Stacked Earrings Challenge - the fifth and final round!

I am sad to say we're finally at the end of the Stacked Earrings Challenge started by Malin de Koning. This is the 5th and final round! The original idea was for a small group of jewelry makers to send each other a selection of beads. The challenge is to create at least one pair of earrings with at least 3 types of the beads from the pack.

This time, it was Heidi's turn from Ex Post Facto Jewelry. I personally found Heidi's pack of beads so fun! I immediately made two pairs and sadly didn't have a lot of opportunity to make nearly as many as I wanted. In all, I finished three pairs, but I'll definitely be heading back to this stash soon!

Here's a photo of everything Heidi sent:

Photo by Malin de Koning

Aren't they fun? I was drawn to the purple and orange, tiny faceted metallic, and old (African trade?) beads. I only finished three pairs of earrings, but I had so many ideas from this selection.

The very first pair I made used only beads from the pack. They're made with the plump orange beads, rhinestone spacers, green stones, copper tubes, a pair of faceted gems, and those teeny tiny metallic beads.

Next up I went for purple. I've been experiencing purple mania recently, so I pulled out the dyed wood, faceted glass, some complimentary mint colored beads, and decorative bead caps. I added my own enameled twisted headpins for extra fun!

Last and most favorite is the third pair I finished this week. I love to mix a bit of grungy metal with sparkling stones and just a pop of color. At the top of the earrings is a tiny stack of the old striped glass with the faceted metal beads. I wire wrapped hoops of copper and dangled African Krobo beads beneath them with a chain of the rock crystals from the pack. 

Thank you, Heidi, for the super fun beads! All those tiny beads were so useful and perfect for adding extra little details. And a huge thanks to Malin for starting this wonderful challenge! It's been fantastic.

Check out what the others made on their blogs!

Malin de Koning

Heidi Post

Claire Lockwood

Rebecca Anderson

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...

Malin de Koning

Rebecca Anderson

Claire Lockwood

Heidi Post