Songbeads

Treasuries

2012-02-13T14:20:00.001Z

Sometimes I can be a little slow to catch on. I have recently begun making treasuries on etsy, and I think I may have found a new addiction....here's one I made this morning featuring some of my favourite lampwork headpins. I received some in the post from GardanneBeads and it sparked off a search on etsy. Do you have any favourite lampwork artists? What findings do you love? I'd love to know!

'Lampwork Headpins' by songbead

I am in love with this new-ish art finding - here's a selection of my favourites from all over the world, in all different colours and styles.

Painted Desert Pods- handmad... Genea $30.00	15 Assorted Glass Headpins ThornburgBeadS... $45.00	2 Periwinkle and Ink Handmad... EnchantedCobwe... $6.00	Set of 4 brown and turquoise... stargirljoolz $9.99
Head pins - helix teardrops ... IcedMoments $25.00	Lampwork Glass Floral Headpi... leazinke $5.00	2 Glass Bell Flower Headpins... veeanca $6.00	Headpins - Raspberry Ripple-... Midgetgembeads $6.00
Blue Evil Eye Beads Headpins... NadinArtGlass $30.00	Loribeads -Sterling Silver a... loribeads $40.00	Green Artisan Glass Headpins... NadinArtGlass $12.00	Designer Handmade Lampwork B... NadinArtGlass $9.00
SRA M-Verdi Handmade Glass B... mverdi $96.00	Handmade lampwork glass Bell... feyglass $25.00	Glass Head Pins, Orange and... kimnelson $8.95	FOSSILIZED SAND - Drop Head ... HavanaBeads $10.50

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

soup's up

2012-02-06T18:09:00.000Z

Today I opened two very special packages:

- one from Jade Scott which I'm so glad has arrived - it means I can play along with the blog hop Lorelei is organising - and secondly from my bead soup partner, Queen Bead herself (sorry, truly terrible pun - I'm British, I can't help it ;-)) Lori Anderson.

She was so generous as to send me two bead soups! In really pretty packaging, complete with tiny little frilly circles telling me exactly what everything is.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves. {NB You will notice that the pink soup photo is a little yellow-ish....I took all the other photos when I got in from work today, and then a private pupil turned up for her singing lesson before I had had a chance to fully unpack the pink soup, hence the poor light I had to work with post-lesson!}

Allegory Gallery and i heart macro

2012-02-05T12:46:00.000Z

Available here in my etsy shop

I am part of a really exiting team of designers - the Allegory Gallery Design Team. Every month from February 2012 - January 2013, we're all going to be blogging about new pieces of jewellery we have designed using materials from Allegory Gallery. We are able to combine these materials with those from our own stashes (rather overflowing in my case :-)). Andrew Thornton sent each of us on the team an exciting package of goodies, from his new Gallery and Boutique in Legonier, Pennsylvania. (You can check them out on facebook too and why not like them whilst you're at it? For every 100 new likers they get before the 1st April, they will receive free advertising dollars!)

I started work on my first piece this week. I knew I wanted to use the delicious ice tea lucite rounds that Andrew had selected for me - two sizes, one 12mm I think and the other 8mm - off the top of my head, I am very bad at sizing beads by eye! They are lovely and light, and have gorgeous swirls in them - each one slightly different. I believe they are vintage and I certainly haven't come across beads quite like these before. I have recently placed my first order from earthenwoodstudio.com and thought that this sweet oval key pendant would go perfectly with them. I then did my usual thing of sifting through my messy tiny portable table, covered in beads so that I can't actually work on it, looking for other bits and pieces that would add interest to my necklace. Fat, creamy freshwater pearls from precioussparklebeads.co.uk, fresh linen and hemp cord, some lovely tiny green Japanese rounds also from Allegory Gallery, and it seemed only fitting to use a Green Girl Studios clasp, from Andrew's family. (And by the way, if you are lucky enough to be in the area, I believe that Allegory carries both Earthenwood and Green Girl goodies, along with the ice tea and vibrant green beads I've used here.) I layered some co-ordinating green buttons and for the final finishing touch, I added a very special vintage button that I've been hoarding for the perfect piece....The beautiful rhinestone button was sent to me by fellow AGDT member, Sally Russick of The Studio Sublime, as part of a bead swap that we did last year. I have been holding onto this little beauty for a while and I'm glad it's found it's home here!

Here are some macro close ups:

I took these shots this morning, out on our tiny fire escape to nowhere (it's corrugated iron, tiny, but with no ladder or steps. Technically a balcony I suppose, but far too grand a term I think!). Here's the this morning view from the fire no-escape.

Brrrr! I don't like the cold!The light isn't great at the moment so I really struggled to get a decent shot of the entire necklace. 8 months on, I still haven't fully got the hang of my new camera! It's always reliable for macro shots though, so I am pretty pleased with this collage from Picnik.com. (Anyone else totally gutted that Picnik is closing by the way? It's such a useful tool :-() Hopefully you can see just how pretty all of the components are in these close up shots. Click the button below to see the other i heart macro entrants.

Do also check out the other Allegory Gallery Design Team members. Brenda posted here and Penny put up her post yesterday - others will follow throughout the month.

Genea Crivello-Knable

New rings - and more yellow...

2012-01-31T00:05:00.001Z

I've been going a bit mad making rings the last few nights. I mislaid my mandrel for a few weeks, since taking a rings making class about a month ago, but came across it on Sunday afternoon. Here are three to add to my collection - there's one hiding at the back, very similar to the one on the right. The first one I made was huuuge, so I decided to recreate it higher up my mandrel! Pleased with my colour choices. Mint and strawberry, and look! more yellow. I can't keep away! Reminds me of a lotus blossom or waterlily. The lampwork discs are from Gardanne Glass.

Andrew Thornton Challenge, or More Yellow!

2012-01-30T01:00:00.000Z

So, perhaps I should rename this blog YellowBeads, as that seems to be the only colour I am blogging about at the moment! Today, it's more yellow....this time, from Andrew Thornton's Challenge. Andrew sent us some really beautiful components, the kit remained sight unseen until it arrived with us, so I didn't know what I was in for until it appeared in the post. As I have already said in this post, yellow is a challenge for me.....but one I am trying to rise to more often.

The mystery component was made by Andrew himself, a beautiful bronze pendant, with a tiny tree, it's branches reaching upwards. Combine this with handmade and vintage components and a delicious luxury bead mix and you have a pretty delicious kit in lemon and lime shades.

Immediately I saw the kit, a painting by one of my favourite artists sprung into my mind - The Tree of Life by Klimt. I had it up as a poster in halls at Uni eleven years ago, and in my shared houses the following two years, until it fell apart from being put up and taken down too many times. I really should get myself another print, and put it in a clip frame this time! Until then, this necklace will have to do. It's not got quite as much bronze tones in it as it should (I should have pulled more of them out of the bead mix) but the vibrant yellows and verdant greens which Andrew selected for us are perfect to herald the coming of spring (hurry up! I am ready for more light and sunshine!). I've gone for my currently usual technique of knotting the beads together. I love the drape this achieves. I've layered the pendant with an etched Vintaj pendant and used a clasp from an old bead soup swap, but other than that, the beads are all from Andrew. Thank you Andrew! I have really enjoyed the challenge and am sad I missed the boat with your next one, they have consistently stretched me creatively and I have loved it! Please visit the other challengees here:

Dawn from Morning Glory Beading

Michelle Burnett

Pine Ridge Treasures

Rebecca Anderson (you are here!)

Karin Slaton

Cynthia Riggs

Therese Frank

and of course

Andrew Thornton

Vintage Beads from Europe

2012-01-29T17:16:00.001Z

Back in November, the lovely Vente from Vintage Beads sent me a bag of delicious beads, all old or vintage lucite and plastic. A lot of fun! And some real pretties in there. I've picked out some of my favourites and I have finally got around to blogging about them here.

I love the melons with gold lining, they are so retro. And the turquoise flowers...of course, how could I not love these? ;-) And of course, I had to find some red to compliment the aqua flowers. Faceted nuggets. I've also made a ring using some of the beads. Because the lucite is so wonderfully light, I've made a proper knuckle duster! Great fun to wear. And more yellow....turquoise and yellow is such a fresh and sunny colour combination.

Thanks Vente! I love your beads!

Allegory Gallery

2012-01-29T14:15:00.000Z

Please check out Andrew's post here and go and help Allegory Gallery out on Facebook!

