MinXtures treat

You may recall my first Wednesday themed post on butterflies. Yes, I have now been paid and I'm pleased to say that I've finally been able to spare some money to make my first Folksy purchase. If you liked the butterfly tote bag by Minxtures, I'm sorry but it's now mine! I just couldn't resist the beautiful simplicity - and of course the butterfly.

I'm looking forward to seeing the ladies at my beading class tomorrow and looking at everyone's finished necklaces from last week. I was so pleased with mine, and I can't wait to see how everyone's turned out. I'm going to try and get photos if I remember to take my camera. More news tomorrow on what we make.

Happy Beading!

LittleTreats loves

Wednesday is my picks of the week day. Starting now. So today I have chosen butterflies as my theme, and Folksy has some very talented crafters!

1. Wrapped Up With String "Butterfly Notecard"  2. MinXtures clothing and accessories "Black Butterfly Bag"  3. Em Teacup "Butterfly Passport Cover"  4. Little Bird Too "Cute Butterfly Stationery"  5. ChakraSensations "Chakra Butterfly Bracelet"    6. TerrorDome "Butterfly Art"

I can't wait to have a little studio room and deck it out with handmade lush crafty things! My final love for tonight is this adorable "Butterfly Beauty" cushion by Sewflair. I love the detail and would definitely give it pride of place on my sofa... Or bed... Or chair...

Happy beading!

Spare pennies

I need a new wishlist item... And I think I've found what it will be. I've just discovered Quernus Crafts - Kirsten launched her business in 2009, and is currently working primarily in polymer clay. I just can't resist her wee horses, and they shall be next on my wishlist. Her link can also be found as a permanent fixture on my blog to the right.

On a personal note, my hubby-to-be has opened up a hopefully fantastic job prospect where he works, which may allow me to work fewer hours in the next couple of years and focus more on jewellery - who knows, perhaps I may even get to have my own studio when we get ourselves a house! Discussing with the girls at work, a couple of them seemed to think that they'd get bored working less hours but I couldn't think of anything better. Rush around and do a tad bit of housework before settling down and making beautiful crafty designs all afternoon; yes please. Perhaps then I can try and experiment with more things.

Happy beading!

Confidence building...

Ok so I couldn't wait for the opportunity to get photos in daylight, so you'll have to settle with average photos taken under lamplight. I'm so pleased with how my Wisteria necklace has turned out I just had to share!

I loved the idea of having something organic, and when I got to the bead shop on Saturday morning, this was in fact the colour scheme that Tish had used but I fell in love with it and had to have my own! I was chuffed with how it ended up looking with the green stone as the focal bead, it really has finished it off just as I wanted.

Away from beautiful and gratifying necklaces anyway, I finally got around to doing a bit of a tester with even count peyote and am quite enjoying it. Not wanting to make a huge long song and dance out of practising, I've made myself a basic ring and found myself a reason to use one of the lovely wooden heart beads that I got for Christmas.

I love beading!







I've had a quick look and there's a beaded ring that's really caught my attention. Step up Sarah Paris Style and your beaded Cocktail Ring - this is absolutely stunning.

Happy beading!

What weekend?

I absolutely feel like I've not stopped today! Having gotten up early to get the best fruit available from the market I dashed off to try and find a suitable replacement toilet seat... And ran out of time before I had to get to my beading class. Two hours of blissful beading a beautiful stitch, and getting half way to completing my necklace and I was off to the office to work some overtime as we are so so busy at the moment!

I will have photos of today's beading class project on here very soon, but I will try to get some photos in daylight without varying shadows. The stitch we used was called Wisteria, and I used a green and purple scheme which I think looks fantastic; I still continue to be surprised at what I can do with a few (hundred) beads, a needle and some thread.

