with them that I'd like to share with you.
Here's a bracelet that is bead crocheted with farfalle seed beads in a green metallic. I finished the ends with gold bead caps and then connected the beaded bracelet to a Stewart Abelman art bead. The farfalle seed beads gave the bracelet a very organic look with lots of texture. Because of the bead crochet stitch, you can roll this one onto your wrist.

Another bracelet employed the same technique:

Having done a few bracelets with bead crochet, I turned my attention to peyote stitch. I wondered what would happen if I used the larger farfalle seed beads with some 11/0 Czech seed beads. Using odd-count peyote, I did a section of black farfalle seed beads with crystal AB seed beads, and then switched to pink farfalle seed beads for the next section.
Alternating back and forth between the two colors of farfalle seed beads, I ended up with a bracelet with more texture than if I had used the same size 11/0 seed beads. The smaller 11/0 beads were tucked down into the beadwork, creating channels. The bracelet is a little heftier, but still quite flexible. Looking at the bracelet from the side, the crystal beads all but disappeared, and the colors of the farfalles were more pronounced. I liked the effect. Here is the bracelet, then a closeup of the beadwork from above, and then from the side.

Picture of the bead work from straight above:

Now, in the next picture, which I took from a side angle, the crystal AB seed beads recede into the bead work, leaving the color of the farfalle seed beads more pronounced. It's difficult to show this affect in pictures – you have to see the bead work itself. I would encourage you to give this a try, because the effect is really very nice.

I continued my work with the farfalle seed beads. I had a pin that I needed to finish. I wanted to put UltraSuede on the back, and then hide the edges so that you could not see how the pin was finished. I've used several techniques in the past with seed beads. With the new shape of the farfalle seed beads, I wanted to see the possibilities of finishing the edge differently.

Here's what I did: I knotted my thread on the front of the pin and went through the layers of Lacey's Stiff Stuff and UltraSuede to the back of the pin. Then I brought my needle back to the front of the pin picked up a black farfalle seed bead, a lime-colored Delica, and then went back through the farfalle seed bead with my needle and thread, sewing to the back of the pin and placing the thread in position to sew the next bead.

This made a small picot on top of the farfalle seed bead. I lined up the the farfalle seed bead so that one larger end was on the top of the pin and the other larger end was on the backside. I worked in this manner all around the circumference of the pin.

I did not particularly like the way that the beads looked around the pin. The beats were disorganized. This just didn't seem to go with the design of the pin itself. To straightened the beads, I decided to sew between the lime green Delicas, putting another lime green bead between the beads on the top of the farfalle beads. As I came around the curves on each end of the pin, I put two Delicas between the picot beads if it seemed that there would be a gap if I used only one.

By sewing through this outside edge of Delicas three times, the beads aligned, and I found that the top part of the pin had a very nice finish, as did the back side.The longer farfalle beads worked to my advantage to accomplish this. The pictures below show the pin, front and back.

I am calling this one "The Toucan", as when I look at this piece of dichroic glass, I see a bird. When I took a photograph of the front, I placed one of my lights so that it would give the bird an "eye". The cabochon was a gift from Mona Hair, and was one of her first pieces of dichroic art. I have a brooch converter, and so I can wear this pin as a pendant as well.