Abstract Wall Hangings.

A little experiment fresh from the kiln.

It does need a little tweaking, as most experiments do, but quite pleased with the outcome.

So, a selection of glass rods, chosen in complimenting colours and arranged (or should I say balanced) in the kiln and left to slump down.

The beauty about these is that you can hang it in whichever way you prefer, so if you like things square you can have it straight on, and if you prefer it diagonally you just hang it from a corner.

This is the same piece, just photographed from a different angle, as you can see it looks quite different.

They measure approx 15" x 12"

What can I make?

Picture the scene.....

Sitting in front of the TV, trying to complete a beaded necklace and you run out of black beads !

Well, unlike other people, I am lucky enough to have a "shop" at the bottom of my garden, but could I be bothered to walk 13 steps down the path, turn all the alarms off, unlock the doors and get a new pack of beads? NO...

Instead, I grumbled and mumbled and sat back on the sofa in a sulk.

Then, not being one to sit for long doing nothing, I picked up the box of beads I stash indoors, and tried to work out what I could make without trailing out to the shed.

I had some clear seed beads and some sparkly acrylic faceted beads. So I made a twisted bracelet. It is a stitch I have used many a time, but this time because the beads were slightly bigger so the design was stretched out a bit.

I added a gorgeous acrylic sparkly heart button, as this was all I had in the house that matched - but a good match I think :)

Anyway, if you want to have a go, try this....

• Take a length of thread and string on 12 seed beads, tie in a circle with a double knot.



• Thread on 3 seed beads and a 4mm bead, and sew into the 5th bead in the circle.



• Thread on 3 seed beads and a second colour 4mm bead and sew into the 10th bead in the circle.



• Thread on 3 seed beads and a third colour 4mm bead and sew into the first bead before the first 4mm bead.



• That is basically it, thread on three seed beads and a 4mm bead each time, alternating the 4mm colours, and sew into the bead before the next 4mm bead. Round and round in a circle.
  
  

I still have not collected those black beads from The Shed, every time I go in I forget !

A few new glass pendants

Had a little play, I fancied trying different shapes for pendants.

So using some bits of glass left over from a stained glass project which were already in quite pretty shapes, I just simply added some Dichroic bits for sparkle and these were born.

This one was a triangle of glass with some millefiori chips covering the whole surface. My Mum claimed this one :)

And lastly, I played about with some old cuts off from headpins, formed them into letters and sandwiched between two layers of glass. The wire caused bubbles inbetween the glass as it melted which I think makes quite an interesting effect. It makes the whole "name" pendant, look abstract and not immediately noticeable as a name. I quite like it :)

It says "Julie" just in case if is totally abstract :)

Julie is my sister, and this is, strangely, for her.

Quirky Grapes.

Another one of my Quirky designs. A bunch of Grapes !

Why Grapes? Well as a lover of Red Wine, I felt I should honour the humble grape - red ones of course :)

Made with Delica beads, the actual Grapes section is very flat and smooth to the touch and measures around 3" long.

I added a St Petersburgh Chain in green & purple, to look like a vine. Finished with a peyote tube as a toggle clasp, so no metal parts.

I love doing these Quirkies, I have another few ideas in mind, so watch this space :)

Frilled Garter Bracelet.

You know when you pick something up and wonder what you can do with it?

Well, that happened with a Crystal Clear open square I had. I pondered and turned it, and wondered and scribbled ideas, but nothing seemed to fit.

So I decided not to be too adventurous, to try and keep it simple and classy.

I got some sz 8 Seed beads in the most gorgeous matte mixed grey colours, and using the square as a centre piece, added a Peyote stitch band to each side. I made a Peyote tube with crystals on the end as a clasp, and a loop to fasten.

But I still wasn't sure, it need something else, so I added a delicate frill in crystal seed beads, each loop overlapping the previous.

It ended up looking quite 'garter' like, hence the name :)

I have another one of those squares, so I might try one in a different colour, and write it up as a tutorial if anyone might be interested :)

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.

Dichroic Glass Donuts.

I had the urge, as you do, to play with glass.

So off to the shed I trotted, glass cutter in hand, and set to work. I wanted to produce Donut Shapes, simply because they can be used in many different ways.

You can, of course, add a simple bail to hang them. You can bead around them like a Cabochon. You can thread a cord through and simply hang them around your neck. You can wire them and make them totally unique....and the list goes on.


I used lots of different coloured Dichroic Glass, layering it up for a very textured look. I cut different sizes and shapes, and I have to say, was quite chuffed with the turn out.

These are just a few, didn't want to bog you all down with images, but if you would like to see the rest, here is the link :)

Opus Moon on Facebook

UFBO - Gone wrong !!!

One of my many UFBO - now finished.

UFBO stands for Un-Finished Beady Object. I am notorious for starting things, and never finishing them.

