Sunday 14 February 2016

Stacked Earrings Challenge Version 4


Hello there! This is the 4th edition of the Stacked Earring Challenge started by Malin de Koning. It's a challenge where 5 of us, Rebecca Anderson, Heidi Post, Claire Lockwood, Malin and myself send each other a little pack of beads and see what we can come up with. It's all about earrings!



The idea of the challenge

We each take turns sending a pack of beads to the group and design 
as many or as few earrings in a stacked style. We try to use at least
3 types of beads from the pack in each pair of earrings.


This time around, it was Rebecca's turn to send out the beads. And I have to say, they looked very like Rebecca's style to me! Colorful, fun beads, unusual and sweet. I made four pairs of earrings for the challenge, but first, here's a photo of all the beads.




I was very excited about these! I had so many ideas while digging through this stash, but I narrowed it down to four that I finished. For all of the earrings I made, I used solid copper and made my own earwires to suite each pair. In order of creation...








These tropical beauties have a stacked trio of beads from Rebecca's stash plus a pair of fiery orange roses by UK lampworker Earthshine Beads. I have had these roses for some time. I think they were waiting to be a part of these!

Next up is a very simple stacked pair made entirely of beads from the pack. I used the gorgeous glowing purple glass, wood beads, tiny spacers and rubber rings. The rings are so neat, but a pain to keep patina off (any tips?). I may have to rethink these.




My third pair of earrings incorporated more of the purple beads. Oh yes, I do love purple. These are a sleeker look than my others. I used slender pyrite gems, a duo of blossoms and tiny purple wooden beads (I LOVE these!) from the challenge pack.





Finally, these super funky earrings. Very unusual for me, but why not...I used the large glass blossoms, adorable ladybirds, acid green flowers and some smaller beads from the collection. I added in some green howlite and rhinestone chain from my stash.





Finished with twirls of copper and wire wrapped earwires. These look huge, but aren't very heavy because of the slim components. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I made! I have many more to finish. Thanks so much, Rebecca, for the beads and Malin for starting this great challenge! Until next time...




13 comments:

  1. That first pair are corkers! So tropical! They're all great; as ever it's fascinating to see how we've each used these beads differently. And I love what you did with the ladybirds - how neat and sweet are they?!

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    1. Thanks so much! I loved seeing how different everyone's designs were, too. I wasn't sure about the ladybird earrings at first, but they're growing on me!

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  2. I agree with Claire, that first pair are absolutely blooming fantabulous! Linda's flowers just make all the elements pop together so well. I agree with you too, about those rubber O rings. I haven't used them for a few years, so perhaps it's an age thing (I don't remember them being quite such a pest before!) but I ended up having to chuck out my own large turquoise pair as I just couldn't get them to clean up. The smaller ones I just used a baby wipe on, but perhaps alcohol could be the trick for the more stubbornly patinated ones? Who knows. I found them really fun to play with again so I might give that a go! Thanks so much for being patient whilst I took so long sending out the beads! I am loving seeing what everyone has created with this batch :-)

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    1. I will try that, thank you! It could be that the rubber doesn't age well. I might try cleaning them up and sealing them. Thanks so much for the gorgeous beads! I've always loved your bead choices.

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  3. What fabulous earrings! Love the colors and shapes you worked into each one. I especially like the lady bug ones, so sweet!

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    1. I'm big on color and shapes! Thank you, Beti!

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  4. Nice collection of earrings! It may look different in person but the rubber looks just fine in the picture...a little rustic maybe? I love the last pair with the ladybugs...very nice job using those!

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    1. Thanks, Cory! The rings do look a little rustic. It's just different than I wanted them to turn out. A happy accident, maybe?

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  5. I saw that first pair and immediately loved them. The orange flowers really bring so much to the design. Then I kept going, and really liked the next two. But when I got to the end, I was so tickled by the ladybug pair! The rhinestone chain just makes the whole thing perfect. I've never known how to deal with that stuff, but now you're going to make me try. I have quite a bit from old broken pieces.

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    1. Thanks, Heidi! And yes, rhinestone chain is awesome. You can get fold over ends for them, but I wire wrap them.

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  6. Each pair is very delightful Leah. I am totally inspired by all what you made. That first pair has such a great color scheme. But wow, the ladybirds pair! I just loooooove how playful and ingenious they are. Very clever, and so attractive.

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  7. What fun these are! I'm totally digging the ones with the pyrite. Simple, sleek. . .and that purple is divine! As for your rings ones, I was admiring the distress look of the rings wondering how you did that before I read that it wasn't what you wanted. Oops! As such, I have no tips to prevent it (maybe coat the rings in something first...mod podge or some other sealer). I dunno. Anyway, lovely job!

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    1. Thanks, CraftyHope! I do like the rustic look, but it was a shocker at first. Maybe I should just embrace it. And yeah, that purple is my favorite, too!

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