Raven Feather Earrings (SJ Honey Do List)

Each month, Sarajo of SJ Designs Jewelry shares the photo inspiration her husband, Eric, has given her. She calls it the Honey Do List. This month's inspiration was perfectly timed with Halloween as it's a picture of a raven in the Tower of London. Eric was clear that if we didn't have any raven-ish supplies, something creepy-cool would work as well. However, I was dead-set on using the bird as my inspiration. 

I searched through my stash for birds, but only found cute ones; nothing that had that creep factor. As I pondered my supplies, I remembered that I had a few large feather charms. 

They were silver-tone and definitely required altering. However, I wasn't sure what method would work best. So, I began experimenting. I was lucky there were four feathers in the pack. (Two of them had more pointed ends that I wasn't fond of, so those are the ones I started with for my trials.)
I wanted the feathers to have a base of black but then have that beautiful blue-green color shift that you often see in raven's feathers. So, the front and back of the charms were painted with two coats of Vintaj Patina in Onyx. While the Patina was still slightly wet, I added shades of Pearl-Ex powders for that gleam. These were topped with alcohol ink and a matte sealer to ensure that the wings weren't too shiny. 

I think they came together beautifully. 

I didn't like the original holes for the feathers. They were in little tabs at the top of the feathers. Those were cut off before I began working with the metal. I then punched my own holes once everything was painted and sealed. 
To complete the earrings, I simply used darkened steel wire and a black faceted glass bead to connect the charms to gunmetal lever back ear wires. 

While pondering the inspiration, I knew that a friend's birthday was coming up and that whatever I made would be something she'd love. As such, I used her style to guide me through the process of making these earrings. And, I gifted her with them the other day. She loved them and put them on right then and there!

Thanks as always to Sarajo and Eric for the inspiration. Make sure to head over to SJ Designs Jewelry for her reveal and for the reveals of any other artists that played along too. 

15 comments:

  1. These earrings are absolutely lovely! Great job.

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    1. Thank you Ann! I had so much fun playing with all the supplies to get the color shift I wanted. I'm so glad you like it too!

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  2. Your earrings are beautiful! Great job! Your friend was very lucky to get them.

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    1. Mary, thank you! I'm so happy that they worked out as well as they did. Now I know I have a new trick up my sleeve ;)

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  3. I love the irridescent finish on these...really cool!

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    1. Thanks! That's ALL the work of the PearlEx powders. The mica in them really makes them glow! It was the perfect thing to get the effect I wanted. So pleased you like them too!

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  4. The feathers turned out fabulously well. The gleam is sooo - ethereal. I strongly dislike crows and ravens but I think that your earrings are very cool.

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    1. Divya, Thank you!! I think not having anything crow or raven in my stash worked out perfectly for me. It gave me the room to explore other options and techniques. You know I love that! ;)

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  5. Wow, Hope! You worked some serious magic with those feathers! They came out just beautifully and I'm so glad that they made the perfect gift for your friend. I think anyone would be tickled to have those iridescent lovelies! Thanks for playing along with us again. Check back on November 1st to see what Eric dreams up for us next.

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    1. Thank you! I hate that I didn't get a "before" picture of them to really show the transformation. I was too ready to experiment and play. Thanks to you and Eric both for the inspiration! As always, I'm looking forward to seeing what else y'all have up your sleeves.

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  6. I love how you transformed simple charms into stunning, color-WOW earrings!! Alysen

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    1. Alysen, Thank you! It surprised me too how well these worked out. I'm thrilled that you like them also!

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  7. Wow, what a great job altering those feathers! Fantastic color! I'm sure they look gorgeous when worn!

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    1. Thank you! I have to admit that I tested out the colors on some other pieces before I went all in on these, but I'm smitten with them too. And, I'm absolutely pleased that my friend loves them too. Win!

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