We're All Ears: December 2017, Use Your Leftovers

It's time for the Third Annual Use Your Leftovers challenge over on the Earrings Everyday blog!  The idea behind this challenge is to use up some of the bits and bobs that get left behind after your crazy beading sessions... your "craftermath!"  As I explained a bit last year, I don't really have true "craftermath" per se.  While I usually have 3 (or 4 or 5 or 6!) projects mulling around on my bead board at any given time, I'm pretty good at putting away the excess beads from those projects as soon as they are finished.  My problem is all of the piles of half thought out or abandoned projects that got left behind when some other deadline loomed larger.  So once again, I'm taking a stab at getting some of those orphaned earring projects completed!

Here's my new to me old muffin tin that I acquired this summer filled with a variety of earring projects in various stages of thought-out-edness.  (Is that a word?  It's a word now!)  I think some of these were in my queue last year when I did this challenge and I ran out of time and/or energy.  Yikes!!

First up a couple of fairly simple pairs that were special orders that I haven't gotten around to making yet.  (Seriously, people... if you ever need something from me, give me a deadline!  I don't function without due dates.)  One pair is a replacement for a cherished pair of acorn earrings that got left behind by a friend at airport security and the other is a pair to go with a necklace bought at a recent show.

Next, I've got a couple of pairs of beer can earrings that I didn't finish before my last show at Bad Weather Brewing last weekend.  Better late than never!  These two will join the rest of my Upcycled beer can collection at Unearthed Arts in Waconia in the next couple of days..

This next few pairs are the closest to true "craftermath" that I got.  The painted petals were from a big batch of painting that I did earlier this fall.  This was one of the few pairs that didn't get finished and now I'm kind of glad.  Also in my muffin tin were some beads intended for earrings to match a necklace I made for the Art Bead Scene last month.  Well, the necklace sold before I got back to the earrings so I combined some of them with the painted flower petals for a fun look!  I also had some little Czech glass teardrop beads that I had been thinking about a while back... I paired them with some lucite beads that have a bit of a gold sheen to them and some brass findings.  Lastly, I found the cute little Dalmatian Jasper hearts when I was making a necklace with that stone a while back but set them aside to play with and then got distracted... story of my life!  The hearts and the Dalmatian Jasper rounds came from a bead mix from my friends at Allegory Gallery and the lampwork glass is from the Spacer Bead Shop on Etsy (now closed).

I sold out of all of my post style earrings at my Holiday Open House earlier this month, so I thought it was past time to take care of this two lingering project.  (I also really need to get out the polymer clay to make some new color combinations, but that's got to wait for another day!)  More posts soon though!  Hopefully before the holiday shopping season is over, but we'll see how things go.

Lastly, I finally got around to making a pair that I'd hoped to make last December for Eric's Honey Do List challenge.  (You can see it HERE if you want to see my inspiration.)  The cute little wire wrapped sari silk "cocoons" are by my friend Anna Pierson of Saga Hus that I picked up in one of her events over on her SagaHus Components Facebook group.  I added a short length of Arte Metal chain to the links and made dangles from some vintage glass and garnet beads.  

I really wanted to (finally!) finish some of the polymer clay charms that I started at Heather Powers' Inspired by Nature Retreat back in October.  But I just didn't give myself enough time.  Considering that I didn't start making anything until after dinner last night, I think I did pretty darn well!  Stop by the Earrings Everyday blog HERE to see what everyone else whipped up from their craftermath leftovers!