Slowly my stash of these old and worn silver beads gets smaller. One bracelet was all I had from them. I have seven beads of this size left. Seven... huh... But I try to use my precious stash (regardless if we talk about beads, fabric or something else). There is nothing special about hoarding your beloved and special items so that the only collect dust. They should be used and adored ^^ If someone buys earrings made with them, they should be loved! If fabric tears from use than also just because it was loved. If I used a found object that is completely unique than also my creation is unique. It took me a long time to let go of my precious stah.. and yes, some items are still hard to part with (parting as in using not as in giving away or even selling, that is another topic ^^) but I am getting better and better doing this. Why should I use "ordinary" things if I could use these special items? Quite often I kept things just for "the special project" not realizing that I could make every single project special just by using an item I fell in love with!
I learned that the silver beads are actually real silver beads (seeing the patina and how they work during a gentle cleaning I already guessed). A thin layer of silver sheet is formed and filled inside with a kind of resin. I love there worn and torn (yes, had to use these words together!) look, there aged outside, the story they tell... Probably not every one can understand the beauty I can see in this beads especially because they show that they are old and used, because of every dent and scratch. I personally just completely adore them!
The glass beads are from the curiosity kit "Jacaranda" (from Rebeccas "The Curious Bead Shop"). It is a simple stacking of beads and this time also on one head pin (so no movement in between, just with the hook). It is a kind of colour gradient but also the shades of light and dark purple go well together with the aged silver.
You see the colour now? I tried to capture the rich and lush purple. In the evening the flowers look dark nearly black but as soon as you got a little bit of sunlight the colour just shines :)
PS: I just had a last view over this blog entry before I want to set the time to publish it. Normally I take all my pictures at one day and then start editing my blog entries and if possible already set them in advance (put in "try" ^^). Honestly I am a little bit astonished how much I can write about a pair of earrings. I could even go on and on, why the colours speak to me, how I love the unusual but organic shape the combined beads have, why weight of beads is important for their movement... and on and on... But it also shows me why my own work is special to me. My work (with polymer clay, with jewelery, with other media...) evolved and developed over time. I can see how much let alone my earrings change from year to year (and still curious where I will go!). But especially for the last year (plus / minus), I know that in every single pair of earrings went a lot of thought. Nothing is "just combined" because of the colours or shapes or sizes but rather more had a story or an image for me that I wanted to show. Every single pieces shows a little bit of me and yeah, realizing this, that feels good :)
