The other day as I was reading my e-mail I came across a pair of filigree earrings by Dolce and Gabanna. Cute earrings, but at $800 they’re just a little rich for my wallet.
I really liked the long lines of the earrings though and B’Sue Boutiques has all the brass filigree necessary to create a similar pair for myself at a fraction of the cost.
To make a similar pair you could use these vintage jewelry findings from B'Sues.
Brass Tea Rose 13 mm BROX02086
Brass Filigree 35 mm FIL01040 OR Retro Style Flower FIG06243
Brass X Filigree 42 mm FIL06236 OR Brass Hibiscus FIG0160
Brass Tea Rose 28 mm BROX05192
But, why stop there, when you can use the earrings as inspiration to make a design that is uniquely yours?
The first step in designing an inspired by pair of earrings is to take a look at the basic design aspects. These are composed of three basic parts. The clips (this pair happens to be clip on), the main body, and a dangle. All three are round with scalloped edges resembling flowers.
Next let’s look at patterns and themes. The clip is small, the body large and the dangle medium in size. All three pieces resemble petalled flowers. The largest piece has layered filigree and the drop and clip are both solid in appearance - creating a pattern of solid, lacey solid.
The color is uniform throughout, a champagne gold or brass ox. Warm but not bright.
One more tiny detail that if paid attention to will really allow you to personalize your design. While all three are round and floral in shape, only one actually is a flower, the other two are only impressions. Combine the filigree with a solid center and it definitely gives the impression of a daisy, and the layered filigree easily gives the impression of a chrysanthemum. This can give you quite a bit of leeway in your design and allows you to play with the idea of something rather than the reality of it.
Using this information we can create earrings that will have the same ooh la la pizazz of the Dolce & Gabanna earrings, but in our own style, and at a fraction of the cost. We just need shapes that are similar to each other, in small, medium, and large and of the same color. We can use filigrees and flowers the way Dolce & Gabanna did or we can use hearts, leaves, bows or birds. Just so long as the theme runs consistent and we have small medium and large in the same color. They don’t have to be identical in theme just similar enough to give the impression they are meant to go together.
This style of earring also lends itself very well to an asymmetrical design. If you have a hard time creating asymmetrical or just really like the style this is the earring for you! The key to asymmetry is balance. The arrangement of pieces may be different so long as the visual weight of the two sides remains the same. You can flip the order of one of the earrings and it will still look good! Just play with the order of the components until you find an arrangement you like. These earrings I found on Pinterest by Mia Montgomery are a beautiful example of asymmetry, as are Coral’s beautiful earrings from the Build a Line Challenge/Master Class.
Once it was all said and done I chose these components for my earrings. They have the same flower in all three pieces in small medium and large, are a warm brass ox and have similar shapes, though the bottom piece is more of an impression. I have to say, I’m pretty happy with them, I love the long lines and the cost fits my wallet just fine too!
Floral Connector 14mm BROX09318
Bird in the Bush 27mm BROX02487
Spiral Drops 30 mm FIL01313
Single Stem Flower 21mm LF04730
I'd like to thank Brenda Sue Lansdowne for inviting me to be her guest blogger today and I hope I've inspired you. Don't forget all the vintage jewelry findings I've shared here can be found at B'Sues Boutique in all the styles I mentioned, now go create some wonderful filigree jewelry!
What inspires you? Which components would you use? Do you prefer soft curves or hard angles? Tell me in the comments below and please show me in B'Sues Creative Group on Facebook.
Here’s to Finding Inspiration all Around You!
Dana Hickey
Wind Dancer Studios
Dana is a London, AR based artisan who turns metals and gemstones into wearable works of art. She created her first beaded daisy chain around age 5, bought her first pair of pliers at 16 and for several years taught 4th grade art through the local Arts Center. She is inspired by just about everything and her style leans towards vintage romantic.
Nice blog post, Dana. I love asymmetry in jewelry design, and I love curves way more then hard angles.
Posted by: Marcia Tuzzolino | April 19, 2015 at 06:40 PM
BEAUTIFUL JOB! I hope many will get a chance to try these ideas out!
Posted by: Brenda Sue Lansdowne | April 19, 2015 at 07:41 PM
I love it, this blog is truly filled with great inspiration Ms. Brenda and I'm always in love with Dana's gifted artwork. Just awesome ladies thank you so much for the creative gifts of you!
Posted by: Louise | April 19, 2015 at 08:19 PM
Very nice! I love how you can easily make small changes to come up with great variety.
Posted by: Lori Beekman | April 19, 2015 at 09:15 PM
Thank you for taking my earrings as an example. Yes, making asymmetric earrings is fun. Your blog is great. I am going to add this post link to my post about this pair of earrings.
Posted by: Coral | April 19, 2015 at 09:40 PM
Thank you everyone! I had a lot of fun writing this post and am really happy you like it! I love your earrings Coral!
Posted by: Dana | April 20, 2015 at 08:15 AM
Dana, you nailed this! Your post is wonderful as are your earrings. Well done, my friend! Well done, indeed! You are so clever and talented.
Posted by: Susan Bowerman | April 20, 2015 at 08:25 AM
Dana, thank you for a wonderful post! I love asymmetric styling and Coral's earrings are perfectly composed!
Posted by: Chi | April 20, 2015 at 10:34 AM
Dana, what a great article. You've inspired me to try this. I love how yours turned out. Your writing style is great, also; I am so glad you teamed up with B'sue to bring us this great post!
Posted by: Renee Hong | April 20, 2015 at 11:34 AM
Great blog post Dana. I am finding inspiration everywhere.
Posted by: Sue Shade | April 20, 2015 at 02:17 PM
Great blog Dana.
the challenge continues.
Lynn
Posted by: Lynn | April 20, 2015 at 07:24 PM
Great Blog!
Posted by: Nike Bottalico | April 21, 2015 at 11:50 AM
This is wonderful Dana. It really helps so much to see how you break down a design and catch the spirit of the piece without infringing on the original at all. Having these clear-cut steps laid out for this design will help when choosing the pieces to buy for my present projects as well as for my others in the future. Thanks so much for sharing your thought processes.
By the way, I love your earrings, as well as Carol Law's and the one's you found by Mia Montgomery - Have fun wearing your inspired creations!
Posted by: Teresa Schurter | April 21, 2015 at 05:27 PM
This is a great post! Thank you!
Posted by: Melissa Latimer | April 22, 2015 at 07:10 PM
This was super fun to see how to make something our own from the original pricey item! I like how you showed different examples, and asymmetry too, and showed the pieces available at B'sue. Well done!! :):)
Posted by: Alexandra Sefton | April 23, 2015 at 10:46 PM
Thank you everyone! I'm so glad you're finding it helpful!
Posted by: Dana | April 24, 2015 at 02:20 PM
I'm new to jewelry assemblage and am so happy that you shared some ideas using B'Sue components. Can't wait to try out some of your ideas and am looking forward to following your blog.
Posted by: Pam Bonifacio | January 08, 2016 at 04:27 PM