Bring it on!

Welcome back again, I hope you are here to see the wonderful process of my bead embroidery, or just to see my ramblings - either way, let's crack on!

So the second piece I opted to do is the second largest - we'll work our way down on this project! Less rambles this time around, you know the basics now, more pictures.

You may remember in my previous blog entry I warned against being super careful when beading with bicone crystals - this is why:

The great thing about bead embroidery is that a snapped thread doesn't have to mean working back several rows and reworking, it's easy to tie off and thread in from the back and pick up where you left off. So satisfying!

I also love the spirograph effect that is created on the back of the piece, it is in some ways a shame to cover it up.

Once the base row is completed, we start on the bezel row again:

Don't forget to stitch back round the inner row a few times to bring all of the beads into line for a nice crisp finish, and then stitch on your outer row/s.

Trace your outline on your suede, cut out and stick to the back and stitch the edging! Feel free to secure as much or as little as you feel it needs before doing so - you can see where I've sealed in three places with clear varnish before gluing my backing on here:

Keep it as tidy as you can - I must admit I love looking at the back of my embroidery when it's all finished almost as much as the front, it's just not quite so shiny

Two pieces down... Five to go. Here's what we have so far:

Exciting! And I'm pleased to say that I am now at the point of putting all of the components together so will try to make it back a bit sooner for the next 5 components (all small and you know the drill!) so that I can show you the best b its - the finished article!!

In other news, I've recently agreed a loan on my friend's horse, and I'm ecstatic. I've always wanted to own a horse, and this is likely to be the closest I will get to it - helping out and having freedom to go down to the yard more or less whenever I want and getting all of the benefits without having to front the entirety of the bill! It's a dream come true. Here's Felix - he was a bit hot and bothered yesterday afternoon when we went down to see him. Unfortunately the sheep on the yard had all been herded in to be marked or something so we couldn't bring him in for a bath so I promised him I'll be back to give him one soon!

Isn't he just adorable? He's so docile and I just want to cuddle him!

Until next time :)

Playing catch up

Looks like I logged back onto Blogger at the right time - Lori's blog hop reveal!! If you've never seen the annual blog hop, just click here and prepare to lose a few hours trawling through. Good news though, it has been limited to 200 participants this year, so you should only lose half a day. Here's a peek of one of the pieces Lori made:

It's amazing to look through and see what people make from components they are sent, and looks like a lot of fun. I know what I'll be doing once I have made my imprint on the blogosphere this evening.

It's been a long and complicated couple of months, not an awful lot of beadery has gone on, but I have dabbled a little and finally tackled working with some polymer clay. I've really enjoyed the little bits that I have done so I can safely say that it's something I look forward to working with more. I spent a week off work, signed off by the doctor for stress, and did lots of baking - I have found that my signature dish is triple chocolate brownie, and there's nothing that chills me out more than baking them. Sadly I didn't do as much beading as I had hoped but I have started a 100% from scratch necklace, here's a sneaky preview:

It will be complemented by two handmade round polymer clay beads, the chain is going to be netted in light green frosted beads and I plan to make a polymer clay toggle clasp with leaves on to match it. This will be my very first piece where all components are completely my own, and it's quite exciting for me.

In other news, we've settled into our home and are well and truly mortgaged up, next on the list of expenses is a new car as ours is still consistently dying - if any of you know what might be draining a car battery please feel free to chip in! We're thinking we need to check if any earth cables aren't connecting properly as it's had a new battery, new glow plugs and temperature sensor on the water coolant (or something like that??) but still the battery will die after sitting for a length of time... Oh well, looking at getting a 2-3 year old car on finance so we'll see what happens in Summer.

I'm off to look at the beautiful beaded items that Lori's soup-ers have created! See you there.

Moving along slowly!

I was so excited today driving to my friend Tracy's, as I drove past our new house, the SOLD sign has now gone up, and when I looked at the website this evening, this picture accompanies the property listing. I've got all sorts of butterflies in my tummy just looking at it - I can't wait!

We have a meeting tomorrow morning with our mortgage advisor, our solicitor's paperwork arrived this morning - hopefully our advisor can go through with that tomorrow as well! I can't believe how quickly this has all happened, it's crazy, but that's just the way of the world of property I guess!

Pictures of my new niece will follow shortly - Leah was born 08/09/11 weighing 7lbs exactly, and she is an exceptionally beautiful little girl. I'm a very proud auntie, and very happy now that my sister in law and Leah are now back home and all well.

Oh, and as this is meant to be a jewellery blog - here's a little something I finished last week!

Birthday makings!

