Captive Crystal earrings #2 - Black and red

Today will be another quick post.  After all my exploits yesterday, I'm in a fair amount of pain.  Some of it is expected after a full day with lots of activity.  On Once Upon a Time, they're fond of saying, "All magic comes with a price."  With Fibromyalgia, all activity comes with a price.  Something unexpected happened, though.  I have some pretty bad eye pain.  My working theory is that my friend's rambunctious one-year-old puppy accidentally kicked me in the eye while she was covering me with kisses.  I don't remember her doing it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't done.  At least part of the time my glasses were off (so they wouldn't get crushed), so it's very possible.  I don't think I need to go to the doctor.  It seems to be getting better, but it's been hurting to look at anything close up for very long.

Pair that with new beads that came in yesterday, and I have a new pair of Captive Crystal earrings to show you:

I need to get some black headpins for this - the silver ones stand out too much.  As before, the crystals don't show through very much when you're looking at the piece head-on.  Let's look at them from the side:

It's still pretty subtle.  When I ordered the beads, I think I messed up.  I bought Siam Thunder Polish crystal bicones, but I ordered the AB finish instead of the plain finish.  I remember thinking that I wanted plain, but I must have clicked the wrong thing.  The AB beads are beautiful, but I think the finish doesn't let the red of the crystals shine through as much as I'd hoped.  I did get some Dark Sapphire non-AB to go with Crystal AB Super Duos, but I might try them with the black ones to see if my guess about the AB finish is right.

Either way, I think these are pretty enough for me to make more components for a bracelet or necklace.  That will have to wait until the Possible Something is completed.

And now I must go rest my eye.  Even though these earrings are quick, I had to strain to see the black-on-black with black thread, and I have a bit of a headache.

The moral of today's blog is to not let puppies kick you in the face, even if they are cute and affectionate.