A couple of months ago (I can’t believe it’s been that long!), I participated in a earring making challenge / blog hop, organised by Malin de Koning. If you read this blog regularly you may remember it. Malin sent me and three others the same set of beads and we all made earrings from them, then did the blog hop. Here’s a link to my post. Well, we all enjoyed it so much that we decided to do it again, only this time I selected and sent out the beads, which were these:
Somewhat inevitably, when picking these beads, I went towards things that had been in my stash for a while, things I’d been struggling to incorporate in pieces. I combined these with some new beads that I bought especially for the challenge, some of my favourites, and some neutrals and some smaller filler beads to balance out the larger, more elaborate shapes. Perhaps it’s because of my ‘issues’ with the colour - I’ve written about my ambivalence towards green before - but somehow I managed to add lots of green to my pack. Maybe it’s because I don’t tend to use it and so have more surplus to share. I don’t know… To make matters worse, for some reason, I ended up adding in a certain amount of purple. Now, I know green and purple is a popular combination with many - maybe one of the other participants will be delighted with it! - but I personally don’t get on with it. I think it dates back to when I was on the cusp of my early teens, when I painted my entire bedroom purple and green (they were my favourite colours then), and was a little too keen on tie-dye and patchouli oil. As a result of this, I see purple and green and I see: !STYLE ERROR! Consequently, when I came to working with this lot of beads, I found I’d hobbled myself. I kept putting things together, seeing these colours together, and thinking, ‘no, no, nooooo’. Still, ultimately, it meant I was challenged to arrive at other combinations and to think about different colours a bit, so that was good. Here’s the first pair I made.
When Malin set the first challenge, she suggested we focus on stacked earring designs. I was feeling a bit stacked out at the time, so I tried doing other things with Malin’s pack. This time, maybe because I was struggling with the colours, I went super stack happy, as you can see above and below.
And again here:
In this last pair I allowed a bit of the purple and green in, whilst trying to dilute it with other colours. Here’s some more major stacking:
Possibly a stack too far….
The first few pairs came together relatively easily, but then I hit a bit of a wall. I was at the point of thinking I was all done, but it was then that I really pushed myself to try mixing in other colours and being a bit more inventive with the beads I had left. I put a couple of wooden discs in the pack, unsure what they’d be used for. Eventually, I thought to use them as a backing to these tin bead caps (from Lorelei Eurto).
I really like the top of them but I’m not certain about the drops. One of the ‘rules’ Malin set was that we should use at least three beads from the pack in each pair of earrings and it seemed a shame not to include these vintage glass leaves somewhere. Now I’m thinking that I might ultimately cannibalise several of the pairs I’ve made and combine the top of one with the bottom from another, etc.. Anyway, next pair: if I hadn’t been pushed, I’d never have thought to use the colours I’ve used here.
I really like the combination. I think I’ll leave them as they are. More heavy stacking here:
Yes, that baggy wire on the top right bead is annoying! Again, after I made these last ones I thought I was done, but then this improbable pair came together, which I was quite pleased with.
I’ve stacked the lower section on some skinny vintage chain links. Then, when I really, really thought I was done….
After which all I had left was:
I should probably have forced myself to make something with this last little lot - hey ho. I can’t wait to see how the others have used the beads I sent to them. And we’ll be doing this challenge again soon with another pack chosen by Leah Curtis. Looking forward to that too! But for now, here’s the links to all the other participants blogs. Go look!:
Leah Curtis - Beady Eyed Bunny
These are amazing, Claire! I’m very impressed with how many of the beads you used. #1, 2, 5 and 7 are probably my favourites. Love the length and detail!
Dear god I feel like a disappointment. How many pairs did you make? 100?
I see what you mean about the ones with the green leaves - they’re just slightly the wrong shade. But otherwise, that pair is perfection. And the two pairs below that are also brilliant. I also really like the final last minute pair.
I also really like how you used the green & white stripey ones. Those were probably my favorite pair of beads in the bunch, so of course my natural tendency was to hoard them instead of use them. I think I’m missing the point of this whole thing. Anyway, congrats and also lmao @ !STYLE ERROR!
Wow, Claire! You were truly inspired and on-a-roll! I love every pair that you created! The colors and the shapes!! I’m certain you have already used those last few beads!?..they are destined for each other. Hope you are well and your sweet little pup is doing great, too.
There are some great combinations here! My favourite is actually the pair with the baggy wire! I just love the beads you’ve used in that pair. Out of interest, how do you get involved with taking part in something like this?
So, so many of these are amazing! The first four in particular are my favorites.
My room in high school was lavender and green too. . .a wisteria comforter and drapes. It was very blah, but I liked it at the time. Style indeed changes.
Beautiful, beautiful earrings, I love your stacks. You ladies should run a give-a-way for us to win a bead pack and play along next time.
Wow Claire, so many pairs! All looking great of course. I love them all but I am particularly amazed by the first pair because you managed to use those green triangular beads and the heart ones in such a fantastic way. When I received your lot those where the first beads I started to play around with, because I knew I would find it difficult. But I never managed, did I :-(. I still have them laying on my beading mat in case I mysteriously will find a way to make them work. Fingers crossed. Thank you so much for an inspiring set of beads. Malin x
This is such a cool idea! It’s really interesting to see different takes on the same set of beads
I love the second pair with the triangular beads too, really creative!
Emma xo