A Yellow Necklace!

2012-01-28T00:20:00.001Z

The title says it all! Two jewellery hurdles for me - necklaces and the colour yellow - in one piece. Really, the title should be THE Yellow Necklace, as it may well never happen again ;-) I've had the Jade Scott focal for about a year and finally decided to put myself on the line and USE IT. You know when you're afraid that the piece of jewellery won't be as beautiful as the component? I've had that fear with the love letter for a good while. In fact, I have it with many of my hoarded art beads....but I decided to throw caution to the wind, use it with other art beads (lampwork leaf headpin - Jenni Connolly; lampwork disc Gardanne Glass; verdigris clasp - MissFickleMedia) and embrace the yellow! What do you reckon? I'm pretty pleased with it, partly because it tackles lots of my personal creative fears.

How about you? What colours/styles are your stumbling blocks? Do you battle with them or just ignore them?

Happy weekend!

A Hard Day's Beading

2012-01-25T17:35:00.001Z

This is what you get/need/deserve at the end of a hard day's beading, right?! Today was meant to be a school day, but my voice is still recovering from the flu, and aches after even an hour of teaching singing, so I decided to be sensible and call in sick. But it's not been a wasted day - I've completed my April project for Beads and Beyond. Here's a sneak peek....

I'm on my mobile so hopefully the photos will pop up in this post in a way that makes sense with the words.....! I've used some gorgeous art beads, as usual, but you'll have to wait til the issue's out to see who they are from ;-)

Until then, here's a quick picture of the current Beads and Beyond project.

Featuring Kylie Parry ceramics and Elise Canning polymer clay. I'm particularly pleased with this project, really love the hot pinks and Kylie's amazing peony pendant!

Happy Wednesday everyone.

Bead Soup for Lori - sneak peek....

2012-01-23T23:20:00.001Z

i heart macro

2012-01-22T18:18:00.001Z

A close up from one of yesterday's designs, now listed in le shop.

Sterling clasp from Daisy Chain Designs, copper link from Metamorph Supplies.

Hope over to Studio Waterstone to check out the other Macro-ers.

New Bracelets and Bunny Battles

2012-01-21T22:46:00.000Z

Today was a coooold day in Manchester, as some of you may have seen from my Facebook page! I must have been snapping pictures outside on our tiny balcony (it's more like a fire escape, just one you can't escape from!) for about 20 minutes but they were a long and chilly 20 minutes, despite the layers and woollen cuffs I had on! After 20 minutes, my hands were pretty much entirely numb and the photos were starting to get fuzzy, so I had to call it a day. I don't think the incredibly strong winds helped the cameras stability either! Hopefully tomorrow will include a calm spot or two and I can have another go. Pay cheque at the end of this month is going to include splashing out on a couple of lights so I can get a photo set up indoors. The weather in the UK, and particularly in soggy Manchester, is simply not reliable enough. Too cold, wet and worst of all, dark, for so much of the year. I have really waited long enough to get my ass in gear and sort out my photos so February it is!

Anyway, here are some of the photos that I DID succeed in taking. Some better than others, but you will understand why [see above paragraph!]. Amongst other things, I've been working at a few variations of my Gardenia bracelet in various different colours and styles - still all OOAK, but the original bracelet was my starting point. They'll be popping up in my Etsy shop over the next few days but if you'd like one before they are loaded, just leave a comment or shoot me an email :-)

Czech rosebud beads, hand knotted on hemp cord with a Round Rabbit focal that I have turned into a clasp with a twig toggle (£26).

Green Girl Studios pewter fish, Mamacita Beadworks bubble charm, MissFickleMedia verdigris seahorse charm, Pinocean baby lampwork bead, Czech glass, agate, jade and Bali style silver plated brass clasp (£30).

The starting point with this one was the gorgeous pewter fishie - I saw him swimming along a watery, aqua river of glass and metal. The clasp, although silver plated, is of wonderful quality; I picked it up at Yashma Creations and I will certainly be back for more.

Daisy Chain Extra copper clasp, Mamacita Beadworks handcast pewter rose charm (oh, how I love this little charm!, Czech glass (£28).

This one hasn't quite turned out in a way that I am happy with, photography-wise. The selection of flowers are, whilst still delicate, a lot more varied in colour, and less washed out that they appear here. This is in fact my favourite (I think!) of all the pieces I have made in the past week or so, I'm disappointed that the photos don't quite reflect it to my liking.

Green Girl Studios baby owl handcast pewter bead, Daisy Chain Extra lovebird copper clasp, earthenware and porcelain beads from Gaea and ChelleV2 (£30).

Jade rounds from a Cup of Bead Soup swap with Jenny (thanks Jenny!), handmade copper clasp from (you guessed it...) Daisy Chain Extra, hand forged copper link Metamorph Supplies, Czech glass flowers (£26).

Handmade sterling clasp from Daisy Chain Extra (Jo's signature daisy), hand forged copper link from Metamorph Supplies, Czech glass, waxed linen cord (£32).

The Czech glass beads in this one are amazing, they have the most beautiful frosted finish. I had the idea of flowers, peeping through the frost over the coming months, when making this one. They are also from Yashma Creations - she has them in a few colours right now, but her bead stock changes often. That's actually one of the things I love about buying from little shops on Etsy - the ever-changing stock, the small batches - even in factory made glass such as the Czech beads I am so in love with, you can never be sure you'll find quite the same beds when you next return.

In other news, Rufus and Lily are not quite best buddies as yet....tonight involved the new girl nipping poor old Mr P (as we affectionately call him, Rufus Pufus, Pootles, Mr P....yes, we are very sad!!) on the nose, to the point of drawing blood! Dearie me. He's fairly nervy now and I don't blame him. Try again tomorrow evening. However, he's been hopping around much more and the interest of there being a new bunny in the room, even penned up, has definitely perked him up, which is great. He's been very depressed since Maisie's death. As have we all. A new cheeky face is a good thing for all of us. Give them a bit of time, and I am sure Lily and Rufus will become friends. Let's hope so anyway!

Hope you are all having a great weekend and there are no animal brawls going on in your neck of the woods :-)

New bunny take 2!

2012-01-20T12:15:00.001Z

So for one reason or another, we weren't able to adopt little Meadow who I blogged about the other day. I took down that post as it was making me sad to look at her sweet face. However, we WERE able to pick up Lily yesterday afternoon! So meet the new member of our family. She's safely ensconced in her little pen for a few days, until she feels settled, then we'll begin letting her out for short periods and introducing her to Rufus, who you can see skulking at the back :-) So glad we have a new friend for him, hopefully it'll bring him out of himself soon.

Some new bracelets, and colour questions

2012-01-13T18:48:00.000Z

This year has been quite a funny one so far. We are still feeling the loss of our little baby girl and things just feel a little out of sync. But I've been trying to sit down and create when I'm in the right mental space and it does help. Bead therapy, eh?! As usual, I seem only capable of creating bracelets and earrings - I find necklaces so challenging! Maybe it's because I rarely wear them, I'm not sure. Anyway, after a few days of making bracelets and earrings, I decided I just had to at least try and make at least one necklace! I actually have managed 5 (five!! Count them!) necklaces, over the past three days and I am quite pleased with most of them (one needs to be taken apart and redone but even that, I think is essentially ok). but as usual, I can't manage to take photos of them that look any good! So they will have to wait for another day.

HOWEVER, I have managed a few half-decent photos of the bracelets. (And PS, if anyone has any top tips for photographing necklaces and earrings, please leave your comments below! I struggle...) Here's one I posted on facebook the other day, with a clasp by Jo of DaisyChainDesigns and an antique copper link by MissFickleMedia. My 2012 jewellery resolution is to be more adventurous with colour. I so often stick to monochromatic colour schemes (or turquoise and red of course...!) and whilst i do love them, and the textural possibilities they offer, I want to branch out. Two people who I really admire for their colour choices are Malin and Lorelei. They put things together in such a beautiful way. And I'm going to use Design Seeds as inspiration also (thanks, Erin!) So I'm trying to branch out and this bracelet was one of my first goes at that:

Gardenia

I've had some pretty positive feedback on it via Facebook, and I am quite pleased with it myself! It's a little different in design from things I've done before, so I'm pleased with that too. And isn't Jo's clasp stunning? I love working with them, they really make any piece pop. She's got a really good selection available here.

