Home is where the heart is

I had 8 friends who lived in the same house, and what a warm, loving house it was. Two of them were moving away to start the next chapter of their lives. I made these earrings for the girl who was moving away to remind her of her beloved housemates.

These earrings were made of stainless steel and were cut via a waterjet cutter. The names were etched using a laser cutter (the depth of cut is so small that you can barely feel the etched lines with your fingers). I asked each of the housemates to send me scanned images of their names, after which I did some minor image processing to make sure they had high enough contrast for a clean etch. This was the first time I made anything pretty out of stainless steel so I learned a bit about polishing metal. I also sprayed the completed earrings with a scratch-resistant coating.

Picture perfect

I made these earrings for my dearest friend Michelle, whom I've known since preschool. Michelle is one of the kindest, sweetest, most beautiful people I know. She's currently building her business as a professional photographer. Check out her stuff -- she's amazing! If you're getting married, give her a call!

Michelle Nicole Photography: http://www.michellenicoleblog.com/

These earrings were made via laser cutting and laser etching wood. They were stained and coated using a silicone spray afterward.

Knot what I intended

I wanted to make a pair of crocheted sphere earrings for a friend. I watched an instructional video on Instructables but I had trouble making the spheres (most likely due to my less-than-amateur crocheting skills). I ended up making these. I'm a little embarrassed by how simple they are, but I do like the contrasting colors.

I see the moon...

I made these earrings for a cousin of mine who is going to spend a year abroad. The message that I attempted to convey in the design of the earrings was something my mom used to say to me as a child: "I see the moon, the moon sees me."

I drew the designs in Inkscape*, and I laser cut the earrings out of wood. I later stained the wood and coated the earrings in a polyurethane spray.

*Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/) can be downloaded for free. It's a pretty awesome program.

How fortunate

I was inspired to make these earrings after seeing some things Fusion Ethos Fashions (http://fusionethosfashions.com/index_MUUY.html) had at a vendor fair.

I made them by taking two fortunes from fortune cookies, laminating them, and folding (without creasing) them once to attach the two ends together using eyelets. I applied the eyelet using an eyelet and snap punch tool (http://store.scrapbook.com/wr-70907-7.html). I initially planned on keeping the fortunes flat (not folded), but I was making these earrings for my sister and she has small ears so she said that long earrings would look odd on her.

Keyed in

(Sorry for all the puns!)

I made these earrings for a friend who studied computer science. The particular letters "G" and "E" were selected because they're the recipient's initials, and I had to leave the navigation nub with the "G" because the key looked a little weird with its corner missing. I also think the nub gives it a funny touch. I think these earrings are particularly special because the keys are from one of my old lap top keyboards.

I put holes in the keys using a drill press, but this could also be easily done using a hand drill. I attached the nub to the "G" key using epoxy.

All geared up

I was inspired to start this blog because I recently had this sudden desire to make earrings. The ironic thing is that my own ears aren't pierced, but I think earrings can be a fun and creative means for self-expression. Anyways, I want to show you some of the things I made along with brief descriptions of how I made them, in hopes to inspire others to carry out their own crafts projects. Please share your creations with me, as many of my projects have been inspired by others!

The first pair of earrings I made was for my friend who is a mechanical engineer. The design is a wooden gear with a nut hanging in the middle of it. I drew the gears using Inkscape, which was particularly useful because Inkscape has a simple gear-drawing function. The gears were laser cut and later sprayed with polyurethane for protection.

Welcome!

To all the do-it-yourself gals and guys out there: I want to share with you some of the things I have fabricated--or fabbed!--in hopes to inspire the maker in you. I'd love to show you how fun it can be to put a creative twist on even the smallest, everyday things. And in turn, I hope to be inspired by your "fab"ulous creations! Enjoy!