Took me a while to get this one just right, but here it is!
The focal and clasp accent are fluorite, and they go nicely with the glass seed beads and glass pearls. Silver-plated chain and findings “round” this one out! (Get it? Because rings!)
A companion set of earrings for Week 10’s necklace! So fancy!!
I’ve been amassing a hoard of components for this challenge since…week 6, maybe? (The pic below is from March 17th, so about a month ago, yeah.) I saw these beautiful glass beads in my stash and knew I HAD to use them in something soon.
Here’s what happened. I’m pretty much in luuurve with this piece. I used copper beads and copper/copper-plated findings with glass beads and a blue aventurine donut. I stalled on the design a few days back, but after staring at it for a while, I was able to get back to work and turn it into something amazeballs. I think I’m gonna do a two-fer again and make earrings to match this bad boy for week 11.
Finally got to finish these! I’ve been waiting to use these green aluminum earwires, and Week 9 offered the perfect opportunity.
The beaded beads are flat even-count peyote (curled and stitched to make tubes). The green gemstone is dyed mountain “jade” (I think), which is a dolomite marble from Asia. The round drops are mother of pearl.
These colors make me think of iridescent mermaid scales. 🙂
True to form, the North Carolina winter is keeping us on our toes. We’ve gone from 50s-70s the last couple of months to bitter cold, ice, and snow in the last few weeks.
The birds apparently love us best, since we’re keeping our feeder full. We added a suet cake and it’s taken the birds several days to give it a shot, but now it’s bringing quite a few new species to our balcony!
I counted 13 species today during the snow, including 2 species that I only saw on the ground below the feeders (American Crows and Eastern Towhees). Here’s a rundown with pics (not the best quality…sorry)!
House Finch (male) — These guys are regulars around here all year. They’re not nearly as annoying as the House Sparrows we had in Massachusetts. The males are a lovely shade of pink, and they sing their little hearts out.
Carolina Chickadee — Another resident species, and Peter’s favorite bird. 🙂
Tufted Titmouse — Arguably the best bird name ever. We see these guys all the time! They’re the first ones to yell at us through the window when the feeder is empty.
Carolina Wren — Another tiny resident with a lovely song. We’ve seen them sneak into our screened-in porch to snap up bugs.
White-Breasted Nuthatch (male) — Another bug-hunter! They have a distinctive call.
Northern Mockingbird — This is probably my favorite bird…there’s nothing like waking up on a warm Southern spring morning with a mockingbird singing outside your window.
Dark-Eyed Junco (male) — We don’t see these guys terribly often, but they appear occasionally year-round.
Downy Woodpecker (female) — This shy species is another that we see every once in a while, usually from a distance.
Red-Bellied Woodpecker (male) — These noisy guys seem to love dried fruit more than suet or meal worms! We have two visiting our feeder recently, both males; one is noticeably larger than the other (smaller one pictured).
Pine Warbler (male) — This is a new species for me this winter! It’s so exciting! I thought at first he was a Goldfinch until I really paid attention. (We have had Goldfinches recently too, but none today.)
Yellow-Rumped Warbler (female) — My second new species this winter! This little lovely puzzled me at first. Her most prominent feature when I was observing her was the bright yellow area at the base of her tail, on her back. Turns out it’s her namesake!
