BIRD INSPIRATION FOR SPRING!

So many bins, bags, bowls, and containers of all shapes and sizes in my craft room, and I'm taking this opportunity to go through them, very slowly and one at a time, to be re-inspired by all that has been hidden from sight.  With a bit more time to create, more than I'm used to, I'm enjoying it soooo much.  It's such a wonderful distraction and escape... I'm trying to take advantage of that in these very stressful times.  

Here's a sweet combo starting with Humblebeads as my inspiration - birds, nests, foliage.  Perfect time of year to get these out and add some beautiful czech beads for color pop.

I started with the metal copper branch, used some Vintaj paints to give it more of a real branch feel, and wire wrapped the absolutely adorbs bird connector to the branch, using twisted bugle beads.  For the necklace, I wire wrapped a variety of czech glass rondelles, leaves and flowers, with an off-balance look.  So fun! 

For the complimenting earrings, I started with the same twisted bugle beads and wire wrapped them together in a triangle, and then added Heather's beautiful foliage charms, along with more czech glass bead caps and small flowers.

 

 

STITCHIN' EARRINGS!

It's a great time of year (especially since we seem to be experiencing more wintery weather now than we have all season!!) for bead stitching, which translates to fun/colorful earrings and dangles.  Peyote and brick stitch are a nice change of pace, and so versatile - large, small or somewhere inbetween, with just about any design.  Add some fringe to finish the project off, and oh my my... Well, give these a look see and let me know what you think.  A variety of color and size, and all very light on the lobes.

The next two earring designs are my own -- but there are so many variations out there on many different sites or in magazines, the ideas are only as narrow as your own imagination.  I'm especially proud of the first pair - the turquoise and copper.  I started stitching and came up with the design as I went, so it's a JDreams original!  The fringe really makes the design.  The purple color combination is hard to miss, a bit less dramatic design and smaller size, but still gives an incredible pop of bright.

A side by side shot to provide sizing perspective.

 And, below, I thought this view from the end of the fringe was a cool shot!  The turquoise earrings have Super Unos at end of fringe, and the purple earrings have small drops.  I love the change in look by altering one thing (or a few!).

Next, earrings using instruction and design from Jill Wiseman called Russian Leaf.  I struggled with this design at first - it called for 6 lb fireline, but the earrings would not hold any shape - very flimsy - so I ended up cutting up the first earring and redoing it using 10 lb fireline, which was much better and held the dome shape.   

I make all my own earring wires, mostly using copper wire.  Copper is my metal of choice.  And, the wires below are fun with a bead wrapped on top for a bit of extra, and to coordinate with the 6 mm fp in the earring design.

And, last, but certainly not least, this beautiful design from Robin Smith and Linda's Crafty Inspirations blog.  I didn't even notice there was a heart in the original design, but I added a few seed beads here and there to shore up the tension and there it was... one of my most favorite things - hearts!  These are so dang fun.  I added the raku looking rounds with the 4mm marbled fire polish and I think they truly make the combination stand out.