Earrings Every Day...and studio dreams...

Before we get to today's earrings, let me show you a before photo.  See this mess?  Once this mess is cleared out - and by the time i took this photo, i'd spent 45 minutes hauling stuff out so you know there is a LOT of mess! - ima gonna put me a workbench and storage area in its place!  Whoa!  That sounds like i might have a - dare i say it? -  studio in my future.  This area will be for big messy projects.  I might even finish that dollhouse kit i bought twenty years ago for $100.  Wellll, looky there...i've got a big messy project already lined up! 

And now for the earrings of the day.

This pair is called Red and Blue Make Purple.  See if you can figure out why.

Supplies:
(2) red recycled glass beads
(2) blue recycled glass beads
(2) dyed magnesite cross beads
(2) black oxide twisted connectors
gunmetal headpins
(2) gunmetal ear wires

Gunmetal vs. black oxide findings:  not sure so i went looking and now i'm still confused.  Most of the plated findings are brass underneath although ear wires are often stainless steel to minimize irritation.
 
Black oxide is a process done to ferrous materials, copper, and other metals.  It provides corrosion resistance and an attractive finish.

Gunmetal plating can vary from a hematite gray through gun blueing shade to shades of gray-brown. Finishes can be shiny or matte. Many gunmetal platings are by definition "black nickel" plating and people with a sensitivity to nickel might want to test wear these findings. 

Black nickel plating is a typically plated on brass, bronze, or steel in order to produce a non-reflective surface. This type of plating is used for decorative purposes and doesn't offer much corrosion resistance.

It should also be noted that the colors of plated metals are determined by a large number of factors including the material to be plated, the mix of plating chemicals, the method of plating, the time the metal is in contact with the plating chemicals, etc.  Yikes.  So just like fabric, yarn and seedbeads, there will be color variations from batch to batch.  Clear as mud thanks so much.

The glass beads are from the Krobo Odumase region of Ghana, West Africa, where making glass beads from reclaimed and recycled glass is a longstanding craft.  Check out the photos on this website here.  Then come by the shop and see the honkin' large ones we just bought from our favorite African bead trader.  Oh yeah.  There's some cool stuff out there in the world!