Day 260 - Kenyan Africas

I bought these in Kenya because, as I've mentioned before, I love the shape of the African continent. The texture is fun too. They were particularly apt for today since we had an end-of-year event at work and the theme was Africa. Gotcha coming and going there. Booyah.

Day 259 - black copper stars

I like these rather a lot. They came from the same shop in Kalk Bay as the pair from Day 247.

Day 258 - green and ivory beads

Like the pair from Day 167, these were given to me by my mother. A rather interesting pair I think, though the picture is not of a particularly good quality. Oops.

Day 257 - The lizard and the parrot

Both of these were given to me as orphans by a friend who thought I could still use them despite their being partner-less. But of course. Who says earrings have to match? Plus, the absurdity of the pairing gives me the perfect opportunity to share a hilarious clip from 2008. In Episode 8 of the 45-year celebratory TV version of Just a Minute, Nicholas Parsons went off on an Edward Lear tangent when introducing the subject of "The Owl and the Pussycat":

Day 256 - Celtic knots

These I have owned for absolute ever. They're little, yes, but a big hoop helps there. And they're sentimental. I never got the clichéd Celtic knot tattoo so maybe this is my version.

Day 255 - TARDISes

These are just pure win. They were pendants that were a birthday gift from myself (for an explanation of this, see Day 82). They were the perfect pair to wear when I attended a Doctor Who themed baby shower, to which I even took fish fingers and custard.

Day 254 - Hindu patterns

I like these rather a lot - a very striking pattern. They certainly got a lot of compliments, both from friends and from people at work (which phrasing I just realised makes it sound like I don't have friends at work which I would certainly dispute). One of my colleagues described them as "very Hindu", which is why that's what they're entitled. I suppose I can see the resemblance.

Day 253 - gold squares

I love these. So flash and gaudy. And they make lovely clanking noises. They'd be good game reserve earrings, actually.

Day 252 - chili peppers

My mum and sister bought these for me in Italy when they went on a cooking course in Tuscany. I particularly like the colour and the sparkles they give off when they catch the light. One might say they are "hot".

Day 251 - Chinatown lacies

Ah, Chinatown. You have delivered once again. Nice and cheap and a simple design that is different enough to be fun. Just like me! Well, except for the cheap part; good Chardonnay can be quite pricey.

Day 250 - leopard print thread

Wow, a quarter of a thousand pairs of earrings. I've impressed myself.

There's quite a tragic story behind today's pair, as is hinted at by the picture. They were part of my birthday present from my sister and I was very pleased with them. I love leopard print and this is muted enough that I can wear it without seeming like some sort of 80s throwback.

However, unnoticed by me, the one earring had lost the black bead you can see on the remaining one. This meant that the loop at the top had quite a gap, which the delicate French hook's loop could slip through so that the hook remained but the earring flew free. It happened at work and I noticed the gap as I was reattaching the hook. So I made a note to be aware of the earring and resolved to fix it when I got home. I promptly forgot to be even slightly aware and only much later realised that the earring had come loose again, but I didn't know where. Unfortunately, a thorough search of my car and house turned up nada which means my poor earring is probably languishing on the road between my house and the train station or sitting forlornly on a train somewhere. Sad.

Day 249 - multicoloured thread

These are wonderfully fun and different and attracted a lot of comment. My mother complained that there wasn't any purple on them (sacrilege!) but in fact the very short piece on the lefthand one is a dark purple.

I like the simplicity of these. And the seemingly random colours spreading across a somewhat random shape remind me of the patterns I create when I doodle (usually on my training notes).

Day 248 - black triangles

I don't know why but there's something I particularly like about triangular earrings, especially when the point is at the bottom. I suppose it's more usual to have earrings increasing in size as they get longer so seeing the opposite is different enough to attract the eye. Or maybe I should stop analysing it and just say "I like these".

Day 247 - copper patterns

These are a pretty pair, etched in copper, that I found at one of the many boho shops along Main Road in Kalk Bay. The particular shop I got these from proved particularly dangerous because it had a "buy 2, get 1 free" thing going. Oops, I accidentally bought more earrings again.

Day 246 - long silver fish

A simple pair this, so I enhanced them with a rather more ostentatious earring I made from something my earring enabler bought for me in China:

Day 245 - sun, moon and stars

These are a fun pair from my supplementary collection (for the translation of which, see Day 184). My description of them got me thinking about Game of Thrones, for obvious reasons for anyone who knows anything about the book and/or TV show, and led me to a rather lovely video.

Day 244 - black and silver thread

Since I own quite a few earrings of this type, I was accused when I wore this pair of having worn them already. Perish the thought. Clearly my accuser was mixing them up with Day 46 ... or Day 78. Or even Day 128 or Day 218. Like I said, I own quite a few.

Day 244 - blue and purple feathers

These are fantastic. And they come with a fun story too.

I was wandering around Kalk Bay with my mum (yes, buying earrings) and we went into one of the Boho stores along the main road. The girl behind the counter was wearing a pair of the blue feathers and I was immediately smitten with them. She pointed out that they sold them in a variety of colours. Including purple. Sold!

Suaad (for such was her name) approved of my choice, saying she had been contemplating the purple ones too and had taken an inordinately long time to make the decision. I completely understood: choosing between two such wondrous pairs is an important decision and cannot be made lightly.

At which point, I had an epiphany: if we swapped, we could both have both colours and avoid the decision entirely. Win win! So we did, though Suaad's colleague clearly thought we were both mad.

I think we're geniuses. Thanks Suaad!

