A Treat for Myself

I had hoped that the fair on Saturday would be a great debut for this pair that I made for myself. I made them a few weeks ago and I’ve been wearing them out but I hadn’t posted them yet. Initially I didn’t even know if I would post these because I really made them for myself.

For Christmas I made a small wish list; three items. Leather Gloves, a DNA test (so I can find out my family history and if I have any genetic disorders) and couple’s jewelry (necklace or ring). When I gave my list to Neil he said he couldn’t buy me any of them; he couldn’t get to a department store (he was sick around Christmas), he had to order the jewelry well in advance to get it by Christmas and he WOULD NOT get me the DNA test; he doesn’t want to know if I’m genetically predisposed to any diseases. So I had to make another wish list. I don’t remember what the other things were on it but one was a tablet and that’s what I got. For my birthday Neil was feeling a little better so we went to a store and we found some leather gloves. But still no couple’s jewelry.

Then one night it hit me; I may not be able to make a necklace (although I can try), but I can make myself a pair of earrings. And since I had some garnets anyway I’d just have to get Neil’s birthstone. So I sent away for some topaz (yellow) beads. I didn’t get exactly what I wanted; unfortunately they didn’t have smooth beads like my garnets. But fortunately I I realized I had some larger faceted beads that must be knock off topaz.

So one Sunday (I wrote about that day here) I made my earrings. Boy was it tough! The small faceted garnet beads are so small the holes will not accommodate my headpins. So I had to thread them with a smaller gauge wire which unfortunately is silver and not gold like the rest of the findings. But that was the only way I would get these threaded.

The earrings feature 6mm smooth garnet beads, 4mm faceted garnet beads, 6mm faceted topaz beads (plastic) and 4mm faceted glass topaz beads. Most of the findings are gold-plated, but as mentioned above the 4mm garnets are threaded by silver-plated wire. All the beads hang from an eyepin and look like a bunch of grapes hanging from my ears. The earrings hang about an inch and a third from the ear.

I must admit when I looked at couple’s jewelry at Christmas I realized that our birthstones look very nice together. How can you go wrong with red and gold? While these are mine and Neil’s birthstones I will make the same (or similar) earrings for anyone who like them. You can let me know your preferred stones and I’ll let you know how much they’ll cost. My supplier is pretty reasonable and delivers next day if the order is placed by midday.

Finally, after a lot of thought I’ve decided to stop using gold-plated findings. While I prefer gold to silver in jewelry I do not think that gold plated findings age well. I find that after a year the findings start to turn. Earrings made of silver plated findings do not turn or at least not as fast as I’ve noticed the gold turning. I want the best for my customers! I don’t want anyone buying one of my items then stops wearing them after a year because they’ve turned. I know the earrings are reasonably priced (I do that on purpose) but I want you to love for as long as possible.

As shown £6.00 including UK shipping or $10.20 including US shipping.
Special order price TBD