Snowman Drop Earring Tutorial!

From the Archives!  

These Snowman Earrings are just as popular today as they were the day I first made them back in the late 80s.  This Tutorial was originally published on the Bead Trends Magazine & Blog back in 2010, so thought it would be fun to share once again!  You're welcome to use this Snowman Earring design for your personal gift giving and small business use. 

Tutorial and design are the intellectual property of JLynnJewels 

and cannot be copied or distributed in any form without our written approval.

No matter what design skill level you're at…this tutorial is geared to take you step-by-step with an easy approach to wire wrapping, that give your drop Earrings a clean, professional, and finished look. 

Supplies:
2—Jet 4mm Round Swarovski Crystals
2—Jet 6mm Margarita Swarovski Crystals
2—Crystal 5mm Round Swarovski Crystals
2—Crystal 6mm Round Swarovski Crystals
2—Crystal 8mm Round Swarovski Crystals
2—22 Gauge Sterling Silver Headpins
Embroidery Floss, Yarn or other material for Scarf
Rosary & Bent Chain-Nose Pliers, Wire Cutters

Instructions:
Begin by stacking Crystals on Head pins (22 gauge is suggested due to the 8mm crystal hole size).

1. Grasp the head pin just above crystals with the tips of your rosary pliers.  Gently press the wire down over the top of the pliers to make a 90 degree angle (side view shown).  Note…The size of the top loop/circle is determined by the wire placement on the rosary pliers.  To ensure your earrings have the same size top loop, be consistent with wire placement (tip…beginners can mark their pliers with a sharpie to line up their wire when shaping).
2. Rotate your pliers a 1/4 turn so that they are now at the top of the wire.
3. Without shifting your pliers, shape wire over the pliers ending with the end pointing down.
4. Reposition your pliers so they are in the opening, then complete the circle by bending the wire around the lower edge (circle will be off-center until you complete the next step).
5. Without releasing your grip on the pliers, rotate and bend the entire circle so that it’s centered over the headpin (end of the wire will be angled up).

6. Press down on the end of the wire so that you once again have a 90 degree angle and perfect circle.  (tip…to ensure earrings are the same length, create your 2nd earring and compare loop sizes prior to completing the finishing details)

Finishing Details…
7. Place your Rosary pliers vertically across the top of your circle.  Take your bent chain-nose pliers and grasp the tip of the wire.  Cross over and begin wrapping the wire around the center of the headpin, staying parallel to your rosary pliers.
8. Continue winding the wire around the head pin taking your time to keep coils tight and precisely next to one another (reposition your bent chain-nose pliers after each side to side pass).
9. Using a pair of side cutters, clip the excess wire on an angle (this will ensure you have a professional looking end).
10. Using your Bent chain-nose pliers, press and tuck the end of the wire next to the last coil so there are no sharp edges.
11. Attach the scarf by using embroidery floss or yarn with a square knot.
12. Open your ear wire sideways and slip on the stacked drop, then move the ear wire back in place.

Unique designer variations…
Try White Jasper, Riverstone, Bone, Resin, or Czech Glass with different trims, ribbons, and metals such as Vintaj Natural Brass.  To create a shorter earring—experiment by using smaller millimeter Swarovski crystals or by reducing the snowmen to two parts (versus three).

ENJOY…Happy Holidays!
JLynn

What will you choose?

Ask yourself constantly, what is the right thing to do…

Yes, I'm a firm believer in "What goes around, comes around"…as well as, having faith that God, Guardian Angels, and Karma are always watching out for me, my family, and friends,  in some type of form.  Normally, I keep my personal thoughts - well, personal - BUT sometimes, they just need to be voiced, especially if they help bring about changes that improve positive mindset and actions. 

Here recently, I've noticed an increase in negative comments and posts on the social sites (I could probably lump in the visual/print media too).  There seems to be some sort of "thing" that has taken hold of certain people and made them jump on this bandwagon that condones being overly critical and judgmental towards a variety of causes, people and things.   And…you know what?  I don't like it.  It hurts and affects many people - and I'm definitely not about negativity or having it color my life with dark shadows…I'm about COLOR and light and positive things - for me, life is an upward staircase - not down...

We have all experienced a variety of challenging things.  Sometimes you need to work hard at finding the positives.  But if you're up against one of those bad apples (or maybe a bushel of them)…does that mean the entire tree or grove is bad?  Of course not! There are plenty of good things being posted and broadcasted - some days I just wish it was a little more!  You know, Twitter may be filled with some snide and hateful tweets - and Facebook, along with many Blogs and Media sites can be filled with the Trolls that like to simply stir up trouble, by leaving disrespectful comments, or worse yet…doing nasty things behind the scenes because they feel secure hiding behind this wall of secrecy and anonymity.   Sometimes I think these companies thrive on creating negativity and conflicts, and it often makes me wonder, that if they became more transparent and broadcast the negative things (like they do everything else these days) - and do it with the names attached…do you think it would make a difference in the reduction of overall negativity?  As in... "So and So just unliked a page…So and So just reported that Family photo for spam…or so and so just hid that post" (only because they don't like that person and are being mean spirited).  It's just sad that people behave in this manner and I just "don't get" this type of negative "no-one will know…so why not" type of socializing.