Just a quick post from me this evening, two bracelets for my friend Jackie at work who hits the big 5-0 on Thursday! Bring on the hamper, flowers, balloons, desk confetti and CAKE! Quite a productive evening, I think :o)

Bails, Cuffs & Weddings!

Well it's been a busy couple of weeks, but I've managed to do some beading to share with you all! I've set off on my own little journey with this first piece, having conquered using wonky squares to make a star (which you can see here) - I decided to make a couple more "wonky squares" and make an eye catching bail for this turquoise donut. Goodness knows how long I've had this sizeable nugget sat around, but I finally have a use for it! The plan is for a little odd count peyote chain to sit through the top bail and look pretty and sparkly. As soon as it's done I'll update you!

Work has once again been hectic, and our senior administrator is off on her holidays for the next two weeks so it could be interesting. Thank goodness it's bank holiday next weekend! Tomorrow hopefully won't be too bad or stressful, it's Tracy's daughter's wedding tomorrow, so getting the drinking shoes on for the evening, fingers crossed! I'll be sure to take my camera :o)

Finally, I'll show you a little project that I started and finished within a week (shocking, I know!) Donna at Bead Buddies needed testers to make sure her peyote word charts are all correct, so I opted for her Autumn Flowers cuff, and this is how it turned out:

 

I definitely need to practise the attaching of the peyote strip to the cuff blank, but overall I'm pretty pleased - it's quite cute!

Good news on the fund raising - currently Sandie has pulled together over £340 for the African Crisis Fund!

Well I'm off to prep for the office tomorrow, see you all soon,

Double post Thursday - part 1!

It's double post Thursday!

Sorry for missing last night's post, I didn't get back from Tracy's until gone 10pm! Was nice to actually have a night off from work  Anyway, in amongst my clearing up the other day, I came across my photo book of my travels in August 2008 - tune in later, and once we get back from my mother in law's for fish and chips, I'll tell you all about my adventure down under! I will warn you now, it's likely to be even more picture-heavy than normal 

My little roses have started to open now, such a lovely surprise from my lovely hubby 


Ooh and the star is now complete, I just need to decide what I am going to do with it:

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, it's quite cool how different they look if you squeeze them 

I even came home to another little parcel last night which is my new bead backing from America to try out. Can't wait - I have 14 different colours to play with now!
Tune in later bead buddies for a little of Singapore and Dubai, and a lot of cattle ranching in Oz!

Fab finds

It's giveaway time, and I've got a few finds for you to browse!

Firstly, let me remind you of my giveaway for this cute embroidered flower, the entry guidelines can be found here. Remember - you can have it made into whatever you choose!

I've been having a little browse since I got back from Download (what a weekend!) and found a few new sites, blogs and giveaways for you all. I hadn't realised what fab sites are out there for us crafters. If you haven't either, make sure you check out Craft Blog UK - a comprehensive list of jewellery, sewing, papercraft, art, photography, knitting and all kinds of other crafty blogs. Get involved! I will be. They are currently running a Craft Photography competition, designed to get your product photos seen and to help us all understand what makes a good photo. The competition page can be found here - it's great even just to have a scroll through and see how other people present their items.

Kate at Tropical Blonde is also holding a giveaway - click here for a chance to win one of these lush pendants. Two lucky people will win one, so get commenting!

Moonlitfantaseas is holding a giveaway for Metalworking 101 - clicky here

Copper Diem is holding a Pass It Forward giveaway, and is giving away a selection of beads, charms and a lovely toggle clasp, which can be found here

Now, here's the biggy - Lana at somethingunique is having a MONSTER giveaway, and you will have to go to her blog to see the amazing collection she has put together, here are just a couple of things:

So - let me know what takes your fancy, and I'll see you over at these wonderful blogs. Just don't enter these too many times - I'd like the lot please! Coming soon, we are making a light box to try and get better and more uniform pictures - watch this space.

Happy crafting

Long weekend

Ooh back to work tomorrow, have had a lovely long weekend. I've made a bit of progress on the latest project, and have had so much fun playing on my new iPhone! There's a fab photo journal app Instagram, which is great fun to use. If you have an iPhone, download it (it's free!) and add me - littletreats.

I had so much fun doing the Stylish Blogger award, and look forward to following the chain so I can find lots more of your marvellous blogs to follow. On that note, I'm almost at 50 followers and I am planning a giveaway once I hit 50! Spread the word, and I'll get planning on how to do it and what to give away to you lovely people. You'll have to excuse me, I'm still new to this, so I'll do my best. 

I caught up with an old friend today as well, it's been so nice to just have some time out of work and in two weeks time I get to do it again! I could get used to this. Anyway, must crack on and get some more of this necklace done - stay tuned!