AJE Earring Challenge Reveal #8 & #9!

Time is flying by this year and with lots on my plate I decided to combine the blog post for Reveal #8 & #9.  

Week #15 ~ Copper Leaf with Pearls
I was shaping copper wires to use with beaded head pins but it didn't quite turn our right.  After hours of trying various different ways and getting frustrated, I sat back in my chair and saw freshwater pearls within the chaos of my workbench.  So I decided to hang a hammered copper wire with freshwater pearls as the stem of the leaf.   Sometimes a great idea comes when you can't make something you originally planned work the way you planned.  

Week #16 ~ Enameled Beads Earrings

My girlfriend Lynda came over and we had a fun afternoon making enameled beads using Barbara Lewis' immersion method.  I tried to make a matching pair but when you are layering and mixing colors, it's not quite easy to do.  I think it adds a unique one of a kind look when it's not exactly the same.  Well, I guess I'm going for the organic look lol!  The challenge of dipping into multiple enamels is I forget to take copious notes and if someone asks me to make the exact pair, I probably won't be able to duplicate.  Note to self...take better notes!  I made a swirl headpin with copper wire, added some beads and attached sterling silver ear wires to complete.  

Week #17 ~ Leather Hoop Earrings

I love working with leather and making leather hoop earrings is my latest obsession.  I love the light weight and the color contrast between the leather and the beads.  So many possibilities and design ideas are spinning in my head.

I think I'm going to make varieties of these leather hoop earrings.  I'm stocking up on inventory for a reason...stay tuned for announcement soon :)

Week #18 ~ Copper Heart Earrings

I got a special Mother's Day order and I made a heart component which I used for a necklace then the light switch went on!  Why not make earrings with the same design!  Sometimes the simple design turns out to be the best bet.  I had fun shaping the wire to cute hearts, adding glass and copper beads on the stem, and attach them to ear posts.  Ta da!



Mahalo for visiting and wishing you a creative day!  Please visit all the other wonderful artists!
Kumi ♥

AJE Earring Challenge Reveal #6

Wow what a busy couple of weeks it was!  I participated in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party and I was in the first reveal date on March 30th.  You can scroll down and see the beautiful beads I received from my partner Donna Millard and what I created.  

I still managed to make two earrings for Reveal #6 :)  I'm so glad I joined Art Jewelry Elements' Earring Challenge to continue to push my creative mojo.  Here is my Reveal #6!

Week 11 ~ Beaded Jewel Earrings
I gave one of my girl friends a necklace for Christmas last year and she asked me to make her earrings to go with it.  I purchased a kit at Bead & Button Show 2 years ago from Eclectica Beads and love the necklace!  They carry so many great kits and I can't wait to see what they have in store when I go in June.  Because it's such a unique design it was hard for my girlfriend to find a pair of earrings that matched.  When she asked me to make earrings to match, this is what I came up with and she loved them!  I don't work with seed beads much and it's so difficult to thread the beading wires into the little tiny holes but the end result is so worth the achy fingers.  Check out there website if you want to pick up the same kit.  So many different color combinations with so many different beads!!

Week 12 ~ Owl on a Twig Earrings
I've been admiring the most adorable owls created by Rebekah Payne of TreeWings Studio for weeks.  I just had to make the earrings to show off her cuties.  I perched the owls on Vintaj tree branch with 20g Vintaj wire.  I just can't get over how cute they are.  Rebekah has tons of other cute critters on her Etsy store.  Hoot!

Please hop over to all the other wonderful artists' blog to see what they created!  Mahalo for visiting!

Kumi ♥

Art Jewelry Element Earrings Challenge Reveal #5!

This year is flying by quick!  I can't believe it's the middle of March already.  Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!  

It's Reveal #5 for Art Jewelry Elements Earrings Challenge and I decided to light up the torch!  

Week 9 ~ Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Earrings

For Week 9 I decided to kick start Spring by making sakura earrings.  Visiting Japan during cherry blossom season was one of the most memorable experience and I still remember what a breathtaking view it was.  I made the enameled flowers and threaded balled copper head pins which I used as a stem.  By quenching the molten balled copper wire into the water, it creates the most beautiful dark pink color.  I hammer textured the end to shape them into leaves which I wrapped around the stems.  

Week 10 ~ Poppy Flower Earrings

For Week 10 I stayed with the spring flower theme and made poppy flower earrings.  I played around with various color combinations to get the purple I wanted.   Now if I can remember how to recreate the color...  That's part of the fun when you are layering multiple enamel colors but when someone asks you to recreate one, it can be a challenge.  I have a note pad handy at my enamel station but I often get carried away mixing a little bit of this and that.  I really need to keep better notes!

Happy Spring everyone!  Hop on over to all the other artists' blogs to see what they made for Reveal #5!

Mahalo for visiting!
Kumi ♥

Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge Reveal #4!

I fell in love with Marti Conrad's ceramic paw print beads and decided to feature them for Week #7 Earring Challenge.  We rescued our standard poodle Kea (means white in Hawaiian) 12 years ago when she was about 1 1/2 yrs old.  She has turned out to be the best dog I've ever had and brought so much joy to our family.  She's slowed down quite a bit and we both share aching joints but still has lots of love to share :)

I cut out copper rings using my trusted Swanstrom Disc Cutter, hammered and stamped "rescued" and "loved" with the paw print charms wire wrapped at the bottom.  You can find more about Marti on Marti's Buttons n Beads Facebook page or follow her on Pinterest.  You can shop for Marti's ceramic creations at her Etsy store.

