Here's this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:
Since I've been going more monochrome recently, I decided to pop some flowers and color into the mix this month. This is a flower I took a shot of along Hadrian's Wall in England last summer. Back when we could go out and travel. I figure folks can find inspiration in flowers, lichen, colors, etc this month!
I didn't have any beads or pendants with the same shape of flower as these cool ones in Eric's photo, so I focused a little more on colors. I also picked beads with a flower motif and/or shape.
For once I didn't start with earrings... I actually began with a necklace this month. (Perhaps a sign of the apocalypse??) A lovely colored pewter pendant by Inviciti cried out to me the loudest to me of all the beads that I had collected as possibilities this month. My photo does not do the pendant justice with its rich, luminous colors of dark purple to fuchsia, to almost coppery. Purple is one of the toughest colors for me... I often find it difficult to find just the right color beads. Luckily I had a lot to choose from and found some nice selection in Czech glass and Swarovski pearls. There are also some burgundy lucite beads mixed in as well as some more amber toned glass.
Never fear, earrings still happened this month as they remain my favorite things to make and to wear! This first pair features some Humblebeads matchstick charms in a lovely Mulberry floral pattern that I paired with some fun Czech glass flowers and small plated hematite rondelles. The flower beads reflect the color of the sky in Eric's photo.
This second pair of earrings was actually the first project I plotted out but the last that I actually made. Why? you may ask... because I was too lazy to go dig for my sterling silver wire! (My Parawire lives on my rolling cart of essential tools and supplies and is always within arm's reach when I'm working.) These gorgeous kaleidoscopic floral/foliage enameled charms by Blue Hare Art Wear have all the main colors from the inspiration photo. To keep things from getting too heavy, since the enamel is substantial, I added some lovely moonglow lucite that I got in a mix from my friends at Allegory Gallery. The pewter bead caps match the leafy portion of the charm design too. I'm super happy with how these turned out.
Now it's your turn! Please add links to/photos of your own creations below. I love seeing what everyone else is making too! Check back on August 1st to see what Eric has in store for us next month!