May the 4th be with You - Star Wars Day Earrings

 

I may have too many earrings, but they are so quick and fun to make, that I can't stop making them!

For Star Wars Day - aka May 4th (because May the 4th... sort of sounds like May the Force... so people called it Star Wars Day) - I decided to add some Star Wars themed earrings. I made three pairs, and haven't decided which ones I'll actually wear on the day. I have considered randomly swapping out the earrings throughout the day so that every hour I have a different combination of symbols. 

The symbols for various factions are easy to obtain from the internet. I visited StarWars.com and found an article called, "5 symbols in the Star Wars Universe," which not only showed 5 of the most common symbols in Star Wars, but included very nice images of each. 

I downloaded the images and imported them into Silhouette Studio.  I expanded the first image to about 12" wide. I have found that if the image is expanded before tracing, then it comes out slightly better after tracing. 

Select Trace to open the trace window, then click on "Select Trace Area" and highlight the image.

These images traced nicely. If the image is very small, or it's in many colors, adjusting the "threshold" to a higher number has worked to include more of the details. Click "Trace" to create a cut shape. 

Select the palette and choose a color to fill the symbol. I like to use colors close to the colors I will be cutting the design from. Double click on the symbol after filling in the color to see the edit points. 

Because the Jedi symbol was originally much smaller, the lines are pixellated. These extra points can cause the machine to do a lot of extra work when it's cutting because it's turning and making a lot of small cuts that we can't see and don't want. To fix, from the menu select Object > Simplify.

This function removes most of the excess points to simplify the design.

Since there are still a bunch of excess points, click on a point to select it then delete it. Repeat until you have cleaned it up as much as is logical for the design.

Above is my cleaned up version. This will cut very smoothly. Repeat a similar process for additional Star Wars symbols, depending upon how many you want to create. 

I wanted to make 3 pairs of earrings, so I created two copies of each of the three symbols I selected. I resized the circles to about 1.5" tall. 

Use the shapes tool to create circles to go behind the symbols. After you've chosen your colors, move the symbols off of the mat and line up your circles in matched color pairs. You can use the markings on the grid to determine the size to cut the faux leather pieces. I usually back my faux leather with a piece of HTV before sending it to cut to ensure that the backing HTV completely covers the back side of the earring. 

After the faux leather pieces are cut, bring the pairs of symbols onto the mat and remove the circles. You can mirror the symbols if you wish, however, these particular ones are symmetrical so mirroring won't change anything. Cut the HTV symbols, then press the HTV on the faux leather using a heat press. 

To finish the earrings, punch holes in the top of each circle using a small hole punch. Finally, add jump rings and earring hoops and enjoy your Star Wars Day jewelry!

 The hardest part of the whole project is deciding which pair to wear. I've decided to mix and match throughout the day so sometimes I'll have matching earrings and sometimes not. 

HAPPY CRAFTING!!