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it more complicated

~Confucius

Well, count me in on the "Simplicity" side of life and the positive socializing that's for sure!  And when in doubt…remember to:

THINK ABOUT IT…

Mindset and Manners speak VOLUMES…

Treat others, in the manner in which you want to be treated...

Choose your words carefully (verbal and written)…

Find different ways to cope in positive ways…

Actions cause reactions - make them positive...

Conserve your energy for the good things in life!

No-one is perfect - but we can all try a little harder to do the right things…

And do the right thing because it's RIGHT.

Warmly,

JLynn

GIVE AWAY TIME...Oh what a Tangled Web we Weave ART Tiles!

Sir Walter Scott quote…

Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

when first we practice to deceive!

(wondering why I chose this quote?  Don't miss the story in the FYI section below)

And another "Web" quote…which I like much better…

From E.B. White - Charlotte's Web

"Never Hurry and Never Worry"

Did I mention that...

It's GIVE-AWAY TIME?!   

Win these very popular Dog Tag ART Tiles in the Burnt Orange color shown (or if you would prefer…choose from one of our other Custom Colors!)  So what do you have to do to enter?

#1 LEAVE A COMMENT here if you're able :)

#2 VISIT us and LIKE us on Facebook at J-Lynn Jewels biz page 

https://www.facebook.com/JLynnJewelsFANpage

#3 LIKE & COMMENT on our "Tangled Web/Never Hurry-Never Worry" POST on Facebook

And lastly…sharing is nice but not necessary :)

Winner will be announced here on the Blog on Monday 10/27/14!

FYI…lots of good stuff in the works!

ETSY SHOP UPDATE - Friday, October 24, 2014

JLynnJewels 

Coming in November…my Artisan Jewelry Line!!!

DATE: NOVEMBER 1, 2014

Web LINK - TBA…!

Coming in mid-November…ART TILE End-of-Year Inventory SALE!

I'm super excited to be making time again for something I've been doing since the 80s…I have a very colorful past (and I mean that in a GOOD WAY)…so after many successful decades that have lead me on a very, merry, surprising pathway...it's time to start sharing more ideas, inspiration, techniques, business set-up, organization, logical pricing for retail/wholesale, Craft Show/Festival Know-How and lot of other business tips - in my quest to help others be TRUE to themselves and gain confidence in your own visions!

And speaking of being true to yourself…the GIVE-AWAY story…

When I first showed my husband the Orange Dog Tag pairs and told him I would be doing a weekend Give-Away...I asked him for a name/theme.  Well, the first thing that popped out of his mouth, and one he said in a spooky voice, was the quote..."Oh what a Tangled Web we Weave, when we practice to deceive…" - you see he thought the Tiles looked like a Spider Web (we will just forget that they are in fact a Victorian Lace Art Nouveau pattern lol).  So the short story is that I went with it - even though I'm more in line with the Charlotte's Web quote "Never Hurry and Never Worry".  However, despite the negative spin to the Sir Walter quote…I have always felt it has a very good message in it…and that is, a warning to not get so caught up in the pressures of society (or in our case today - the never ending numbers/comparison/attention games on all the social media sites) that you start deceiving yourself and what's truly important in your life.  

Have a great day!

JLynn

Monday 10/27/14 - AND THE WINNER IS…

Thanks to Random.org for always making things easy :)

AW Jewelry (Annita Wilson)

AND

Janet Carter

Congratulations to both Annita and Janet - please email/FB message me with your mailing address and if you would like the Orange Dog Tag pair (or different color).

Before and After!

Many of you have asked about our Summer project of refinishing my old French Provincial Wooden Bedroom Furniture from when I was a little girl.  This is actually the 2nd time the set has been refinished - back in the mid-80's, my Dad & I refinished the dark cream with gold metallic highlights - to the white that you see on the left side.  My prior post here on the blog goes into more detail if you want to see older photos and our prep process.

It was an extremely busy summer for all of us - so I'm so sorry for the delay in sharing these "work-in-progress" and "before & after" photos.  Above is the nightstand…it's always amazing how different a piece can look when refinished, isn't it?  I loved the old pretty white…but I also love the new black too!

Below are some photos I took while my hubby was doing all the painting (yes, we opted to roll with a specialized paint) and it worked great.

 

This set was refinished for my daughter for her first apartment…and although I missed getting detail photos of the furniture all put back together and in their new place - I do have a collage that includes a few shots of her charming one-bedroom apartment that we decorated by being thrifty shoppers :) - we didn't really start with a plan - just found things as we went along and it all wound up coordinating.

As always - have fun shopping the deals - and never turn your nose up at some old pieces of furniture…you never know what they might turn into with a little hard work, paintbrush, roller, primer and paint ;)

Warmly, JLynn