I finally figured it out. Not just exactly how I first imagined it looking, nor even how I imagined the second or even third times. But it's workable, And simple. Easily reproducible. And ready for the store.
There's no bow. I figured out how to configure that, but the weight was already just over the limit without adding that, so after cutting back on wire lengths so I could keep the beads I wanted in the grouping to indicate "bouquet" and not just a bunch of beads hanging, there was less space to put one, besides the obvious addition of disqualifying weight added. And since sterling, to be sold as sterling, must have all metals be sterling, a pretty red wire bow tying up the bouquet would have just defeated the purpose.
But let's go back to the beginning. It started with discovering Etsy. Yes, I know, they've been around for ages. I just never shopped there before, except the one time I needed just the right buttons for my silk tunic for our 2012 Valentine's Day commitment ceremony. A Czech glass set of rose-designed buttons in iridescent fuschia matching the silk were just the thing. I'm reminded of that every time I go through my purchases history (to give feedback) because 10 years latter it still sits there. It's finally got company now.
I don't remember quite why I went back to Etsy. Had I been looking for flower beads? Or stumbled on them looking for millifiori beads that came anywhere close to the quality of the ones I'd gotten in a garage sale bulk sort-it-all-out-later purchase at a former club member's home? Somewhere in there, however, the idea popped into my head of making a hanging bouquet themed set (sets) of earrings with wire and flower shaped beads. Valentine's day was coming around again, and a non-wilting bouquet might catch on. Particularly if I could do it in reds and pinks.
There's been a learning curve - with everything - but especially with buying beads. Sizes are not always given, sometimes you have to hunt only to find out those beads you liked aren't glass after all, what looks 3 dimensional is flat, and colors depend on the photographer and not the actual bead. As they started coming in through the mail, I ordered more and more, either to get better color blends, size and shape blends, and finally to get exquisite beads that really looked like flowers with layers of different glass colors per bead. Those are the ones which are priced, not by string, but by individual bead. Yikes! And yet.... Those are the ones that a new design was made for, with a single bead per earring, and will be selling - only on sterling! - for $45 a pair. I believe they will be the most expensive ones in the store. I also know they will be unique and customers will walk in and fall in love and absolutely have to buy them!
Did I mention those are only made to order and have to be shipped from Russia? I followed their progress, sweating that they'd be here in time to go in the store for Valentine's day. They took two weeks to make, got shipped to London, then to Los Angeles, and finally brought a week ago by the mailman. Selection day is this Wednesday, so they'll be for sale around noon, giving them 3 1/2 open store days to attract attention. Only two pairs are going in of those this time, not only to avoid flooding the market so people think they can dither about buying them, but because I have other Valentine's themed items to submit and the club limit per selection per member is 10 items. Twice a month. Possibly 240 per year, and a few of our members come close to that many.
But I have 2 sets of bouquet earrings going in, some copper hearts that have been colored (torched - aka annealed), textured, punched in shapes, rough edges buffed, polished, etc. Much more work, and maybe $10 a pair. But... copper. Finally there's an inexpensive set of necklaces reconfigured from previous failed sales.
Now that we've detoured all around, back to those bouquets. Collecting the wires in a bunch that wouldn't fall apart due to glue didn't work. Binding the ends and looping wire ends over the restraining wire in addition to the glue didn't work either. Soldering pairs of wires together worked but failed as soon as two became four, nevermind the 6 I wanted for the concept of "bouquet" to come across. I noticed another club member who'd designed earrings with multiple loops handing from a single other one, each the same shape but a larger size than the last, and thought I could try that. I have a preliminary "proof of concept" set staring at me with a totally different bead, accidentally ordered without noting they were drilled sideways rather than longitudinally, and more work will refine those. Just not for a bouquet.
I started getting closer when I though I could loop two jump rings to another, the one hanging from the ear wire, the other two holding a few of the flower wires so they have a front and a back layer, looking more three dimensional. They just tangled. So I simply cut all the wires a bit shorter, gave each a simple loop tiny enough to just slide over the single jump ring and line up close together, because where else would they go?
The idea worked, but needed a few more adjustments. First, it needed to look like a flower arrangement and not a curtain of beads. I'd already done the first part by mixing kinds and subtle differences in colors of beads. Some were flowers, others more teardrop to suggest buds about to open. Most live bouquets have some blossoms fully open and some buds about to pop so they last longer. Then I made some wires shorter so different lengths gave a better grouping of flowers and buds. Then I worked on which order they went on the jump ring until I was satisfied they spread out in a way that I found pleasing. No wire bending needed. Some moved forward, some back, and the curve of the ring itself kept the stems together so the beads splayed out. Everything swung loosely. A little shake was occasionally needed to set them back in position, but that's all. It became organic.
The bouquets are not, after all, in reds and pinks. Seems more beads have to be ordered before I can put together a pleasing combination. So there's a set in blue/purple mix, and one in aqua/teal/green mix. Steve proclaimed he liked them with enough enthusiasm in his voice that I trust it goes beyond simple spousal support.
But... no bow. Sigh.
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