BeadStyle : Earrings

A baker's dozen, a beader's pair?

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:32:00 GMT

In 13th-century England, the Assize (statute) of Bread and Ale decreed that bakers who shortchanged their customers could be fined or sent to the stocks – yikes! To prevent accusations, bakers began selling 13 units for the price of a standard dozen (12). If some misfortune befell the 13th unit, the baker could safely say s/he delivered the legal dozen. This is the origin of what we now call a “baker’s dozen.”

In similar fashion, some of my Bead&Button colleagues say they make a third earring when selling or gifting a pair. That way if an earring falls out, the owner has a spare. I like to think of this as the “beader’s pair,” and it’s something I want to try as I begin to plan holiday gifts for friends and family. What do you think? Is a beader's pair worth the extra time and effort, or should the courtesy spare be left to baking?

Jewelry Classes on Demand: Easy earrings you can make

Naomi Fujimoto — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:20:00 GMT

After all the planning, shooting, and editing, my video, Easy earrings you can make, is now available. It's part of the new Jewelry Classes on Demand series. The downloadable classes feature the most popular projects and techniques from BeadStyle, Bead&Button, and Art Jewelry.

I wanted to demo earring projects that showcased plain loops, wrapped loops, connecting components with jump rings, using chain in a design, and wire wrapping briolettes. This is a beginner-level video that teaches basic techniques, and you can print the PDF for detailed instructions.

My first stop for project ideas: 365 Earrings. We keep all of our finished jewelry in our workroom — minus stuff we donate to charity or favorite pieces that "live" with one of us. So it was easy to find finished earrings that I could re-make for the video. Back when we put together the special issue, it was exhausting to design 90-plus pairs of earrings each, but the issue really streamlined my decision-making process! That's where most of my picks came from. (By the way, we sold out of the issue, but you can pre-order a softcover copy of the book, A Year in Earrings.)

For a few more pairs of earrings to round out the mix, I revisited my Cool Jewels book, where the sections are divided by type of jewelry. Using these two sources was easier than going through six years of BeadStyle back issues.

In the video, I show how to make five easy earrings, plus there are additional earrings that show a different use of the same technique. So there's a little something for all earring fans, no matter what your style. After you make these five styles, you'll be able to apply your skills to more advanced earring designs.

Help an editor find wood hoops

Naomi Fujimoto — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:16:00 GMT

Two years ago, I made wood hoop earrings for our Under One Hour special issue. Beadissimo, a fabulous bead store in San Francisco, carried the hoops in different sizes, colors, and finishes. Unfortunately, the store closed and I'm having trouble finding a source. Even though there are lots of beautiful wood hoop earrings on Etsy, I'm looking for the supplies — not the finished earrings.

The closest I could find are these rings from Artbeads.com (a little too small) and from Fire Mountain (not drilled). Beads and Pieces has the drilled pieces, but they're smaller than the 50 mm hoops I used. I did find bright-colored Lucite hoops and gogos at The Beadin' Path, but my heart is set on hoops like the ones I used in the original project.

And how do you search? "Hoops"? "Rings"? "Donuts"? One vendor's hoop is another vendor's O-ring. I'll continue my quest, but let me know if you have a good source. Thanks!

Selling earrings for a cause

Naomi Fujimoto — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:47:00 GMT

In my Google jewelry alerts, I mostly get news of robberies or jewelry store closings. But today, another story — of a heartwarming nature — caught my eye:

In Lawrence, Kansas, Lauretta Hendricks-Backus is selling handmade earrings to help her son Ozzie, a musician, raise money for a new string bass. In a story reminiscent of The Red Violin, his bass was stolen while he slept. ("How?" an astute Jane Konkel asked. My question: "Who wants a pilfered string bass?") To buy a new one, he's getting help from his insurance and a loan — and his hard-working mom. She's hoping to sell 200 pairs of earrings at $20 each. If you'd like to buy a pair or learn more about her, visit RettaHB's Stuff. (My favorite is pair C1 — the simplest, most linear design.)

The article has garnered lots of impassioned comments — about Ozzie, Lauretta, and the cost of string basses. I do respect how she took charge and is using her talents to help solve a problem. Have you done this with your jewelry making?

