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!