Week 3: Earring a Day Challenge

Despite having a case of the sniffles this week, I perservered by making one earring a day. My hands are itching to make bangles and long beaded necklaces, but I'm gonna see this earring thing out to the end. And since I came into the game on the 7th of January, I'll be earring-a-day'ing it until February 7th to make up for it. So, here are the week's spoils:

Sunday

Sunday brought simple elegance. I love the rich tone of the faceted purple glass and the simplicity of the Magnesite button.



 Monday

This earring revolved around the large disc between the blue and yellow beads. I love the whimsy of this pair.



Tuesday 

After staring at a soda can for a while, I decided to make these fan earrings. I love the simplicity of the design.



Wednesday 

These were a wirework exercise. I really like the colors, but am not sure the copper works.



Thursday 

Thursday brought fashion inspiration from my own closet. I bought this cute peasant blouse from Macy's and wanted some earrings to go with it.



It was nice to be back with needle, thread, and little seed beads. I really like how these starbursts came out.



Friday 

This is the result of sick + Nyquil + staring at mixed beads. Not necessarily my faves, but at least it's a pair of earrings.

Saturday 

This is a variation of Thursday and Friday's earrings. Feeling a little better, I had a fun time making these funky mandala earrings.



Well, that's it for week 3. Be on the lookout for what's up Week 4.

Earring-a-Day Challenge Week 2!

Well, week 2 of the January earring a day challenge has come and gone. If I thought the first week was a doozy, the second week brought even more challenges. I really enjoyed the creativity that came up this week, and I was even able to get in two style challenges. I did, however, have one day this week that was just an exercise in putting together some beads and attaching a hook. All in all, the challenge is going well, but I am counting the days. Here's the spread for the week:

Sunday

This is a design that I saw online and wanted to try.



Monday

I wanted something funky and earth toned. I love how the handpainted yellow wood bead adds pop.

Tuesday

Tuesday brought this sorbet colored gemstone confection.

Wednesday

Wednesday was a long day for me. These simple monochrome drops were all I could muster.

Thursday

This I <3 the 80's  spread in an old Lucky magazine was the inspiration for Thursday.

I love the bright colors, and the squares are made of an upcycled soda can.

Friday

I loved the Thursday's style so much, that I decided to do a reprise in purple tones.

 Saturday

I love the colors in this fashion spread in an old InStyle magazine.



These funky art deco earrings make me think of summer and are made of upcycled soda can.



So that's all for this week! Bring on week 3!

Earring-a-Day Challenge!

Well, my first week in the earring-a-day challenge is complete. This week has been very eye-opening for me. As much as I love to wear earrings, I never really realized that I don't make a lot of earrings. In fact, these past few months I've been almost exclusively rings, bangles, and necklaces. I agreed to do this challenge, though, so I gave it the old college try. I didn't have a lot of time for crafting this week, so I mostly stuck with wire, beads, and components pieces. I'm hoping that this week coming I can get into some more complicated seed beading, but only time will tell.

Sunday's Style Challenge:

Here are the earrings I wanted to copy.

Here is my version.

These earth toned wheels add a bit of funkiness to any outfit.

Monday

I love blue goldstone. Looking for inspiration, I saw these rounds twinkling in my gemstone box and couldn't resist.

Tuesday



These simple beaded numbers were inspired by my friend's five year old son and the big box of mixed-up seed beads on my table.



 Wednesday

I had so much fun making these wire flowers. I don't have a jig, so I made them by hand. I love how delicate they are.

Thursday

These little numbers make me want to put on my salsa shoes. I love the flecks of color in the odd shaped black beads and the sparkle of the crystals.

 Friday



I wanted to work with wood on Friday. I think these simple little earrings have a nice air of whimsy.


Saturday



Saturday had me thinking of cool breezes and lightness. I love the different textures in these earring and the simplicity of the monochrome.



So, that's week one! On the whole I'm proud of myself just for completing the exercise. Stay tuned next week to see where this challenge leads!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all those beaders out there. It's looking like 2012 is going to be a great year for crafting. I have a few projects in the works for the year. Here's what I'll be up to:

Earring a Day

I love Beading Daily. I get their newsletter, post to their forums, and frequently check their site for updates and ideas. I was thrilled to see the "Bead-Along" feature added to the site, and have decided to play along with the earring everyday challenge for January. I got started late b/c I was traveling, but here are my first earrings for 2012.

Upcycling

Recycling is really important to me, and upcycling is a fun creative way to do it. I used to do a lot of upcycled jewelry, and would like to get back to that. I'm hoping to incorporate more soda cans and bottle caps in my work this year. Here are a couple soda can flower rings that I made to kick off the year.

Fashion Forward

You may not be able to tell from looking at me, but I'm a fashion junkie. I love the details it takes to make an amazing collection of clothes. I get a lot of inspiration from the fashion world, and would like to try my hand at some copy cat projects this year. My first stab at this is inspired by these amazing earrings worn by Anya Ayoung-Chee in January's marie claire.

Ayoung-Chee is the most recent winner of Project Runway, a show I love to watch when I'm back home in the States. Here's what my version looks like so far.

What are your crafting resolutions for 2012?