For Week #8 I decided to use some of the metal etching technique I learned last year from the fabulous duo - Gail Lannum and Cristina Leonard - at Bead and Button Show in 2012.  They are once again offering the Metal Etching class twice this year.  Go find out more about their classes here!  

What I love about metal etching is you can apply any design and it's quick and easy!  I finished the earrings by wire wrapping large hole freshwater pearls.  I think I'm going to make a variation of this design.  So many possibilities and so little time!!

Here is my sweet fur child Kea.  She sends lots of Aloha your way!  Mahalo for visiting and hop on over to all the other creative artists below!
Kumi ♥

Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge Reveal #3!

AJE Week 4 ~ Walk on the Beach

I've been wanting to use Humblebeads since I met Heather Powers at Bead & Button Show last year.  She is one of the nicest and talented people you will meet!  Her booth was covered with her beautiful beads and it was really hard to choose which ones to bring home!  The starfish charms caught my eyes immediately and I decided to incorporate them to Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge Week 4. I used some Hawaiian Beach glass with copper spacer beads on hammered 16g wire with sterling silver ear wires.

Walk on the Beach

AJE Week 5 ~ Willowflowers

For week #5, I decided to use another one of my finds from Humblebeads.  Simply love this hue of blue!  It will go perfect with jeans :)  I accented the stem with hammered copper beads and crystals onto sterling silver ear wires.  The colors were perfect match!

Willowflowers

AJE Week 6 ~ Love Always

I've been admiring J-Lynn Jewels tiles that others have been using and I had to get some myself!  Had to squeeze in one more Valentine's theme earrings.  I tried different design ideas but came back to my first one.  I kept it simple not to take away from the message of the tiles.  I knotted 1.5mm leather cords and hung them on sterling silver ear wires.  Sometimes less is more :)

Love Always

Mahalo for stopping by!  Please check out the blogs below to see what other talented artists have created!

Kumi ♥

AJE Earring Challenge Week 3 - Love Is In the Air

For Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge #3, I decided to go with another Valentine's Day inspired earrings.  I used 16g copper wire which I balled and quenched the ends to get that bright beautiful deep pink colors.  Formed the heart shape, attached red fresh water pearls and the cute copper heart charms I got from beadsandbabble on Etsy.  Hammered the wire to add texture, applied liver of sulfur to bring out the contrast and ta da!

Mahalo for visiting!  Have a creative and inspiring week!

Kumi ♥

Happy hopping to all the other talented artists!

AJE Earring Challenge Week 2!

With Valentine's Day right around the corner I was in a mood to get some heart themed earrings made. I cut out hearts from 24g copper and enameled them with the grunge color theme.  Wasn't sure how I was going to dress it up and I came up with an idea to hammer texture copper wire and file it to the shape of arrows.  So here it is!  Shoot That Arrow to My Heart Earrings!

Happy New Year 2013!

Been away with the fam for ski vacation to Snowmass, CO and away from the studio for 2 weeks.  After the mad fury of the holiday season, it actually felt good to take a break.

I started off 2013 posting about Goal Setting on Artisan Whimsy for the Enameling Team.  I wrote down my goals for 2013 on my iPhone and will be tracking my progress throughout the year.

While on vacation I was catching up on my favorite blogs and came across Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge.  The first sentence immediately caught my attention-"Do you need a kick start for your creativity in 2013?"  Yes I do!  I was lucky enough to be one of the first 50 to sign up where we will be pinning new earrings on a weekly basis for 13 weeks.  You can see all the wonderful work by so many talented people on AJE Pinterest Board.  Mahalo AJE Team to get me off to a great start!

January 8th was a nerve wrecking day as it was the first day of Bead & Button Show sign up for classes/workshops.  I put in for one of the Master's Class by Linda Darty but unfortunately I wasn't chosen by the lottery.  I had a solid back up plan and successfully signed up for 12 classes!  Yes, I'm crazy taking 12 classes in 7 days!  Super excited to be taking classes from Richard Salley, Robyn Cornelius, Thomas Mann, Joe Silvera, Sherry Serafini, Chris Mode, Eva Sherman, Kaska Firor, and Susan Wade.   This year my dear friend Julie won't be joining me but Heidi is going to be my partner in crime.  I'm so excited to show her what I've been talking about the past couple of years!  The biggest surprise came when I was stuck at San Francisco airport for a 4 hour layover.  I decided to check out how the classes were filling out and if they've added more seats on two of the classes I didn't get in.  I noticed they added another session for Linda Darty's Master Class.  I was already on the wait list so I was accepted in!  This was the icing on the cake!  So much to look forward to and June can't come quick enough!  We are so going to enjoy the Wisconsin Butter Burger together Heidi!!



Today was my first day back into my studio.  My best friend's hubby made me the most incredible gift-Jeweler's Bench!  I cried when I got it.  It will be cherished for the rest of my life.  With the help of my hubby we got it nicely tucked into my studio!

The biggest change was the height of the bench.  It allowed me to work for hours without hunching over allowing me to pound, saw, dap, etc. without neck and shoulder pains.  The bench will be one of my prized possession!

With the proper work bench it was such a breeze to make some of the things that's been in my head.  Being deprived of pounding on metals for couple of weeks I decided to start the Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge with this Fold Formed Leaves Earrings :)  Boy did it feel good to make some noise again in the studio!

Here I come 2013!  Let the fun begin!  Mahalo for stopping by!

Kumi