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| One off design with a pair of aquamarine drops I had saved. |
I've recently splurged on some aquamarine chips, rondelles and flowers. I adore aquamarine, but it can be rather expensive.
New beads are exciting, though. I can play around with designs, first on paper then in quick mockups of the actual pieces so that I can see if is works off the paper. This is rather similar to how I work in game design actually. They come together quickly and then I make more polished pairs out of the chosen designs.
Aquamarine looks good combined with sterling silver, but the colours really pop when combined with copper.
Here are some of those first mockups:
I liked the shape of number 1, but felt that the chips were too large for the size of earring I like to go for. I think they started to look a bit clumsy the more I looked at them. Using only three chips like in 4 and adding some more copper gave me a nice balance of the colours, but I don't know, I think the chips still look too large.
2 & 5 was attempts in making hoops that were the right size for the gemstones, but I'm not a fan of big earrings, so didn't fall in love with them.
Which do you prefer?
In the end I decided on number 3. I like the vertical design and swirl detail on the head pin. I also liked the idea of caging the stone from number 4 so came up with a different design incorporating that idea:
I also played around with handmade silver components and the beads cut to a flower shape. I think they turned out very cute and feminine, so I need to make a few more components, so I can put this one in the shop. I love playing with new designs. :o)
