My First Earrings for the AJE Earrings Challenge

Green Ceramic Earrings with Brass Gears Available in  BayMoonDesign Etsy Store

The Art Jewelry Elements team is bringing a new creative opportunity for 2013. AJE is sponsoring a year-long Earring Challenge in 2013.  The challenge will be broken up into quarterly sections, so interested folks can try it out for 13 weeks at a time.  They are challenging artisans to create one pair of earrings a week.  All earring designs have to feature at least one artisan component, such as a handmade charm or bead.  The artisan components may be made by the artisan or by another artist. 

Since I had success selling lots of my earrings at my Christmas craft fairs, I need to restock and saw this challenge as a perfect motivator. I selected to feature Marsha Neal Studio in my first earrings. Marsha and I both live in Delaware and are members of the Delaware Etsy Team. This team is made up of artists, crafters, vintage sellers, craft suppliers, and much more located in the State of Delaware and close by areas.

The first pair that I made are green ceramic earrings with brass gears and brass earwires.  I think that they have are an industrial and rustic look. They dangle 1 inches below the earwires and are light and comfortable to wear.

I paired the light green ceramics made by Marsha Neal Studio with  dark forest green colored Irish waxed linen when I created them. I love the combination of the ceramics and thread together. They give a casual appearance. These are earrings that you won't find in a department store!

Orange Textured Ceramics with Copper Earrings Available in  BayMoonDesign Etsy Store

My second pair of earrings are copper  with  orange ceramics.  They are earthy looking. They dangle 1 inches below the copper earwires and are also light and comfortable to wear. I think that they have a rustic appearance to them. I think that the copper earwires go great with the burnt orange color of the ceramics.

Once again I used ceramics from the Marsha Neal Studio.  Marsha creates the texture by carving an original design into clay. Once that clay is fired, it becomes her texture plate. She rolls porcelain clay into that texture plate and gets a sheet of the reverse image. She then cuts out the squares and a bunch of steps later... wha-la... the ceramics are created.  I then meticulously wire wrap them onto copper earwires.

Lots of Distractions in Key Largo, Florida

 At first I thought that I would knock off these earrings in a flash, but I was very surprised to find the copper orange ones a bit of a challenge.  I had never made a pair like those before.  I won't even go into details about another pair that I didn't complete to my satisfaction.  I put that pair aside for another time and made the green ceramic earrings using a technique that is familiar to me.  I guess this is why this is called a challenge!

Also, I left the clouds, rain, and cool temperatures for sunny Florida.  There are lots of distractions here and I will be here for all 13 weeks of this challenge.  Surely, I can fit in a pair of earrings a week?!