DIY Beaded Star Earrings { Guest Post }

I would like to introduce you to my very first guest blogger, Joanna.

Joanna has been an online friend of mine for quite awhile. Back when we were working on the Shadow of the Bear fundraiser, she made this dazzling necklace.

 Today, she will be sharing the instructions. Aren't her diagrams beautifully drawn?

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Star Pendant Earrings

This design was inspired by The Bead Monkey

This is a fun craft to create, and not only can you make beautiful earrings from these pendants, but also they can be attached to a necklace, or you can use your own creative imagination to think of something different!

Supplies you will need:

• 2 craft ear wires (earrings)
  
• 2- 2’ clear cord
  
• 44 small seed beads
  
• 24 small crystal beads, in two different but coordinating colors (depending on how large you want to make them you can also use larger ones)

*Directions:

The pendant is built in a clockwise direction created with a series of loops that are themselves made in a counter-clockwise direction. As you progress adding more beads, continue to pull the cord taut. 

Divide the crystal colors into two piles. Label one pile of crystals A, for the center, and label the other pile B, which will be the outer edge color. In the following steps, A and B will refer to the crystals.

Step 1.

With one piece of illusion cord in hand, thread from the working end (right side) a seed bead, A, seed bead, B, seed bead, and A.

Step 2.

Slide the beads toward the left end of the cord about 5-6” from the end creating a tail. Then thread the working end through the first seed bead threaded on. Go through the bead in the same direction as it was initially threaded thus creating a loop.

Step 3.

Add a seed bead, A, seed bead, B, and seed bead. Thread the working end in a counter clockwise direction through the A from step one and the first seed bead added in this step. Pull the thread taut.

Step 4.

Repeat step 3 three more times threading back through A crystals from each previous step and pull the thread taut after each step.

Step 5.

Thread a seed bead on the working end. Thread cord through A (from step 1). Add a seed bead, B, seed bead, then thread down through A (from the last step). Finally, thread through the first seed bead added in the center.

Step 6.

Notice that the tail and working ends emerge from adjacent seed beads. Tie a small knot, then thread both ends of cord through the A crystal toward the outer rim of the pendant.

Step 7.

Thread the shorter cord (tail) through a seed and crystal.

Step 8. 
Pick up the longer cord and then thread it in the opposite direction through the seed beads and three of the B crystals along the outer edge of the pendant.

Step 9.

Thread through the next two seed beads.

Step 10.

Thread onto the cord two seed beads, the loop of the ear wire, then two seed beads. Then thread back through the two seed beads (step 9) on the earring completing the loop.

Step 11.

Continue threading the cord through the crystals and seed beads until you have reached the point where the tail and emerges.

(picture 6)

Step 12.

Tie a secure knot. Notice the crystals in the center push outward creating a slight dome.

Step 13.

Pass both ends through the B crystal adjacent to the knot and then trim the excess cord.

Step 14.

Repeat steps one through twelve to complete other earring.

*It is helpful to read through the directions before starting. 

(..... buahahaha! This is Shaylynn here-- I have to say that this is very wise advice. I can't tell you how many projects I've started without reading the instructions and totally ruined it!)


Joanna made her star into a necklace. Isn't it dazzling?

I think I'll make one of these myself! Greens and blues.... mmm, that sounds good!

Thank you joining me here at Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe, Joanna!

Escaping Marble

This little fella sure lived up to it's name. Let me explain...

Once upon a time...

     I spent a very long time trying to make this captured marble. I'm pretty sure it hated me. I used a random assortment of rings, all quite munchkin-ier than the rings I used for the Truly Captured Marble.

     The rings were much smaller, which let me make a "window" in the front-- while securely held, the marble was able to move. Whenever I wore it, I couldn't stop fiddling with it. The marble moved. Thus it was named "Escaping Marble." It never really escaped. It only tried to. As I said, it moved. 

     Thus it was doomed to half-escape and moving for a whole month.

     Then I wore the necklace to a dance, got it tangled in my hair, and instead of doing the rational thing and going to the bathroom to untangle it, I yanked really hard. And broke it. Go figure. And now I can't get it back together. Go figure.

And so the marble truly escaped.

The End.

(Thankfully I snapped some pictures before the necklace was doomed to the painful death of yanking.)

In all its pre-yanking glory.

Escaping marble, Captured Marble, and a little trapped bead.

Byzantine Cross

Here it is, in all its finished glory!

This cross is by far the most complicated chainmaille project I have ever done-- especially because I had absolutely no instructions. I'd seen someone on Etsy make a chainmaille cross, but it was in a Persian weave, which I have not yet learned. So I winged it!

I got the jumprings from UnkamenGifts-- the colors are spectacular. As soon as I opened the bag, I knew that I had to make something in a rainbow fade...

I'm calling this the Byzantine Cross because, not only is it made in a Byzantine weave, but because the colors are typical of the artwork of the Church's Byzantine rite.

First try

The first attempt turned out rather well, except for one problem:

FLOPPINESS!

(Note how small the cross is-- it is just over two thumbnails in length. )

So I pulled apart the connecting rings and experimented with various sizes and numbers of rings.

Pulling it apart

Putting it back together.

The back of the revised edition.

I wound up using a brown mobius (3 interlocked rings) in the center and small green rings for structure. 

The bottom part was still floppy-- I couldn't get the three supporting rings in the middle of the weave--, so I attached an eyepin to the back. (It's bent in this picture, oops!)

Here it is-- the product of several hours of experimentation! It's quite sturdy now, don'tcha think?

It's hard to believe that I first heard of chainmaille jewelry this summer! I love it so, sooo much. ^_^

Some More Stuff!

Here are several new things-- all in one post because I didn't feel like making separate posts for each one.

