BB Colour Challenge May 2013

Goodness me what is happening?  It is the 4th of May (fighting the urge to say "May the forth be with you!"), and I have just finished my piece for the Bead Buddies Forum monthly colour challenge. 

Normally I totally miss the deadline, even though it's a whole month, or end up running about like a headless chicken trying to get something made.  This month it's different.

The colours were a randomly generated selection - this.....

I guess my entry is a bit of a cheat as I am still enjoying my Shrink Plastic experiments and just simply decided to use them and my lovely Sharpie pens yet again.

I've purchased a few stencils from the clearance box at Hobbycraft, one of them being a trio of hearts which is quite nice, so I used that.  They are just over an inch high.  

Feel free to sign up to the forum and enter yourself, there are still around 20 days left to take part this month  :)

  ps - I still won't win  ;)

ps: The Amazon links I've scattered throughout the page are affiliated  if you click and buy I might get a few pennies.

BB Colour Challenge April 2013

The time is 23.31 on the last day of April, and I have just finished my piece for the Bead Buddies Forum monthly colour challenge.

I realised at 23.00 that I had not done anything to enter into the challenge, which might have been ok if I had not pledged to make sure I took part the previous month :/  ***Headless chicken mode - ON!***

The colours were a randomly generated selection - this.....

What can I make?..... aha, my Shrink Plastic and Sharpie pens were still out on the work table, good plan.

I had bought a cute owl template in the clearance section at Hobbycraft the day before so decided to use that.

Stupidly though, I picked up the purple pen instead of the green one, I do have a tendency to lean towards the purple side so I wasn't surprised, just a bit annoyed at my lack of concentration.

This is the first time I have used the white Shrink Plastic since my first trial method, and it bled!  Not as much as the regular felt tips bled, but still too much for my liking.

Now, the directions in the packet say to use the rough side of the plastic, but when I used the shiny side on a test piece, I got a lovely crisp finish with no bleeding, so guess I will be using that side from now on.

After a big sigh, I took some clear Shrink Plastic and started again, this time only putting the correct colours on the table and locking the others away so I could not be tempted away again.

Not chuffed with this one either.  The grey is way too dark and it was a bugger to photograph.  Still, the colours are kinda correct so I will be entering it.  

ps:  I will tell you now, I will not win  :)   You see, I actually do the draw for the winner and of course will not be putting my name in - no good sending a winning gift to myself now is it?

ps: The Amazon links I've scattered throughout the page are affiliated  if you click and buy I might get a few pennies.

Bead Buddies Artist Of The Month

In April 2008 I became the first "Artist Of The Month" for the Bead Buddies Forum.  This simply means that one person gets to blog and let the other members into their lives for a month.  It can be quite hard work if you have nothing much to talk about!

Anyway, as so much time has passed I was asked if I would do it again, so for those not on the Bead Buddies forum you can also follow my ATOM blog here.

•  How and when did your interest in beading/jewellery making/lampworking first begin?

When I was expecting my first child, Iain, I left work with no chance of return. Having lost a part-time wage I needed to make some money, but how?

I decided to make jewellery (and other things like toilet roll holders) and sell them party plan with my friend Helen - we called the partnership "Allinberry Crafts"  (I was Allinson, she was Berry)

It went very well and we earned a decent amount of money over the time we did it.

Time passed, jobs came and went, husbands came and went, fast forward a lot and I found myself in "Michaels" a HUGE craft store in Florida.  When I say HUGE, this place is HOOOGE !  And in the first two aisles I found BEADS, lots of beads, lots and lots of beads.  Enough beads for me to spent 2 hours looking at and getting kicked out as the store was closing.  Needless to say, we went back the next day and spend all morning in there buying beads (and stuff).  Luckily for us the scales were broken at the check-in desk so our bags sailed through, having previously weighed them we knew that not one of them was under the allowed limit!

After a year playing with beads again, we returned to Florida.  At the point I had started to question how beads were made, the main one being glass ones.  So while there this time I looked up a bead shop called Flame Tree Glass  (they have now relocated) that sold Lampworking equipment and bought myself a kit and a load of glass.  (Oh, and we revisited Michaels and bought loads more beads and stuff)

Back at home I was already selling loads of stuff on eBay (my house was never tidier than in this period) so it seemed only natural to sell off some beads I wasn't  using.  They sold like hot cakes, so I did a little research and bought some more.

The first week of July 2005 I did a business course and in September of that year launched THE BEAD SHED.  A hobby had now turned into a business......

•   How has your work developed?

I am self taught in most, in not all, crafts.  I start, see if I like, then perhaps take lessons to advance my knowledge.  I find I am very sponge like for crafts, wanting to have a go at everything.  Papercraft seems to be the only one I have managed to avoid - so far!

