Fun and Funky

 Sometimes it's fun to be funky. Earring Gems offers funky earrings to match your funky mood.

The earrings below are an Earring Gems original design made with 4mm seamless gold-filled round beads and 4mm Galaxy Sitara gemstones. What's cool about these gemstones is that they appear to have an entire galaxy on each bead! They are dark with a bazillion glittery speckles on them, giving them that galactic appearance.

So go ahead, get your groove on with our fun and funky earrings. (Our website is close at hand, just a few more weeks!)

A Little Off Topic

 I like ice. I like it in my soda and my milk. I like it in my freezer. I do not like it on my porch, my steps, my car, my driveway or in the backyard where the dogs do their business.Yesterday poor Flurry unintentionally went ice skating across the yard and couldn't stop. Our backyard is on a slope thus giving the illusion that she was skiing...minus the skis. With her legs sprawled out and her tubby little body unable to come to a complete stop until she got to the bottom. I broke my back (insert exaggeration here) digging out a spot for the dogs to do what they needed to do. I suppose they appreciate it in their own canine way but one can never know for sure.

I am reading a book by Merrill Markoe called "Walking In Circles Before Lying Down". In this book the character's dog talks to her. What a novel idea (yes, pun intended.) The book left me to ponder what my dogs might say if they could talk.

"What is her problem? Eating paper is part of a nutritious breakfast."

"What's with all those sparkly dangling things? She's only got two ears."

"Doesn't she understand I have to pee on every tree, every bush, every single blade of grass? It's called pee mail. Duh."

(After I get home) "She's back! She's been gone sooooo long! Bark,bark,bark,bark,bark"
(After I come out of the bathroom) "She's back! She's been gone sooooo long! Bark,bark,bark,bark,bark"
(After I go out to get the mail) "She's back! She's been gone sooooo long! Bark,bark,bark,bark,bark"

"Scratch right there...no, there...right there...yessssssssss."

"I love you even though you're weird. You are my human and you belong to me."

Filigree

Filigree is a delicate technique of curling or twisting fine cables of silver or gold and soldering them where their points meet to create an open, almost lace-like design. It is a technique used to produce intricate patterns in metal.

The photo below shows gold-plated filigree with 5mm Emerals and 4mm Ernite green Swarovski crystals

Filigree is delicate, stylish and beautiful. At Earring Gems we offer a variety of earrings made with filigree. Our website will be up and running soon so be sure to check back here for the date of our grand opening!

Name Your Metal

It's important to take care of the metal findings and earwire/ear studs that make up part of your hand-crafted earrings. The following are suggestions for cleaning and care of gold-plated and surgical steel earwires and ear studs. Keep in mind that these methods do NOT sterilize your jewelry, they are strictly to clean the metals.

Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the surface of another metal, most often copper or silver, by chemical or electrochemical means.

Use a soft cloth but don't rub as this could buff away the gold plate. Caring for gold-plated jewlery is very similar to caring for solid gold. You have to be careful when cleaning gold plate. Avoid abrasive cleaning materials! Certain chemicals in these cleaners are simply too harsh. If you are wearing jewelry that is gold-plated be sure to remove it when doing any physical activities such as exercising and if you are wearing perfume be sure it is completely dry before wearing gold-plated jewelry.

If the earwires or ear studs are surgical steel, they can be cleaned with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol or cleaned with a polishing cloth. As for all beads that we use to hand craft our earrings, do not immerse them in any jewelry solution.

It's a Miracle!

If you are not familiar with Miracle Beads you are in for a treat. Miracle Beads are beautiful and different (in my not-so-humble opinion.) We have earrings made with Miracle Beads available now, as you can see in the photos below, and will have many more on the Earring Gems website.

Miracle Beads are top quality acrylic beads from Japan. They have a lucite core with a mirror-plated finish and are coated with several layers of colored lacquer. When light passes through the lacquer it reflects the mirror core back through the layers. This results in an illusion of depth, thus the "miraculous" effect.

I have found that Miracle Beads are difficult to photograph and quite frankly photos don't do them justice. They come in a variety of colors including turquoise, fuschia and red. Look for more Miracle Bead earrings at www.earringgems.com when we come online in February!

Puppy Love and Earrings (huh?)

I thought it might be nice to introduce you to some of the employees of Earring Gems. Okay that may be a bit of a stretch. We have 5 dogs - retired racing greyhounds and whippets. They don't help so much as sleep but boy when they're awake(!)...hmm, they don't help much then either come to think of it. Regardless, they are pretty darn cute.

They have a tendency to know when I've been working too long without a break. It seems to coincide with when they need to eat, go out, play, eat, go out, play etc. Somehow they have trained me to work around their schedule.

Dogs are great stress busters and that's important especially now as we put the finishing touches on www.earringgems.com and get it ready to launch!

Pearly Qs

I love Swarovski pearls. They aren't real pearls per se, these "pearls" are finished with multiple layers of highly luminous pearlescence. The result captures the look of a fine South Seas pearl. Beautiful!

Swarovski pearls come in a variety of colors but one of the favorites at Earring Gems are the Bordeaux curved Swarovski pearls (as seen the the photo.)

I love the subtle shimmer and how well they coordinate with Swarovski crystals. We'll have plenty of Swarovski pearls on the Earring Gems website which is in motion but not online just yet. Stay tuned! We'll announce our grand opening here first.

My Obsession

I admit it. I am a gem o'holic, a bead freak, a jewel junkie.

In waiting for my website for Earring Gems to be completed I thought it might be a good time to come clean and admit my obsession with gems, baubles and beads. But I've not gone over the edge just yet. It is from this love of such treasures that I find great joy in designing and handcrafting unique earrings.

The thing about earrings (and I do have a thing for earrings) is they complete any look. No matter what you're doing, what you are wearing or where you're going, earrings help define the look. Casual or dressy, work place or dinner party, earrings are the finishing touch.

Earrings are very useful as well. I've discovered that earrings make ones hair look better on a less than stellar hair day. They take the focus off the hair. (Ask me how I know.) Earrings brighten up ones mood when one is feeling down. It's hard to be sad when you are wearing a pair of one-of-a-kind earrings. Think of the satisfaction you'll feel when someone asks where you got your earrings and you tell them it was at Earring Gems and no, they cannot get a pair just like yours. Yours are unique.

Earrings make great gifts. Can't think of what to get your children's teacher for Christmas? A pair of earrings would be nice. Having trouble finding just the right gift for Aunt Mary? How about a pair of earrings? Need a present for a little girl's birthday? We have earrings for the little ones too.

Earrings are so many things...I'm sure you'll find the ones that are right for you. Keep watch here on my blog for the opening date of Earring Gems website at www.earringgems.com. In the meantime, get those ears ready for a new wardrobe!