Get the Look - Zoe Saldana's Oscar Earrings

Zoe Saldana's Gorgeous Neil Lane Earrings

I've admitted before that I never watch the Oscars.  I'm only interested in what everybody wore, and I can find all of that online after the event.  So maybe that's my excuse for why I'm writing a post about the Oscars this far after the occasion...

At any rate, I did do my annual web-crawl to check out all the lovely gowns and gorgeous jewelry, and I was entirely taken with Zoe Saldana's shoulder-duster earrings by Neil Lane.  Yes, please!  I love dangley earrings, and the diamonds and pearls were so classic!  So, as is post-Oscar tradition, I have made my own version of my favorite piece of jewelry.  In fact, I've done them in two colors.

Much Ado Earrings in Down the Aisle

Much Ado Earrings in After Party

These are my Much Ado Earrings in Down the Aisle (bridal-appropriate white and crystal) and After Party (out-on-the-town-appropriate gunmetal and black diamond).  I used SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS crystal channel chain and lovely faux pear shaped pearls in my earrings.  I got a very similar look to Zoe's original earrings, and they're actually quite simple to make - bonus!

-Megan

Get the Look - Anna Paquin's Oscar Earrings!

Did you watch the Oscars last weekend?  I have to admit, I didn't.  In fact, I never do.  But I do go online and check out what everyone was wearing the next day quite faithfully.  The gowns and jewelry are the best part!

Out of all of the amazing things I saw when I looked through the style boards this week, my favorite piece of jewelry was easily Anna Paquin's art deco style earrings.

Hers are gorgeous and glittery, set with what must surely be precious stones.  But, I thought to myself, a similar look could easily be achieved with bead weaving.  Miyuki delica seed beads come in some of the most amazing colors.  Julie and I drool over them on a regular basis.  What better way to showcase some of these beads than by weaving them into bold color blocks?  The result will be just as colorful, and will still have a great shine and sparkle!

I've just started working on my take on these earrings.  I can't wait to see how they turn out.  I'll be sure to update this post when they're finished.  Keep an eye out for them on our free projects page!

*UPDATE*
Here are my Deco Darling Earrings, which were inspired by Anna's beautiful earrings.  You can find the supplies and instructions here.


-Megan

Labor Day Weekend=Crafting Time!

Take a break from barbecuing, covering up the swimming pool, and putting away the boat this weekend.  Instead, use this opportunity to finally get around to making some of those jewelry projects you've been putting off.  Beadaholique offers you these fun projects for your enjoyment:

How To Make A Wire Bird's Nest Charm or Pendant

How To Make Chain Tassel Earrings

How To Make A Bracelet

Happy Labor Day!


Your friends at Beadaholique

Find Out Friday: Guest Designer Charlene Sevier's Bead Cap Chandelier Earrings

We have a very special Find Out Friday to share with you this week. We are pleased to feature talented jewelry designer Charlene Sevier who has created a lovely pair of chandelier earrings with the primary ingredient being bead caps. These are so clever and ornate looking that we just had to share her tutorial with all of Beadaholique's fans. Thank you Charlene! We can't wait to see what you come up with next. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 18 bead caps with holes along the bottom. They need to have an even number of holes. These bead caps  have eight holes along the bottom.
• 18 3mm or 4mm beads for your accent beads. Mine are bright orange wood beads.
• 18 E-beads or 3mm beads to put inside the bead caps. Without them, the bead caps flop around. I chose some luster E-beads in a color that complemented the design but let the orange beads take center stage.
• 18 head pins
• Pair of ear wires

INSTRUCTIONS:

Take a head pin and add an inside bead, bead cap and accent bead. All of the head pins will be strung in this manner. Make a plain or wrapped loop. This component is the top of the earring.

Take a second head pin and add the beads and bead cap. Make a loop that goes into one of the holes of the first bead cap. Then take another head pin and add the beads and bead cap. Looking at the first bead cap carefully, count the holes along the bottom. These bead caps have eight holes. The first head pin on the second row is in one hole. Skip over three holes and add another head pin into the fourth hole. This puts one head pin on either side of the top component with three holes in between them on both sides. If you don’t count correctly, your earrings will not lay flat.

The next step is the trickiest step of the whole deal – and it’s not that hard. Thread a head pin and make a loop that goes through one hole in the bottom of both of the two components you just added.

Counting the holes the same way you did earlier, add components for the third row into the outer edges of the bead caps above them. You now have a row of three components.

To create the fourth row, take a head pin with beads and bead cap and join the left hand and center bead cap of the third row together. Then, counting spaces again, add another head pin to join the center and right hand bead caps of the third row together. This completes the fourth row which has two bead caps. A final head pin joins them together. Add an ear wire, repeat for the second earring and done - you can see the finished product in the photo at the top of this blog.

Charlene graciously gave us permission to use these photos and her instructions. To learn more about Charlene Sevier, check out her blog: The Bead Dreamer's Blog. You can also purchase some of her beautiful work from her Etsy Store. 

