OTTBS Earring Challenge Catch up - Weeks 3-8

I finally caught up with the earring challenge, please excuse the photo's, the lighting is awful, something I will need to work on again.

Week 3


Week 4


Week 5


Week 6


Week 7


Week 8


Happy Beading!

Sarahx

OTTBS Earring Challenge Week 2 - Necessity Is The Mother of Invention

I have snuck in at the last minute to complete this weeks pair of challenge earrings. I was struggling to come up with a design this week as I did not want to beadweave. Also my supplies are sadly lacking, I had sterling silver earwires but no chain or headpins. Gunmetal chain and headpins but no earwires and my gold plated, brass and copper findings are in a similar state! I really must do a bit of planning for the next 50 weeks.



So I had to be a bit inventive with what I had, I used silver rings to tie in with the colour of the earwires and added clear and matte grey firepolished.

Happy beading!

Sarahx

OTTBS Earring Challenge Week 1 - Miss Adler

I mentioned yesterday that the Operation Tackle That Bead Stash Facebook Group is holding a year long pair of earrings a week challenge. The challenge is being organised by Clair from Obstinate Pursuit inspired by Beading Daily's January daily earrings challenge, which many of us were unable to commit to. A pair of earrings a day for a whole month would be impossible for me to complete but one a week is doable, I hope!

These earrings were inspired by a character from episode 1 of the new Sherlock Holmes tv series on BBC1. Miss Adler was a serious femme fatale who exuded a certain vintage style glamour, so I wanted to make something that had a vintage look to them. I started with large cream faux pearls, bezzled them with bronze delicas and then added picot edging and incorporated Cyclamen Opal Swarovksi 4mm bicones for a little splash of colour.

Happy beading!

Sarahx

Bubble Flower Earrings

Last weekend I made it my mission to bust my stash of Miyuki drop beads. These are one of my favourite types of beads, but I rarely use them for anything other than spiral ropes bracelets. I decided that it was time to rectify that and came up with this pretty textured flower earring design. They are so tactile. The tutorial is fairly easy t o follow, though I probably wouldn't recommend for an absolute beginner to beadwork as the work is pretty dense toward the end so someone new to beading may have difficulty with weaving in the ends.



Happy Beading!

Sarahx

Everybody's Starry Eyed

Or eared and wristed in this case. I have been have lots of fun with this little design that I first made as a gift for my manager in work. I have lots more ideas and the pattern may be available soon.






Happy beading!

Sarahx

Peacock Feather Earrings

One of my favourite inspirations is the peacock, the colours in their feathers are just so beautiful! I have made a few patterns over the years but have always wanted to design my own pattern and I have finally done it. These earrings use tubular peyote and herringbone. This is now my fourth pattern available in my Etsy shop, very exciting!



Happy beading!

Sarahx

Bead Embroidery Obsession!

After years of sticking my fingers in my ears and saying "la, la, la" whenever anyone mentioned bead embroidery, I have finally succumbed! And of course, I am completely obsessed. Some of my Facebook friends finally convinced me to have a go and I am so glad I did. It is really not as complicated as I thought it would be and so versatile. At the moment, I am still exploring circles, you probably already know that they are a favourite of mine.

Peacock Earrings

Purple Daisy Dot Hair Clip

Happy beading!

Sarahx

Going Around in Circles

Hi everyone, its been a while!

It's been pretty busy around here so I have neglected blogland a bit. I'm spending some time catching up with everyone while my son has a playdate with his friends and thought it would be good to show some of what I have been up to.

I have moved from an obsession with circular netting to an obsession with circular peyote! I am also trying to work more in series and so far have 2 series. The Camelot series inspired by the ladies of King Arthur's court and have so far beaded designs in colourways inspired by Viviane, Ygraine, Guinevere, Morgan and Nimueh. The second series is based on birds and so far I have peacock and Raven with Dove, Flamingo and Robin to follow soon. Here are a few of the pieces for you to see;

Viviane Necklace

Peacock Earrings
Nimueh Earrings

Folksy July Jesters

I recently opened a shop on Folksy ( the UK equivelant of Etsy) and I have joined the July Jesters which is a monthly listing club. Members of the club try to list at least one item daily and support and promote each other. I will be featuring other Folksy sellers from the Jesters in July but thought it would be good to start with a catch up of my 1st 5 items


July 1st -Blue Sky Earrings.
July 2nd - Negative Space Earrings

July 3rd - Bluebell Woods Necklace

July 4th - Urban Greys Bracelet

July 5th - Copper Swing Earrings

If you want to have a look at my shop, here is a link->
http://www.folksy.com/shops/aprilisforever

Pretty Flower Earrings

I am having a pink and green moment! Here are a pair of pretty pink and green earrings. Lucite flowers, green firepolish beads and sterling silver. I think I need a pair of these myself, they are perfect for the glorious sunshine we are having today!