My bead box is full of half-finished Beaded projects, but the real issue is, when I pick them up again months and months later, I can never find the beads I was working with at the time. This means I have to totally adapt the pattern and find something different to do with it.

This can be quite fun though, it's like having a platform to start from.

Anyway, the middle section of this necklace is a Peyote Spiral stitch, which is in green, cream, gold and brown, was the bit residing in my bead box, waiting to be finished. Of course I couldn't find the original beads - except the brown and cream, so a compromise was rapidly needed.

I attached a brown beaded spiral peyote to each end, but then found I was running out of beads, so had to swap to cream. I finished it off with a real copal amber bead to fasten.

Then I thought I was quite happy with it, until I spotted something........ on one side the brown section was thicker than the other. I had added one to many beads. Now you might not spot it, but now I have noticed it, it is irritating the life out of me !!!

Argghhhhhhhhhh. Oh well, sod it, it will have to stay like that, I aint pulling all that out !

Quirkie Butterfly for Tan

My very good internet friend Tan (Tan of Course!!) came up with the name for these odd little Peyote stitched designs. I needed a collective name, and she came up with QUIRKIES.

http://soozintheshed.blogspot.com/2010/04/introducing-quirkies-chocolate-tie.html

So, as a thank you, I made her her very own Quirkie. She chose a butterfly, and left the colour and the style to me.

So here is it, Tan's very own Quirkie Butterfly. Teamed with a whole host of various glass, metal, plastic beads to make it unique.

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 :)

Disketts

I have been thinking about things to do with a disc of beads.

Following on from my "Marshmallow & Chocolate" Disc necklace,

....which was featured in Beads & Beyond Magazine in Aug 2009, I had a few practise discs left in various bright funky colours.

So, last night, I sewed them all together, added a simple white RAW (Right Angle Weave Stitch) chain, and a hand-made Lampwork bead for a clasp, and this was born.....

As yet no name for these piece, but as I have loads and loads of ideas for these little disks, I have collectively named them "The Diskettes Range".

I am starting a new one tonight, in pastel colours - a bracelet I think - but that could change :)

Watch this space....

Tea Party Lampwork Necklace

When I was at the Flame Off, I spent some time with the effervescant Ray Skene. At the class we both attended he showed off some of his marvelous Lampwork beads.

My eye was immediately drawn to a string of frit covered beads in white with lilac and hints of green. "Ooooo they are nice" I exclaimed, to which he said "£1.00"!

Eh? £1.00, nah, I must have heard wrong, so I laughed nervously and continued to fondle them.

"Yeah £1.00" he says, and thrusts them into my hand.

I felt a bit bad actually, I mean £1.00 for a set of Lampwork beads, it's daylight robbery, but anyway, I agreed to the deal (well I would be a fool not too!) Then he almost chucked a matching set at me, "Now it's £2.00" he said.

Talk about it being my lucky day :)

So I kept the large round ones, I will do something with those later. The shaped oval ones I decided to make into a necklace for my Mum, she has a dinner to attend and needed a nice necklace.

This is "Tea Party" called so as it has a cute little Teapot toggle clasp. With Ray's lovely beads I have strung Swarovski Crystals and some Fire Polished Czech Crystals.

Another Weekend at Higham Hall.

I LOVE this place (http://www.highamhall.com/) I have just spent all weekend there teaching basic beadmaking. It was my second session and it was, like last time, simply brilliant !

The students were really keen to learn, eager and willing to try anything. They made some fabulous beads, and went away happy bunnies.

The lovely ladies were Sue, Judith, Jill and Chris. Here they are showing off their beads.

....and here they are working hard, and making pretty beadies.

If you ever decide to do a course there, I would fully recommend it. The food is magnificent, and they treat you really well, on top of that they offer a huge range of different courses from Languages, to History, to Crafts.

Unfortunately, for me, that's me finished now until September, but looking forward to it already :)

Quirkies - The Cream Bra

Yep, it's another one of my mad Quirkies. This time a pretty feminine Cream Bra.

Made in Cream AB Delica beads for a little bit of sparkle (which also made it blooming difficult to photograph) with a sapphire blue and a touch of lilac for a lacy trim.

I used Cream glass pearl beads along with Violet AB Swarovski Crystals to make the chain, and finished it with a silver toggle clasp.

And here is my chubby Buddah modelling it, although I think it needs an extra few rows to fit :)

Sharon Peters Lampwork Class

I was lucky enough to get one of the 10 places available for the Sharon Peters Lampworking Class - Kissy Lips & Goblins - at this years Flame Off extravaganza.

What a fabulous class it was, we laughed lots, played with glass lots, and produce some unusual looking beads :)

Sharon at the Torch,

Some of Sharon's amazing work....

...and this one just shouted out to me, so I had to buy it :)

If you ever get a chance to go on one of Sharon's classes, I would highly recommend it. It was fantastic learning the tricks from the master.

And these are the ones I produced. not quite to the same quality, but I tried :)

Now to practise, practise, practise :)