Guest blog - DIY Crystal Love Earrings for Valentines day

Have a look at this lovely tutorial all the way from India by Divya. She designed these sapphire blue earrings for her brand Jewels of Sayuri especially for Valentine's day. Thanks go to Totallytutorial for doing the matchmaking.

Used supplies from our shop:

Brass setting with 1 loop for pear rhinestone 25x18 mm KLZ-P007A

Gold earwire with peridot green rhinestone OH013E

Rhinestone foiled glass pear sapphire blue 18x13 mm PNS-P010JA

Art Nouveau cone earrings

Have any of you ever watched the series Boardwalk Empire? It's an exciting tale set in the American prohibition era, starring gangsters like Al Capone. Stylewise, the period is set shortly after World War I, the last days of the Art Nouveau movement. The costume styling is beautifully done, and I always marvel at the gorgeous earrings the ladies are wearing.
So I was greatly inpired to make these Art Nouveau cone earrings. They are long earrings with large glass pendants, and they have a wonderful antique feeling to them.
The pendants are horizontally drilled through the top, that's why I fitted an eyepin throught the drill hole, and covered it all up with a filligree beadcap.

What do you need?

• Glass cone pendants 2 pieces.
• Long filigree beadcaps 2 pieces. I chose bronze metal, but we carry several other metal colours.
• Eyepins 4 pieces. Size 40 mm will be adequate, you will need to cut them to required length.
• Art Nouveau style earring findings add extra nostalgic character.

How do you proceed?
1. Use a flat nose plier to bend the beadcap into shape, allowing them to slide over the cone perfectly.

2. Slide an eyepin throught the drillhole of the cone. You will need about 1 cm at the rounded side of the pin, which is bent upwards.

3. Bend the eyelet upwards placing it at the top centre of the cone. I used a flat nose plier for bending the pin.

4. Bend the latter side of the eyepin upwards, and then sideways towards the eyelet, so as to wrap around the eyelet. Don't worry about appearance at this stage, for you will cover it all up with the beadcap. The main goal is to make sure that both pendants will have the same length, for you will want symmetrical earrings.

5. Cut the eyepin at the eyelet, thus creating a pendant loop.

6. Open up the eyelet of the second eyepin, attach it to the pendant and close the eye up again.

7. Slide the filigree beadcap over the cone. The eyepin should come out on top.

8. Create a loop for hanging, and again keep in mind that the earrings should be equally long.

9. All that's left now is to attach the Art Nouveau earring findings. These hooks are convenient because the eye is nog fully closed - it may be opened with pliers to attach the pendant.

Items

Earring hooks Art Nouveau style antique bronze OH011

Eyepin bronze 40 mm KS-B001

Long filligree bead cap antique bronze 41x8 mm KK020A

Cone glass pendant cognac brown 36x12 mm GH001A

Drop earstuds with rhinestones

This tutorial will show you how to make your very own earrings in trendy colours with faux turquoise drop beads and luxurious rhinestones.
Last year I made a set of faux turquoise drop bead earrings, and these earrings are a sequel to that series.
The base for each pair is the same, namely a faux turquoise drop, an oval rhinestone connector and an earstud to which you can attach a rhinestone. I will show you 6 different colours, but you can easily adapt the design to your own liking. For example, use a different earhook, a different beadcap, or use contrasting colours for a fresh and completely different effect.

What do you need

• Gold coloured earstuds with room for a 5 mm rhinestone.
• Neon acrylic rhinestones, size 5 mm. One portion of this mix contains over 100 different stones, which means you have more than enough options to pick from.
• Connector setting for a 14x10 mm oval rhinestone.
• Oval rhinestones size 14x10 mm, such as this turquoise stone.
• Small beadcaps. I have opted for a filigree cap, but I think these would be very cute as well.
• Faux turquoise drop beads. One strand contains enough beads to make 8 sets of earrings in different colours.
• Headpins, size 30 mm.
• Open rings, size 4 mm.
• Glue. I have used rhinestone glue, particularly because of the applicationtip. If you use Hasulith or E6000 you might want to use a headpin to neatly apply the glue onto the earstud.
• Earnuts. To secure the back of the earstuds.

