Extremes

Whoa, three posts in a week! I'm spoiling you...

I have been at the extremes of my jewellery making spectrum this week. These first three items - although good little earners, don't exactly stretch me.

A memory wire bracelet, commissioned for a young man (8) to give as a birthday present to a young lady he has a soft spot for:


Then two spectacle chains. They continue to be the Google search that brings the majority of people to my website, so I really must get more on there. I practicaly sold out before Christmas!



Then two sets. The first one features lampwork beads by my chum, Suzy Hannabuss. I fell in love with the colours in the focal and even though I'm not usually too keen on 'bumpy' beads, I had to have this one and its accompanying spacers.


It is teamed with some fabulous Thai Hill Tribe beads, loads of Swarovski crystals and sterling silver tubes.

I have named it Tyuratam - the place where Sputnik was launched from in October 1957.

As an aside, I love the mini-adventures I have when naming my pieces. I usually have some sort of idea what I'm going to call something as I'm making it, but I then like to take it off at a slight tangent... which involves delving into the thesaurus, Brewers dictionary of phrase and fable and Google. I know all sorts of facts as a result that I don't suppose I will ever need in my day to day life... but I'm getting pretty good at quizzes!

The last one to show you, showcases the work of the supremely talented Isabelle Anderson. I adore Izzy's beads and have to really sit on my hands not to click and buy way more of her beads. I bought these back in November and already had an idea how I was going to use them, but then had to wait for the Christmas rush and the move to the new workspace to get to it. Then, I ran out of chain and had to wait for that to arrive... But, at last here is Tribal Arcs:

Tribal - because Izzy named the beads 'One Tribe' and the Arcs is pretty self-explanatory. I have hammered the curves of silver to give them texture and strength. I think when you have such wonderful beads to work with, they don't want to be fussed over, but shown in a way that gives the spotlight to the bead in an interesting way.

The same goes for the earrings, which I have simply teamed with a couple of sterling silver beads and dangled from my favourite large kidney earwires.

So, what are you up to this weekend? Now we've got the accounts out of the way, I'm hoping we can have some fun. Maybe the cinema - there seems to a loads of good films out at the moment. Brian mentioned doing a bit of gardening... but that's not exactly my idea of fun!

Hope whatever you're doing, you have fun.

Take care and much love to all. xx

Knotting, Paddling and Smiling...

Have had a truly awful cold this week (I blame that London - full of germs!) and have found looking at the computer screen quite painful... but thankfully have still been able to bead!
Sat in bed and had a go at knotting. I love the drape you get with knotting.



This one I've called the Splish, Splash, Splosh Set, it reminds me of beaches, rockpools and paddling. So, large beads from Lushlampwork and the yellow is Lemon Jade.

And lastly a simple set made with wooden beads, but it really makes me smile when I look at it. Don't you think it would look fab in the winter with a plain black jumper?

I liked the beads so much that I made two memory wire bracelets with them too!



We have a BIG show on Thursday - the Monmouthshire Show - which will be the biggest event we've attended. They're hoping for 20,000 people! YIKES! It's a bit nerve-wracking as the table cost was expensive, but we thought we'd have a go. I'll report back at the end of the week.

It's all about remembering...

What a horrible, horrible morning. It's SO wet and windy. Roll on the spring...

I've been adding more things to the website: this time it's memory wire bracelets and bookmarks.

Bookmarks were a huge seller in the run up to Christmas. I made loads with little Swarovski crystal dragonflies - some will be added to the website shortly - and then larger ones with lampwork beads. All the beads are completely unique and have been made by some of the UK's best lampwork artists, so this is an affordable way for people to own a little piece of today's glass art. Here are a couple:

Memory wire bracelets continue to be good sellers. Part of their appeal, I think, is the lack of a fiddly clasp, as you just wind them round your wrist.

Today I'm off for a long meeting with Sarah, my partner in crime... oops sorry, my partner in craft fairs and jewellery parties. We're going to look back at the events we did last year and see how we can improve our operation and see what lessons we have learned.

But before that, it's the weigh in at WW. I've not been perfect, but I've eaten less than in the weeks over Christmas, so hopefully I shall have started on the downward slope. As long as I've made even the slightest inroad into the 5lb I put on over the festive period, I shall be happy!