Copper Rose Pendant.

I love Eastern art and architecture and was influenced by these when I was designing this pendant. I chose the pink to remind me of cherry blossoms and added copper.

Flowers at Midnight.

I am still on my self-enforced bead ban and frantically trying to make space for the new goodies I intend to buy at the Welsh Beadfair on the 4th October. I have had these flower beads for a couple of years and wanted to make something a bit different and special with them. After flicking through lots of magazines for inspiration, I decided to string them in an asymmetrical bracelet with onyx briolettes, swarovski 4mm in jet ans some black crystal pearls.

Calypso Flowers

I wanted to try a totally different colour scheme for this piece. I used swarovski crystals in Caribbean opal and lime and a pumpkin orange delicas. The pattern is a favourite motif from Suzanne Cooper's Victorian and Variations. I'm glad I tried it but I don't think the colour combo is successful and won't be using it again. The great thing about beading is that you can frog it & use the beads in something else.

South Western Strands.

This is a slight twist on the traditional brick and strands bracelet. I have added ladder stitch bars so that I could vary the length of the strands and have added a centre medallion which was made from instructions in Suzanne Coopers Victorian and Variations book. Turquoise and brown are a favourite colour combination of mine but I wanted this to look a bit different so, inspired by south western jewellery I added the red.
I love the vibrancy it brings to the other two colours.

My Version Of A Slant On Bails.

Life is back to normal after the school holidays, so hopefully normal blog service will also resume. My son is happily back to school in year 1, apparently his new class is super-fun!

As I mentioned in my last post I decided to make my own version of Mary Champions A New Slant On Bails from the latest issue of Bead Style Magazine. So the next night I sat down once kiddo was in bed and hubby at the gym to work out how I was going to do it.
First of all, I decided to add spirals at each end of the wire instead of bead covers as I didn't have enough. For the bails I thought delica tubes with a loop would work and decided on crystal shadow twist beads and bicones and hematite seed beads and delicas for a monochrome look. I even drew a quick sketch with notes which I will do more often as it made the actual beading process more easier and quicker.

The delica bails worked well in the design I thought but I think that next time I would add some embellishments to make them more ornate. I enjoyed the process of translating the design into something I could make with what I had on hand and I really like the shape.

I have managed to keep to the bead buying ban but I will soon need to order some more findings.

Holiday Necklace 2 & Making Do.

Here is the 2nd of my holiday necklaces. The shell beads were previously in another necklace which I cut up to reuse the components. I much prefer the new version.

I have been seed beading like mad but yet again have been far too lazy to take photographs. I have also been flicking through lots of my old beading mags and have sorted out a pile to get rid off just not sure what to do with them yet.

I got the latest Bead Style mag today, there are some interesting shapes that I plan to make up replacing some of the components with seed beaded ones, starting with Mary Champions A New Slant on Bails, which is a really great design, I'd love to make it as is but I don't have the required components so I'll have to try & make do with what I've got.

I don't know about you but despite the fact that I have loads of seed beads and a fair selection of accent beads I always want to buy new things and not use up what I already have. My bead box is starting to look like a personal tribute to consumerism. I have recently started watching a cookery show called Gastronomy Economy, at the end of the show, they whip up a three course meal for four by creatively using up ingredients in the cupboards and spending only 10 pounds to buy extras. I have decided to try using this philosophy in my beading for the next couple of months til the 4th October. I will buy findings & thread if I need them, but no more new beads til the Welsh Bead Fair. I know it's not a long time frame but hey it's a start and its my 40th Birthday on the 7th October, you wouldn't expect me to face that without brand new sparklies now would ya?;-)

So hopefully I can get inspired to use what I have to make some interesting new jewellery. In the interests of full disclosure, I must admit that I deliberately waited til after I'd ordered Marcia DeCosters new book to announce this new make do philosophy. So fingers crossed that I make it since I'm already off to a shaky start!

Loops and Ladders..

This is the 2nd loopy necklace I made last week and is from the pattern Luxury Loops and Ladders from the most recent Bead Magazine. I much preferred making this one to the other. It worked up very quickly and easily. I love the colours too.

My neighbour has expressed an interest in learning to bead and really liked the style of the Through the Loops collar which is why i beaded it, so that I could decide if it would be a good first project for her. I didn't think it would be the best first project so I tried this one, which I think is suitable for a total beginner.