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.