THE PARTY OF SPRING

The start of spring, the Easter holiday and the awakening of all beautiful flowering trees and flowers really get my color juices flowing.  So, a couple of my new earring designs to get this party of spring started...

WRESTLING AN ARMADILLA!

Man oh man!  To say this was a time consuming piece is an understatement!!  But, in the end, I must say, worth all the effort!  It's a bracelet design by Carole Ohl named Armadilla.  Since this is my blog, I can whine about the time I allotted to the individual pieces of this Armadilla... which I think look totally like "rolly pollies".  Unfortunately, for a few of the rollies... I wasn't paying close enough attention, and had to dismantle them since they weren't right.  And, as I neared my last rolly pollie, one of the bars broke as I threaded my needle back through it, which caused me to place all the pieces into a sack for a few days.  But, alas, I finished it, and it does feel oh so heavenly on my wrist.  It's a fun pattern - which I can say now that I've completed it.  But, to make more?  Probably not in my near future!  The pattern calls for 2-hole crescents, 2-hole bars, 2-hole tiles and 3mm fire polish.

NEW EARRING INSPIRATION!

Not colors I would have necessarily chosen, but I received a special order request for bright primary colors, so I gave it an honest try and ... judge for yourself below, but I can honestly say I think these turned out beautifully.  I'm going to make myself a pair too - I think the colors combine incredibly.  The first pic below is indoor light, and the last few are outdoor natural.  It truly makes a difference in how the colors come through.

SPRINGIN' EARRINGS

New beads and new patterns keep it all fresh!  In that vein... using the new 2-hole CzechMates crescents, on a loverly afternoon with my beading sistahs, a pattern by TrendSetter Nichole Starman called "Chrysanthemum".  Try to say that quickly three times... and then, try to spell it without looking!  Nichole's pattern was for a bracelet, but the components make darling earrings, so that's where I got off the train.  Love these springs colors...and the blue on blue tones at the bottom. An issue for me again was working the pattern tightly so my thread didn't show (and I'm a tight beader!).  I struggled with that until on the final set, the blues at the bottom, I went around each section twice, and inserted 15.0 on either side of the 6mm.

DESERT DIAMONDS!

A FUN design by Shae Wilhite, which she appropriately named Desert Diamonds.  In a group with my beading sistahs, as I like to call our close beading ensemble - we tackled this lovely pattern, which was published in Beadwork back in October/November 2014.  I do not remember seeing this wonderful pattern.  Sharon used some beautiful colors in her version of the design, which we all fell in love with.  I used very similar shades, but changed it up just ever so slightly.  The colors are hard to describe, but probably more to the pinky/peachy side of coral with a darker shade of rose/coral, and some turquoise.  The 11s that attach the triangles around the outer edge truly make this pattern flow wonderfully.  The only thing I didn't love is that the thread shows around the diamonds and the superduos, and there doesn't seem to be any way around that.  But, I'll be making more of this design.  I did also love that my Indian chief button fit the design perfectly, as it's one of my favorites...