Swarovski Earrings.

Had a workshop last night in The Bead Shed. We made sparkly, swarovski, dangly earrings.

A simple design which looks totally stunning when worn, the light just bounces of the crystals and make them look like coloured raindrops. They are lightweight, yet swishy and eye-catching, just the thing to brighten up a summer outfit.

It is always interesting seeing other peoples colour choices, and there is always a moment that you think "I wish I had picked those colours", still .... you can always make another pair :)

These two simple pairs were made from the leftover beads and pins.

Finished my Pottery Course

....and what a slog it was :) I have realised I am no good at this medium, I don't like the feel of the clay, I am not good at designing with my hands, and the glazes never turned out like I pictured they would.

Still...it was a good experience if nothing else, and I have some ugly conversation points now.

And so the final finished objects, the old boot, turned out a bit too shiny for what I wanted, I initially wanted it to look like old leather freshly dug up from the ground having lain there for a good few years.

Then there is the cupcake, oh dear ! Not a huge success, the Cherry turned out pink, the pale lemon 'icing' too brightly yellow, and the paper case not quite white enough. Hard to please aint I ? :)

So onto pastures new, I love education of any description, I think everyone should grab as much and as many experiences as they can. Painting or French Language? Watch this space :)

And The Winner is..........

The winner of the draw for the Anenome Necklace is......

LORRAINE !!

Thanks for all your comments, and Lorraine I hope you like it. Will contact you for your delivery details.

Bead 16 Magazine - Front Cover :)

I am like a dog with two tails, I got front cover of Bead Magazine :) (mine is the cerise pink and lime green ones)

Of course I knew the bracelet pattern was going to be in, but imagine the thrill when the box of magazines arrived for my shop and there was my bracelet staring back at me in full glorious colour :)

It is a RAW (Right Angle Weave) design with 4mm cubes surrounded by seed beads, really easy to wear and you can make it as wide or as thin as you like.

I also made this in cream and bronze, it looks totally different.

Will sign copies for £25.00 :) (God loves a trier :D )

Goddess Money Pot - finished !

Tonight was my penultimate Pottery Class, and the Goddess Money pot has finally been finished and it at home sitting on the coffee table. She is about 12" high.

She is not really in proportion, but hey ! Whose perfect?

I also got my boot and my cupcake glazed and ready to fire, they will be finished next week.

A Giveaway

This is another one of my UFOFF (UnFinished Object Finally Finished)

The Anenome Flower was another one made around 18 months ago for my cushion project, so I took it and added a complimenting spiral rope. It fastens with a loop and glass bead - no metal parts at all.

The piece was made for fun, trying to use focal pieces that I had already had, and using up spare beads - you could say a re-cycled piece :)

I would like this piece to go to a happy home, where someone will wear and enjoy it, so therefore I am offering it up as a giveaway.

All you have to do is comment on this blog and I will put your name into a draw and pull a name out of the hat on Sunday May 17th.

You may also wish to follow the blogs, as I am sure there will be more UFOFF's to give away in time :)

UFOFF

What is a UFOFF I hear you ask - well it is an UnFinished Object Finally Finished.

Unfinished objects seem to breed in my bead box, how on earth do I get so many? The simple reason is I get bored half way through and put them down and start something else, it doesn't help that I work with beads all day and so my inspirational juices are constantly flowing, and the UFO's keep on adding up!

Anyway, this one is a Peyote Rose on a Spiral Rope.

The Rose was from the Beaded Garden book, which is a fab book, I originally planned to make a whole host of flowers and sew them all to a cushion in a bouquet style, but guess what? Yep, I got bored with that idea.

This little rose has sat unloved in my bead box for around a year, so I pulled it out and made it a spiral rope with various oddments of beads :) Hope you like it.

Aqua & Butterscotch Bead Buddies Colour Challenge

April's colour challenge on the Bead Buddies Forum (www.beadbuddies.co.uk/forum) was Aqua & Butterscotch.

It is a delicate colourway, soft and gentle and very summery.

This piece is a lacey spiral with chinese glass cubes, Cat's Eye Beads, Delica Beads and Seed Beads, with one of my own handmade Lampwork beads as a focal, on a brick stitched bail.

