The inspiration for this month’s We’re All Ears challenge on the Earrings Everyday blog was a short animated film about a mystical creature and a young girl. I’m no kind of film critic, so I can’t say why I was so enchanted by this short film. All I can say is, much like our hostess, I’d love to see this made into a full-length feature.
The story takes place in a forest, so there’s lots of nature images and colors by which to be inspired. And I do love earth tones for my jewelry. However, I was more inspired by the misty white-winged mystical creature that came to drink from the well where the little girl was filling a bucket.
Some stills our hostess shared from the short film “Nebula” by students from Gobelins.
Initially I wanted to use polymer clay to make some translucent white feathers or wings as the focals for my earrings. But time got away from me and before you know it, I had to come up with a plan B. I rummaged through my stash and found some wing and feather charms. Then I grabbed my boxes (yes, there’s more than one) of white beads, some wire and some chain.
This first pair of earrings is a very simple design. The silver wing charms are connected to crackled matte crystal quartz beads. I’d like to say I made the sterling earwires – because that would mean I’ve actually started using the tumbler I bought this summer – but in fact I bought them years ago from an artisan on Etsy. She calls them “elfin” or “pixie” or something else whimsical, which I love.
The matte crystal quartz beads in these earrings remind me of the shimmery effect the water had as the creature was drinking.
The next pair of earrings I made uses some silver-colored feathers and a chandelier connector. I don’t know what metal the charms are made from other than not sterling silver. They were in a large box of miscellaneous beads and tools I received from some friends in support of my bead habit. The feathers are wire-wrapped to the antiqued pewter chandelier connectors via white fiber optic (a.k.a. “cat’s eye”) beads. The connectors are attached to silver-plated earwires with a clear aurora borealis bead. I think they look a bit like dream-catchers.
Adding feather charms to the beaded drops makes these chandelier earrings look a bit like dream catchers.
The final pair of earrings are a mixed-metal composition. The assorted shapes and sizes of wing charms are a mix of antiqued silver, antiqued copper, and antiqued brass colored pewter. They are dangling from antiqued copper chain on antiqued copper leverback earwires.
“Broken Wings” earrings with mixed metal charms on antiqued copper chain.
I’d like to thank our hostess, Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati, for yet another fun and inspiring theme. I’m looking forward to what she comes up with for the next monthly challenge. In the meanwhile, I’ll be stopping by the Earrings Every Day blog, um, every day, to see the latest earring designs being shared by our hostess and other featured artists. Oh, but first, I’ll be visiting the blogs of the other folks who are taking part in this week’s challenge. You should join me. Plenty of eye-candy to go around.
What lovely designs you came up with, I really love the last pair with the mixed metal very cool! I think my tumbler is one of my most favourite tools ever, makes things so shiny with so little effort (not a fan of hand polishing)!
Thanks, Niky. I haven’t even attempted hand-polishing. I mostly got the tumbler for work-hardening. The polishing will be the icing on the cake.
All three are Very pretty. I like that I could wear your earrings every day with any outfit. The second pair with lots of dangles my favorite.
Thank you so much, Gloria. I like to call my eclectic jewelry collection “designs for any occasion and every day” so it’s nice to hear someone say they’d be wearable every day. 🙂
I think the second pair is my fave too. I’m a big fan of dangles.
3 pairs – you really were inspired!! Love the simplicity of the first pair, I would wear those everyday, the dazzle of the second pair (for parties) and the boho vibe of the third pair…lovely xx
Thanks, Fiona. I am always inspired to make earrings. That’s one reason I’m so glad I found this challenge. This theme was definitely my favorite so far.
Love your designs! #2 is my favorite — they look so beautiful and fairy-tale like!
Thank you so much, Oksana.
What a great array of earrings you created! I love those white crackled beads. I have a whole bunch and it never occurred to me to use them but they are perfect for this mystical creature. Wasn’t it just the most fascinating thing? I love the very different looks you achieved and I hope you will come back and work out your first instinct, as I bet that would be lovely! The good news is that you can always come back to the challenge if you are in need of some inspiration! Thank you so much for bringing this inspiration to life, Miss Tammy! I hope you will join me on December 5th for the next We’re All Ears inspiration! Enjoy the day. Erin
Thank you so much, Erin. I can’t wait to see what inspiring images and theme you come up with next. And I definitely need to come back to my sketches and original idea for the wings.
Like you I had to resort to plan B, but sometimes we get our best creations that way. I love all of your earrings. The feathers and wings pay great tribute to the magical winged creature, and the white crackled quartz is a perfect choice. May your wonderful friends keep feeding your bead habit! See you next month. 🙂
Thank you, Cindy. It’s great to have friends who enable my bead habit. 😀
Three beautiful earring pairs. I love the designs and they fit the inspiration film so perfectly.
Thank you so much, Alice.
Just wonderful. You capture the feeling of the film so well.
Thank you, Susan. It was a great theme to design for.
Love your variations on a theme! A lovely collection of winged designs. The first pair are beautiful in their simplicity.
A wonderful challenge this month, right?
Thanks, Lynda. Yes, this was my favorite inspiration so far. I think I’ve watched that film at least 6 times.
All three designs are a perfect interpretation for this months challenge! I also like the mixed metal pair of earrings.
Thanks so much, Terri.
What a cool hop! Erin has a great imagination. And so do you!
Thanks, Lori. Erin’s inspiration choices are always fabulous.
Lovely earrings! All of them are wonderful! I love the wings and feather charms! I almost went with some silver feathers too! I just love them! The white crystal is one of my favorites too! Beautiful!
Thanks so much, Cindy.
Love your feather designs and agree — looks like it would be a wonderful feature film.
Thank you, Dix.