DIY cabochons vintage birds

These colourful earrings were made using transparent glas cabochons and a vintage bird collage sheet.

Rose earrings with rhinestone fringe

These rose earrings ​​with rhinestone fringe were made inspired by the Autumn 2014 palette of pink and green autumn hues, The glass cabochons with vintage rose pictures have soft colours, making them very suitable for this season's jewellery. This tutorial shows you how you can make them yourself.

Tutorial Faux malachite earrings

One of my personal top three gemstones (along with Lapis Lazuli and Turquoise) is definitely Malachite!

Girly Pearly earrings

There's something about spring that attracts me to pastel colours, which is why I came up with these Girly Pearly earrings! These earrings are nice and long, approximately 8 cm, but surprisingly light-weight. I made 9 different colour combinations in total, but with 9 different droplets, 10 different bowties, and over 20 different shades of pearly cabochons to choose from, the possibilities are endless. You can also opt for bronze or golden details rather than silver.

What do you need for one pair of earrings?

• Acrylic dropbeads, 2 pieces
• Filigree beadcaps, 2 pieces
• Headpins 50 mm , 2 pieces
• Pearl cabochons , 2 pieces
• Lace edge settings, 2 pieces
• Bowtie connectors, 2 pieces
• Open rings size 4 mm, 2 pieces
• Earhooks, 2 pieces
• Glue to attach the cabochons

How do you proceed?
1. Start by making the colour combinations. As I mentioned previously, there are many different possibilities – you can make a different combination for every day of the year! You can either use contrasting or matching colours. This is a fun and important part of the designing process, so take your time to come up with combinations that you like.

2. Fold down two eyelets of the lace edge setting. The setting will be hanging horizontally. You can fold down the eyelets by using a pair of nose pliers.

3. Make the pearl droplet. Place the bead onto the headpin, slide the beadcap over the top and cut off the headpin to the desired length. Be careful when you slide the beadcap over the bead; you don't want to damage the coating. Start shaping the eyelet.

4. Attach the pearl droplet to the setting and close up the eyelet.

5. Use a 4 mm ring to attach the girly bowtie to the top of the setting.

6. Attach an earhook to the bowtie. I have chosen to use a simple model.

7. Now glue the cabochon into the setting. Two drops of glue is enough; you don't want glue to spill out from underneath the cabochon.
Your Girly Pearly earrings are finished!

Combinaties

Lace edge setting silver for cabochon 18x13 mm Z038

French earring hooks silver 20x19 mm OH028

Jump ring silver 4 mm OR-Z002

Cabochon pearly glass lavender blue 18x13 mm CABM096P

Headpin silver 50 mm NS-Z001

Bead cap Filligree silver 23x8,5 mm KK011B

Metallook drop bead warm gold 30x10 mm KSK-DR009

Acrylic drop bead metallic flamingo pink 30x10 mm KSK-DR006D

Bowtie metal pendant connector turquoise blue 12x8 mm MH-ST003G

Spring flower earrings

Have you noticed? The seasons are changing! The days are becoming longer, the birds are returning, and although we had snow here no less than a week ago, there's a very fresh feeling in the air ... Spring!
I came up with these Spring Flower earrings quite coincidentally. The majority of these beads we've had for a while now, but I had a few new colour varieties which I wanted to sort out. Lying on the table next to these beads was a 12 mm setting. These flower beads are flat-backed, so I tried fitting one into the setting, and it was a perfect fit! Thus, I combined the beads with these antique copper-coloured earrings as if they were a cabochon.

What do you need for one pair of earrings?

• 1 pair of copper-coloured earhooks with a round 12 mm setting. We also carry these earhooks in the colours bronze, silver, and gold, so the combinations are endless.
• 2 flower beads. We have two series of flower beads which can be used for these particular earrings. These are the beads beginning with the code KSK-BL086 (A, B, C etc) and KSK-BL088 (A, B, C etc).
• Glue. I have used regular Hasulith for these earrings.

How do you proceed?

1. Apply a drop of glue to the setting of the earhook. Leave it for a minute, I have noticed that it makes the glue stick even better.

2. Apply a little drop of glue onto the back of the bead and place it into the setting. The drill hole of the bead won't be hidden by the setting. I placed the hole vertically since people probably will be looking at the earring from the front and the side as you're wearing it.
In a few cases the back of the bead can be slightly larger than the setting, but you can use a piece of sanding paper to make them fit.
3. Wait a while and allow the glue to dry. I tested the earrings after roughly an hour; I dropped them onto the table and the bead didn't separate from the setting.
If the bead won't stick to the earhook, you can either try cleaning the surface of the bead with ammonia, or you can gently sand the surface of the bead to make sure the glue will stick even better.

Combinaties

Hasulith Glue 31 ml L001

Acrylic flower bead cherries red 20 mm KSK-BL086E

Acrylic flower bead apricot orange 20 mm KSK-BL086C

Acrylic flower bead ocre yellow 20 mm KSK-BL086A

Acrylic bead rose pink 19 mm KSK-BL088G

Acrylic bead rose salmon pink 19 mm KSK-BL088F

Acrylic bead rose peach orange 19 mm KSK-BL088B

Earring hooks copper with round setting for cabochon of 12 mm OH016A

Japanese rose earrings

These shabby chic earrings are the result of a surprising mix of materials. The vintage Japanese cabochon with a colourful bouquet of roses is this piece's eye catcher. Although these cabochons are quite old, the colours are still surprisingly bright; reminiscent of a vintage set of china. The cabochons are fastened onto a gold-coloured pendant and embellished with small, blue pearl cabochons. Finally, the icing on the cake is provided by vintage pink Chech navette rhinestones which are added to the earrings.
What do you need

• 2 Vintage Japanese glass cabochons
• 2 Round filigree pendants
• Blue pearl cabochons, 3mm
• 6 Vintage pink navette rhinestones, 15x4 mm
• 6 Prong settings for navette rhinestone, 15x4 mm
• E6000 glue for the Japanese cabochon and rhinestone glue for the small pearl cabochons
• 6 Gold-coloured open rings, 4 mm
• A pair of gold-coloured earring hooks

How do you proceed?
Step 1 Place the vintage rose cabochon in the center of the pendant. Use E6000 or Hasulith glue to glue the cabochon onto the pendant. I have used E6000 glue rather than rhinestone glue because I don't think the rhinestone glue will be strong enough to keep the cabochon secured. Wait a while to allow the glue to dry.

Step 2 Place the navette rhinestones into the prong settings.

Step 3 Apply the rhinestone glue around the cabochon so you can place the small blue cabochons around it. In this case I have opted for the rhinestone glue because it is more liquid than the E6000 or Hasulith glue, and because it has a very handy applicator. Neatly, glue the small pearl cabochons around the rose cabochon. If necessary you can use a headpin or an eyepin to push the small cabochons into position.

Step 4 Once the glue has had some time to dry, attach the ear hooks to the top of the pendant and the settings to the bottom.

Combinaties

Vintage rhinestone navette Rose 15x4 mm PNS-NV015

Prong setting with 1 loop for navette rhinestone brass 15x4 mm KLZ-NV002A

Rhinestone glue 20 ml L003

Jump ring gold 4 mm OR-G001

Round filigree pendant gold 24x21 mm MH-R004

Vintage glass cabochon roses Japan 13,5 mm CAB132

Earring hooks flat model gold colour OH018C