Bead Caps Transformed
by Diane Schamp.
(Great Lakes Region)
Beads caps are often used in jewelry designs as a way to accent gemstone or crystal beads. There are a variety of bead caps, large to small, solid or open design, bright sterling or oxidized.

Blue Seed Bead Earrings
One of my favorite styles of bead caps are the Bali sterling oxidized bead caps with intricate open wire work and granulation (granulation is a term used to describe the arrangement of tiny sterling granules on a bead).
Chandelier style earrings can easily be created using the open wire work design bead caps. The openings in the bead caps can be used to connect seed beads and small crystals.

Rose and Burgundy Earrings
You can make several strings of varying lengths of small beads and connect them to the perimeter of a large bead cap (10 mm) and then add a larger bead about 8mm to the center of the cap as shown in my blue colored glass seed bead earring set.
In another design, I used a similar bead cap turned it upside down and added 5mm bicone Swarovski rose and burgundy colored crystals with an 8mm crystal placed in the middle.
Use this creative idea to turn those extra bead caps leftover from a beaded jewelry project into a matching pair of elegant earrings.
Diane Schamp
DianesDangles LLC
DianesDangles at Artfire
BeadSouk at Artfire