Swirling Seafoam Earrings

by Ali on 08/18/11

Additional Images:

Project details:

These earrings are part of a series of earrings I have put together called "Non-Identical Twins". In this series, I explore how to make earrings match or go together without having to be identical. The Humble Beads Polymer Clay Seafoam Tiny Disc pairs so well with Patricia Healey's Spiral/Grooved Coin Charm. Since the polymer clay discs are soooooo light, I knew that I could make a great pair of earrings that appeared to look big like the gulf, but also light and swirly like foam. The sparkly sunstone is the finishing touch.

↓ Step-by-step

↓ Buy the supplies

Supplies you’ll need:

6 Sunstone faceted rondelles 8-9mm
1 set of Humble Beads Polymer Clay Seafoam Tiny Disk
2 Patricia Healey Copper Spiral/Grooved Coin Charm
3 Czech Glass Faceted Rondelles 4x5mm to match
2 Antique Silver (plated) leverbacks
21" Artistic Wire Bare Copper 22g or 24g
1 package of Antique Silver (plated) crimp beads 2mm

Helpful Hints:

Step 1

Crimp beads don't always have to be used to crimp, they can also make great filler or accent beads if you need something tiny. I chose to use the antique silver (plated) crimp beads to represent the bubbles on the seafoam as it washes ashore. I created the silver swirl on the earring shaped like a teardrop by first stringing on the polymer clay disks and sunstone rondelles with the copper charm. I kept one end much longer than the other so that I could finish off the teardrop. As I finished wrapping the loop, I continued the wrapping down and around the top of the teardrop. I then strung on the crimp beads and wire wrapped just above the top bead on that side.

See Tip: Wire Wrap a Bail on a Teardrop

Step 2

In the 3 part earring, I first created a link using the copper wire and the crimp beads. This is important to do first rather that after the parts have been made because wire wrapping a nice loop onto an already strung piece is difficult and annoying. String on the Patricia Healey charm. Then string on one side of your rondelle loop, string on one end of the link, string on the sunstone rondelle, then the other end of the link, bending it in half. Now you can complete the stringing of the rondelle loop, finishing off the wrapping in a way similar to this technique (see link).

See Tip: Wire Wrap a Bead Link