 Another Evenstar ( <--- check out my tutorial!) The top leaf flipped over, and I didn't notice it until it was too late. Oh well.

Another Helm Weave chainmaille bracelet.

Small fantasy-ish wrapped aquarium rock.

A pretty pendant from Walmart; I've yet to do anything with it but take a picture. :)

Fiction Teardrop

A (slight) variation on my Star Wars pendant. It is a Byzantine chainmaille weave.

It reminded me of something from a sci-fi or fantasy film. Hence the name!

Another Evenstar!

Look at the pretty blue "gilded" bead on the bottom! That bead was my latest find, and it just needed to be made into something. I'd given all but a worn-out Evenstar pendant to friends, so I went ahead and made a new one for myself. (The top bead got turned around backwards... I didn't realize it until I had the wire pulled tight.)

Metal Flowers

Very small, simple, and charming. Made from a cats-eye bead and a metal flower I picked up at this tiny, garage-sale-like shoppe down in St. James.

Teaching friends!

I recently got together with some family friends, who are like little sisters almost. :) They are SO quick to catch on. In the space of an hour, Marlena made the wrapped rock pendants (and developed a cool way of wrapping them) and Christiana made the earrings shown below: The rocks, and some other creations, are for our Church's Oktoberfest.

The top two earrings are based off of my Peacock Garden. I loved how Christiana used Christmas colors in them, and then plain bronze topped with blue!

The bottom left earrings are based off of my Musical Notes, and the right are based off my Fireworks.

Captured Marble

It took me awhile, but I finally caught that elusive orb, the marble. I have captured it inside of a chainmaille globe, so that its fiery spirit can be forever seen-- but never again shall this marble roll under the depths of the couch, where it was discovered!

I wanted to post instructions for the making of this marbled cage or caged marble, but for me it was simply attempting to get the chain of rings to loop around the marble. It seems straighforward, BUT! marbles love to escape and fly underneath beds.

Here is a picture of how I began (note that I used another blue ring after this).

The marble makes a great necklace:

Or keychain, when I am wearing my Celtic Flower pendant:

Star Wars Chainmaille

This is actually supposed to be a pendant, not an earring. Actually, I wanted to make two of these as earrings, but I did not have enough jump rings. So now it is a necklace pendant. A really small one. It's just a little bigger than my fingernail!

I made this for a friend, who is going to be doing a small acting part in a homemade Star Wars movie for another friend before she leaves to join the convent!

It is half a Byzantine weave with a little dangle bead on the bottom.

Hint of Nature

We had a pretty family tree picture frame a few years ago; unfortunately we never used it. While cleaning up to sell the house, I accidentally broke the top branch. I pulled the dangling picture frame from the branch and added some fun beads. Simple and fun!

I'd give instructions but I doubt anyone else has saved a broken peice of a picture frame. :D It just goes to show that anything can be used if you have a pinch of creativity.

Musical Notes

A treble clef and two quarter notes for the musician at heart. That would be me; I love music even though I am quite terrible at it.

I also made treble clef earrings:

Loop-de-do

Fun and funky. Unfortunately, I can't give good instructions for chainmaille, even a simple thing like this. So I will simply post pictures.

The chain can be hooked through any one of the rings.

Geometric Chainmaille

Blame my mother for the name. She is the math geek, and her first remark on this chainmaille charm was "Oh, wow... I love this. It's so geometric!"

Which I suppose it is. Geometricity is the nature of chainmaille, and it is a very pleasing look!

I made this from the few similar size-and-color rings I got in my sample set from UnkamenGifts. (I should have just ordered multiple colors of one size!).

It is a helm weave folded in on itself. My first attempt at this pattern was pictured HERE.

This is so tiny that it would work well as earrings, too. If I had enough rings.

Antique Watch Jewelry

60 years old may be retro, not antique... but hey, it looks Victorian and it winds. I have never actually seen a little clock without a battery before. :) I love this little trinket, which I got from Grandma's basement. I made it work, so I got to keep it. I love how that works.

Here it is! At first I thought it was meant to be some kind of wonky pocketwatch, but Grandma said it was a clip to be worn on coat collars. (Interesting...) 

I wasn't fond of the clip part, so I removed it.

Here it is pictured ontop of Grandma's mantilla (head covering), back when Mass was said in Latin. She got it in Spain when she was a teen, and it is so beautiful!

I think it goes quite well with the pretty beads, don't you? You can see that I turned it into a necklace.

I had too much fun taking pictures, even though I'm using the old camera. Here the wtach is pictured on the skirt of a doll (one of American Girl's old "girls of different countries" collection).

Chainmaille Bracelet and Attempts

A few weeks ago I ran across two teens working a booth and creating jewelry at the Summerfest. Their family are the creators of Unkamen Gifts. They make their own quality jumprings and some amazing jewelry.

Yes, jewelry! Chainmail isn't all about armor.

I fell in love with their work, and intended to buy one of their necklaces, but we left early. I looked them up-- they have an Etsy shop (several, actually). And, being me, I decided that I did not want to buy the necklace. I wanted to MAKE it! (Look for it in an upcoming post).

But it was complicated, so I needed to start with something a little easier. I picked up some cheap jumprings at Hobby Lobby. They aren't the "right" sizes, but I just wanted to play around.

I found instructions for the Helm Weave at CGMaille.com and set to work:

The finished product:

EDIT: I made another one, HERE.

And here are a few other things I messed around with....

A flower that I saw on Unkamen Gifts... bit of a fail since I had no idea what to do and was just randomly inserting jump rings. I now know that it is a helm weave folded in on itself. *nods knowingly*

And my first attempt at the Byzantine Weave