When I first started making quilled jewelry, all of my designs were pretty small, usually around 1/2 to maybe 1 inch long. This large teardrop design was my very first larger earring design, and it has remained one of my most popular designs.  At the time I was looking at celebrities and actresses in movies and on shows to get inspiration for new designs and I noticed that larger earrings were popular.

About a year after I started making my teardrop earring design and some other larger designs I started seeing other quilling artists making their own spin off the design.  It was pretty neat seeing how some of my original designs inspired the growth of quilled jewelry around the world.

If you love these earrings and would like to try making your own, you can find the tutorial in my Etsy shop,  Meylah shop, or at Craftsy.

This combination of maroon and ivory was my very first pair of this design!  I’ve made quite a few of this combination since then, a popular choice.  This is also one of the first pairs of my earrings that was featured on a handmade jewelry site.

Here is the second color combo that I made, to complement the first.  A nice navy and ivory.

I wanted to make a pair that was more bright and summery, so this one was created!  This turquoise paper is thinner than some others, so as I was pinning it, it kind of went into a squarish shape on the bottom instead of rounded, which turned out to be pretty cool looking!

This one is a nice solid design, since the brown is a thicker paper than some of my others. Here in my Zibbet shop.

Love this classy combination of aqua and black! Here on Zibbet.

This color combo entrances me.  For some reason is makes me think elfen – very fantasy and woodsy looking.

Denim and black – love this combo!  Aw heck, I love any combo that includes black.

This was a custom color request.  The color combo was different and fun, so I had to make another pair!  It is actually on clearance in my Zibbet shop.

After making quite a few different color combos, I made a few pairs with colors mixed in different ways.  Gotta keep things mixed up!

I love using bold red in my quilled jewelry as it is my favorite color.  Mix it up with black and you have a winning combo!  I made this pair around Chinese New Year time when I was inspired by all of the red decorations around.  Here in my Zibbet shop.

Three shades of pretty blue in this lovely pair!  Here on Zibbet.

The color combo in this pair was inspired by an outfit that I saw someone wearing when we went to the playground one day.  Inspiration comes in many ways!  Here on Zibbet

Of course I still can’t leave things alone, even if I have a winning design.  Here are some variations I made on the larger teardrop design.

This was one of the first variations I made, quite soon after making the first couple pairs of teardrop earrings.  I sold a couple pairs but then never re-made it.  I called it a feather teardrop design.

This pair was a bit different in the number of circles in the design, and then because of that the shape is more elongated.  I also used mica watercolors to add a fun bronze shine to both sides (under the sealant, so it won’t come off).  Click here to learn about using mica watercolors on quilling.  These earrings are in my Zibbet shop.

I was coming up with some new teardrop designs and thought something a little off center might be cool.  Love the result!  Here on Zibbet.

For this design I wanted to see how it would look with the bottom area filled in.  Quite elegant!  Here on Zibbet.

It was only a matter of time before I tried pinching the bottom of the teardrop to make a marquis shape.  For this pair I’ve used two shades of aqua.  I love using those two shades together.  Here in my Zibbet shop. 

For this pair I was going for a modern ombre look, with the different shades all melting into each other.  I like how it turned out and I plan to make some more ombre shaded earrings. Here in my Zibbet shop.

Sealant for the earrings

For those are wanting to make your own earrings, you’ll want to make sure they are sealed to be sturdy and water resistant before using them as jewelry.  Click here to read all of the posts I have about sealant.

OR if you want a quick answer and product names, I would suggest this:

  • Start by using a liquid sealer that will soak into your earring and make it nice and stiff.  I suggest Ceramcoat All Purpose Sealer
  • Finish with a topcoat to make your piece water resistant and sturdy.  I recommend either PPA matte, PPA gloss, or Diamond Glaze, though there are others that work well also.

If you love these earrings and would like to try making your own, you can find the tutorial in my Etsy shop,  Meylah shop, or at Craftsy.

Stick around, there is lots to see around the blog!  Here are some places to start:

Click here to view free paper quilling tutorials!

Click here to view paper quilling tips and tricks!

Click here to view a list of places to buy quilling supplies around the world!

Click here to view some of my own quilling projects, with tips so you can make your own if you’d like!

*All products and supplies mentioned in this post I purchased and/or made on my own.

*This post contains some affiliate links, and some non affiliate links.  If you purchase products through the affiliate links I get a small percentage (at no extra cost to you!).  I only link to products that I believe in and/or love to use myself.  Thank you for supporting my blog!