Bustin' my bead stash, two beads at a time

So, this is my first post on the blog, and I'm afraid it's not going to be as dramatic as some of the other posts, on account of the number of beads I've managed to use for my recent projects. You see, although I do own some seed beads, I tend to hoard larger beads, and these tend to come in pairs. I am obsessed with making earrings for some reason, so to make even a small dent in my bead stash is going to take some work. But we've all got to start somewhere, so here goes.

These first two pairs of earrings were made from beads which were already in earrings - I bought some fab but inexpensive gunmetal and antique brass findings, which I am using to give a new lease of life to some neglected beads in my stash.





The remaining earrings were made from beads in my stash which I didn't think really suited silver findings.

I love these beads, they remind me partly of plum tomatoes, and partly of lipstick - the little dents in the beads are intentional, I didn't prod them to see if they really were toms, honest:



I don't usually like pink, especially such a pale pink, but I think it works well with the dark chain:


These unusual beads have a two-tone effect - when the light hits them, they become a vivid orange colour:


And finally, my favourite colour. I love turquoise and these beads were nestling in a bag of blues, waiting for a bit of antique brass to make them 'pop':



I think that's enough beady waffle for my first post. I'm off to drool over all the gorgeous seed bead creations on the blog now.