I'm not sure how to shoot Shida to capture what I love about them, without hiring a model (seriously considering this...). The best of boho SoCal chic, with the push/pull of warm ochres and cool sage greens. Gemstones top to bottom? Nope, you'll find four glass beads included :)
Jadine (already sold, #sorrynotsorry!) I adore the color combination here, the warmest chartreusy green (garnet, believe or not) having a visual conversation with an equally warm peachy pink. Why not let the two hang out alone? Because they would just compete - both lighter tones, both very textured, both similarly sized. So we add a dark (not light), smooth (not textured), small (not medium) bead to the middle. Since the bottom is slightly larger than the top, you want to go with that color family, to give it even more weight. Otherwise, you're just making the fight worse (picture if I'd used a dark coral instead - doesn't resolve the tension).
Sadiya You've heard me go on and on about asymmetrically cut stones, so I'll spare you. You've heard the spiel about these ochres and sage-y blues too, so let's just move on to the next piece, agreeing that you understand how I feel about these :)
Summer Rose Many thanks to my Mom for helping me name these and Jadine. You'll see I'm bringing back the three-part earring, just like Shida at the start of this post. I like the movement this allows, plus the extra length, plus the reliability of wire rather than thread to achieve this effect. (Trust me, if I could figure out a reliable way to pull it off with thread, I'd do that too...) We'll see if this cream quartz / garnet combo resurfaces later, I'm a bit fascinated.
Spring Moss I can't let myself go into my local favorite bead shop anymore, unless I have a specific mission. No matter what, I will buy something. I allowed myself to go to stock up on some jump rings this week that are difficult to find anywhere else, and even with the single-minded purpose, I just, you know... got diverted... and picked up some blue quartz. Because they didn't have the angelite I wanted. None of this is relevant - except that I was looking for another set of moss quartz, since I love how the moss quartz worked out in this piece. No luck. The moral of this story is, if you like something I post, you should definitely get it while the getting's good - I work with a lot of suppliers and the local ones have unreliable inventory. Might never see a pair like this again!
Cheers!
Charity