Bead Trends Magazine - March 2009

I am very excited about this, my very first submission to an American Magazine.

This is 'Netted Flames' a Netting / Ogalala stitch, in rich reds and oranges to look like dancing flames, it also looks good in blues and a touch of white for waves.

Page 68/70

Making Jewellery Magazine May 09

The first issue and it has a piece of mine in :)

I went right back to stringing basics with this design, but used classy componants such as fresh water pearls, swarovski crystal, sterling silver and a slice of agate.

Easy to make, easy to source, but eyecatching :)

Page 58 I believe. :)

Beads & Beyond Project - Issue 19

This is about my 12th magazine submission, but my first since starting to blog, and I can't very well backtrack and mention them all so I will start here :)

A simple set for using up all your old bits and bobs, as long as you have three of each bead so your earrings and pendant match, you can almost use anything and everything.

I did this in glass pearls, various colours and various sizes, the beauty of pieces like this is that they will go with almost anything in your wardrobe.
If you fancy having a go, you can find it in April 2009 Issue 19 of Beads & Beyond.

Pottery Class

I have been attending a pottery class, not my chosen medium, but I bought the class as a gift for my Mum for her birthday, and decided to go along and keep her company.

First I was just rolling out clay and making little pendant pieces, while other class members were making huge bowls, vases and candle holders, I just couldn't bring myself to make bowls !

I did decide to try something a bit bigger than pendants in the end and made a plaque style butterfly, with segments which I have filled with seed beads - no idea what will happen, it is in the kiln now but I have to wait until next Tuesday to see it !!

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Happy Birthday Bead Buddies

Our Beading forum Bead Buddies (www.beadbuddies.co.uk/forum) is 2 years old today !

So tonight, we are going out for a BB meal, and tomorrow we are having a day of fun in BB HQ - The Bead Shed, in Carlisle.

What's on offer? Lampworking, Glass Fusing, Enammelling, Fimo, Beadweaving and whatever else we can think up between now and then.

Also as much tea/coffee as people can drink, as long as they make me a nice strong brew at the same time.

So if your a member and not signed up to come along, nip to the Forum, stick your name down and we will see you there :)

The Vagina Monologues

If you ever get the chance to go and see this show, then do.

http://www.vaginamonologues.co.uk/

I went last night and it was superb! Not what I expected, I kind of expected a 'loose women' style chat on topical issues, but instead it was simply all about Vaginas. (Why did I not work that out? Not just a clever name!)

The cast was Sally Lindsay (Shelly in Coronation Street) Sue Holderness (Marlene in Only Fools) and Tina Gambe (She played a love interest of Martin Platt in Corrie, but I don't remember her)

Sue Holderness was amazing, I laughed until I cried, gasped at the rude words ;) and marvelled at how on the nail it all was.

Of course there were emotional bits, Tina read a Monologue about a woman in Africa being abused by Soldiers, you could have heard a pin drop in the theatre, I did wonder how they would bring the mood back around, but they managed it perfectly.

Brilliant through and through, I am booking again for June, different cast list, same script, but probably delivered differently so should be fun.

Distinct lack of men in the Theatre, I think I counted 3, all of whom were looking suitably embarrassed.

Next time I won't be drinking, I have a lovely throbbing hangover :(

Multi-Strand Seed Bead Necklaces

I don't usually take commisions, but this one sounded interesting. So working from a photograph from an American Show, a bloke asked me to make this cream version for his girlfriend for Valentines Day.

Brick Stitch ends and a beaded bead as a clasp, it has a whopping 30 strands of seed beads, each strand is 0.25mm longer than the previous.

It took around 6-7 hours to complete and it was sad to part with it after working on it for so long, so I thought I would make another in red and black. This time I used red Silver lined and red frosted seed beads, along with shiny black and matt black, with matt black ends. I also made the lengths slightly wider apart with 0.5mm inbetween, meaning this took even longer to make - I guess I should have used a bead spinner, but I like a challenge :)

They feel great on, heavy and swishy, and of course no metal parts to tarnish :)