Jade Wisdom, design process and a giveaway

The lovely Barbara of Floridity left me a comment on my last post saying that she does in fact take custom orders for her sweet owls. Hurrah! I was swithering over whether to sell this bracelet or not but I've decided now that I will put it in the shop at least as I know I can get more owls when I want need them. I made this bracelet in Skye a few weeks back and I absolutely love it - the colours for me are just perfect. Pyrite is one of my favourite stones to work with but it can be in danger of looking a bit gaudy - I think I've balanced it nicely here. 

I've been reading a lot recently about folks' design process which I admit totally fascinates me; Jamberry Song hosted a song based blog hop at the weekend and although a lot of beautiful jewellery was created based on one song the thing that interested me most about hopping was reading how different people approached designing. For this bracelet I did what I often do - pulled out an art bead or focal (Barbara's owl) 

and designed around that. The pyrite gives respite from and adds a richness to the vivid green and the green in turn softens the pyrite, blending it in with the patinated brass. A simple design I'm really pleased with!

Jade Wisdom is for sale here

So here's a question, and I'll open it up into a giveaway of beads and bits and bobs - how do you design? What's your starting point or is it different every time? Do you start with colour, theme or beads? I'm fascinated by the process behind the jewellery, I hope you will share yours with me!

Tired...

I'm really feeling the impact of going back to college and work all at once this week...I don't know if anyone else is the same but I can totally tell when I'm 'run down' tired, not just 'I've had a late night' tired. My mind starts getting a bit paranoid and I start worrying about every tiny wee thing. I can tell I'm doing it but that doesn't mean I can stop it! I also have full work days both tomorrow and Sunday and then of course my week is always full...I've a feeling something has to give; I can't continue with these mega-long days and still be well at the end of the month! I've been getting really bad headaches, bordering on migraines, which I'm pretty sure is a post-viral thing as I've had them before. 

Another thing that tells me I'm run down is that I just can't make anything. I sit with a load of beads and wire, and cart them around with me in the hope of snatching an hour somewhere in the day to sit down quietly with a cup of tea in the college refectory and make something....I can't quite explain this to folk who don't make things but you guys understand, right?? Nothing more frustrating than sitting down with some beads and not having the mental or creative energy to make a thing. Like tonight - I was scheduled to have a rehearsal 5-7 but my eyes were watering with a headache and I just knew I had to go home. My head cleared up by 8 and I sat in my bed, a bag of fabulous stash in front of me, and nothing happened...so frustrating. Somehow it feels like a waste! Does anyone else experience this too? What a whiny pain in the bum you must all be thinking, if you've made it this far in the post!!

The upshot of this is that I have no new photos to share...and as I've said before, a blog post just isn't a blog post without a photo! So I will share something from last month's creative spree with you.

Wee Hootie

Featuring a gorgeous owl bead from Barbara of Floridity and Second Surf and golden rutilated quartz. I keep saying how I don't generally like polymer and then keep finding big exceptions....like Barbara. I just adore her beads, especially her lovely bird beads. The owls are extra especially cute; I ordered some more as I sold this bracelet just before Christmas and they arrived a couple of days ago. Very exciting package to open! I should take some photos of them really - 4 little owls, 4 tiny pendants and a little coral birdie that Barbara snuck in. I love them - thank you Barbara! If you haven't visited her lovely shop or blog, I suggest you do, posthaste!

Well, hopefully you guys are all in a better creative and mental state than me - hope you all have great weekends ahead of you! x x x