Another colour branch out for me is Sun Street. Originally I thought Rainbow Street, but then I noticed that along with Elukka's gorgeous house being in sunset tones, all the Czech ovals have little suns pressed into them, so Sun Street seemed more appropriate. What do you think of these colours? Do they work for you? I am quite happy with them but they certainly are out of my usual colour comfort zone!

Sun Street

Elukka's houses just kill me every time - they are a real staple for me at the moment. In particular, this sunset orange glaze, absolutely gorgeous to my eyes.

How do you all feel about colour? Do you have certain combinations that you always fall back on? Do you instinctively know what goes together, unlike me?! I am so interested to hear your thoughts - I love colour, but it's something that I find it easy to be intimidated by.

Hope you are all gearing up to a great weekend! We are off to our friends Andrew and Tom's camply fantastic WInter Wonderland belated Christmas dinner tomorrow and it's always spectacular. Will be great to take our mind off the past two weeks.

Jelly Flower Earrings

2012-01-06T17:17:00.000Z

Hand crafted stoneware bead caps from ChelleV2, hand forged antique brass ear wires from MetamorphSupplies, Czech glass, waxed linen cord. I think I was channelling Malin when I made these...yellow fuchsias or multi-coloured jelly fish.....you decide. A definite one of a kind. £22, with free postage to anywhere.

Holiday Ornament Swap

2012-01-04T00:00:00.000Z

So here at last are mine and Jen's posts....better late than never. Sally Russick (formerly of Wireworked and now of The Studio Sublime) organised a swap just before Christmas, and sadly the holiday post held up Jen and my ornaments until this last weekend! They arrived within days of each other which was good.

Jen made me this most beautiful, crocheted flower decoration. It's so pretty - all shades of mauve, deep lavender, plum - and completed it with hand crafted spiral decoration and hook. There is no light in our flat at all but I've tried to really capture the colours and textures in these photos. We have decided to keep it up all year round, it's so lovely - it's clipped onto a vase we have with dried lavender so it goes very nicely. A little reminder of all we've been through these past few days; lavender seems an apt plant to attach this to.

Here it is, on my old bureau. It's in the hall upstairs, between the kitchen (to the left) and our bedroom, so we will see it many times every day.

Jen was also kind enough to send me an amazing stash of beads alongside her beautiful decoration - I have really been spoilt! We are in the midst of some full on wintery dark storms here, so my photos of the stash were deemed definitely not good enough for this post....I aim to try again later on and add to this. But THANK YOU Jen for your wonderful generosity.

Please check out Jen's post here, Sally's new, beautiful blog here and the other folk taking part (blog reveal was officially the 17th December) listed below. Thanks for your patience Sally in bearing with us.

1. Sally Russick The Studio Sublime

2. Kim Hora KimmyKats

3. Kathleen Lange Klik Modern Nature

4. Susan Kennedy Sue Beads

5. Jenny Davies-Reazor    The Art of Jennifer Davies-Reazor
6. Christine Altmiller    One Kiss Creations Beaded Jewelry
7. Jeanette Blix Ryan   Jeanette Blix Metal and Wire Jewlery
8. Holly Westfall  Silver Rose Designs ~ Handcrafted Jewelry
9. Mallory Hoffman   For the Love of Beads
10. Tamara Soper  Handcrafted Baubles by Tamara
11. Rebecca Anderson  Songbeads
12. Jen Velasquez Jenn Judd Rocks
13. Jennifer L Justman   Souls Fire Designs
14. Sandi Volpe  Sandi Volpe Handcrafted Jewelry
15. Melissa Meman  Melismatic Eclectic Art Jewelry
16. Hope Smitherman  Crafty Hope
17. Patty Gasparino  My Life Under the Bus
18. Cindy Wimmer  Sweet Bead Studio
19. Erin Prais-Hintz  Tresures Found/ Tesori Trovati Jewelry
20. Alice Peterson Alice Dreaming

Rest in Peace, Maisie Girl

2012-01-02T18:51:00.001Z

My darling little bunny, sweet Maisie, passed away last night. We think she had been poorly for about a month or so, and had also broken her leg and had an operation, so this past month has been particularly traumatic for her. She stopped eating a few days ago but with help and encouragement from us, and syringe feeding her liquid bunny food, we thought she was on the mend. Sadly, we had a trip to the emergency vet last night and despite their best efforts, Maisie passed away.

I can't tell you just how devastated we are. She was and is, so precious to both me, Helen and her bunny companion, Rufus. I am typing this through a haze of tears, in which I have spent most of today and last night. She was the best of pets, sweet and a little bit cheeky, fiercely loving and protective of Rufus, and so changed from her nervous nature when we were first lucky enough to bring her home with us, 4 years ago almost to the day. She was a rescue rabbit and I hope I can say that we gave her a good and happy life for the time she spent with us. Although she was 5 and has always been delicate, none of us were ready for her sudden departure. Helen and I buried her in our garden, next to a lavender patch, this afternoon. We both miss her so much and are struggling to imagine life without her.

Sale time!

2011-12-29T15:40:00.002Z

Woohoo! Just a wee reminder that I have a sale now on in my Etsy shop. Use coupon code CHRISTMASLOVE to take 40% off anything and everything in the shop. Sale is running until the 6th January, when the Christmas tree comes down :-)

Some beady awesomeness....

2011-12-28T20:38:00.001Z

Some gorgeous beady goodness that's on it's way to me soon.....

Radiant Mind (seriously, aren't these the most amazingly interesting lampwork bead finishes you've ever seen? I've got another shot further down too, just astonishing that these are glass!)

Flame Crazy (pretty, shiny, fun, with a Christmas - New Year sale on - what's not to love? :-))

I Make Beads (loved these the first time I bought them, I will definitely be making some Valentine's goodies with these!)

Time and Materials (I have plans for these including some newly purchased Gilder's Paste...)

Bobbi This N That (aren't these just the most amazing and unusual shape?)

more Radiant Mind (fit...!)

ChelleV2 (thanks Malin!)

Tesoritrovati Trovati (I've had this little man in my Etsy cart for goodness knows how long, so I thought it only right that I finally purchase him!)

Miss Fickle Media (The holy Grail of artisan findings and metal work. Welcome back Miss Shannon!)

What's arrived/arriving soon with you?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad.

Christmas Love!

2011-12-25T23:32:00.003Z

2011 has been a really fab year for me and my jewellery. I've started selling at local (and not so local) markets, I'm teaching more classes than ever for The Bead Shop, and opened my little Etsy shop. To say thank you to everyone who has bought from me, peeked in my shop, attended a class, read one of my magazine articles or just read my blog, I am having a little sale in my shops. Use coupon code

CHRISTMASLOVE

to take some money off your purchase at songbead.etsy.com....I'm not going to tell you how much, you'll have to hop over there and enter the code to find out :-) but I will tell you, it's more off than will happen again anytime soon! Thanks to you all. What a wonderful community we are part of; I am eternally grateful.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T23:13:00.000Z

One beady Christmas present! There's a wee blackbirdie to go with her. elisethomas.etsy.com. Beautiful! Hope you are all having a magical time.

New bangle...

2011-12-23T10:00:00.001Z

Lampwork beads from imakebeads.etsy.com, now available in my etsy shop at songbead.etsy.com.

Abs Fifth Day of Christmas

2011-12-21T16:16:00.001Z

If you read my ABS blog post about the Fifth Day of Christmas (see my previous post on songbeads for the link), then you might recognise these bangles and the finished results of the bead soups I pictured there. Lampworks by Moogin and PixieWillow.

And if you want to see someone else's bangle inspired by my project, go and check out my friend Malin's blog (on my blog roll to the rh side). She's made a stunning bangle!

My first Art Bead Scene post!

2011-12-19T22:41:00.000Z

Check out my first ever post for Art Bead Scene! And learn how to make this bangle, ideal for whipping up as a last minute Christmas present.

Holiday ornament swap

2011-12-18T11:01:00.001Z

The very wonderful Sally Russick of wireworked.com has organised an international holiday ornament swap! We had to use art beads in them, which i thought was a lovely touch. I hope she will do one again next year (and still let me play along :-)) because due to life and such other things, jen and my decorations haven't reached each other yet! Very soon I'm sure.... and we'll blog about them as soon as they do!

