Last brick stitch for a while... I promise!

You may recall my other forays into brick stitch.  If not (or if you're new here - welcome!), click here and here.  The second post is more pertinent to today's topic than the first one.  To recap, I'm going to teach a brick stitch project to the Loose Bead Society of Greater Milwaukee at the March program, and I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to teach.  I want something a little different than I've seen online, and I want to teach increases and decreases.

I got some supplies from Fire Mountain Gems and Knot Just Beads and finally was able to sit down with them last night.  I determined that the beaded bead idea will not work.  With increases and decreases it looked too odd and was getting to be too complicated and time-consuming.  So I simplified my original plan and stitched up two different colors with two different "bumpy" beads in the middle:

The stitched bit is attached at the top corner only so it will swing during wear.

I made a sample using 4 different kinds of "bumpy" beads - large (possibly Japanese) drop beads, Rizos, long Magatamas, and fringe (drop) beads:

While they're all neat, I like the Rizos (the 2nd row) best.  The Magatamas (3rd row) are look all cool and spiky, but you have to pay attention to which way you pick them up or they won't all lay the right way.  In that sample I had to take out two of the beads and turn them around.  That's not something I want to try explaining in a tutorial.

So, what do you think?  Do the earrings look like something you'd like to try?  Leave me a comment, especially if you're an LBS member.  I'd like the feedback!  Once I get final approval from the ones in charge, we'll start choosing colors and making kits.