Three Bracelets

Three wee bracelets for you today, all quite different from one another. 

Most frequent readers will know that I *love* colour in general, but I think it's fair to say I tend toward to vibrant. I reached for the softer tones here though, and I'm pretty pleased with it's gentleness. We can always do with a wee bit more gentleness in the world.

Ceramic bird - Something to do beads

Polymer rondelles - Alison Sachs

This bracelet seems very 'me' to my eyes. I love flowers (especially in bead-form, it must be said!), I love turquoise and orange/red and I love birds. And if you add in a piece of vintage brass chain from Paris, it can't hurt, can it? Unfortunately this bracelet is an absolute pest to photograph. The chain section just doesn't behave when sat on a flat surface. Much better on the wrist. I hope you still get a good idea of it nonetheless.

Polymer birdie - Tree Wings Studio

This last one is a bit different in more ways than one. It's a return from Stringing magazine, where it was published in the Winter 2014 edition. The first issue with some of my designs featured - I was pretty chuffed! It was part of the issue's 'delicate femininity' section, and I love, love, love the palette which Stringing selected, part of which you can see below. Hand-cut tiny gemstones, a bit of organic rusticity alongside it's delicate palette and general dainty-nature. My quandary now is that I just don't know how to price this type of piece. It's unusual that I would use quite so many gemstones in one piece. I get most of my gemstones from Precious Sparkle Beads and honestly, the quality is second to none. So I am keen not to undervalue a piece like this with the wrong price. It may be that I just *have* to keep it for myself.....oh well, it's a hard life and all that! 

Still supping up the soup...

How's everyone's hopping week been? I must confess, I still have about 80 blogs to go....I'll get there in the end though, I am determined to stop in and say hi to everyone who participated! Lots of awesomeness I have spotted to far and am looking forward to some more. 

Thought I would share with you a little loveliness that came in the post this week. Firstly, some lovely faceted citrine from precioussparklebeads

One of my favourite stones at the moment - I am not really a yellow person but I just love citrine in really delicate shades like this one.

Next up, a favourite of mine - a wee blue birdie from SummersStudioEtc

I adore these....something about the combination of birds, porcelain and this particular shade of blue makes me want to sing...

Next up, another staple favourite but in a new patina...Easter Sunday links from MissFickleMedia...

I can't tell you just how gorgeous this patina is in real life!! 

And last but definitely not least, some beautiful rustic clay beads from HodgePodgeArts

These are a bit of a departure for me - I am usually more a porcelain girl than a rustic earthy clay one, but these are gorgeous - chunky and delicious! I've already used most of them up in a project I can't show you as yet...and really enjoyed the challenge. 

Anyway, I hope you liked my spring themed arrivals! All photos are by the artisans themselves...what can I say, they just take a better picture than me!! Please check out all these wonderful artists' sites if you have the time and drool over their beady goodness. 

Colour Challenge - Under the Sea

N.B. I really tried to spell colour "color" but I just couldn't do it. It just looks wrong to me, as I'm sure my spelling does to some of you! I'm sorry!!!

So, I didn't even know if I would get this challenge done in time. As I said in my last post, life is extremely busy for me at the moment! However, Tuesday's pupil postponed his lesson to Thursday (I have to say, I was not disappointed!!) so I decided to use my free evening (post-Carmen rehearsal!) to have a go at it. I had some ideas from the LOVELY colour chip Erin had sent me (what a great girl she is! Thanks so much Erin for organising this challenge with your usual wonderfully generous spirit!), specifically some amazing Peruvian Blue Opal (Under the Sea) large nuggets I bought a wee while back from my favourite bead shop, Precious Sparkle Beads. They are very, very special....but I have put them somewhere, em, special...and I couldn't find them! So that idea went by the wayside. I did however have a bunch of equally lovely Peruvian Blue Opal rounds which worked perfectly with the colour scheme I had.





