Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear - I'm rather late to this party, and for that I must apologise! Life has been - well, let's just say hectic for now, and agree that I will fill you in on the details later. Thank you lovely teammates (is that the right term for them?) for your patience.
You may well remember this post from back in January. Here's what Malin proposed to a small band of us:
"The idea is that I give each of us the same set of beads. Beads that I believe would be nice to use in earrings. Nothing exclusive, and no art beads. Just a group of different beads that I myself believe can be used in fun and interesting ways in earrings in a stacked style.
I am longing to see how we all use the same things but in different ways. I am thinking we could all make at least one pair of earrings, but hopefully more. And that we are free to add our own extra beads and/or other components, if we at least use three (3) of the beads from my set in each design."
It was such a fun, inspiring and minimally pressured hop that we quickly decided to carry it on. This time around it was Claire who sent out a delicious group of beads to whet our whistles. Claire is one of those designers who works with a little bit of everything, and I knew her selection (as seen above) would be interesting and inspiring, but also challenging. I'm not quite sure I have fully risen to the challenge - please see first paragraph and said hectic life(!) - as I have only managed two - two! - measly pairs of earrings. However, I really quite like both of them, so that's something, isn't it? (Isn't it!? Please say yes!)
First up, this moody little pair of stackers. A few days after Claire's package of beads arrived, I received another package - this time from Jana of Happy Fish - which included these too-gorgeous-for-words bats. They are double sided! Which is why I had to do mismatched. Aren't they fab? I thought the deep turquoise glaze went so well with the deep emerald of the quartz(?) on the top nuggets. Barrels. Oblongs....I am not quite sure what to call the shape of these! Anyway, they are very cool, and are cut so that they stack together *perfectly*. Admittedly, this is a fairly pants photo but (would you believe it?) it is the best of around 20! My current earring photography set up is good for some pairs of earrings, but I'm finding any with a little more dimension than others (for example these, with their stone stackers set at opposing angles) just don't hang nicely. They flip and look very awkward. And these (as you can see) don't sit right on the flat either. Ah well! I am in the process of moving house.....*slowly*......and so hopefully I can find a nice wee spot with a neat set up like Heidi's.
Secondly, these babies. I'm really rather pleased with these. I don't often use buttons in my work, aside from an odd button/loop clasp, and I'm not sure if I have ever used them in earrings....so these are a bit different for me! I loved working out ways to connect them, the right amount of wire for each link or loop, and getting them to hang nicely.
I also somewhat fell in love with those little green sunbursts. Aren't they great? So retro, so vintage. They totally remind me of something - a company logo or similar - but I can't quite place exactly what. I really like their slight matte-ness, and how deep-set the sunbursts are. So yeah, I pretty much love them the best out of all the beads that came from Claire (thanks Claire!). Sorry other beads. I do like you too, just not quite as much. Although the sunbursts do look rather happy in those cute little 'angel wing' beads.
Thirdly......oh dear. There is *NO* thirdly.....for now. I will definitely make more with the little large pile I have left (cough cough!) and share here again. Hopefully next time, things will be a bit calmer, I won't be acting as a nurse and also trying to organise moving house and goodness knows what else! But you'll see more from me very soon - I promise. Thank you Claire for the delicious little round up of beads, and apologies I haven't managed to make more extensive use of them as yet!
For now, check out everyone else's posts, as they have all made OODLES more earrings than I have managed (*slaps wrist heartily*):
