Chic Christmas Colour Palettes

Baby it's cold outside! 

It's only going to get colder from here on in...

So why not 

let these tasty colour palettes fresh from 

Design Seeds

 inspire some soul warming 

 festive makery.

I'm signing off now until the New Year. 

Wishing all of you  fabulous jewellery makers 

and crafty types

a very happy Christmas and New Year!

See you in 2016....! 

A Stone For Success, Prosperity, And Abundance - A Good One To Get Into Your Jewellery Designs!

Looking through the crystals and gemstones 

in my bead collection it got me wondering about the 

mythological history and properties of the stones. 

Crystal healers work with a lot of the items in my stash, 

(I should never get ill again...lol!), 

and there must be interesting stories about some of these beauties. 

So here is my first blog post about a specific gemstone. 

Starting off with...

Citrine 

It is often called the 'success stone'

as it is said  to be good for 

manifesting  

prosperity and abundance.

It has also been known as 'The Merchant's stone'

good for keeping in the business cash box 

and seeing the profits rolling in! 

It is also a birthstone for November

providing a less expensive

 alternative to the traditional

Topaz-

according to the internet -

 but the last time 

I bought some citrine

it seemed quite

 expensive to me..!

The beautiful sunny hue of Citrine 

just radiates warmth and positive energy.

It is a happy stone which can also bring good luck 

in unexpected ways to the wearer.

All interesting ideas. 

With such a write up 

who could resist getting a 

bit of Citrine

 into their

 jewellery designs!

Pretty Mermaid Picking Flowers Necklace

Ok, 

so this necklace was meant to be 

a learning endeavour 

- so I have no idea how

 I ended up using some

 of the most expensive 

items in my bead box for it!

Gilt lined seed beads, 

A grade 

amazonite rondelles,

hand carved

 amazonite daisies,

and a fancy 

sterling silver 

flower motif clasp!

Expensive ingredients for what was 

inteneded to be nothing more than a 

'have a go and see how it goes' 

type of project! 

As it goes, 

I am pretty pleased with the results...

which is a lucky thing!

Halloween Treats With And Without The Calories! Ghoulishly Good Beading Discount Codes.....

Halloween is nearly upon us 

so here is a round up

 of beading

 discount 

codes 

to help get your spooky makes 

on the go....

BEADS DIRECT 

Spooktacular Clearance sale 50%-70% off 

Pick a pumpkin on the website for trick or treat extra discount fun!

BEADS JAR

Use cose; HAL25 

for 25% discount 

(not sure when this offer ends) 

Delivery is only 99p per order until Xmas.

JEWELLERY MAKER
25% OFF Citrine
Use code: CITRINE25 at checkout 
*Excludes show products and wont work in conjunction
 with any other offer. 
Ends 30.11.15

THE BEAD SHOP MANCHESTER
25% Off all full price items. 
Use code: 25OCT
*T's&c's apply. 
See website.

SPOILT ROTTEN BEADS
Two offers: 
1) Free bead, charm and wire
 bundle when you spend £25.
2) Vouchers worth up to £20
£5 voucher - quote SpoilMe5 
when you spend £25.
£10 voucher - quote SpoilMe10 
when you spend £40  
£20 voucher - quote SpoilMe20
when you spend £70.
Offer ends 
Sunday 1st Nov 
2015.

Some Halloween savings 
for you there. 
Just in case you fancy
 some treats
 of the more calorific kind, 
I found these sweet cake ideas 
over at Betty Crocker.com! 

My own findings (as per usual) 
not an endorsement, sadly - 
can you imagine being sponsored by a cake company... 
mmm mmm, but good bye skinny jeans!!

Rose Quartz Cabochon Bead Embroidery Necklace

My latest make! 

Crafting For Christmas - How Early Is Too Early?

So, Halloween is not yet  upon us 

but the marketing emails for Christmas 

goodies have already begun...

Craziness!

This got me to thinking about the prezzies I'm going to make.

It's so lovely to give a handmade gift

but jewellery making, particularly bead embroidered pieces, 

take time and if you 

multiply the amount of work  to make a piece of jewellery 

X the many friends and relatives you want to make it for 

and suddenly it seems like time is already running out!

So although it seems FAR too early

 for the ubiquitous Xmas marketing emails 

to be flooding my inbox  

as for my home made gifts - better get started!! 

My Beading Buddy

Kitty often likes to 'help' me bead. 

Some of her usual antics include: 

rolling out on my bead mat as I struggle to negotiate 

picking up tiny size 15's. 

Batting the end of the stringing wire I'm working 

with.

 Catching the stitching thread and tugging it away. 

Rolling the beads off  the mat and just 

generally walking over whatever I'm doing and purring around me 

so I have to give her attention instead! 

