Belle of the Ball Earrings - More Samples

I made a bunch more color samples yesterday. I like a few of the colorways well enough to make, but today I'm posting the ones that I probably will not make for various reasons. To give you an idea of how much beading I did yesterday, there are six other colorways that did make the cut and I haven't posted them here. I'll blog about each of them as I make the final pairs of earrings.

There is one earring that I'm showing you today that I will make into a final pair of earrings. I wanted you to see it next to another earring that has the same druk colors but with different seed beads. After making several colorways, I decided to try some more colorful beads to see how they would look with this design. If you're familiar with the kinds of colors I usually work with, you'll understand why I don't have a big selection of brightly colored beads on hand. I did like these turquoise and purple beads together so I made this sample earring first:

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 3mm druks "Fiesta Hollyhock"
• 4mm druks "Opaque Turquoise Luster"
• 6mm druks "Opaque Turquoise Luster"

I like the color combination but I don't like the way that the turquoise druks stand out more than the other beads. The purple druks don't show up well at all. So, I made another sample but used some very bright gold seed beads instead of dark bronze ones.

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Gold" (4202)
• 3mm druks "Fiesta Hollyhock"
• 4mm druks "Opaque Turquoise Luster"
• 6mm druks "Opaque Turquoise Luster"

The gold beads are perfect They are so bright that they tone down the turquoise and there is more contrast between the gold and the purple druks so that they stand out more. Although the colors are outside my comfort zone, I think they're really cute and I will make a pair of the brighter ones. I can always give them to someone as a gift if I decide not to keep them for myself. Below are a couple of photos of them side by side:

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 3mm fire polished beads "Halo Ethereal Cherub"
• 4mm fire polished beads "French Rose"
• 6mm fire polished beads "French Rose"

I think this sample is pretty but it's a little boring and I don't like the opaque beads with the transparent ones. I didn't have the transparent color in 3mm fire polished beads. I also didn't have the Halo Ethereal beads in 4mm or 6mm.

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 3mm druks "Baby Blue Luster"
• 4mm druks "Opaque Amethyst Luster"
• 6mm druks "Opaque Amethyst Luster"

I do like this colorway too but I don't think that I've got anything to wear them with. The druks are somewhat bright colors but the overall look is a lot more subtle than the samples at the top of this post.

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 3mm fire polished beads "Matte Milky Pink"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Opaque Light Beige"
• 6mm fire polished beads "Opaque Light Beige"

I don't care for this sample at all. I think it would look much nicer with all light beige fire polished beads but I don't have that color in 3mm.

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 3mm fire polished beads "Picasso Pink Gold Luster"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Rose Gold Topaz Luster"
• 6mm fire polished beads "Rose Gold Topaz Luster"

This sample is pretty but it's a little too dark and boring.

The free "Belle of the Ball Earrings" tutorial can be found on THIS site. UPDATE: Unfortunately, this pattern is no longer available.