Day 243 - brown beads

I bought these from Spree. Oh dear. Now I don't even need to be out of the house to accidentally buy earrings. But it wasn't my fault: I had a voucher. I couldn't not use it, now could I? And anyway, these are pretty. And so are the two other pairs I bought at the same time. Oops.

Day 242 - pink and purple hoops

I think I picked these up at a Crazy store or somewhere equally random. I've been to Crazy stores quite a lot recently, looking for props. I've also been buying reinforcements for one of my colleagues so she can win the ongoing war she has going with the guy who sits opposite her.

Greens are winning at the moment.

Day 241 - blue triceratopses

These came from the same keyring set as Day 209's pink stegosauruses. They make me think of one of my all-time favourite things from childhood ever:

One of the greatest movies ever. Yup, yup yup!

Day 240 - long black chains

I think these are a Claire's pair. I love Claire's jewellery - it's usually fun and different. Which means that the shops are dangerous for me, because I am more than likely to spend rather a lot of money in them. They're like secondhand bookshops in that way. Or craft shops. Or wine shops.

Day 239 - black chandeliers

Another pair that was a birthday gift from my sister. And another example of intricate filigree and beads. The shape and colours of this pair made me think "gypsy" so I Googled "purple gypsy" to try to find some inspiration for something to write. And Google did not disappoint. I discovered a gypsy punk band who have a song called "Start Wearing Purple":

I love the Internet.

Day 238 - circles

I used to love this pair and wore it often, until I tragically lost one of them. I haven't worn it in ages since it's all by its lonesome. But now I have ear cuffs and super fun oversized earrings and have discovered the joys of asymmetrical earring wearing, so this little guy is back in the game!

Day 236 - crystal pendants

These started their lives as pendants that I bought from Woolworths, but since I don't wear necklaces, I felt that they would make much better earrings. They're a tad on the heavy side so by the end of the day it was kind of a relief to take them off, I must admit. Totally worth it.

Day 235 - fronds

Blog caught up! Yes!

I was surprised this morning (well, almost morning, anyway) when I discovered I hadn't yet worn these because these have been in my collection for absolute yonks.

Day 234 - silver circles

These look vaguely Chinatown-esque but I don't think I actually got them from there. Don't ask where I actually did get them from though because I would just stare at you blankly. I have no idea.

They're pretty though. Simple but interesting. The texture is ringing some bells in my brain but the bells aren't labelled so I can't make any connections. Instead, I will plug my latest show since I wore these to build the stage for it on Saturday. The show is The Actor's Nightmare by Christopher Durang, a hilarious absurdist short play that we are doing at the Masque Theatre next week. Gonna be hysterical. I urge you to come and watch it.

 

Day 233 - pink dummies

These were a hand-me-down from a friend who doesn't wear them any more. They're a little small but I just wore them on one ear and offset them with an ostentatious ear cuff on the other so they still work as Kim earrings.

They certainly brought back some memories. I remember plastic dummy accessories as being a big thing back in the 90s, for some reason. Preferably in some sort of garish colour. Why? What on earth possessed tiny prepubescent brains and made these cool? Although, looking at some of the other accessory trends from the 90s, I suppose these are no more odd than most.

Day 232 - black feathers

Feathers are a great material for earrings because they come in all sorts of colours and are extremely light. The only down side is that they tend to be so light that I forget about them and have a heart-stopping moment every few minutes when I think I've forgotten to wear earrings. Either that or the wind blows them up my nose.

Day 231 - red beads

This is another pair my mother gave me because she doesn't wear them any more. I like the colours. And for some reason, the stripes on the bigger beads remind of rock candy,

Ah man. I haven't had rock candy in forever. I better stock up on candy canes for Christmas.

Day 230 - African ladies

I think of these as my African ladies because they remind me of the typical Ndebele bead craft dolls that you see at all the tourist traps.

Day 229 - Möbius hoops

Generally I wouldn't wear hoops by themselves, even slightly more interesting ones like these. Hoops are for framing and adding interest to smaller earrings as a rule. But I stayed with my sister a night longer than I had planned and these were the only unique earrings I had with me so needs must.

They are a lovely pair though, and gave me a bit of a giggle when I Googled Möbius strip to find something of interest to add to the blog. The sponsored result was for Möbius earrings! Google has certainly got me pegged. Unfortunately the earrings in question (for of course I followed the link, like a good Pavlovian Internet surfer) were not only extremely boring and small, but also exceedingly expensive. Swing and a miss there, Google.

Day 228 - long leaves

I think I should class these as part of my supplementary collection because I'm fairly sure I filched them from my sister and that she's going to want them back now. I really like them though so I think I should make it my mission to find out where she got them and get a pair for myself.

Day 227 - green and gold leaves

Green and gold! Thank goodness I had another green and gold pair so I could wear them to support the boys in the RWC semi-final. Which we lost unfortunately. But at least I don't have to stress about a suitably patriotic pair to wear for the final. Perhaps an odd way of looking at it, but I will take the silver lining where I can find it.

Day 226 - bronze butterflies

This is another pair I made myself from things I found at a craft shop. I had to make them because I was missing wearing butterflies but I'd already worn the pairs I had on Days 3, 22, 81 and 89.

Day 225 - Chinatown swirls

Very behind on the blog at the moment - terribly remiss of me. So I am now embarking on an epic catchup, starting with Day 225.

I love this pair, another Chinatown special. It's quite clear that Chinatown is indeed my favourite earring source, second only perhaps to random stuff I just like to turn into earrings.