(no subject)

[camwyn]

I've been working on learning enough about wire that I can make stud earrings with small sea glass pieces without having to buy a butane torch and appropriate safety equipment. Yesterday I made my first attempt and I keep thinking it looks unbearably crude and awkward, but... well, let me know what you think.

Comments

[bjornwilde]

Those are very nice! There is a bit of roughness about them, but I think that fits the sea glass well.

[camwyn]

I think I need to get some decent gold-colored or gold-plated earring backs. Using the generic ones from Michael's is fine for me, but if I want to display these to anybody outside my friend group, I don't think those backs will really work. I'll also need to get a bit, a very small bit, of gold-plated or gold-filled wire if I can. I'd like to make a pair of these that I can sell or gift to someone, and I don't want people to have to put brass against their skin. Even if I treat it with the anti-allergy anti-skin-reaction-of-any-kind coating I bought at Thanksgiving, there's always still a chance someone will react badly- but way fewer people have bad skin reactions to gold than to zinc, nickel, copper, or brass.

[bjornwilde]

Very good points! Silver might look nice against the brown glass too?

[camwyn]

Quite possibly, and I do have silver-filled wire. (Like silver-plated, but the layer of silver is a lot thicker- silver-plated wire isn't great for earrings because the silver will rub off thanks to constant rubbing against skin.) Mind you I have several other colors of sea glass in roughly these sizes, so I'll be keeping them in mind as well.

[neotoma]

Those are cute little studs. I love see glass, and have a barrette that is brown sea glass and silver wire.

I can't imagine that there isn't a bead shop in your area that couldn't sell you better findings than what you can get at Michael's.

[camwyn]

Oh, there is. I go there on lunch break sometimes- they're a mile from the office and I have Hubway bike access. I meant to go today, but had to get something else done that ate up too much time. Soon, though.