Until then, I thought I'd share some of the decorations that I'm offering on my stall at Altrincham's Vintage and Craft market today. (They are different from what I have sent Jen so there are no secrets being disclosed!)

I'm on my phone and so will add the list of other participants later, until then please hop over to wireworked.com to check out the other swapees :-)

Thanks Sally!

December 16th Earrings

2011-12-16T23:25:00.001Z

*lots of photographing this morning as (for the first time in December, literally!) I was home during daylight hours
*lots of editing this afternoon
*lots of listing this evening
*one pair of earrings made in my pyjamas, as a 'treat' for getting all of the above done today!

Hope you had a productive December 16th too :-)

Artists Helping Artists Silent Auction

2011-12-08T22:12:00.001Z

Several artists in the handmade art jewellery community have come together to help a fellow artist in need. Sometimes, you hit a bump in the road. Sometimes, the rug is pulled from under you. Sometimes, you need love and support from friends.

I am offering up this handcrafted necklace for silent auction, made in response to Erin Prais-Hintz's Challenge of Color. It contains jade, amazonite, quartz, Czech glass and a beautiful handmade focal from Humblebeads. It is hand wired together using antique brass wire.

Bids start at £20 or $30. I will accept bids in either currency - or Euros, for that matter! The auction closes on Sunday 11th. I will cover shipping, to anywhere in the world. And you might just find an extra special something in the package if you are the

winning bidder.....

This artist's situation is particularly close to my heart. I hope between us we can raise enough money to make a difference. If this necklace isn't right for you, please do check out the other auctionees below for some more stunning handmade beads and jewellery. Thank you for giving.

Please leave a comment along with with your bid. If you are the winning bidder, you will receive an invoice after the close of the auction. The auction closes at midnight EST Sunday evening. There must be a way to contact you. If you have email preferences turned off in your profile, please leave your email address as well.

Many other artists are auctioning items to help out! Please visit these other artists listed below and place your bid today:

Heidi Post

Marie Cramp

Barbara Bechtel

Erin Fickert-Rowland

Keirsten Giles

Andrew Thornton

Lori Anderson

Karen Totten

Kristi Bowman-Gruel

Nan Emmett

Maire Dodd

Amanda Cargill Austin

Janice Everett

Rebecca Anderson - you are here!

Shannon Iko Chomanczuk

Jennifer Justman

Kerry Bogart

Erin Prais-Hintz

Holiday Shop Hop 2011

2011-12-03T00:00:00.000Z

So, I am taking part in a really awesome Holiday Shop Hop for the first weekend in December! The lovely Shelly of Mishel Designs has been kind enough to organise a group of us together to do a little holiday promotion. As part of this, I would like to offer hoppers 15% off anything in my Etsy shop between now and the 15th January! Coupon code HOLIDAYHOP11. I am hoping to load a few new items in there over the next day or so, so go and see if there are any holiday goodies you want to snatch up!

Some goodies currently available in my Etsy Shop

Please check out the other participants below - some links are to blogs, some to shops, but all will lead you to pretty things, no doubt :-)

Holiday Hop 2011

2011-12-02T13:23:00.001Z

Are you ready for this weekend? Shelly of Mishel Designs has been full of awesomeness and organised a blog and shop hop. It's a one stop list for all your holiday shopping! Check back tomorrow to see who's taking part and a special discount from yours truly.....

Oak Leaf and Challenge of Color Challenges

2011-11-30T11:00:00.000Z

You wait 2 weeks for a blog post, and then 2 (in 1!) come along at once! I signed up to two fab blog challenges, both with the same reveal date, so this post will tell you all about both. And for that reason, there will be a lot of photos and not so many words. Perhaps....I always say that and then I always end up writing way too much....

First up is Jo Tinley's Oak Leaf Challenge. I was so lucky to get into this challenge! Jo made 5 beautiful oak leaf clasps, each one hand crafted by her in rich, oxidised copper. I was the 5th and last person to sign up as Jo only accepted 5 people for this! I have bought quite a few clasps from Jo before and I adore them. Her work really is of the highest quality - do go and check out her website and her etsy shop. We've got quite a few things in common - we are both regular contributors to Beads and Beyond, we both have a love of lampwork beads (especially Moogin) and last but not least, we share the same birthday! How cool is that?

So, a little about the design process. As soon as I received the oak leaf clasp, I knew it would go just perfectly with a cute little hedgehog bead from TreeWingsStudio I had hoarded away. And he just has to go with wooden beads. But I was keen to not simply repeat my recent Art Bead Scene Challenge entry (although the two bracelets definitely have some elements in common) so I introduced a very non-woodland, but very complimentary, colour - cobalt blue. Copper and blue are such a satisfying combination! They really make each other 'ping'.

Oak Leaf Clasp and oxidised copper wire - Jo Tinley

Hammered copper link - MissFickleMedia

Lampwork beads - OneSillyMoo
Polymer Hedgehog - TreeWingsStudio

What I really love about Jo's clasps is how seamless they look - you can't tell this leaf is a clasp unless you know.

Thanks so much Jo, for organising this fab challenge! I loved it. Here's the list of other people taking part:

Jo Tinley Daisychain Designs

Melissa Meman Art, Life, Love

Niky Sayers SilverNikNats

Amber Boorman Larksong Studio

Kimberley Roberts Bahama Dawn

Rebecca Anderson Songbeads

The next challenge was a very different one - another jewellery hop, but this time from the other side of the pond - Erin of Tesori Trovati's 2nd 'Challange of Color' Hop. I participated in her last one and really found it very inspiring - I love getting a 'brief', whether that be a colour palette, a theme, or a custom made clasp to work with :-)

Last year, I selected teal as my colour family to work with. As anyone who has ever visited my shop or my blog will testify, I can't get enough of the colour. I love every shade between blue and green and work with it on a weekly, if not daily basis. Half my wardrobe is turquoise.

So, this year I decided to break out of my colour safety zone and try a colour which I like but don't use particularly often - pink. I almost picked yellow as my colour family, but couldn't quite do that to myself - one step too far (I rarely use yellow beads or ribbon, unless they are delicate citrine).

Here is the wonderful palette that Erin selected to inspire me, from Jessica Colaluca's Design Seeds Blog.

Check out the original page here.

Design Seeds really is an amazing blog and resource; I had a great time checking out other folks' palettes for some extra inspiration. Maybe one day when I have some extra time....

And here's what I made:

It's a medley of colour, and although I had beads in all the colours of the palette, I would never have thought to put them together. I'm glad I did :-)The beautiful polymer pendant is by Heather Powers of HumbleBeads.

Alongside this necklace, I made some simple but pretty (I think) earring, with which I am very pleased :-) I noticed how these gorgeous jade rounds slotted just perfectly into some of Jo Tinley's sterling teardrops, and thought with a little wire wrapping, they would work well. I have oxidised them but need to get hold of some wire wool to take the edge off them - oxidising is effective, but not when the silver is simply black!

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has created. Here's Erin's list:

1 Norma Turvey ~ Teal ~ Color Crave

2 Jeannie Dukic ~ Green ~ Mineral Tones

3 Mary McGraw ~ Teal ~ Embellished Hues

4 Jo Tinley ~ Red ~ Decadent Tones

5 Rebecca Anderson ~ Pink ~ Tulip Tones

6 Kristi Jaro ~ Red ~ Temple Entrance

7 Stephani Gorman ~ Green ~ Dew Tones

8 Melissa Meman ~ Green ~ Fruit Star

9 Kathleen Lange Klik ~ Teal ~ Silk Hues

10 Cynthia Riggs ~ Red ~ Autumn Comfort

11 Heidi Post ~ Teal ~ Flora Bright

12 Cece Cormier ~ Teal ~ Merino Teal

13 Amy Freeland ~ Gray ~ Cultured Tones

14 Alice Peterson ~ Blue ~ Island Play

15 Rose Noble ~ Gray ~ Autumn Stacked

16 Kristina Johansson ~ Yellow ~ Sunny Flower

17 Kirsi Luostarinen ~ Teal ~ Dragon Hues

18 Tari Kahrs ~ Orange ~ Citrus Tones

19 Mallory Hoffman ~ Purple ~ Petaled Dark

20 Molly Alexander ~ Brown ~ Peppered Tones

21 Regina Santerre ~ Red ~ Frosted Berry

22 Emanda Johnson ~ Teal ~ Color Purl

23 Amy Severino ~ Orange ~ Winged Tones

24 Bobbie Rafferty ~ Teal ~ Lime Hues

25 Tanya Goodwin ~ Gray ~ Pecked Tones

26 Lisa Lodge ~ Blue ~ Nocturnal Tones

27 Hope Smitherman ~ Blue ~ Bloom Tones

28 Linda Landig ~ Green ~ Cacti Dark

29 Ambra Gostoli ~ Teal ~ Perched Autumn

30 Lori Bowring-Michaud ~ Blue ~ Sharpened Blue

31 Pippa Chandler ~ Teal ~ Hungarian Hues

32 Keirsten Giles ~ Purple ~ Mineral Brights

33 Jennifer Justman ~ Blue ~ Autumn Rays

34 Sandy Richardson ~ Purple ~ Moroccan Brights

35 CJ Bauschka ~ Teal ~ Teal Air

36 Shaiha Williams ~ Teal ~ Sushi Hues

37 Kay Thomerson ~ Purple ~ Autumn Spectrum

38 Sally Russick ~ Purple ~ Golden Gate Tones

39 Cilla Watkins ~ Purple ~ Autumn Infused

40 Shirley Moore ~ Purple ~ Frozen Heather

41 Jenni Connolly ~ Gray ~ Paw Tones

42 Tamara Soper ~ Green ~ Field Tones

43 Sharyl McMillian-Nelson ~ Blue ~ Nested Blues

44 Jen Velasquez ~ Pink ~ Sweetened Tints

45 Maria Grimes ~ Red ~ Bright Bloom

46 Elisabeth Auld ~ Gray ~ Petaled Tints

47 Susan Kennedy ~ Pink ~ Zinnia Tones

48 Shannon Chomanczuk ~ Gray ~ Autumn Leaf

49 Holly Westfall ~ Yellow ~ Sprinkled Tones

50 Patty Gasparino ~ Red ~ Color Carton

51 Angela Little ~ Pink ~ Singapore Brights

52 Lizzie Zawinski ~ Green ~ Budding Hues

53 Kristen Stevens ~ Pink ~ Scooped Tones

54 Dawn Doucette ~ Brown ~ Jarred Tones

Art Bead Scene - Thank You!

2011-11-19T00:46:00.001Z

A quick post with some exciting news....I am now part of the Art Bead Scene team! I almost fell off my seat on the bus when I read Heather Powers' email, asking me if I would be interested....she didn't have to ask twice.

I'm looking forward to taking the team international and looking all around the world (of course with a special look at UK artists, my being Scottish and living in England) for art bead inspiration.

It's a huge honour to be part of such an amazingly talented team and I hope I'll live up to the amazing standard that Heather has set for the blog. Thank you so much for thinking of me!

And on another note, here's a quick (international to me!) bracelet I made this evening.

pewter bird - mamacita beadworks (New York)
Hand dyed silk cord - ute bensen (German artist now based in Arizona)
Glass beads from the Czech republic
Vintaj brass from Illinois.

New Cosy Christmas Gifts...and I heart macro

2011-11-13T22:14:00.001Z

Well, hello! It's been a while....

This week and a half has been MANIC. I am quite glad it's over, truth be told, although it's been great. Both jewellery-wise and singing-wise, and it's not often that both of those boxes can be ticked :-) This past week has been spend in Leeds, working on three new mini-operas by Irish composer Ailis Ni Rain, at Opera North (eek!) with Sawn Off Opera. VERY intense schedule going from scratch to performance in 5 days, but we made it. I've yet to see the video recording....

And the weekend - in fact, the day! - directly before Sawn Off Opera (the name of Ailis' company) began, I had my much blogged about Handmade Show in Perth. Which was EXCELLENT! As I have mentioned previously, I have only just started dipping my toe into the world of craft shows, and all the shows I have participated in have been small and local and somewhat hit or miss. The Handmade Show was by far the most expensive one I've participated in so far, and thankfully, also the busiest, most profitable and the most enjoyable! It was great and I met so many lovely people - both customers and other sellers! I have much to tell about this wonderful event (including thanking the lovely Dawn Cotton Fuge who organised it!) but that will have to wait for a later post when I have time to sit down and assemble my thoughts properly.

Accompanying me to the fair was my Mum, who shared the stall with me. She doesn't make jewellery but is instead the most amazing knitter! Seriously envious of her needle skills....for some time now, I have sold her beautiful knitted accessories at my craft stalls and now I have decided to put a few of her knitted cuffs into my Etsy shop.

Now, let me tell you - these cuffs are a serious BARGAIN. My Mum uses the most beautiful, high end yarns - silk, mohair, merino, alpaca, cashmere....and you can tell when wearing them. They are super cosy but brilliantly (as they are cuffs) leave your fingers free to be busy. These are perfect for me at a craft fair, or getting on a bus (searching for my fare!) or buying a cup of tea on the hoof...They are long enough to cover your pulse points and this, along with the high quality yarns, mean that they keep your hands lovely and warm. I've got a selection of colours available in le shop; each is a one off design and happily for me, they are all beaded designs! My Mum hand knits pretty seed beads into each cuff. See if there is a pair you would like for yourself or for a loved one this Christmas - trust me, I have several pairs of these (my Mum comes up with new designs every year) and you won't be disappointed! Check these beauties out:

What are you waiting for? Go and check out my Mum's beautiful knits posthaste!

And as a postscript, here's my entry into Lori Waterstone's I heart macro series, which I has been scandalously lax about taking part in recently....

Check out Beads and Beyond next month for a full picture of this new design....I have fallen in love (again) with wrapping tiny gemstones onto wire, and can't get enough of it.....

Late night beading

2011-11-05T01:45:00.001Z

Seriously, is there something wrong with me?! I really don't need any more Jewellery for Sunday's show, and yet I can't stop making it....

Here are a few bracelets that I've either made from start to finish today, or else touched up from a previous start. I made another one which isn't pictured here, as well. I think my favourite is with the round rabbit owl, Which I've been hoarding for a while now. Loving my chunky/focal/dangle bracelets at the moment. What's on your list for this weekend?

And the winner is.......

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000Z

Jo Tinley of DaisyChainDesigns!

who guessed that there were 156 beads on the unfired bead rack. There were in fact 159 but Jo got the closest!

Congratulations Jo, contact Bo who will tell you what to do in regards to your voucher :-)

Thanks everyone for playing along, I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing about Bo's gorgeous beads :-)

Today's work

2011-11-03T19:49:00.003Z

More show preparation tonight. Sunday's show is being made all the more tense (dare I say stressful?!) by the fact that I am due to work for a local opera company, Sawn-Off Opera, from Monday - Friday next week. Needless to say this is very exciting; however it's contemporary classical music, and I am meant to have it all off-copy (from memory...) by Monday. It's getting there but memorising is a slow and painful process for me, as I have mentioned before. I've recorded myself numerous times singing through my part for each one (there are three short operas) but it's hard to imagine how it will sound with thte other performers as well. As they are brand new pieces - just written this year - there are no recordings available to help me....anyway, I just keep chipping away at them! But balancing show preparation and opera preparation is ~~difficult~~ challenging!

So, here's what I've been up to today. For The Handmade Show, I must have a notice announcing who I am, on my stand. That task was ticked off my list today.

I also am not totally happy about my bracelet and earring display. So yesterday included a trip to Hobbycraft to pick up an easel, to prop up my newly laced pinboard! I'm not good with a needle and thread (unless there's a pile of seed beads next to it :-)) so (shame-faced) I have taped the lace onto the board. It also means that I can very easily remove the lace when I need it to be a pinboard again. If it looks good on the stand (which I think it will), I'll invest in another board, and affix the lace somewhat more permanently. What do you think?

My plans are to cover this with earrings, with my bag charms along the bottom, on dressmaker's pins. My usual earring boards (lace in mint green picture frames), I plan on repurposing for bracelet display. Of course, it looks a little bare now, but I think it'll be great once it's covered. (But not too cluttered. Always a challenge for me!)

Whilst looking for a reasonably priced table-top easel (harder than you might think!), my sister spotted these for me.

How cute! Each mini canvas is about the size of my palm. A little spray paint (thanks Helen :-)) and sticky tape later, and voila! Some individual earring pair displays. I've got four; don't know that I'll put them all out but it's good to have options, right?

