Memory Wire Earring Tutorial

 It's no secret that I like earrings that dangle and on occasion make noise. They're fun!
Therefore, it should be no surprise that my next project was just that.
I was inspired by a woman standing in line ahead of me at the grocery store, who wore a super cute pair.
Immediately, I went home (well not really immediately, I mean I did buy the groceries first) and got to planning and dissecting how her earrings were made

What you'll need: 

Memory wire (large and small)

Colorful beads of three different sizes

A few jump rings

Needle nose pliers

Earrings Hooks 

     

1. Take a larger size of memory wire and thread beads on

2. Take the ends of said memory wire and bend the wire back in on itself to make a loop.

3. Take a smaller size memory wire and thread  beads on.

4: Take the ends of said memory wire and bend the wire back in on itself again

5. Open jump ring and loop it through memory wire loops.

6. Hook on Earring hook and Tah Dah You've made a very cute and easy earring!

Ropes and Pearls

I've always wanted to make a layered bracelet with different textured strands, but I didn't want to have to wear a million different bracelets to get the look. So, I went into my treasure chest of jewelry making things and came up with: a leather cord, pearls and gold seed beads. 

The colors compliment each other nicely, so then I went to work.

It took me a while to figure out the look I wanted, and much restringing. I tried braiding the strands, which came out pretty cool, but much shorter than I expected, so it was back to the drawing board with me. I moved things around, re-sized  cut, sighed in frustration and then viola! I came up with something I liked. 

The look is random and that completely satisfied my creative mind. Symmetry is nice, but not always necessary. With this piece, it could be used as a necklace, though it was made to hang crazily around your wrist. It connects with a magnet (shown above) so that its a cinch to get on and off and it completely compliments natural tones. 

The pearls are classy, but the leather suggest an adventurous side.

The cool thing about this piece is that every time I put it on, it looks slightly different. 

I also tried to make it with hemp instead of leather and it looks fantastic! I bet you could also make something like this with thin ribbon or cord. 

Anyway, let your imagination run wild!

Lanyard

At my job, I have to wear a badge and attached to that badge they gave me a horrible green lanyard. I wore it forever, thinking it was my only option, until the light bulb went off in my head! I can make my own!!!

So I shall teach you to make your own too!

Things you'll need:

Crimp tool. Seed beads from the awesome Blue Moon Bead collection. Crimp tubes. Bigger beads that I grabbed from a color tin by Blue Moon. Beading Cord, magnet, large lobster claw, jump rings and I used a little spring to help hold the beads on my cord (optional)

Basically, I designed a three strand braid. It goes just as if you were braiding your hair, but only with beads. Then I added some larger beads for texture and bold color. I braided until I was happy with the length, then finished it off.

At my job, my lanyard has to be a breakaway kind, for safety reasons. So I found a powerful magnet at Joanne's and used that to tie it together. Then I placed a large lobster claw on the other end to hang my badge.

The different colors made it come out very nicely and I've got nothing but compliments since I started wearing it around my work place. Bring a little color into your life. Just because you have to wear a badge doesn't mean it has to be ugly!

I think I shall make some in different colors.