Lampwork Sunday

Well, it turned out to be slightly less lampwork and slightly more sitting drinking vanilla milkshake in the sunshine today! We've had an absolutely gorgeously, wonderfully hot day in Manchester - real holiday weather! I don't want to get too excited as it may well not last but today was glorious whatever happens the rest of this week.

Here's what I did come up with. Slightly erm, interesting photos...it was still very light outside but somehow my wee camera didn't agree, and I've had to fiddle like mad on iphoto!

Alison Davies lampwork

Vintaj jump rings and CUTE honey bee charm

Patina Queen wire

Lovely stick pearls from Precious Sparkle Beads

Gemstones, freshwater pearls, Czech and Swarovski crystal

I haven't quite brought myself to break up Loupiac's beads of yesterday's post but I have broken into my second Alison Davies set from the recent Beads Up North fair. They are AMAZING. Alison even told me herself that she almost didn't put them up to sell as she was so fond of them! Needless to say, I'm glad she did. The photo that you reach on Alison's site if you click here is much better than mine but still doesn't show quite how pretty they are - they are lighter and softer and more magical somehow.

Like I said, not my best pictures but I hope you can see just how lovely the beads would look if I had a good picture of them! And how sweet is the wee honey bee charm? Very cute I think. AND look at the sheen on that stick pearl! They are gorgeous! Check them out here. Well worth the money for a very generous strand - I used them in my Beach Bride set too and still have SO many left over. A little goes a long way with a stick pearl I think.

On another note, what do you think of my new font? I think I am a fan - a bit retro, like my Granddad's old typewriter. I'll have to see how it looks when I click 'Publish Post'...

*** PS Hey! I really like it! I think it's a keeper! ***

Finished pieces

Just a quick post to show you the pieces I finished this evening after work.

First up is the bracelet for my Mum - a belated birthday piece.

Lampwork - Alison Davies

Garnet faceted buttons

Sterling silver

I just added the silver flower charm at the last minute but I really like it - what do you think?

Silk hand dyed ribbon - SowZere

Vintaj brass

Brass wire - Patina Queen

Swarovski crystal

Some kind of green semi-precious stone which I can't remember the name of!

Mini Czech cathedral beads

Next up is my ribbon necklace from the other night - I should probably call it something like 'Key to my Heart' or something similarly nauseating but I can't quite bring myself to do that! I do like the wee brass charms I have used in it though. I love to decorate the backs of necklaces, it makes them really pretty when you have your hair up.

Lastly (due to failing light!) is a sweet wee bracelet I made with the piece of ribbon I had left over from the necklace. Again, I have used SowZere, Vintaj and Patina Queen, and again, some semi-precious stones which I can't remember the names of...I think the turquoise beads are dyed jade but I'm not sure about the blushing pink bead...I remember I bought it in the Tower Street bead shop in London though! Oh, and the brass bead caps are from Brass Bouquet.

Incidentally, have you been wondering why SowZere is called SowZere? Well, I have...here's the explanation taken from Diane's website....

'The silk ribbons evolved from my textile background and my love of dyeing and using silk fabrics and threads. When I was asked why I always used silk I would reply 'Well you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear' and the name stuck - but the spelling was changed! '

So there you go! Her ribbon is absolutely beautiful, I think you should DEFINITELY all go and buy some...

Mum's Bracelet

Yesterday I went on a quick trip with the BBC to London - down to St Martin-in-the-Fields to sing for Ascension Day, broadcast live on Radio 4 last night. It's probably on the BBC's Listen Again application - we were singing some really lovely music; Vivaldi's Gloria and a couple of other short pieces. The Gloria is a very popular piece and so over played that sometimes it's hard to get excited about singing it, but it was presented in such a way that we (the choir) all agreed that we really heard it for the first time in years! It's a great work and well worth a listen.

I'm back in Manchester again now so thought I'd show you a couple of pictures of what I got up to on the train down. I have decided (rather belatedly!) to make my Mum a birthday bracelet. I don't even think she knows what a blog is, never mind that I have one, so I think I'm safe to show off these photos here!!

It's obviously not done yet - I have ordered some chain from Palmer Metals not 10 minutes ago- but I made a good start. My Mum is normally a blue person but she also really likes (and suits) delicate spring pinks and purples - any colour you get a Sweet Pea in, Mum looks good in! I got the beautiful lampwork beads from Alison Davies at the recent Beads Up North fair a couple of weeks ago. I've paired it with some sterling silver and some cute garnet buttons from Etsy, which are actually a bit pinker in real life and VERY sparkly!