On a side note, my friend Heidi and I were having a conversation today, on the perils of the Etsy circles and checking out folks' activities....I love seeing what everyone in my circle has favourited, but it can on occasion be rather expensive....

And these beads are one of those occasions. The colours look a little harsh here, due to the evening light, but trust me, these are stunning. I think it was Janna that favourited them....and then I bought them. Oops. They are from Carolyn Saxby, who lives down in Cornwall, one of my dream destinations, where I have never visited but have vague dreams that I might like to live there one day...I'm sure they will come to nothing and that I may well visit someday and be completely underwhelmed(!) but for now, it exists as a perfect haven in my mind. I think I might try and make something, perhaps just a simple pair of earrings, with some of these prior to Sunday. Tell me, what would you do if they were yours??

Vintaj giveaway!

2011-11-03T00:23:00.001Z

I want to win the @vintajco & @beadaholique.com Crystal Copper Giveaway! #ilovevintaj

Oh yes, I so do! Check out their awesome giveaway....totally gorgeous, I am so excited about their new copper line.

Elukka house necklaces

2011-10-31T22:31:00.001Z

Some new necklaces I'm making in preparation for The Handmade

Show in Perth on Sunday. Love these raku houses so much!

I'm trying out a few ideas for the show. It's the biggest show I've done so far, so I'm feeling quite nervous....loads of amazing jewellery (and non-jewellery!) artists attending so I hope I don't just sink without a trace...there you go, that's my Scottish positivity shining through ;-)

Art beads aren't so well known here in the UK, so I thought I might put a little blurb on my table. Any thoughts? Too cheesy? Helpful? Do you think anyone will be interested?! Any comments, gratefully received :-)

What is an Art Bead?

wear your art on your sleeve...

Art beads are individually hand crafted beads, made by highly skilled artisans. When I select an Art Bead, I know that I am using either a one-of-a-kind piece, or one that is part of a very small batch of pieces. I know that the jewellery I create will, in turn, be an individual piece of art, which tells its own story with the pieces it is built from - be that a raku ceramic house from Finland, a handcast pewter bird from New York, or a hand torched glass focal from Edinburgh. I find these miniature pieces of art inspirational - I hope you will too!

Don't forget to check out my interview with Bo Hulley and giveaway here :-)

Art for your bag

2011-10-30T20:29:00.001Z

And don't forget to visit the previous post to this for a cool giveaway! X

Introducing...Bo Hulley...and a giveaway!

2011-10-28T09:25:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since I've done one of these, but I have a couple of exciting interviews coming up! Firt up, let me introduce a fellow Brit, Bo Hulley!(And make sure you read all the way down to the bottom, for a very special giveaway!) Bo makes beautiful ceramic beads on the Isle of Wight, a small island just off the south coast of England. I have never been, but I'd love to visit one day! I'm all about flying south in the hope of finding sunshine :-) And if you happen to be a regular Beads and Beyond reader, you'll have seen Bo's beautiful beads and buttons gracing their pages in my project for the current issue. So without further ado, I'll hand over to Bo.

Q1.How long have you been creating, and what led you to begin?

A1.

Well, like most people who make anything – I’ve been making and creating all sorts ever since I can remember. My parents were both in the theatre at various points of their lives and were also creative, although in different ways to each other, so I guess they both influenced me. I just loved drawing, painting, sewing, gardening, making peg dolls and clothes for my little plastic Troll, ( that really ages me! ) but I come from a generation of 3 TV channels! We had nothing like the amount of goodies today’s children have – if we wanted something new we had to make it, simple as that.
I didn’t make jewellery until about 5 years ago, it was a real light bulb moment and as soon as I had made my first stretchy bracelet I was hooked.

Q2.What do you get out of creating – be that emotionally, physically, mentally?

A2.

A good question, I wish I knew the answer!
I think creating anything is almost going back to nature, to a simpler time (although not necessarily a better time) where everything was created out of necessity. Now we can do it for pleasure it is a luxury to produce something from scratch. Maybe it just fulfills a primal instinct in all of us, I don’t know.
When something turns out as I’d hoped I get a real kick, it doesn’t have to be particularly good as I know it can hopefully be improved.
I don’t make as much jewellery as I used to, I’ve moved onto ceramic beads which I adore making. The most satisfying thing of all is opening up that kiln as you never know what you may find. That boring bead rack of chalky blobs is transformed into a veritable sweet shop of gorgeous colours, if all has worked well I’m happy for the rest of the day, sorting them into sets, taking pics etc..

Q3.What do you find inspiring?

A3.
Old painted furniture
Farrow and Ball paint colours
The sky and the seasons
Bright and light early mornings
Clarice Cliff
Patchwork Quilts
Antique textiles

Old silk saris
Vintage Laura Ashley
Cath Kidston colours
An old green Morris with cream hub caps at the traffic lights this week – the beads this inspired are on the bead rack in the photo!

Selling – then I am inspired to carry on!

Q4. Describe your workspace – are you lucky enough to have a studio set up, or are you like me and work in odd corners of your house

A4.

I work in different places, I have a small bead and jewellery shop in Ryde on the Isle of Wight. It is inside a pottery café called Fired Arts, which is why I began making beads. Having access to clay and kilns was too good an opportunity to pass by. So I do a lot of work there, but I also work at home, at my kitchen table. It is a real luxury to be able to keep most of my jewellery goodies out of the way at work. I had a kiln delivered today though, so I think I will be spreading out at home………
In my last house I used to spend many afternoons at my dining table by the window, looking out on the world with a big glass of wine dreaming away while I made new designs. Bliss.

A full rack waiting to go into the kiln, the beads remind me of Edinburgh Rock, just dull and chalky.

Q5.What are your favourite materials to work with and why?

A5.I have always adored semi precious stones, particularly turquoise and amber. I have a couple of very old turquoise brooches, given to me by my Italian uncle when my aunt died in Italy back in the 70’s. Maybe that started me off, I don’t imagine I would have seen turquoise before. I love how stones come out of a hole in the ground and are transformed into something so beautiful. I love glass and admire the skill and tremendous patience of lampwork artists. And of course I love clay, which can become anything you like!

The same rack just fresh out of the kiln - this is the part that makes the last week of bead making worthwhile - it reminds me of a sweet shop!

Q6. Do you have a favourite bead or supplies shop you could share with us?

A6.
My first batch of beads and tools came from The Bead Shop Manchester, they were very helpful and I have bought a lot from them over the years.
Smitten Beads in Bath have some lovely things not found elsewhere,
E2S Supplies on Etsy for lovely findings.
Any number of fantastic bead shops on Etsy where I see things I’ve never seen before.

Q7.If you were to draw attention to a favourite designer or artist, who would it be and why?
A7.
I love your style, it’s how I think my jewellery should be, but isn’t, so I think it is just as well I have transferred my allegiance to ceramics.
The first ceramic artists who caught my attention were Jennifer Heynen for her sense of fun and colour, and Chinook Jewellery who use the most amazing textures and lovely colours.

Thanks so much Bo, for taking the time to share a bit about yourself and your work with me. I love your fun and cheerful beads! For me, it is always particularly exciting to find out that a bead artist that I admire is from the UK - shopping handmade AND local!

Please check out Bo's

Etsy shop

and

Folksy shop

Now for the fun bit...Bo has very generously offered a $15 certificate for her shop, to whosoever can guess how many beads are on that UNFIRED bead rack! Leave a comment here, and whoever gets closest wins. Giveaway closes next Friday, 4th November. Oh, and if two or more folk pick the same number, whoever put it down first will have claim to the number, so make sure you read through any other comments first! Have fun.....

Another sleepy bobbin

2011-10-27T22:19:00.001+01:00

Inspired by last night's ABS challenge bracelet, I decided to have another go with one of Rebekah Payne's sleepy creatures! This time, a gorgeous wee blue owl, which was what first caught my attention on-line. I decided to repeat my design of yesterday, just using different beads - some lovely faceted large doughnuts I picked up in Glasgow, last time I was up. Not totally sure what the stone is, not lapis I'm sure, but I don't think it was expensive enough to be kyanite. Perhaps I got a bargain! Anyway, they're lovely, whatever they are. Add in some freshwater pearls (of course) and you have a new bracelet.