Today after a little bit of bead batting

she decided that she wanted  to sprawl out on the window sill. 

Are You Making Enough Progress?

Do you ever look around at some of the amazing work out there 

and think to yourself  'WOW. That is absolutely amazing.'

Closely followed by ' Oh dear, I can't make anything like that ..'

Do you feel you are making enough progress? 

When it comes to beading and jewellery making
 we can be so quick to judge and 'grade'ourselves
compared to other peoples work.

I guess it's human nature to want to be 'top of the class' 

or at the very least not come last!
However, hobby classes are generally setted
into groups like
'total beginner', 'beginner', improver',
'advanced' 'expert' etc
and maybe we shouldn't be so quick to compare ourselves
between 'groups'
because 
everybody beading and making jewellery
 has come to it 

in different ways
 with different levels of physical dexterity or free time.
Or lack of free time...lol!

Everybody has to start somewhere
and even those amazing artists had to learn the basic skills
before they could go on and create their masterpieces.

'Beginners' do not become 'experts' overnight - it takes time! 

If you are keen, and interested, and keep learning
then you are making progress, 
and that is a wonderful thing! 

Tiny Fawn Necklace

I just love this sweet little baby deer. 

If you look closely you will see 

some tiny birds sitting in the trees besides her.

As well as an annoying reflection from my window it seems!

I think I am getting hooked on beading around cabochons.

It's such fun.

I have ordered  *ahem* 'a few' 

more off Etsy. 

(Well, it does seem such a waste 

of postage cost to just order one or two...)

 So I'm sure there will

be some more cab designs 

coming to this blog

 in the near future... lol!

Marie Therese Necklace

Looking through my drafts and I found this old blog post 
with my first ever 
beading around a cab necklace. 
Thought I would post it today...

  I love Sophia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette

it's such a great source of inspiration with its 

macaron inspired

pastel costume colour scheme 

and of course its fabulous 

location in the palace of Versailles.

I re-watched it and just had to make something afterwards!

So this necklace is a flight of fantasy with the idea being that 

it could be a necklace that Marie could have worn with a 

cameo of her daughter (Marie Therese) attached. 

My very first attempt at beading around a cameo here! 

It's not a 'try it a few times then post it first attempt'.

It's a genuine first try ' I had no idea at all what to do attempt!' 

Which is why there are obvious flaws.

It was a learning project and it shows.

 That's all part of the fun though.

However, 

I am super pleased with the top half of the necklace 

and I can cut off 

the cameo dangle if I want to 

and wear the top half alone. 

Seems a shame to cut it up though. 

- I think I will keep it as a learning project. 

Nice to look back on these things :-)  

My First Fringing On A Beaded Cabochon Necklace

Here is the result of an experiment
 with adding fringing

to my beaded cabochon design. 

I really like the way it looks and the way it
 adds movement.

I make so much jewellery 
but rarely wear it
so with this piece I 

put it straight around my neck 
and wore it for the rest of the day!

Rose Water Opal Swarovski Crystal Up Close

Just a little 'bead candy' for today! 
Mmm mmm! 

Vintage Glamour Puss

A gratuitous couple of pics of Miss Kitty looking cute 

posing with the 1950's vintage necklace 

I bought off eBay 

with the intention of using for parts

 but it is far to beautiful to cut into 

so I will be adding it to my jewellery box instead!

It's National Beading Week

It's the first ever National Beading Week.

Hooray!

I love that this is not just a day but an ENTIRE WEEK :-) 

Check out the website 

for more information

about all the exciting things going on! 

Woo :-) 

Why Not: Use Clear Nail Polish

Clear nail polish. 

Great for shiny nails and 

a terrific top coat 

for your manicure.

Makes a great glue for securing crimps 

inside calottes too!

A Very Venetian Affair

These pretty heart earrings are made from Murano Glass.   

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous,

what more can I say!! 

The Ten Signs Of Jewellery Making Addiction

1. Your favourite sound 

is the thud of a packet of beading supplies hitting the door mat.

2. You no longer buy jewellery to match your outfit, 

you buy a whole new outfit to match the jewellery you've made!

3. You tell little white lies about how much that bead shopping spree

REALLY cost... 

4. You know the Swarovski crystal colour chart practically off by heart... 

5. When you meet someone new the first thing you notice is their jewellery.

6. You can't wait to start your next project before this one is even finished...

7. Sometimes you dream of jewellery designs... 

8. Time just seems to disappear when you are working on your beading...

9. If the phone goes, whilst your beading, it can wait....

10. You need to bead. RIGHT. NOW.

Great Needles For Bead Embroidery

I have found some great needles for bead embroidery work

 from JBS Beads. 

They are really sturdy and make smooth work 

of piercing through  the backings.

Not bending out of shape like other needles I have tried in the past.

