We’re All Ears – May Challenge

I had so much fun with the We’re All Ears challenge last month that I decided I would try again.  This month the inspiration is Zigzag Nerite shells:

Zigzag Nerite shells - Neritina Communis - from Atlantis Shell Co

Spark of Nehrite

Zigzag Nerite shells - from SeaLifeGifts.net

Oh boy!  This one was a challenge.  I love the colours in the shells but wasn’t coming up with any interpretation ideas.  I was ready to throw in the towel yesterday, the day before reveal, when a bead package arrived in the mail and I came up with this design:

The bulk of the shipment is for a different challenge that I am trying but there were a few other items that I could not resist getting.  One of these was a bundle of ceramic beads with a bird pendant and a small heart pendant.  The remainder were pretty little ceramic beads of different colours and finishes.  All are handmade by Gaea Cannaday.

In that ceramic bead bundle I found the start of my inspiration, 2 ceramic beads of an antique white colour very similar to the white of the shells in the lower picture.  I went dashing through a very large pile of beads I had set aside and found some mother of pearl shell beads in a pretty orange, and picked through them until I found the perfect match to the orange of the shells at the bottom of the picture.

I had the main colours and now needed to bring in the darker complements.  I did this by using some pewter buttons that were stashed away, some very rough cut archeological style beads I had recently picked up and tied it all together with black mousetail and gunmetal ear wires, jump rings and balled head pins.

These earrings and this challenge really stretched me and made me explore a method I’ve never used before.  All that and not a gemstone in sight.

Check out all the other interpretations here.