{"id":10405,"date":"2013-05-02T14:23:43","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T18:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/?p=10405"},"modified":"2016-09-05T09:57:36","modified_gmt":"2016-09-05T13:57:36","slug":"handmade-dangle-gemstone-earrings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/handmade-dangle-gemstone-earrings\/","title":{"rendered":"HANDMADE DANGLE GEMSTONE EARRINGS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Making<\/div>\n

Making Dangle Drop Gemstone Earrings<\/h2>\n

My First Attempt at making Earrings was Fun. <\/p>\n

\nI liked how they turned out<\/strong>. But there are also things that I didn’t like.<\/p>\n

Here’s the Process<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

Picking out the Beads<\/h2>\n

I wanted to use Purple Gemstones<\/a>. I think the Combination of Purple against Silver would actually be a Pretty Striking Look.<\/p>\n

I knew as soon as I saw the Purple Donut Beads<\/a> in my Variety Gemstone Bag that they would be the Main Focal Point.<\/p>\n

I picked out some Purple Faceted Beads (Bicone Beads<\/a>) to Enhance the Color of the Donuts. And I picked out some Silver Beads<\/a> (Bicone as well) to add even More Pizzazz<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Handmade<\/p>\n

Findings<\/h2>\n

I went on a Mission to choose Findings, which are the Pieces and Parts that make up the Earring. I picked out some Silver Wire Head Pins<\/a> (as you will see below) to Tie the Beads up along with an Assortment of Jump Rings (Rings that look like a C – Not Totally Closed Up<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Making the Earrings<\/h2>\n

\nWorking with Jump Rings is Easy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

You just use 2 Flat Nose Pliers<\/a>, one in each hand (and one on each side of the Jump Ring Opening) to Bend them to open them, or Twist them Shut again. <\/p>\n

Piece of Cake!<\/h2>\n

I started with the Donut Gemstone and put the Largest Jump Ring through that.<\/p>\n

Then came the Fun Part<\/strong>. Using the Head Pin Wires I began to make the Purple Dangle Drops. I put the Wire (which has a Flat End on one Side – see below) through the Bead and grabbed my Round Nose Pliers<\/a>. I Grabbed the end of the Wire and Started Bending it around the top of the Bead to Form a Loop.<\/p>\n

Then I Grabbed the Wire and began to Twist that around the Top to Form a Spiral Design<\/strong> (figure 3 below).<\/p>\n

\"Wire<\/p>\n

This was Not as Easy as I Imagined<\/h2>\n

\nThe Head Pin Wire kept Spinning and the Gem Spun as well… Plus, it was Hard to Hold<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I ended up just holding the Loop with the Pliers and Coiling the Rest of the Wire around that.<\/p>\n

All in all, I Enjoyed this<\/strong>. I did learn that the Coils weren’t Perfect and they were never going to totally match. But that’s the Cool Part about handmade Jewelry! :) I think they turned out nice.<\/p>\n

I did the same thing with the Silver Bicone Beads. One turned out really Cool… The other, NOT so Cool! <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Hole on the Second Bicone Bead was Larger and the Head Pin Wire went all the way through. <\/p>\n

RATS! <\/h2>\n

I tried Crimping the End of the Silver Bead… that didn’t Help<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I Removed the Wire (Grumbling all the time) and used a Different Type of Wire, called a Eye Pin Wire (one that had a Large Eye Loop at the end – figure A in the above photo). I figured it would go Great with the Jump Rings. Loops are Loops, right? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jump Ring Fun!<\/h2>\n

One by one I started Putting the Jump Rings on. Putting them on was Easy. Holding the Earring steady while you are doing it: Not Easy! <\/strong><\/p>\n

I kept Dropping them<\/strong>. Jump Rings were Bouncing all over the Floor. I’d Hook one end, try to Hook another and Drop the First one… BAH!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I finally got all my Jump Rings Hooked Properly.<\/p>\n

That’s when I noticed that they only Half Dangled. Huh?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was like a Big Mess of Silver Jump Rings with No Swing. :(<\/p>\n

I realized that it’s much more Difficult to Visualize what they’ll look like when they are Laying on the Counter in Pieces. You can’t see the Style or the Dangle.<\/p>\n

I Started Over<\/h2>\n

I wanted the Dangle Drop Earrings to be Longer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I added more Jump Rings. This was Crazy because every Time I Changed one Earring, I’d have to Duplicate that Process with the Second Earring.<\/p>\n

The Earrings now had some Swing to them, but they looked too Cluttered. Hmmm…. To Much Silver<\/strong>. You almost couldn’t see the Gemstones.<\/p>\n

\nI removed the Silver Bicone Beads. That Helped<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I then made the Earrings even Longer with more Jump Rings to Space things. That helped a lot.<\/p>\n

Finally I was Satisfied with the Look<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Finished<\/p>\n

The Earrings ended up having a Nice Weight to them. They Dangle Really Good. They have Good Balance and they look Wonderful in the Ears.<\/p>\n

I will say that the Small Purple Gems did tend to get Lost in the Silver…<\/p>\n

Maybe I should have used Darker Gems? Or even Blue ones?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What I’m NOT happy with<\/h2>\n

\nThe thing that I learned in this Earring Making Lesson was Simple:<\/p>\n

Silver Plating SUCKS!<\/h2>\n

By the time I Finished Goofing around with the Earrings, I had Tiny Flakes of Silver Plating<\/strong> all over my Hands, Clothes, Counter, Floor…<\/p>\n

That would have been Nasty to get in my Eyes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Plus, I could see Spots where the Plating Broke Off Revealing Dark Metal Beneath.<\/p>\n

NOT COOL!<\/h2>\n

I also learned that Silver Plated Jump Rings are Quite Soft and the Tools I used Left Scratches, Dings and Marks all over the Earrings. :(<\/p>\n

Maybe I need to Invest and get Real Silver the next time. That, or Gold<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

The Earrings Look Cute, but with the Dents and Pieces of Plating, I wouldn’t Want Anyone to Wear them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Not to Mention the Fact that Silver Plating would Probably Irritate the Ears and Break them out in a Rash.<\/p>\n

Then again, Real Silver could do the same.<\/p>\n

You Live, You Learn<\/h2>\n

First Pair of Earrings Finished.<\/p>\n

What will I Create Next?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Making Dangle Drop Gemstone Earrings My First Attempt at making Earrings was Fun. I liked how they turned out. But there are also things that I didn’t like. Here’s the Process… Picking out the Beads [Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,16,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gemstones","category-guides","category-jewelry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10405"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}