Crafting the Victoriana Earrings

I listed these earrings on Etsy a few days ago and I thought I'd share a little about how I make them.

Component pieces laid out just after
being soldered

The first step is to cut pieces of wire to the correct length and then shape them with pliers. One long, straight piece of wire is then soldered into the main frame shape for each earring.



After soldering the wire is very soft and also tarnished, cleaning it and strengthening is a 3 stage process in itself. First I hammer the wire to flatten it slightly and then I use a file to buff the surface until its shiny again.
Finally the pieces go in a tumbler for several hours to polish them smooth and toughen them further.

When the wire shapes come out of the tumbler I thread the Brioche Agate onto the straight piece and then bend the top around into the loop.

Finally I use fine copper wire to wrap the 3 top pieces of wire together, so the bead can't escape, and also to attach the decorative pieces to the bottom. The piece is finished off with a copper earwire attached to the top.

Victoriana Earrings

These earrings are a little less simple than my usual designs but I love them. What do you think?