I also had some Green Opal (I think???) rounds which I thought would be perfect as the Painted Basket element. I really wanted to take Erin up on as many challenge points as I could so I had a look through my art beads - they should be highly organised but they are not...I do have a box of Nancy Schindler/ Round Rabbit beads however which I absolutely adore and I pulled out some gorgeous pieces which were just crying out to  be included as Gray Teal (Ok, I coped with gray ok! It would normally be grey over here!!). I had quite a few options as I am an absolute turquoise/teal/aqua person and have been hoarding Round Rabbit pieces for a while... 

My original idea was to make a necklace - I pulled out my stash of Sowzere hand dyed ribbon and there was the most perfect winter aqua shade in my bag which I started on, but my piece just wanted to be a bracelet! I made the initial green opal round component and then I had my 'ping!' moment when I spotted the dotty round in my Round Rabbit stash.





The rest of the bracelet followed quickly and I have to say, I really like it! I like the title 'Under the Sea' and I tried to make the colours flow from Canvas Loafers (pearls)





to Painted Basket (green opal),





like looking down through water to the depths below. I have used Brass Bouquet and Vintaj brass to complement the lovely colours and spaced out my colour elements with Green Amethyst oval nuggets. I really hope you all like it - I'm very interested to hear any comments and even more to see what everyone else has come up with!

I loved the whole process of this colour challenge. I find custom pieces and working to a set brief really helps and focuses my work and this one was no exception - it helps me so much to have a set direction. Thanks so much Erin - I'm so glad I was able to find the time to take part in this wonderful challenge. Please check out everyone else's pieces - I can't wait to see all the other paint chips and the jewellery that has been inspired by them!

THE CHALLENGE OF COLOR BLOG HOP - DECEMBER 3, 2010

• Alice Peterson
• Amy Freeland
• Beth McCord
• Brandi Hussey
• Cary Scholes
• Catherine Pruitt
• Cindy Wimmer
• Claire Maunsell
• Cory Tompkins
• Courtney Breul
• Cristi Clothier
• Cynthia Riggs
• Emanda Johnson
• Holly Westfall
• Janea McDonald
• Jeannie Dukic
• Jennifer Cameron
• Judy Campbell
• Karyn White
• Keirsten Giles
• Kelly Morgan
• Kristie Roeder
• Kristin Stevens
• Lisa Godfrey
• Lisa Tracy
• Lori Anderson
• Mallory Hoffman
• Marie Voyer-Cramp
• Mary McGraw
• Nicole Keller
• Nicole Valentine
• Paige Maxim
• Patty Gasparino
• Rebecca Anderson (you are here!!) 
• Renate Stark-Krammer
• Rita Parra
• Shannon Chomanczuk
• Sheila Summers
• Stefanie Teufel
• Yelisa Rojas

Beads and Beyond

As promised some time ago, here are pics of my current Beads and Beyond project...I am so pleased with this one, one of my very favourite colour combinations!

The lampworks are by Jeanette - I love them, don't you? Encased and frosted red with cool retro polka dots. I think they go so well with all the Czech glass beads I've used from Bijoux Beads, Bead Bead and Precious Sparkle Beads. I was particularly pleased with the ring. I've wanted to make my own rings from scratch for quite a while now and finally with this project, I have managed it! Really simple - the type of thing that you think 'why didn't I think of that/manage to do that before???' Loads of possibilities with that one I think.

Harrogate Bead Fair

Yesterday was a good day! We went for a crafty day out in nearby Yorkshire - first to York (such a pretty place, if you're ever in this neck of the woods, do visit!) where we visited the Quilt Museum and Gallery. They had a exhibition on - Freedom to Stitch: The Emergence of the Embroiderer as Artist’ as well as quite a few of their permanent collection pieces. We both loved it (is that a sign of age, that Saturday morning is for travelling to a nearby obscure gallery??? I'm sure that wasn't what I was doing five years ago!) - and were astounded by the amazing amount of work which must have gone into each and every piece. The hours that were hanging on those walls! Beautiful and astonishing. 

