To Bead or Not to Bead

Lately I have been extremely into making earrings, as you can see…

All but one of these I've made in the last couple of weeks. I recently got back into bead weaving with seed beads, as you can see by the plethora of earrings done in a Native American-ish style. The one pair of earrings that I didn't make this week is the white and green beaded pair second from the right on the second-to-last row. I made those in high school, probably when I was about 15 or so. Obviously, classic styles never go out of style! That pair inspired several others, and I've really just been having a fun time putting colors together. 

Late last year, my aunt January decided that she wanted to get rid of her extensive seed bead collection, and my cousin Janelle, aunt Jane, and I were the delighted recipients of the collection that we divided up amongst ourselves. I wound up with a case full of beautiful colors. 

Yep, the motherlode. 

My aunt used to make beaded eggs with the seed beads, a very cool small sculpture using real egg shells. I have a few, two are characters I used to draw pictures for: 

Aren't they awesome? I keep them in my china cabinet for all to see. 

My aunt and cousin made necklaces for J out of the beads, and I have been sort of spinning my wheels for months trying to think of what to make, till I finally landed on the idea to make the earrings. And so, the proto-type craziness began. I've completed one pair so far, with two more to go, then I will send them off to her. 

Later this summer I will have my cousin over so I can show her how to make the earrings and also teach her how to use a bead loom. I haven't loomed in years, but it will be nice to get back to my beading roots. It wasn't until college and beyond that I developed my current style; for years and years I worked almost exclusively with seed beads. I recently found my collection of barrettes I made in high school – I will have to take pictures and show them, they are actually quite nice!

Anyway, so I have definitely been bitten by the bead bug this summer, no idea when the desire to knit will return.