The most classes I have taken are in Lampworking - I treat myself to one each year, usually at the Flame Off (a big glass-working event held in the UK)

•   Have you taken any classes and if so, with whom?

Kate Drew Wilkinson  (Lampwork Beads)
Dora Schubert  (Lampwork Beads)
Laura Sparling  (Lampwork Beads)
Patti Walton  (Lampwork Beads)
Michi Suzuki  (Lampwork Beads)
Sharon Peters  (Goblin & Critter Beads)
Bob Martin (Off Mandrel Animals)
Diana East (Class Casting)
Jan Ridgen-Clay (Marble making)
And I have a class booked for this year with Michou Pascale Anderson (Lampwork Beads)

•   Do you favour a particular colour, shape, styles? 

Nope, anything goes.

•   What is your favourite piece of work, and can you tell us your inspiration behind it?

My favourite pieces change as my abilities grow.  At the moment, and for quite a while, it has been this set of beads.  I can't quite believe I made them, and I certainly cannot bring myself to sell them....... yet.

•   Whose work do you admire?

There are way too many to even mention, and all for different reasons.  I admire the perfectionists and I admire the "have-a-go's".  I feel I am somewhere in the middle :)

But I will share just a couple of artists I love so you too can have a drool.

Mark Dally - I bought one of his clocks.
A Little Catty - I am lusting  ;)

•   What advice would you pass on to other beaders/jewellery makers/lampworkers (recommended reading, DVD's, a tool you wouldn't be without for instance)?

The only thing I would recommend is talking to other crafts people, you cannot pay for the advice (often not what you want to hear) and pointers they can give you.

•   Away from beads, do you have any other hobbies or how do you spend your time?

I work in Hobbycraft (could there be a more perfect job for a crafter) and I also try and work in my shed at home selling beads - but this is becoming a little neglected these days.  As for 'other hobbies' I have loads - knitting, crocheting, felting, lampwork, stained glass, fusing, and up-cycling to mention but a few.

•   Tell us your favourite book, movie/TV show and what music you listen to?

Anything with David Jason in it   ;D ::)  (Yeah, yeah, I know, what can I say?  He rocks my boat!!)

•   Where can the Bead Buddies view more of your work?

The best place would be my Facebook page or here in my blog.


Oh... and HERE is the original 2008 post should you wish to read it  :)

Bead Buddies Secret Santa.

Every year over on the Bead Buddies Forum we have a Secret Santa Challenge.

Each participant receives the same pack of beads (although in different colours) and an address label.  They need to make something beautiful using as much of the pack as they can, and send it secretly onto their chosen buddy.

Every year it works fantastically and this year was no different.

In our packs we had:

• Silver Bows
• Seed Beads
• Swarovski Crystals
• Glass Barrel Beads
• Czech Crystal Drops
• Compressed Acrylic Owl Focal
• Beading Scissors

I decided to make from my pack a scissor holder on a long beaded necklace.  When you have little scissors it is so easy to lose them down the side of the sofa, or deep inside a bead box, so I thought if you had them around your neck you would have more chance of keeping them in one place.

I started with a little tube shape, flaring it out a the top so the handles would nestle nicely inside.

I then sewed on the little silver bows and added a fringe with seed beads and drops.

For the beaded necklace part I added the glass beads with crystals and seed beads.

Finally I added the little owl to one ring of the scissors to again make them easier to locate.

I opened the package that I received on Christmas Eve (I am bad like that!!) And I was amused to see that the person making for me had had a similar idea  :)

I am now the proud owner of a cute little scissors holder with a dangly charm.

And a beautiful jangly bracelet.

Part of the challenge is usually to guess who has made the gift for you, judging it by the style of the work, but as I had organised it of course I know who made it for me.  

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Julie Ramezani for making me such a lovely gift.

February Colour Challenge 2011

Over on the Bead Buddies Forum we have a monthly colour challenge.

This month it was colours beginning with the letter 'B'

Beetroot Red / Bronze / Beige

I started this months in good time, as I usually ended up just chucking something together in the last two days.  However, it did take me best part of the month and I finished it with just two days to go.

Taken from the Diana Fitzgerald Shaped Beadwork book, I made a whole load of 3D Hexagons in various colourways, then sewed them all together in a very random order.

For the clasp I made a toggle clasp from the same tiny Delica beads, sizing it so it would fit into one of the Hexagons.

The whole piece (over the course of a month) took around 13 hours to make.

January Colour Challenge 2011

Over on the Bead Buddies Forum we have a monthly colour challenge.

This month it was colours beginning with the letter 'A'

Aubergine / Aquamarine / Alabaster

So, late last night, I was rushing about trying to get something done - it is surprising how quick that month goes.

