Metal...and Rainbows

Hi, everyone!  

My latest pair of earrings, below, is the fourth in a series of similar earrings I've made over the years.   

When I created this style in 2015, I was playing with several pewter charms by Inviciti that all had open spaces in them that could be filled with a stack of little beads.  The earrings were designed to be whimsical and eccentric.  Interestingly, what I discovered while working on this post is that my newest design in this style is probably the least eccentric of all of them. 

These earrings, below right, were the first of the three pairs I made in 2015.  I was learning how to wrap the red linen thread around the top of the "shoulders" of the component and to bring both ends of the thread down on each side, stringing my beads on the front, then threading both ends through the bottom hole and tying them together at the bottom.  I trimmed the linen thread to a nice spiky length.

These little ones below were more overtly whimsical, I think, because of the shape of the charm:  a fish!  So when I put these earrings together I made sure to wing the thread out in the same plane as the "fish tail" of the charm.  💗

These, below, also from later in 2015, are just a little over the top, with two strands of beads, in front and back.  I don't think I would do that again, because it doesn't look particularly tidy.  I do love the stripy beads and the orange-red discs and just the "go-for-it" sort of vibe these earrings carry.

So back to this year's model. 😉 These earrings are more polished, with their threads pulled tight to their backs and tucked under some nice--and carefully glued--red handmade paper.  They're also sporting a beautiful pair of small red and cornflower lampwork glass beads by Beth Mellor of Beeboo. 💗

Thanks so much for reading!  I will be back in two weeks' time.  💗

xoxo
Meridy

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Renaissance Windows

Hello, lovelies!  It's good to be back--it feels like it's been a while!  💗

The idea for the earrings I'm writing about today started quietly, when I found these beads at Arte Bella Surplus, one of my long-time favorite supply shops:      

I didn't buy them for any particular project, but rather because I like window beads and because their cross-like shape reminds me of certain Renaissance (or Renaissance-style) earrings I've seen in photos and in museums.  

Below are examples of variations of the same cross motif.  The first pair (left to right) is a simple quatrefoil shape, not unlike the window beads pictured above.  The second pair below also reflects the cross motif, in two ways:  with the petals and the pearls. And the third pair is obviously a cross. Each of these three examples also have a central focus where the arms of the "cross" would meet: the first pair has a tiny quatrefoil flower at its center, and white pearls sit at the centers of the other two pairs.     

                                                         

I had a beautiful pair of small rainbow Goddess charms by KristiBowmanDesign, and just for fun I laid them on my work table next to two of the blue-green window beads, and I had a feeling I might have something special.  💗

I added a pair of beautiful three-sided iris-colored Czech glass window beads, and small gleaming lights of glass and crystal.  

Thanks so much for reading!
I'll be back again on September 12.

xoxo
Meridy 💗
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😊

Vivid!

Hi, everyone!  This past month has been a tough one, with a major household upheaval and the death of a beloved family pet.  💔   So I'll keep this short, but I'd love to show you all some recent earrings.  

The focus of the first pair (below) is a classic polymer clay design by Helena Benkoczka, pretty stylized feathers in violet, fuchsia, purple, and gold.  I paired the feathers with deep-blue lampwork glass rondelles, fuchsia Czech glass rondelles and Swarovski bicones, and gold accent beads, and tied the earrings together with fuchsia linen thread.

Kristi Bowman-Gruel's vividly colorful dotted-and-swirled painted copper charms (below) are so colorful all by themselves that I couldn't resist adding even more color and texture.  Even the little green Czech discs are dusted with gold, and Beth Mellor's rosy rondelles have subtle little dots.  A little over the top?  Well, maybe...  😉💗

Thank you so much for reading!  I'll be back in a couple of weeks.  💗

xoxo
Meridy

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