We then made the short trip over to Harrogate to stop in at the Bead Fair happening this weekend. Sometimes with the bead fairs I've visited over the past few years (and there have been MANY...) it is easy to get a little tired of seeing the same vendors there over and over again - not that any of them aren't great but there's nothing like finding a new stall or two to peruse, is there??! Bead Fair overkill I guess!! But this Bead Fair was a little different, I guess perhaps because it's a two day event, it maybe attracts different folk. Anyway, I got to meet one of my online bead friends in 'real' life because Precious Sparkle Beads (one of my favourite shops as anyone regular readers will surely know!) have a stand at this show. SO fantastic to be able to see their beautiful beads in the 'flesh' and also to meet Dawn Cotton Fuge! She's lovely and it was great to be able to meet and chat with her. If you're ever in need of a gemstone or two then do hop over to their shop - all of their stock is simply stunning. Clearly, I spent far too much money at their table....Here's a selection of my new beads...

Amethyst Faceted Oval Cut Briolettes

Green Onyx Faceted Heart Briolettes 

(I think these might be my favourites!)

Labradorite Faceted Drop Briolettes

Orange Garnet Faceted Drop Briolettes

Peach Moonstone Faceted Drop Briolettes

Are you getting that I like Briolettes...??? Looking forward to creating some pretties with all of these lovelies. Hope you're all having a good weekend! I'm still seriously in need of some sleep.....zzzz

Thanks!

Thanks for all your kind words about my sister. She's really doing well, coming out of hospital today but the doctors have told her she can't travel back until next week. So although they have had to make the decision to cancel the ceilidh (kay-lee!) for this Saturday, they've decided to make it a postponement rather than a cancellation. And she'll definitely be back for my wedding! So not perfect but things seem to be working out. She has been extremely well looked after in Dresden which my Mum and I are so grateful for. So far as the singing goes, as I'm a singer I have loads of friends who're also professional singers coming along to the big day, and I've asked my friend Richard to sing instead of Trina. I'm pleased to have a tenor singing rather than another soprano as it'll be a totally different sound, even within the same song. So, like I said, everything seems to be working out! 8 days to go and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm getting my hair cut and dyed today and then (you'll be pleased to know!) I'm going to go dress shopping. 

And then onto the jewellery...I'm imagining I'll get something lovely somewhere along the blue to green spectrum so I thought I'd share a couple of green pieces of jewellery I've made recently. 

This necklace just arrived in the post yesterday, back from Beads and Beyond and goes with the earrings from this post. It features lampwork beads by Clare Scott, ribbon from Sowzere and semi-precious stones from one of my favourite shops, Precious Sparkle Beads.  

The bracelet features a Green Girl Studios pewter clasp and a few super sweet lampwork beads by Mika of Pinocean. The Amethyst and Aquamarine stones are again from Precious Sparkle Beads and the bead caps (I love these!) are from Palmer Metals. They are so pretty, I use them all the time. 

Hope you like my new-ish pieces! Have a great weekend. 

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! ***

One last blog...

...because I forgot to show you this piece! I had a day off work on Wednesday as I had completely lost my voice (literally, silent!) and such a thing is not really conducive to teaching singing. I spent the afternoon drinking cups of tea in nearby East Didsbury playing with a new batch of Vintaj brass and here's what I came up with. I love the rich caramel depth of patina-ed metals and brass is my new favourite!

Norma Brink lampwork

Vintaj brass

Carnelian rounds

and

Peruvian Opal

from

precioussparklebeads

I've kind of overexposed this last picture so you can see Norma's beautiful boro lampwork bead more clearly. It's so beautiful; swirly and delicious. The colours aren't quite right in the over-exposed shot but at least you can see the pattern inside. I took a hilarious shot up against the window thinking that the light might shine through the bead but alas, it looked utterly awful! Last post for today, I promise...