Ready to play the
Leftovers Transformation Challenge? Of course I had a Christmas concert tonight until almost 10pm... and then I stepped in to help out a fellow editor over at the Art Bead Scene by taking her slot for the Inside the Studio... which didn't leave me much time (I don't even want to tell you what o'clock it is now... let's just say I am closer to waking up to start the day than sleeping!). But that is the whole point of this monthly exercise... to make it a quickfire challenge, something that you dive into and not overthink. And that is exactly what I did. But in addition to doing the earrings for this challenge, I did the same process and made a necklace that I plan to gift to my sister for her upcoming early January birthday. So it works not only for earrings, but other things as well!
Let me recap what the process is...
First, take a picture of the craftermath from your bead feast.
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I am not even sure that I have six square inches to bead on! |
Shocking. I know! And this is but one corner of my rather large studio space. Lots of craftermath to work with for this feast!
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I have many of these trays filled with treasures waiting to be loved into being.... |
Next, find a divided box, bin,
baggies or small bowls and go through the stash on your festive table
picking out coordinated sets that you can use to create earrings.
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I managed to find an unused one (!) so I filled it up with pairs of art beads I thought I would work with. |
Now, kick your creating into high gear! I put on a station that Pandora suggested called "Power Up Mixtape." Turns out it was the right combination of Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5 and Gwen Stefani. Once I found the beads I wanted to use, I limited myself to anything else that I could get my hands on that was within reach. That meant that I couldn't open drawers of turn around and pull out baggies from bins. It had to be in front of me.
Then I set a timer for about 40 minutes.
And then I gave myself
two songs (only two!) to create a pair of earrings.
Because I couldn't spend all the time in the world, I just had to barrel through, and I think I came up with some winners!
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A Delicate Balance |
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A Delicate Balance |
I think these glass flower beads are from Nikki Thornburg. I wanted to be able to show the shape of the flower and keep them light. I had a similar pair of earrings on my table that were gifted to me that allowed a flat bead to be fully facing forward. They have a gentle curve. There is a loop behind the beads to make sure they don't fall off...and that would be perfect for adding another dangle!
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Red Relics |
When you have beautiful art beads, sometimes simple is the way to go. These rustic ceramic charms are from Jenny Davies-Reazor. I liked the texture on the rings. That is all they needed.
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Emerging |
Heather Powers makes the most exquisite caned beads. These monarch disk beads are superb. I bought these wood ovals from her as well, and they look like some sort of milkweed pod.
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Peacock Proud |
I am really delighted with how these turned out! I started with swirled headpins from Rebecca Anderson of The Curious Bead Shoppe. Those leaf shapes are hand painted lucite from Heather Steed French at Vintage Meadow Artworks. I topped that with come peacock patterned polymer clay disk beads from Humblebeads and what I call 'oil slick' beads in a warm amber color. (I just realized that there are pretty green and gold... for my favorite team! Go Packers!).. .I think I might just have to keep these!
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Remember Me |
These earrings came together after I made the necklace for my sister's birthday present for the Art Bead Scene. I employed the same technique for working on a tight deadline with the leftovers on the necklace as I did on these earrings. They feature peacock feather polymer clay disk beads from Heather Powers of Humblebeads (have I told you that I own almost every Humblebeads ever?), Czech glass flowers (Kelly loves tulips!), copper, brass and crystal. To see the necklace that goes with this, check out the
Art Bead Scene!
Finally, share your bounty of tasty Leftover Transformation creations on Friday, December 18th with the InLinkz party right here. I hope you were inspired to make at least a few pairs of earrings that might be suitable it as gifts for those on your list! Or to treat yourself!
In the spirit of giving, I will offer a giveaway of a Simple Truths Bundle of the winner's choice from my website, valued at over $40. But
in order to be chosen, you have to participate in the blog hop starting
on December 18th! Winner will be chosen at random from all eligible
entries on December 25th (that will give you one full week to make your
Leftover Transformation magic happen!).
get the InLinkz code
Erin, this is almost beyond my comprehension. You made all of these in that early-morning-before-I-went-to-sleep space of time??? Consider my mind totally blown. Fess up, you can't be human!!! lol They're amazing; you're amazing. Wow. Can't say any more than that as I am almost speechless. :) Love them!
ReplyDeleteI adore all of your creation for this challenge. My eye is gravitating towards those flower bead caps. I must check to see if I have some of those hidden away... if not ...for me to get some. I'm also taken with the simplicity of the lamp work on the curved wire...Love that may have to give that a try too. Thanks Erin for another fun Challenge the more I use up my stuff the happier I am. Especially after have a tough month of health issues. This was just what I need to get the creative juices going.
ReplyDeleteErin, I am truly amazed at your amount of energy! Must have something to do with having younger kids in and around (mine are out of college now). I love your creativity, choice of beads, colors...just love it all. Thanks again for sharing and giving me more inspiration to get in my little studio to create beautiful pieces out of my own craftastophe!. See you around the next bead ��❤
ReplyDeleteFabulous earrings, as always, Erin. I especially love the red relics and the last pair. This was a fun challenge idea. I don't have a dedicated craft space and have to put my "leftovers" and tools away after a session. So, there's technically no craftermath at my place. But maybe the next time I make a necklace or bracelet I will try your technique of setting a timer/song and see if I can come up with some spontaneous earrings before I put my toys away.
ReplyDeleteI'm with everybody else, you are crazy Erin!! I love them all and the fact you put them all together in a snap from "leftovers" make you all the more amazing. I think my favorite are the second to last where you used the headpins from Rebecca in an unusual way. I'd love to pick a few things from that amazing stash. I'm hoping to throw some earrings together this morning so I can participate.
ReplyDeleteWow, Erin, beautiful earrings, thanks for sharing here! I like the Red Relics, oddly enough for the jumprings made with twisted wire. And the words 'craftastrope' and 'craftermath' are going into my brain-file of cool words!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous as always Erin! love your rustic boho look!!
ReplyDeleteThe leaf/oil slick bead earrings are spectacular, Erin. The pictures and process made me happy, happy.
ReplyDeleteI'm used to your crazy last minute antics by now... but what really amazes me is that you limited yourself to things that you could reach. That would never work for me! All of your earrings are lovely... great idea on the first two to highlight the lampwork and I'm totally smitten with the proud peacock pair!
ReplyDeleteI had the best intentions of playing along (I got as far as taking "before" pictures and starting my muffin tin) but some family and kitty health drama hijacked my week and my will to create. I've allowed myself a few, much needed days off and I'm hoping I can get myself back on track here soon. Hopefully I'll move forward with the earrings that I started pulling supplies for and it will pick up steam from there!
All are beautiful Erin. And to have done these in 40 minutes with only things you could reach... amazing. That's true talent to me.
ReplyDeleteDid I miss the who the random winner was? Just wanted to say congratulations!
ReplyDelete