And as for 'sleepy bobbin'? I'm watching Willow this evening, and he calls his kiddies 'bobbins'. Love it! So I've decided these sweet beads should also be bobbins, as they are so terribly sweet :-)

October abs

2011-10-27T00:49:00.001+01:00

Finally, an entry to the challenge. Polymer hedgehog, treewingstudio, lampwork, pinocean. See abs blog for full details.
It's soooo late here....I'll edit this in the morning.

***Update 27.10.11 (8.30am rather than 12.50am!)***

So, I'm feeling rather more awake now than I was last night! I cannot take the late nights anymore....First thing I did this morning was edit those photos, give them a nice vintage patina, turn them into a collage, and......

...voila!

Much prettier than last night when I was literally falling asleep on the laptop. Which might also have had something to do with the fact that we had had friends round that earlier, cooking us an amazing from scratch curry, with lots of prosecco. Sure that was only a small part of it though....

I've used a sweet hedgehog bead, bought especially for the challenge (I then realised at 11.00pm last night that the deadline was the 26th! And I hadn't started...) from Rebekah Payne of TreeWingsSttudio. Firstly, I have ALWAYS wished that my name was spelled like that. And secondly, her beads are absolutely gorgeous! I'm not sure how I stumbled across her; it was only a month or so ago, but I've already placed two orders with her (the second for this very hedgehog) and her beads are simply tiny pieces of art; unique and very, very sweet.

You don't really have to do much with a bead that pretty, so I kept it simple, wiring up some wooden rounds from Magpie Beads and a wooden ring (also from Magpie), to which I added some tiny lampwork beads from Pinocean, in lovely Autumnal colours. To stop them falling off their headpins, I added some wee copper spacers, and this had the fortuitous effect of making them look like tiny acorns! Well, to me at least ;-) Because the hedgehog is pretty petite, I thought he looked a bit swamped by the acorn ring, I gave him some little beads of his own to balance it out. And there you have it, a sweet and simple bracelet, ready in the nick of time for the ABS October challenge!Can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with :-)

A new design

2011-10-25T23:20:00.001+01:00

I posted a Beads and Beyond project off to the mag today, and it's one I am oh-so-proud of....I'm giving you just a sneak peek of it here on my blog. My last two submitted projects have contained (shock horror!) no art beads but have seen me return to wire work, a Jewellery technique which I love. The latest set is particularly exciting for me as I feel it's the tip of an iceberg; an iceberg that I've been wanting to get to grips with for a long time, and I am now ready to start.

With some advice from the lovely Jo Tinley of Daisychain Designs (also a regular Beads and Beyond contributor), this summer I purchased a tumbler. It's still in pieces but this project has shown me that to take things any further, I must set it up and USE IT. (Jo, if you're reading this, I'm sorry! I have even lost the set up instructions....bad beader.)

So, watch this space....I feel I may have some new tricks up my sleeve....

New items and a plea for advice!

2011-10-23T23:43:00.000+01:00

Some new items listed in le shop...interspersed with a little post-craft show chat.

Silver Star Flowers

So, today I was at a local-ish to me craft fair. I'm just starting to post the odd thing on facebook, so some of you may know this already. (Not a facebook fan. Not entirely sure why, apart from that it feels very Big Brother-y to me...but I'm doing my best to be brave though!)I did this same fair last month and it wasn't one of my most successful, and last month was especially quiet. I'm told this was the curse of September...not sure if it strikes everywhere though ;-)

Vintage Candy

It's a great venue in terms of space - an old, historic covered market, right in a town centre. I just have a feeling it may be the wrong venue for my jewellery. A lot of other jewellery sellers (although mine is generally pretty different from other jewellery - art beads/antique copper and brass etc just aren't anywhere near as big over here in the UK as they are in the US, by all accounts) and quite a few selling little, quite sweet pieces but much simpler than mine and much cheaper. And not just the jewellery - a lot of the stalls had generally much lower price points than me.

Golden Star Flowers

Now, I must say, I don't think my jewellery is that expensive. I have tried to put my prices up in the last year, and especially since starting the craft fairs, but I still think that if I ever sold wholesale I'd be a bit buggered trying to make any money and, in fact, not losing money(!), with my prices as they are! Which is fine for the moment (because I'm not) but my point is that in the context of today's fair, I was expensive. Does anyone have any advice for this type of situation? Just give up with this market? Lower my prices (I'm loathe to do this)? Have different stock for these types of markets and purposefully create items that can be sold for less money? I generally have items available for between £4 (some hair grips) and £30. And actually, when I come to think of it, the few things that I did sell today were not at the cheaper end of the scale. I just didn't sell very many!

Pearl Bloom

I've only just jumped into this craft market malarky, and (I'm sure this must be the same in the states) the more established ones are notoriously hard to get a slot at, especially for jewellery sellers. So I don't want to jump ship unless that's really the best option.....any seasoned craft fair-ers out there; if you have any advice, it will be most gratefully received! I took a few shots of my table today; once I've uploaded them onto the computer tomorrow, I'll maybe share them here too.

If you're still reading, thanks for making it this far in my post! Hopefully it's not too whiney. Today wasn't a bad day and I met some lovely people, it's just whether it's worth it, for only a handful of sales, when I could still be in bed (as one really should be!) at 10am on a Sunday morning....!

Hope you have all had a fab weekend :-) x x x

Sakura Lei Collar and Earring Set, or the allure of Turquoise and Red.

2011-10-20T23:17:00.002+01:00

Oh turquoise, how I love thee; let me count the ways.....or should I say shades. This shade block is one of the pictures that popped up when I googled 'green to blue'. Caribbean shades of azure and aqua....I also love teal, moss, sage, mint, cobalt...essentially, anything from blue to green. And one of my favourite colours to pair it with.....

red.

The opposite of the turquoise shades I love. Red, is....red. Add white; it becomes pink. Darker, and it quickly becomes brown. In this post, I talked about working with red in isolation. How I love to wear it, but not to work with it....(although after Andrew's challenge, that has changed a little!). One exception to this has always been pairing it with a shade of turquoise. I have a LOT of jewellery (including at least one Beads and Beyond spread that I can think of off the top of my head) in this colour combination. All shades seem to work....there's so much to play with in beaded jewellery - light, texture, size, as well as tone, tint and shade. (If I sound like I know anything about colour theory, I don't. I just wing it, and bow down to the likes of Beverly Ash Gilbert, colour goddess :-) These are just words I've picked up from my regular bead blog trawling...)

So, when The British Bead Awards came around again, it't no surprise (to me at any rate!) that I reached for my favourite colour combo; this time in shades of mint and deep coral. I had had the idea for a bead woven and wirework collar for some time now and once I had the new flower design sorted - took a little trial and error but as I've been making beaded flowers for years, it was really just an adaptation of my original shape - I was away. I worked right up to the wire with it, but I have to say, I was chuffed to bits with the end result when I was finished. The flowers are attached with large seed beads stitched behind; thin brass wire is then wrapped around the handmade wire and ribbon base and the flowers are picked up individually. Needless to say, they came on and off several times before I was happy with it!

So without further ado, here is my Sakura Lei Jewellery Set - 3rd place in the British Bead Awards, Seed Bead Jewellery.

After pondering the draw of this particular colour scheme, I decided to take a visual trip down my own jewellery memory lane, and see what other versions of this combination I have used in the past. I thought I'd share some of them here....

I was amazed as I looked through my work, just how much there was with this colour scheme. And if you stretched your idea of red to encompass pink, and maroon; even more.

It's also interesting to see how my photos have changed...well, interesting for me, possibly not so much for you! I'm a big fan of the natural, grey-ish matt backdrop now. This time last year, I favoured white but it's somehow too stark for me now. How about you - what do you like to shoot on? I am constantly tying to work on my photography skills (I'm currently a student of Kerry Bogart's Snaptastic class) and I am pleased to see a general progression over the months.

Do you have a favourite colour scheme? Do you take your cues from the beads that lie in front of you or reach for the beads to recreate an idea within your head? Do you like red and turquoise as much as I do?! I'd love to hear your thoughts :-)

Mary Harding

2011-10-18T13:34:00.001+01:00

I have a seeeeerious crush on this toggle....thanks, Mr Postie! And thanks too, to Mary.

A quick instagram

2011-10-18T12:03:00.001+01:00

2 knotted bracelets from last night, with a humblebead toadstool charm, and a Jenni Connolly lampwork bead. Autumnal shades of my favourite colours.

Tomorrow...

