Contrariwise ramblings

I've got tons of beads that I have stashed away in boxes and bags. Right after Christmas my local bead shop had a sale on all briolettes (teardrop shaped beads) in the store so I bought even more: some gorgeous bright chalcedony, peridots, and bi-color lemon quartz. My favorite was the quartz. The gemstones are wonderfully faceted and an interesting shade of brown/grey and pale yellow.

I pulled out the strand and starting sorting out the quartz. When I bought them, I didn't realized that there was a lot of variability in the beads. I expected differences in color since they're bicolor quartz. But there were subtle differences in size and cut - some were rounded teardrops, others were almost marquise shape. It took me a while to sort them into matched pairs (with a few unmatched singles).

I was happy to find that I had a couple of elongated stones that matched up. They were so pretty that I knew I would have to make earrings that would emphasize the stones. No fancy wirewrapping for them! So I decided to try a style I had never made before: gemstones hung from chain.


These are 2 inches long and are quite a departure in style for me, but I really like them. Very elegant, don't you think?
Just to show you the differences in cut, I have a pair of stones that are almost triangular! I just started these but realized I didn't have any more silver beads to finish them. Aren't they a cool shape!

Check my online shop for these earrings. I'll be listing them once I get some decent photos. (Photography - hate it, it takes forever to get a shot good enough for a listing!)

BTW, if you'd be interesting in subscribing to my blog and receiving it by e-mail, just click Subscribe to Contrariwise ramblings by Email.