We also had the pleasure of seeing some of the lapidary projects going on at the bead shop today, including a stunning pair of finely faceted briolette amethyst earrings made to order worth around £200, which of course left me racking my brains for a good excuse to be deserving of a treat... My brain train is still puffing away on that one! We had a quick low-down on the best Amethyst (from Zambia if you didn't know!) and also how to tell the best from the bland - all to do with reds and blues. If you like the facets on this briolette angel charm, D & K Designs, you would be in awe of the earrings! They caught the light so beautifully - if they were mine I wouldn't be able to walk away from the mirror! Now to start saving the pennies...

Manic Mondays

No rest for the wicked, I was hoping as it's half term that work would be easier going today but no such luck. I'm finally sat down ready to bead but thought I'd share a few pretty colours with you all - I need some vibrant colours to brighten my day!

From top left to bottom right: MysticDNA "Rainbow Circles", MysticDNA "Rainbow Peyote Bracelet", By Anne "Rainbow heart (resin)", The Rainbow Room "Pocket Rainbow"

I do love the peyote bracelet, and I am definitely going to be trying that particular stitch out very soon, so watch this space. Fingers crossed it will go well - from what I understand from reading various articles, beading rivoli's are achieved by stitching in peyote and that is what I ultimately would like to do in the future! They all just look so lovely:

"Pool of Gold ring" by Songbeads. This will be a favourite for a very long time.

Well I'm now experimenting with wider herringbone weave bracelets, so I will be back soon! 

Guilty as charged

Yes, still no new jewellery bloggage - but just look at the pretty blog I have now! I've been slacking the last two nights with my beading, but it's been worth it. Oh, and I'm off to the gym tomorrow (again!) so if I blog it will be late once more... I'm still working my way through the Bead Soup pieces, and adding yet more blogs to try and follow! I did get a bit excited today to find that Suffolk New College offer 6 week classes working with silver clay, though the 6 week course starts 4 weeks before my wedding in May, so I think I'll have to wait for the next course to be announced! It would be awesome to be able to make my own focal designs and have a good old play around!

Happy blogging
x

Bead Soup Beauties

Well I sat down at my computer this evening with every intention of blogging... But then I got way-laid by the Bead Soup Blog challenge hosted by Lori Anderson. With 84 participants, there are some stunning pieces and I am not even a quarter of the way down the list of blogs yet! Not to mention I've not a clue how I'll keep up with you all now - I am now following several more blogs and look forward to seeing all of the new updates and work :o)

And chill

Oh my goodness, I'm just so grateful to be at home and not work, what a day! So, I've been relatively busy on the beading front and I really am loving it. My other half is always bemoaning the fact that I can't put a bracelet down until it's finished, and when I'm not beading I'm reading all of your lovely and inspiring blogs or browsing Folksy to see what new treasures have been listed. I have a small collection of beaded bracelets now in various colours, and am going to have to start creating matching earrings soon I think! I just love how relaxing it is to sit and make these, and the reaction I get from friends is fantastic - I have to explain that it is easy when you know how!

I've been reading all about bead cruises and craft fairs and am hoping that the Summer will bring some craft fairs down my way... I'm not sure where to start looking to find them though! It would be brilliant to go to a couple and buy some beads by independent artists, and see what all of you come up with - some designs I come across are so beautiful.

I have got some floral focal beads for my next project, this time a necklace that is featured in 100 Beaded Jewellery Designs by Stephanie Burnham (a treat for myself last weekend!) I just loved the spring colours of pink and green, and it will match my spiral bracelet perfectly.

I am going to give some different stitches a go once I have made my necklace, we've covered herringbone and double spiral at my Saturday classes, which are great, and I really want to learn more. I did particularly like the flower bracelet that we made - it's satisfying to know at the end that I've made something so pretty.

In other news, it's now less than 4 months to my wedding, and I'm now starting to think about gifts for my bridesmaids... At a loss! Butterflies, pearls...Weddingy things! Pretty weddingy things. It's also not long until I start having my dress fittings, oops, better be getting to the gym soon then.

I'd just like to finish by mentioning Songbeads on Folksy - Rebecca Anderson makes beautiful flowery beaded jewellery, and I especially love her Dragonfly Dreams bracelet.

Back soon!