2011-10-14T22:42:00.001+01:00

So, I'm here in Surrey (just outside London), sitting in my pyjamas in a wee single bed at a lovely, sweet b and b called Lilac Cottage. Why am I here? Well, tomorrow is The Big Bead Show at Sandown, and part of the show is the British Bead Awards. And....I'm a finalist! I've known for about a month now but have had to keep it all under wraps whilst the final judging was taking place. But, it's all done now - all that's left is the award ceremony tomorrow morning.

The best thing about these awards is that all of the finalist pieces form an exhibition which lasts for the day of the show. I was lucky enough to be a finalist last year as well and it was such a privilege to be part of the exhibition; to have my jewellery alongside so many other beautiful items. Whatever the outcome, tomorrow will be an exciting day for all the finalists, I'm sure.

Here are two pieces I have made tonight - warm, autumnal tones, ready for a craft show I'm doing back in Manchester on Sunday. Pretty raku houses from elukka.etsy.com.

***update 15.10.11 - 3rd place in seed bead category!! So chuffed :-) ***

New Jewellery...

2011-10-13T23:51:00.000+01:00

New items listed in les shops....

Use coupon code LOVELY in my Etsy store for 20% off until the 17th October. Email me for the discount via Paypal refund or relisting of Folksy items.

x x x

Field of Poppies SOLD

Crystal Pools

Rose Black

Andrew Thornton's September Challenge

2011-10-12T06:45:00.001+01:00

A very quick post here....it's late and I have a very early start in the morning so I'm scheduling this post and then turning off the light!

Here are the list of participants:

Lorelei Eurto
Sally Russick
Tara Linda
Paula Kramer
Melinda Orr
Beth Emery
(already posted)
Tracy Stillman
Heather Goldsmith
Lori Bowring Michaud
Rebecca Anderson
Debbie Price
Patty Gasparino

(also posting today due to postal hang ups!)

First up, a knotted pearl bracelet using Andrew's Mystery Component - a beautiful hand crafted copper clay coin. I loved this so much, I wanted it to really stand out on a simple piece of jewellery - and what better way to showcase it than with pearls? I included a few beads from the Luxury Bead Mix too.

Next, I used the very cool enamel flowers from Sara of C-Koop Beads. I have a current obsession with enamelled components and so these were perfect for me! I used some of the beads from the luxury bead mix to create the knotted backdrop for the flowers, some of the lovely Swarovski crystal elements, and a very cool pewter clasp from The Little Bead Shop. The photo isn't the best, but trust me - these pewter findings are gorgeous!

My final bracelet used the Soft Flex, which I was determined to have a go with, and more of the luxury bead mix. I rarely use beading wire (unless I'm teaching Beginners' Jewellery) and I have to say, it kind of stumped me a little. This bracelet, I'm a bit 'meh' about....kind of a waste of a pretty clasp if you ask me (again from The Little Bead Shop). Any thoughts? I find it hard to think out of the box with beading wire. So I might bust this one apart. Put the beads and clasp to better use.

And now to my favourite (using the beading wire no less!). I picked these gorgeous Vintaj floral bead caps up at The Manchester Bead Shop where I teach, at the weekend. They are absolutely stunning. And I had an image of them with little stamen poking out of them, using the beading wire and (yes, you guessed it ;-)) the luxury bead mix. I am very pleased with how these came out! They are really just a combination of very cool components, but I'm still happy at how they came together.

So there you go, another challenge completed, another blog scheduled! This one turned out to be slightly more stressful than necessary because I had accidentally written down the 19th as the reveal....not the 12th....and it was only when reading Deb's blog Monday evening that I realised I had to post on Wednesday.....hence the dark, flash lit pictures. Hopefully everyone else has been more organised than me! It's not hard....

I've still got quite a lot left over - some chain, the very awesome Grow focal from SwoonDimples, Swarovski crystal, dichroic glass, a Humblebead charm, Soft Flex - even some more luxury bead mix, believe it or not! So hopefully I'll get some more purple pieces up and posted soon.

THanks so much to Andrew for organising this wonderful challenge! I've really enjoyed it. Happy Wednesday!

New pieces....and a Secret Sale!

2011-10-08T20:39:00.000+01:00

Some new items in le shop. I have sooo much new jewellery to photograph and upload, it's untrue. I am really hoping I get paid in time to enrol onto Kerrie Bogart's Snaptastic - it looks like an absolutely fab course, funds are just a little low currently. Photography is definitely something I have improved at over the years I've been creating jewellery (about 5 seriously now) but I feel I still have far, far to go. I struggle. My house isn't a particularly dark one, but somehow there is no spot that gets enough natural light to take jewellery photos. I also don't have a big enough back drop to photograph on. So I almost always go round the corner to one of our local pubs which has beautiful wooden tables in their beer garden, and 'shoot' there. It can be quite hit or miss, depending on the weather. I don't like leaving things up to chance as much as this set up inevitably leads to. I'd like to work out a way with lights, in the house, that could be a permanent set up, so I could just style the jewellery, snap and go. Fiddle on the computer, and my photos would be done. Sigh. Not yet. Perhaps with Snaptastic's help I'll get a few steps closer down the line. That's the plan, anyway!

So, in order to sign up to this course, I'm going to try and photograph and upload as much jewellery into my two shops as possible, over the next week. And for you, my lovely blog readers, a secret sale on Etsy....just type in the code LOVELY and get 20% off. Blogs are kind of hard places to promote your jewellery, I think, unless you're a super duper fabbo famous designer, because - let's face it - most of us are reading each others blogs because we ALSO make jewellery! But if anyone does spot anything they love, do take advantage of this secret sale. Set to end on the 17th October, when Snaptastic begins. I'll also throw in a free surprise pouch of beads with any order that says beads please! in the notes :-)

And here are a few of the pretties I just uploaded. Czech glass and art beads galore here :-) more will follow over the next few days I hope - Etsy and Folksy. (And, as Folksy doesn't have a coupon code option, if there's anything on there you want, send me a message. I can either relist on Etsy for you, or you can purchase through Folksy and I will refund the difference. I'm nice like that :-)).

Poppies and Corn

Southwestern Butterfly

Autumn Leaves

Burnt Umber Bloom SOLD

Flying South

Autumn Wisdom SOLD

Retro Folk

Hope you are all having a grand old weekend! x x x

Another necklace...

2011-10-06T21:55:00.001+01:00

I can't stop....! After the 5 (yes, that's five) necklaces of the other night, you'd think I'd be all necklaced out. But no. After reading Jo Tinley's post (daisychain designs, see my blog roll) earlier today, I was inspired to make another. Jo mentioned using some Outwest lampwork discs as pendants. I then found one whilst sifting through the many layers of beads on my tiny bedside bead table, and a couple of hours later - here it is! Necklace no. 6. An unusual colour scheme for me but I like that about it. It's good to break out of my turquoise/aqua/teal colour scheme every now and then :-)

Outwest lampwork disc, Czech glass, wooden rounds and copper wire.

BTW

2011-10-05T19:33:00.001+01:00

This was my kitchen table yesterday. I do not have a permanent beading spot. I would very much like one. So I don't have to keep dragging several kilos of beads about the house behind me, wherever I go.

Necklaces

2011-10-04T21:41:00.001+01:00

I've been on a necklace kick these past few days.

It's as if something has 'clicked' in my mind, and in my fingers. I've always struggled with necklaces before.

Inspired by selling a favourite piece (thanks Sally for the bead soup inspiration that led to it), I wanted to make a similar necklace to replace it on my jewellery stall.

I made five....

Here are three for your perusal. I still haven't figured out a good photo set up so these are colour and clasp shots rather than seeing how they hang.

The top necklace includes a sweet vintage button, also from Sally. And the Humblebead tigerlily focal, some blue aventurine from Sally again. I love how bead soup serves up so many helpings :-) I still have plenty left over from my last three swaps. Gorgeous.

Exciting day...

2011-10-04T19:47:00.001+01:00

Today.I.made.my.first.lampwork.beads.....

I don't think I can explain how terribly exciting this is for me.

Thanks Stacey of SillyMooz!

Giveaway Winner

2011-10-01T18:24:00.002+01:00

And the winner of these cuties is.....

Commenter no. 24, Michelle Mach! Drop me a line Michelle, with your address, and I will send your earrings out to you posthaste.

And PS, did you know they were featured on Jewelry Making Daily this week, along with some of their other bead soupy friends? How awesome! Thanks Tammy :-)