Last year, I made over 30 pairs of earrings as party favors for my sister's Team in Training fundraiser. But, I've never made a certain number of pieces with the goal of selling them all. If you've ever done that, kudos for your commitment (200 pairs of earrings seems like a lot). I wish Retta the best. And I hope they catch the thief.

Finding the loops

Cathy Jakicic — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:11:00 GMT

In the May issue of BeadStyle we featured a pair of earring (as a design alternative) with a lovely "Creative curves" necklace by Monica Lueder. We added the instructions in our latest free-earrings newsletter; we included the instructions to the earrings, which used connected loops from The Earth Bazaar. Normally, we give a vendor a heads up when we use something they sell, but because it was originally a design alternative (without instructions) that little detail fell through the cracks.

So our apologies to those who called couldn't find the loops at earthbazaar.com and to the people at The Earth Bazaar that have been answering the phones. The good news: They say they'll have the loops back in stock in a month.

In the meantime, I received a very helpful e-mail from Batel Libes of Beads of Marin who carries similar items and has plenty of stock on hand. They don’t look like they have the pre-drilled hole in one of the loops, but a small jump ring would take care of that.

Thanks Batel.

Facebook your friends some earrings!

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:28:00 GMT

You probably already receive BeadStyle’s free monthly earring project e-newsletter (and if not, click here to sign up). Now you can post our earring newsletters on your Facebook page for all your friends to see!

Simply scroll to the bottom of the e-newsletter and click on the Facebook icon. Then follow the directions to post on your page. You can even choose the earring image you want to show up on your page. Finally, visit your Facebook Wall to see your BeadStyle pride posted for all your friends to read and bead!

If you subscribe to Digg or Twitter, look for those icons on the bottom of your earring e-newsletter as well.

Cool new video of BeadStyle's January 2009 issue projects

Linda Augsburg — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:07:00 GMT

Check this out! We made videos of the bracelet and rings, earrings, and necklaces from the January 2009 issue of BeadStyle magazine. The January 2009 issue is on sale now at your local bead shop or newsstand.

What's "old" is new again

Erin Dolan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:48:00 GMT

I’ve been working at BeadStyle for nearly four months now, and one of my favorite “perks” of being the editorial assistant is working with readers and contributors. When I answer your questions, find elusive components, or organize jewelry, I get to page through back issues of the magazine. I love spotting great projects, then going to the workroom archives to check out the finished pieces in person. It just goes to show you that classic pieces never go out of style, especially for new staff members and beaders!

What’s great for those of you who can’t just walk down the hall to our workroom is that we post so many of our projects online. We have projects for subscribers, projects direct from the magazine pages, and (best of all), free projects!

Some of my favorite “old” (and by “old,” I mean “pre-Erin-working-at-BeadStyle”) projects include:

Lauren Hadley’s pearl-dangle bracelet, the March 2008 online subscriber project

Roxie Moede’s barbell necklace, from the November 2007 issue of BeadStyle

Yvette Jones’ dangle earrings, from the May 2005 issue of BeadStyle

Rupa Balachandar's necklace with kite-shaped beads, from the September 2007 issue of BeadStyle

What are your favorite BeadStyle projects from the past?

Earrings in the family

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:39:00 GMT

In her last post, Lindsay blogged about families brought together (or temporarily upset) by earrings, and asked for similar stories. Here is one of my own.

When I was in third grade, I noticed that many of the girls in my class had their ears pierced, so I thought this would be a good thing for me to have, too. My first attempts to persuade my parents, especially my dad, were less than successful, so I did the next best thing – I got clip-ons. Great big gaudy bows, to be exact. Then I heard about magnetic earrings, and got a pair of those as well. My dad thought my earring alternatives were pretty funny, so at a family birthday party, he himself wore one of my magnetic earrings – a little gold heart – and waited to see how long it took for anyone to notice what otherwise appeared to be a piercing. My grandparents were mortified.

Eventually, my dad told my mom that if I absolutely had to have my ears pierced, she was not to take me until he was far, far away. So during my dad’s next business trip, my mom took me to the mall so I could jump off the bridge after all my classmates. That night, I told my dad over the phone about my new earrings. He sounded squeamish even talking about it. I can only imagine how he felt 6–8 weeks later when the studs wouldn’t come out and he had to put pliers to my ears to pry the backings from the posts!