I had planned to do something different, but couldn't find the beads I needed, so I made some little flowers instead and then added them to some bookmark blanks.

The middle bead is an Aquamarine coloured glass pearl, and the petals are made from a peach Alabaster coloured seed bead, along with an Aubergine purple seed bead and some Aquamarine silver-lined seed beads.

Secret Santa 2010

Over on the Bead Buddies forum we do a Secret Santa every year.

Each person pays a set amount and gets the same pack of various beads. We are supposed to use as much of the pack as possible and we are not allowed to add anything except findings.

My Secret Santa turned out to be Aster Sadler, who does some fantastic things - check out her website. http://www.seedybeady.com/


I got a gorgeous ring, really beautiful and blingy..

Along with some cutie earrings..

and a fantastic cuff (although I wore it as a choker) of amazing beaded embroidery - how clever !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is what I sent to my recipient.

A necklace with the ceramic bead as a focal pendant..

Some earrings...

and a bracelet made out of beaded flowers, (it took me ages to sort all the beads into piles to make them!!)

Suite Of Cards

A Bead Buddies Forum member, Tina, set a challenge - named, "Alice In Wonderland".

I have only ever seen the Johnny Depp movie, and the first thing beadable that came to mind was playing cards.

So based on that, I designed and made these little cards in Square stitch.

I then had to look up what order to put them in, and if indeed suites of cards did have an order. There seems to be different orders for different games so this layout is Poker - Diamonds, Clubs, Hearts & Spades.

I strung them with Chinese Crystals, black on one side and red on the other using tigertail and finished with a hook clasp.

Safari Cuff

This piece was invented for the Bead Buddies Forum "Africa" Challenge, which was set by Caroline Harvey.

The brief was...AFRICA - landscape, costume, flora and fauna, art, culture....anything inspired by Africa.

The first thought that came to my mind was "animal print". A peyote cuff with Delicas seemed to be the best option, so I sat down and fiddled with some colours and came up with this.

Tiger, Giraffe Aligator and Zebra prints.

Teamed with a big black wooden oval button for a clasp.

Africana Twist.

I started this necklace for the Bead Buddies June Colour Challenge, which was Orange, Brown, Black & Cream.

I used 4mm Cats Eye Beads in Orange and Cream, 4mm Glass Beads in black, and an AB coated brown seed beads to make the twist. It is the same pattern as the Twisted Bracelet from a previous blog.

I was planning to make the clasp a button and a loop, as I often do, but here comes the mistake. I sewed a button onto each end !

Now, rather than cut it off and repair it, I took it as a challenge to adapt it in some way and make it different. So I made a double loop from seed beads which attaches the buttons together. Then I made a matching dangly to thread on between the buttons.

So now you can wear this necklace in two different ways. As a simple rope with the button fastening at the back, or as something a little more detailed with the dangles at the front. :)

Just about to start a matching bracelet, will try and not make the same mistake this time :)

Bookmark Swap

Over on the Bead Buddies Forum we had a bookmark swap.

We got paired up with another Buddy, and we had to make each other a hand-made bookmark, especially for them.

My swap partner was Sandie from Jewels Of The Dales.

For her bookmark I decided to try and make some Foxgloves, as she helps out with the Foxglove Covert Nature Reserve.

I made them from Delicas with a 24k Gold Delica inside as stamen.



I was quite chuffed with how they turned out, and Sandie seemed to like them too :)

......and I got the most magnificent bookmarks from her - two of them, which is great, as one I shall use, and the other I am going to dangle out of a book on my bookcase and admire it lots :)

The first one was a silver hook with the cutest Lampwork Sheep bead, teamed up with two real wool balls, gathered from the fields around Sandies home in the Yorkshire Dales.

The second was this amazing beaded treasure, I must apologise for the photos, they do not show just how gorgeous it really is, but I love it. This is the one I will dangle out of my book and admire.

Candy Fleur Cuff

The colour challenge for the Bead Buddies forum this month was Candy shades of Mint Green, White, Pale Blue, Lemon, Lilac and Pink.

To incorporate a lot of colours I think you need something bold and fussy, so I set about making this..... which I have named Candy Fleur Cuff.

Each little flower took between 15-60 minutes to make. In total, this piece took around 10 hours to make.

I made them in all different sizes, shapes and colours, then made a plain Peyote Cuff in Lilac for the base and sewed them all on.

For the clasp, I found a fabulous Mother Of Pearl pink button in a flower shape, then sewed a beaded flower on the top. It fastens with a simple loop sewn onto the opposite end.

I like to do "big" projects with no metal parts, therefore removing the risk of tarnish and allergies.

I enjoyed making this cuff, but I don't think I will be doing another for a little while :)