How do you proceed?
1. Make the drop pendant by placing the bead onto the headpin, finishing with a beadcap. I have cut off half a millimetre of the pin, because for me that is the ideal length to make an eyelet.

2. Place the rhinestone into the setting. It might feel a bit uncomfortable if you have not yet worked with rhinestones, so make sure you take your time. I prefer to hold down the stone at the sides while gently, one by one, pressing the little prongs down over the stone by using a set of pliers. Bear in mind, practice makes perfect!

3. Glue the rhinestone into the earstud. A small drop really is enough to do the trick – the rhinestone glue is quite liquid, which means you easily end up using too much of it!

4. Connect the separate parts with the rings.

5. Your earstuds are finished!

Here are some examples of earrings in different colours:

Items

Earnut for earstud gold 5x4 mm DOP006

Rhinestone glass oval topaz 14x10 mm PNS-OV010S

Rhinestone glass oval virtrail 14x10 mm PNS-OV010R

Rhinestone glass oval turquiose 14x10 mm PNS-OV010L

Rhinestone glass oval emerald green 14x10 mm PNS-OV010N

Rhinestone glass oval ruby red 14x10 mm PNS-OV010G

Jump ring gold 4 mm OR-G001

Headpin gold 30 mm NS-G001

Prong setting 2 loops oval brass 14x10 mm KLZ-OV002B

Faux turquoise drop beads in mixed colours 20x8 mm FTQ-DR001

Filligree beadcaps brass old gold 8,5x6 mm KK026

Acrylic simili rhinestones neon mix 5 mm PNS-R006

Earstuds gold with loop and room for rhinestone 5 mm OS009C

Agate Lantern earrings

In the picture, starting at the top and moving to the bottom, the following beads and materials were used: MK-SP006A, AG-R001, MK-SP004A, KK022A, AG-FR010, KK022A, MK-SP004A, MK-RD003A, MK-SP004A, MK-SP006A
How to make agate lantern earrings
This is a collection of earrings inspired by beautiful lanterns, such as the Moroccan hennalamp. I really wanted to work with agates and bronze-coloured metal, the large filigree beads in particular.
Consequently, I pulled about 30 boxes of beads from the shelves and started making combinations until I assembled this set of earrings. The agates always come in a natural variety of colours, which means that every item will always be unique. For example, the small 5 mm beads are India agate and all came from the same strand of beads. You can see in the picture they come in many different colours and I myself was quite surprised about the versatility of such a small bead.

What do you need?

• Bronze-coloured headpins, size 70 mm. This length of headpin will allow you to make every type of earring displayed on the page.
• Bronze-coloured earhooks. I have opted for a simple style, but you can choose any type of hook to your liking.
• Agate beads in different sizes.
• Bronze-coloured metal beads in different shapes and sizes.
• Beadcaps in different shapes and sizes.

How do you proceed? You can use the designs on the page as a base for your own earrings. The colours of the agate beads are interchangeable, which means you can vary the colours to suit your own preferences.
If you want to design your own earrings, make sure to bear in mind the balance of the different sizes. I always prefer to fit the agate beads with a beadcap. You can experiment with different metal beads and beadcaps; you will be surprised by the difference even a small spacer can accomplish!

In the picture, starting at the top and moving to the bottom, the following beads and materials were used: MK-LT001, MK-SP006A, AG-R001, MK-R008A, KK022A, AG-FR007, KK022A, KK021, AG-FR010, KK021

In the picture, starting at the top and moving to the bottom, the following beads and materials were used: AG-R001, KK022A, AG-FR009, KK022A, MK-R007, AG-R001

In the picture, starting at the top and moving to the bottom, the following beads and materials were used: AG-R001, MK-SP004A, AG-R005, MK-SP004A, KK027, AG-FR005, KK027, AG-R001

In the picture, starting at the top and moving to the bottom, the following beads and materials were used: KK022A, AG-FR004, KK022A, KK022A, AG-FR008, KK022A, KK022A, AG-R003, KK022A

In the picture, starting at the top and moving to the bottom, the following beads and materials were used: AG-R001, MK-SP004, MK-R007, MK-SP004, AG-R004, MK-SP004, AG-R001

In the picture, starting at the top and moving to the bottom, the following beads and materials were used: MK-TN001A, KK021, AG-R002, KK021, MK-R008B, AG-R001