Day 13 of Challenge 2012 - 365 earrings in 365 days!

Wow.  I should have more days off from work.  Here it is before dinner time and today's earrings are finished and i'm writing the blog.  Might even get to bed before midnight!

The design intent for today was to make a cage for...something.  Something undrilled.  Something unusual.  Something.  Anything.  Found a couple of stones that i thought would work.  Dyed a sorta pretty pinkish purple, these stones didn't need to be front and center.  They needed to be camoflauged.  Perfect.

First question:  How long a piece of wire does one need to make a cage for something that is approximately 20mm?   First answer:  I don't know.

My first attempt fell woefully short.  Then ten inches wasn't enough.  Twelve inches wasn't enough.  Any bigger and these caged stones would be too heavy for earrings.  OK.  I get it.  These stones are not going to be included in the earrings of the day.  But dang it!  I want to cage something!!  grrr.

Back to the cage made from the 10" piece of wire.  Good size and nicely done...hmmmm...

Searched around the house.  Found an old necklace i never wear.  Didn't like it then.  Don't like it now.  But the beads might work.  Colorful and, best of all, lightweight.  Let's cut that bad girl up and recycle a couple of those beads.  Perfect!

Supplies:
(2) 10" pieces of 18gauge brass plated copper core wire  (all wire is non-tarnish brass by Artistic Wire)
2 random beads (with holes)
(2) 4" pieces of 22gauge brass plated copper core wire (20gauge would have been better but....)
(2) 5" pieces of 18 guage brass plated copper core wire for earwires

To make a cage, start at one end of the wire and make a spiral to the middle of the wire.  Make a second spiral starting from the other end so that you have kind of an S shape.
Fold one spiral over the other and then pulll the wire from the ends to open the cage up a bit.  You can manipulate the wire to open it as much or as little as you like.
Insert bead and since these beads have holes, i threaded a wire through to attach them to the earrings.

Then inspiration struck!  I love when that happens. Instead of hanging the cages top to bottom from the earwires, i hung them SIDEWAYS!  Wowser!  They went from nice to neat-o!  From basic to da bomb!

Did my version of the briolette wrap.....

 

Then i made earwires following the design by Denise Peck in the Feb-Mar 2012 issue of step by step Wire Jewelry magazine.  Great idea but i'm not a fan of 18gauge wire for earwires.  It's just too big for my piercings.  Had i had 20gauge on hand i would have used that.  But i really like the possibilities for this earwire and will definitely keep it in my earring design book.

Day 13 presents.  I like this pair!  And just 352 likeable pairs to go.  I can dooooooooo it!