Thursday 30 January 2014

Kung Hei Fat Choy

Yay! It's the second New Year this year!

Happy Chinese New Year's Eve! I'm excited to go and see the parade in London at the weekend. I've never before celebrated chinese new year but I think actually if there's a chance to celebrate something then you should probably take it, I think the Google homepage shares this philosophy. Especially in January- that's when people need a big old knees up the most. 2014 will be the year of the Horse and the internet has told me that this means: 
"For those born on the year of the horse...it is believed they will offend Taisui, the god in charge of fortune, so their finances may fluctuate. In terms of career, it is advised to keep the peace between colleagues. For those not born on a horse year, the year ahead will bring health and prosperity. It is said to be an excellent time to travel, as the next 12 months will bring good luck. You are advised to mingle with the locals, savour authentic cuisine and discover somewhere you have never been before."
While getting rather excitable about the festivities an idea struck and I set about trying to create something nice and wearable for Chinese New Year. This is what I came up with:
Chinese Lantern Earrings

Here they are- posing naturally in a woodland setting.

And this is how I made them...


I began by rolling out two balls of Fimo to the same size


And then proceeded to squidge them against a flat surface to create flat faces on the top and bottom, at this point they measured roughly 2cm in width and 1cm in length (I tend to use the squares on my cutting mat to indicate measurements). I used a thick needle to pierce a hole through the centre so they can be threaded onto the headpins and then used this same needle to press grooves into the Fimo, now they look a little like tiny pumpkins. 


I made four flat disks and pierced a hole through the centre of each, these are shaped to be about the same size as the two flat surfaces of the red beads. Then cook um! I think about 110degs for about 25mins should do it.


Using gold paint and an ultra thin brush then paint strokes of gold into the grooves. I also painted the little disk beads gold.


When the paint has dried thread the beads onto a headpin so that the red one is sandwiched in between the gold disks. Then cut and curl the wire to finish.


To make the tiny tassels I used red embroidery thread and, pinching it between my thumb and forefinger at the bottom and looping it around the pin maybe about 6 times or so. Then, using a length of the thread tied a double knot near the base. After this photo I trimmed the ends to make them even and attached the tassel loop to a jump ring which could then be fixed onto the bottom of the other beads. Add earring hooks, et voila!


This is how the finished earrings look on. They're very light and wearable but also bright enough to make a reasonable impact I'd say!


Directly after finishing the red pair I went on to make six more pairs in varying colours. I even had this chinese character card lying around for years which I had no idea when I was ever going to find a use for it, but I think it's pretty much perfect for these earring cards.
  I'd been supposed to allocate myself 2 hours of craft time but eight pairs of earrings later it it was already 8pm and I'd finished the entire series of Orange Is the New Black - Oops! (...I regret nothing.) As always I'd love to hear your feedback and comments in the box below! :)