Hey friends! I’ve got a fun accessory I want to share with you today that’s delicate and understated, with a hint of texture and your favorite beads. These DIY earrings make up quickly, and because they’re embossed, they look anything but homemade!
Today I’ll be sharing two techniques for working with wire and metal. Don’t be intimidated if you haven’t tried them before – they’re not difficult, and you’ll be hooked after you do it a couple of times! Let me give you a supply list to get started – and I’ll even include affiliate links to these products, in case you decide to shop right now.
- Sizzix Big Shot and acrylic cutting pads
- Sizzix DecoEmboss die: Moroccan Tile
- Vintaj Reliefing Block
- Vintaj Brass 40mm Tapered Blanks
- Vintaj 1.5″ Eye Pins
- Vintaj Earring Wires
- Chain nose pliers
- Round nose pliers
- Wire Cutters
- 3mm Beads
To get started, emboss your Vintaj brass blanks with your favorite pattern. Due to the small size, I recommend a Sizzix DecoEmboss die that’s fairly geometric, like this Moroccan Tile pattern. Position your blank (and you may tape it with washi tape, if you’re worried it will slide) and close the folder.
Create your Sizzix sandwich by placing the die between a pair of acrylic cutting pads, making sure that the side that says “this side down” is indeed facing downward. Set your Big Shot platform tab to #1, and roll it through your Sizzix machine!
Gently buff the front of your blank with the Vintaj Reliefing Block to highlight the shine of the embossed areas.
Next, I’ll be showing you an optional step to add your favorite color bead to your design. If you don’t want a bead, or you don’t enjoy wire work, you may skip this step and move on to the next!
To create a beaded connector, begin with a jewelry eye pin. Thread on a 3mm or 4mm bead, and bend the excess wire over one side of a pair of round nose pliers close to the bead, to create a loop. Then, take the tail end of the wire and wrap it around the pin between the bead and loop. You only *need* to wrap it once, but for a finished look, I will typically wrap it as many times as necessary to fill the entire gap between the bead and the loop, so the bed is snugly set between the two loops.
Finally, connect your pieces! I twisted open the loops at the end of my eye pin and the earring wire to connect my pieces, but you can also use small brass jump rings instead to connect each component.
Repeat the process for your second earring, and you’ve got a simple – but fabulous – pair to wear!
I hope you enjoyed this jewelry project, and I’ll see you guys again soon!
As a 2015 Sizzix Design team member, I receive certain Sizzix products free of charge in order to share inspiration projects and tutorials. Select dies were provided by Sizzix in order to create this post. My designs and opinions are, of course, all my own.
i like it
nice post
wow looking good
I am confused. Is it possible to use sterling silver and then emboss? I asked Big Kick a year ago and they said no.But then Isaw two people do what you did only using sterling, but they didn’t indicate the gauge or anything specific. I do’t want to break my Big Kick, as I am on a budget. Any suggestions? Your earrings look darling, by the way. best, and thanks for your earliest reply. pauli
Wow this is awsome and I think jewellery design is not easy for everyone, the steps that you followed for this easrrings is seems easy.
What a cool machine! I’ve never seen anything like it before!
oh. my. what a fantastic diy! and you make it look so easy, too! never thought metalwork (actually embossing it yourself) would look and seem easy but here we go. loving this!
Can I come and play with all of your crafty stuff sometime?! You have all of these fun tools! Wait…that sounds kinda wrong. :) Those earrings would be a great gift!
Um, of course! We can do it like a cookie baking party, but it will be like a gift making party!
another great DIY jewelry post. You really have some great ideas and always look forward to reading your blog.
These earrings look like a lot of fun to make for someone for Christmas. What a great gift idea.
Wow these are super cute. I love your site – so glad I found it!
Truly cute and nice! Would love to do it too. Great as gift this holiday season.
Looks great and very professionally done! I know the girls in my own home would love them!
Those look really nice! Very professionally done, too, even though they are homemade :).
I love this project! But I am so confused about which die cutter to get. I don’t want a big one like the Cricut, but do you know the difference between the Big Shot and the Sizzix Big Kick I think it’s called? There are so many dies and types of cutting machines! :-( sigh…. I’d like to do mostly small stuff like jewelry making (I know vintaj has one). Thanks for any help on this or a future blog!
Jeannie, these dies are compatible with almost all the Sizzix brand machines. The Vintaj machine is just the Big Shot, dressed up in the lovely Vintaj colors! I don’t own a Big Kick, but my friend who does tells me the main difference is ONLY what platforms and adapters you need to maintain the right cutting and embossing pressure – and the platforms all come with diagrams to remind you which ones you need for what. Since these Vintaj dies take the same pressure setting as a regular embossing folder, then I imagine that they will probably work in another brand in the same setting – though of course I can’t guarantee that AND I’m obviously biased toward Sizzix myself. :) This is probably a great time to shop machines, too – if you go to the Sizzix site and the Big Shot isn’t already on sale, I have a coupon code you can use! Just click the link in the supply list near the beginning of this post, and be sure to enter coupon code SZB2015 when you check out, to get it for 15% off!
Thanks again Adrianne. Your designs are truly amazing. I am also grateful for you sharing your work. Have a Merry christmas and May your New Year bring much happiness
This is awesome make ordinary to extraordinary, these earrings are superb.
These are really cute!!!! Great idea for a quick gift for the holiday season or actually any time!! Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!
They are really nice!! Thanks. I love all your projects. How do you get all your ideas?!