I love it when experiments go (mostly) right.
I can’t believe I covet my own earrings. But I DO…and here’s why. By rights, I am supposed to SELL these earrings. But I really want to keep them! They just look magical, to me, so…crystal-frosty and silvery. So…I should just make my own pair, right? Weellll…
Depending on how well my hands and brain are working on any given day, these earrings can take up to an hour per earring, as there are about twenty individually strung beads on each cluster, and they have to be worked into single tiny loops and re-closed after that. So once I make these, I don’t really want to make more. I’ve gotta sell ‘em, but I really have to HAVE them, too. It uses up quite a lot of supplies I want for other things (bead caps, mainly) but really…I want these.
Here, I’ll show you:
They look kind of like a white oil spill on a frozen ocean. @.@
Oh and remember the new hairsticks I mentioned, in a slightly different style? Probably not. But I made them, and I can show you. They did NOT turn out quite as I was picturing…I went an easier way. To do what I’d really like, I’d have to add an extra step. But they’re still cool, I think.
Well, that’s the post for today. I’m happy with these items, though the sticks will be better once I perfect the idea. But I like the really short toppers (about 3/4 inch) and the little wee dangles (about an inch) and the wire on the stick adds a bit, I feel, without adding LENGTH, which I did not want. Wooden sticks are already 6 inches, unembellished, and that is about as long as you ever want a hairstick to be in the usable portion. (The part that can be stuck through your hair and used to hold.)
9 people have left comments
Shveta commented on February 21, 2008, 1:42 pm:
Oh, I love the gold wire on the hairsticks. Beautiful!
Krista commented on February 21, 2008, 2:03 pm:
Thanks. 
The wire’s gonna look better next time I try it. *nod*
Fuchschen commented on February 21, 2008, 3:19 pm:
Love the earrings. ::purr:: Do they clink when you walk, or are they pretty tightly bound? I love anything that sounds like bells in my ears. I’m interested to know how much you’re listing them as… guess I’ll hop over to the store now. =)
Krista commented on February 21, 2008, 5:38 pm:
Lavanya: Thanks.
Fuchschen: Those are the earrings I was talking about a week or so ago, ‘Ice Wine’. I’d say that they don’t clink unless you were to really rattle your head, as they have to bang against each other to cause tinkling and earrings tend to swing pretty gently. They’d tinkle a bit more if they were on a hairstick, since hairsticks swing more.
Elle commented on February 21, 2008, 8:57 pm:
*grabbies the earrings*
I’m glad that my business has taken off so well cause I’ma gonna come raid your store with all my lovely wads of cash! *intends*
*love*
Krista commented on February 22, 2008, 8:18 am:
Well I’m glad your business has taken off so well since it’s what you wanted. Whether you buy earrings or not.
Aimee commented on February 23, 2008, 12:31 am:
Respect for your efforts on the earrings! They turned out great and your skill really shows.
The hairsticks are really cute too, and you did a great job with the wire-wrapping even if you don’t think it’s perfect! We’re always our own worst critics. 
Although I must say, being a super long-haired person, the wire actually takes away some of the appeal for me. I can practically hear my hair getting tangled in it and ripping, which would take years of growth to repair… but I’m obsessive!
Krista commented on February 23, 2008, 8:57 am:
The earrings are a little faster than I feared, as it only took half as long to make the second earring after I knew exactly how many beads it needed at this size, and to do all the wrapping and so on first before hanging them in the cluster. Much faster that way. A bit tedious, but nothing as bad as the Curly-Qs.
Have you got an Etsy shop yourself?
The wire-wrapping was intended more for people with shorter hair who want to use the wooden sticks, as I find the wooden sticks are a little overly long for them. (Not horribly so, but I like a little less stick showing. Not that I can wear hairsticks…my hair is VERY short and always will be. I hate having long hair. Ironic!) This brings them down to a nice mid-range of about 5 inches rather than six. The wire portion isn’t meant to be pushed into the hair, it’s meant to show, so if the hair was in a bun, catching wouldn’t be a problem. Might be more of an issue with a tail or loose ‘do, though, with long hair.
The wire needs to be hammered first, which was more what I wanted, but I had to figure it out first so I did a plain one. Next time I’ll use a larger wire, loop the bottom and the top, then hammer them and wind them around the stick.
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