Earrings with Delica® Seed Beads, Brass Paddle Pins and ParaWire™

Cut the following:

• Two 6-inch lengths of 16-gauge silver-plated wire
• Two 25-inch lengths of 24-gauge sliver-plated wire

Center a 6-inch length of 16-gauge silver-plated wire on the larger barrel of Wubbers® extra-large round mandrel pliers.

Tip: For information on how to use Wubbers mandrel pliers, watch the video or read the instructions here.

Push the wire around the mandrel from the center, using even pressure on both sides, until the tips touch on the opposite side, creating an elongated teardrop shape.

Put the newly created wire frame on a steel block.  With a convex head chasing hammer, flatten well from the center bottom to 0.5 inches from the ends. 

Note: Be very careful when flattening the wire, as too much force can damage the plating.

Use round-nose pliers to make simple loops at both ends, facing perpendicular to the frame.

Tip: For information on how to create a simple loop, watch the video or read the instructions here.

Add an 8mm 20-gauge silver-plated jump ring through both simple loops. 

Tip: For information on working with jump rings, view the video or read the instructions here.

Wrap the end of the 25-inch 24-gauge silver-plated wire three times tightly near one simple loop on the frame.

• Row 1 
  String on enough Lemon Ice #11 seed beads to fill the space between the top section of the 16-gauge wire ends on the frame, below the simple loops, then wrap the 24-gauge wire on the opposite side twice.
• Rows 2-3 
  Repeat the previous step until you have four full rows of Lemon Ice seed beads.
• Row 4 
  String on one Light Squash #11 seed bead, then enough Lemon Ice beads to fill the space, ending with one Light Squash bead to complete the next row, to begin the ombré effect in the pattern.
• Rows 5-7 
  Repeat Step 4 until you have three rows starting and ending with one Light Squash bead.
• Row 8 
  String on two Light Squash beads, then enough lemon ice beads to fill the space, ending with two Light Squash beads to complete this row.
• Rows 9-10 
  String on enough Light Squash beads to complete two more rows.
• Row 11 
  String on one Matte Red #11 seed bead, then enough Light Squash beads to fill the space, ending with one Matte Red bead to complete this row.
• Row 12 
  String on two Matte Red beads, fill the space with Light Squash beads, ending with two Matte Red beads to complete this row.
• Row 13 
  String on three Matte Red beads, then enough Light Squash beads to fill the space, ending with three Matte Red beads to complete this row.
• Row 14 
  String on enough Matte Red beads to complete this row.
• Row 15 
  String on one Matte Brick Red #11 seed bead, then enough Matte Red beads to fill the space, ending with one Matte Brick Red bead to complete this row.
• Row 16 
  String on two Matte Brick Red beads, then enough Matte Red beads to fill the space, ending with two Matte Brick Red beads to complete this row.
• Row 17-21 
  String on enough Matte Brick red beads to fill the space, completing 5 more rows. Wrap the wire three times around the frame and cut off and tuck in tail with chain-nose pliers.

Add one Matte Red #11 seed bead, then one Light Squash #11 seed bead to a paddle pin. Make a simple loop perpendicular to the paddle and attach it to the bottom of the 16-gauge silver-plated wire frame.

Add one Matte Red #11 seed bead on each of two paddle pins, then make a simple loop as before and attach to the wire frame on either side of the original paddle pin.

Make a simple loop perpendicular to the paddle on two additional paddle pins. Attach to the bottom of the wire frame on either side of the last two paddle pins.

Attach a 1-loop 20-gauge ear wire to the jump ring at the top of the frame.

Repeat Steps 2-4 for the second earring.