Inspired by Charlene, I decided to try out her design in silver with some different bead caps and beads. Here is what I came up with --->  

I used the bright silver plated open point crown 8.5mm bead cap for all the bead caps and then the pretty light green beads are misty green opal glass faceted 4mm rounds. 


Thank you again Charlene! 

My Fine Feathered Friends

My beau and I moved into our current home one year ago in April.  We instantly fell in love with the balcony overlooking our new overgrown yard--we had just moved from a small apartment where the concrete balcony looked out on another apartment building.  One day, while taking in the view from our new second-story porch, we noticed a striking blue bird hopping around our yard with an entire peanut (in the shell) in his beak.  We watched while this funny fellow found just the right spot and, using the peanut as a shovel, dug a tiny hole for his treat.  He then carefully placed the peanut in the hole, tamped it down with his beak, and covered it up with some dead leaves.

   We were terribly amused by this unusual bird, and began to pay close attention to his antics every time we were outside.  We soon noticed that he was not alone: he had a mate. And they both had a penchant for peanuts in the shell.  After doing some research, I found out that our beautiful cerulean friends were called Western Scrub Jays.  Unlike many other types of birds, the female and the male have more or less the same brilliant coloring.  I also discovered that they are extremely intelligent as far as non-human animals go, and that they can be trained to eat (peanuts, of course) from one's hand.

Naturally, I went out and bought a big ol' bag of peanuts.  At first, we would just set the peanuts on the back railing and watch from a distance as the Scrub Jays would come pick up a treat and then hunt for a good spot in which to bury it. We slowly got closer and closer to the birds, until one day I placed a small pile of peanuts on my outstretched palm and watched with wonder and amazement as one of these wild creatures perched there for quite some time, picking out the perfect nut from the pile.

We've been feeding these lovely Jays for nearly a year now, and each day they become more accustomed to their human benefactors.  They even go so far as to hop into the house if I leave the door open, begging for their beloved peanuts.  

Inspired by the amazing coloring of my honorary pets, I created these "Scrub Jay Way" earrings.  I used Swarovski crystals for maximum color saturation and bling, and I loosely followed a pattern made famous by fantastic jewelry artist, Laura McCabe.  Enjoy!

Have you made any wildlife-inspired pieces?  We would love to see them!

Bead On,

Andrea

Get The Look

The Oscars have been handed out, the Red Carpet rolled up, the celebrities are recovering from the after parties--the Academy Awards have come and gone.  I have a confession to make:  I was more interested in who everyone was wearing than who won which award.  To put an even finer point on it, I was mostly interested in the jewelry.  Surprise, surprise, right?

There were many gorgeous pieces from all of the grand jewelry houses, including Chopard, Harry Winston, Tiffany, Neil Lane, Fred Leighton, and Cartier.  It seemed as though this year many of the celebs were going for the vintage estate jewelry feel with lots of color and interesting shapes.  I adore that antique costume jewelry look, so as you can imagine, I was in seventh heaven!

I decided it might be fun to pick at least one of the many stunning pieces and try to create the "Beadaholique Look For Less" version.  After mulling over my choices (trust me, this was a tough decision) I finally picked one special item.  And the winner is...  Best Actress Natalie Portman's drool-worthy Rubellite tassel earrings designed by Paloma Picasso for Tiffany and Co.

Ms. Portman was simply glowing, with her baby bump concealed by a sumptuous eggplant colored empire-waisted gown.  The best part of her outfit, in my humble opinion, was that ravishing pair of earrings.  With a few minor adjustments, i.e. omitting the diamonds, using gold plated instead of solid gold, and substituting some deep red Toho seed beads for the pricey burgundy-colored Rubellite gemstones, I believe I came up with a rather fetching homage.

Watch our web site for the forthcoming instructions on how to make these red-carpet-ready earrings!

Exciting Ezel Color Filigree

We get a lot of beautiful and original beads and findings on our website.  My fiscally responsible business partner is always telling me to be careful, and to not buy too much of anything at any one time.  "Try to gauge the market, guess what people will want to buy.  Don’t fall too much in love with anything," he says.

I try to be good, I really really do.  But sometimes something comes along that’s just so pretty and so unique, that I have to have it ALL.   That was the case when I saw the gorgeous colored filigree stampings from Ezel.

I went crazy and got a huge variety of the most gorgeous filigree!!  The great thing about the color on this filigree is that it is a type of epoxy, not enamel, so the filigrees can be gently bent, which is great for adding dimensionality and layering.

Seriously, how could you resist this black paisley filigree stamping?   

Or these leaves?

And then there are the filigree circles

the fancy chandelier shapes,

and the butterflies!











That’s all very well, you may be saying, but what do you do with this stuff?   Well here are just a few projects that our designers have made with these colored stampings.  Click on the photos to get free instructions.   These filigrees are so much fun!

	The Flutterby Necklace
	Verdigris Earrings
	Shadow Chandelier Earrings
	Floating Leaves Necklace
	Floating Leaves Earrings
	Buttercup Chain Earrings