I’ve been making myself some earrings, mainly because there’s a certain show coming up with a jewelry class…

Ali from Thimberlina gave me the idea with a photo she posted, they were made by Judith Brown, she has some stunning jewelry on her website, though none with press-studs at the moment that I could see.

I bought a card of press-studs in mixed sizes, together with some big ones that had 6 holes in. Samuel Taylors in Leeds had the jewelry bits, the earring hooks and the big circle. I thought I’d bought the usual jump rings, but actually they were split rings, a bit like a mini key ring. Whilst these were very fiddly to thread on, I found them easier to get a neat finish. My artery forceps came in very useful for holding the rings firm!

My first pair were fairly simple, four press-studs gradually getting smaller. I sussed out the technique on these, like which way round to attach studs to get them to face the right way! I also found out they’re not easy to photograph, I finally decided a sherry glass might work!

I then started getting a bit carried away, I bent some eyes (as in hook and…) so they could be slotted onto the ring. I felt they needed a spacer of some kind. A rummage in my bead box and I found some tiny black beads which would just (some of them!) slide onto the ring. Three of these either side of the eyes worked out perfect.

The large press-stud has six holes so I could attach rings to the bottom three. My biggest challenge was to reproduce it for the second earring!

The only thing I haven’t sussed is how to secure the whole thing on the hook, at the moment it’s just hanging there, I tried giving one a squeeze and broke it! I’ve a colleague at work who makes jewelry so I’ll check with her, I’m wondering about a tiny black bead either side with the tiniest blob of glue on.

They’re just a bit of fun, but it’s another entry completed 🙂