Winter Wonderland Earrings

Having just signed off on the final draft of my book, Stylish Leather Jewelry , I thought it would be a great time to share a leather jewellery project that you can wear not only at Christmas but throughout the winter months. They would be a great match for the necklace design in my recent post on craftideas.com which uses Realeather Metallic Leather Trim. This leather is really shimmery so it catches the light and it adds an interesting layer of texture to the design. Here's what you'll need: 2 34mm round silver filigrees 2 16mm silver snowflake charms 12 4mm Aquamarine Swarovski flatback crystals 2 Turquoise Crystal Teardrops 2 4mm Turquoise bicone crystals Realeather Metallic Trim piece in Silver  2 4mm silver jump rings 2 silver earring wires 2 silver head pins 2 silver eye pins Beacon Quick Grip adhesive G-S Hypo Cement or similar adhesive for crystals Embellie Gellie Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine and Sizzix Bigz 1" Circles die OR 1......

How to Make Poinsettia Earrings - A Bright and Cheery Project to Make for the Holidays

I have always loved the showy red flowers of poinsettias, partly because of their association with Christmas and partly because they're the floral emblem of Brisbane.  Their bright red bracts are so colourful in the cooler months but sadly, they don't flower at Christmas time here because we're in the middle of summer.  Luckily, the local garden centres always have a good supply which the growers have managed to trick into flowering at this time of the year - it's amazing what they can do! So today I've designed some bright and cheery poinsettia earrings. Here's what you'll need: 36 6x4mm faceted red oval beads (these are similar) 36 pearl white seed beads 6 4mm light topaz crystal bicones 2 3-loop silver end connectors 6 4mm silver jump rings 9cm (3 1/2") 3x2m oval silver chain - my chain has a total of 42 links 1.5m (60") 28g non-tarnish silver wire 2 silver earring wires Round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, flush cutters, ......