I'm not sure what exact brand they are, 

or if they happen to be JBS own brand, but 

whatever they are I am very pleased! 

I highly recommend them. 

They are size 10 .  

The perfect ten!! 

Powder Rose Swarovski Crystal Close Up

These 8mm chatons are from the Swarovski Spring/Summer 2016 launch 

and they really are a beautiful new innovation. 

What makes them special is that they have an opaque coating 

 to the reverse of the stone which gives a lovely subdued 'powder' look to the crystal.

Looking at them 'in the flesh'  I can see that the crystal is clear and the effect comes from the backing.  

I do love these little beauties and am very excited to see that pastel colours 

are going to be in fashion again for next year. 

Bring on those pastel pretties! 

Is Hand Made Jewellery 'Rubbish' By Definition? Have You Experienced Hand Made Hatred?

Handmade jewellery made from beads VS gem jewellery made with precious metals. 

Can a girl like both styles 

or does admiration of one make you unable to appreciate the other?

For me I love all kinds of jewellery.  

Making my own beaded creations gives me an appreciation 

of the time, love, effort, and skill 

that goes into handmade things 

and I often buy other peoples' creations to support artisans

and the handmade movement.  

I am happy to flit between wearing something made from glass beads and something made from precious gemstones. 

Suprisingly, some people are not.

For them handmade jewellery is viewed soley as 'junk' because it does not contain , well, diamonds basically! 

They would never wear jewellery made from beads because it doesn't have enough perceived value or status. They only wear 'REAL' jewellery. 

So we've got the 'happy to wear handmade' on one team and the 'diamonds only darlings' on the other! 

I never realised there could be such a rift between people on this issue. 

We are talking divisive like Marmite level here 

(you either love it or hate it!) 

Has anyone ever been dismissive of your jewellery because it was handmade? 

Have you experienced what I am going to term as 'Hand Made Hatred'?! 

A Time To Stitch 7 Blog Hop Reveal - Sexy Siren Killer Mermaid Necklace!

Hi and thanks for stopping by. 

I have been so excited since I first saw the hop advertised on 

Christine and Thereses'  blogs. 

I have done some embroidery before

 but I am  very much learning still.

So I jumped at the chance for an opportunity 

to try and improve my skills.

I think the great thing about hops like this

 is that they provide the perfect motivation

 to learn new skills 

or improve existing ones,

and I am really grateful

 for the opportunity 

to try and 'go larger' with my work. 

I think this is the largest thing I've made to date, or probably ever!! 

So, the name... 

I was trying to decide on a name for this piece without success so in the end I 

decided to just go with 

the working title 

(Do you ever find yourself thinking of a name 

for what you're working on as you go along....) 

'sexy siren killer mermaid necklace!' 

 I saw the cabochon on Etsy 

and just had to buy it along with the skull anchors.

They were a little expensive for what they were 

but I knew I wanted them 

to tie in with her fishy tail 

and the skull she is posing by, 

whilst waiting for

 her next ship load of sailors 

to lure to the crashing rocks no doubt.... 

I think she's the original femme fatale! 

I used a mixture of glass seed beads 

in shimmery sea tones 

contrasted with the 

gunmetal  seed beads

 to give her a harder look. 

She is a  femme fatale after all!

I used labrodorite beads around the cab 

because they are a dirty earthy colur 

which ties in with the skull anchors 

but also 

(and it's a shame this doesn't show up in the pics) 

they shine a lovely 

mystical blue 

when they catch the light 

which ties in with the sea scape theme.

I tried to make it look 'wavy' 

around the cabochon, 

like a puddle of water. 

That was the idea anyway! 

The Swarovski crystal bicones

 are shade  'Black Diamond' 
(very femme fatale) 

and I used blue jade rounds 

to sit on top of the snakey skull anchors. 

The large rounds on the neck strap 

are massive moss agates, 

interspersed with the Swarovski crystals 

and labrodorite. 

Finished with sterling silver findings. 

As you can see  my

 beading buddy

 was keen to 'help' 

with 

the picture taking! 

A big THANK YOU

 to Christine and Therese 

for hosting this fun

blog hop,

 and a little thank 

you from my cat 

for giving her 

something new

 to sit on! 

Looking forward to hopping along the participants list: 

1.       Therese (Host) 

2.       Christine  (Host)

3.       Amy

4.       Lola

5.       Lori F

6.       Kim

7.       Becky Pancake

8.       Karin G.

9.       Debbie (Kepi)

10.   LizE

11.   Maryanne

12.   Paula

13.   Wendy

14.   Janet

15.   Jasvanti

16.   Ginger

17.   Alicia

18.   Bobbie

19.   Shirley

20.   Sarah

21.   Cynthia

22.   Lizzie

23.   Samantha

24.   Sally

25.   Niki

26.   Karen W.