A BOX OF BEADS

VALENTINE NECKLACES

2012-02-02T00:13:00.001+01:00

I was feeling in the mood for making something for Valentine’s Day. Once one was done the others just……followed.

A glass heart with red beads, silver beads and black crystals.

A large silver wire pendant with red pearls and black crystals.

My first attempt at knotting cord.

Detail of the pretty glass pendant bead.

BIG BEADS

2011-12-06T14:21:00.001+01:00

I never used to know what to do with big beads. After a bit of doodling these emerged.

Big brown beads.

Big green beads.

Big multicolour beads.

Some big purple beads with crystals.

One big bead with pearls.

The latest project – a hotchpotch of big beads.

BIRTHDAY BLUES

2011-11-16T13:54:00.001+01:00

It my friend Pat’s birthday today, a really big one with an “0”in it. Ages ago she said she would like a royal blue necklace so I made this for her birthday.

I hope she likes it and that she is having a lovely day.

A SPLASH OF COLOUR

2011-11-04T10:31:00.001+01:00

I have found a new bead shop and swooped on these lovely brightly coloured beads. I couldn’t wait to make them into something to cheer up a dull November day.

They would also look great in summer, I think.

A BIRTHDAY NECKLACE

2011-10-04T14:15:00.001+02:00

Already this year I have made presents for my friends Barbara’s 60th and Nicole’s 40th. Now it is the turn of my sister-in-law Kathy who is 50 today.

These are not the best photos ever taken, snapped in a rush before I wrapped the necklace and earrings to give them to her yesterday. But it gives an idea of the finished result. I used some lovely faceted carnelian beads, teamed with some pretty glass beads which seem to be silver paint with a brown pattern over the top.

I used some copper-effect circles and silver jump rings to blend with the beads. Also a record number of loops that I had to make myself – I hope they hold and the necklace doesn’t fall apart !!

I hope Kathy is having a lovely birthday.

SPOTS AND FAIRIES

2011-08-01T09:28:00.001+02:00

Two necklaces made recently.

A blue spotty bead as a pendant on cotton cord and ribbon for a little girl whose favourite colour is blue.

A fairy and a flower for a colleague’s birthday – guess what her favourite things are !! This was strung on a silver snake chain.

A NECKLACE FOR A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY

2011-07-02T18:14:00.001+02:00

It was a friend’s special birthday recently, one of those milestones that some of us love and others dread.

I know she likes bright colours and especially blues, greens and turquoise so I made this necklace.

The beads are coral, china, silver, crystal, cherry quartz and turquoise.

I made a little pair of matching earrings as well, from turquoise chips and cherry quartz.

She was pleased with it and I hope she really enjoys wearing it.

FAST AND FUNKY EARRINGS

2011-06-29T14:28:00.001+02:00

My thirteen year old niece was rummaging through my bead box recently and spotted these purple plastic beads.

Ten minutes later she was wearing them as earrings !!

HAVE BEADS WILL TRAVEL

2011-06-27T09:45:00.001+02:00

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Sweetpea who asked me if I could repair a cherished broken necklace.

Sweatpea is restoring a house in Angles-sur-L’Anglin, which has to be one of the prettiest villages in the South Loire region of France.

She posted the broken necklace to me in England and the most beautiful and eclectic selection of beads plopped through my letterbox a few days later.

There were ivory, wood, amber, china, amethyst and crystal beads, plus a lovely pendant bead which I think was onyx.

Sweetpea has fond memories of a fabulous holiday in Sri Lanka where she bought the jewellery, so it was important for both of us that I created something just right.

I restrung the beads and added a few silver, crystal and recycled glass ones of my own, plus a new clasp to ensure the necklace was strong enough not to break again – so that Sweetpea didn’t lose her cherished beads a second time.

Once I had the length of necklace right, I used the leftover beads to make a lovely bracelet, which Sweetpea might wear herself, or might keep for her granddaughter.

Then when I was chez nous in France earlier this month, I had the joy of delivering the finished jewellery in person, meeting Sweetpea and seeing the lovely house she is restoring in Angles.

SUMMER EARRINGS

2011-06-15T10:11:00.001+02:00

Daisy earrings.

Strawberry earrings.

A VERY BRIGHT GREEN

2011-05-19T14:56:00.001+02:00

A while ago I posted (and boasted) about some beads I bought at a charity shop and a fellow blogger, Diane, said how nice they were, they were such a bright green.

As Diane lives not far from our holiday cottage in France, I said I would make her a necklace in the lovely beads and take them over.

My charity shop purchase.

In the end, I made three necklaces for her to choose from. Also, in my local bead shop I found matching beads in different shapes and sizes to incorporate into the necklace and some matching earrings.

I was wondering which necklace she would choose.

These two necklaces were essentially the same – one with the large bead in line and the other with it as a pendant.

This is the one that Diane chose. A double-wire design with less black in it and a generally lighter feel and appearance.

I think it was the one I expected her to choose !! I hope she really enjoys wearing it – although she may have to wait for St. Patrick’s Day to make the most of it – the beads are really very green.

A BIRTHDAY GIFT

2011-03-08T16:52:00.001+01:00

My friend Barbara is having a big birthday soon, one with an nought in it.

She doesn’t really wear beads – goes in for the “real stuff” most of the time – but occasionally she does wear a nice pendant, so I decided to give her this for her birthday.

It’s an agate slice, teamed with Swarovski crystals, some Czech crystals and some bronze Gutermann beads.

The agate slices come from Jencel beads. Each one is different but they are always lovely.

I hope she likes it.

MORE CHARITY SHOP BARGAINS

2011-02-24T13:50:00.001+01:00

I can’t go past a charity shop these days without having a look at the jewellery section. Mostly I find horrid plastic beads and junk nobody would want to wear but occasionally there is something I can definitely take apart and do something with.

These nice glass beads were just crying out for remodelling. I can use the beads and the magnetic clasps, all for about £4.

This selection includes coral chips, some kind of jasper (I think) and some nice wooden beads. All for about £3.

MOTHER OF PEARL

2011-02-14T16:30:00.001+01:00

Dyed mother of pearl and carnelian beads with smaller MOP chips and copper.

CAN CAN IF YOU CAN

2011-01-26T17:08:00.004+01:00

I first started making beaded jewellery when I found some beads for sale in a local wool shop. My new hobby takes up most of my spare time but I still can’t resist buying knitting wool occasionally, especially with all the beautiful yarns that are available these days.

Knitting is something I have enjoyed ever since my mother taught me to knit when I was about six years old.

These days I tend to get bored with bigger garments and the finishing-off and sewing-up is not my strongest skill – hence my embarrassingly large collection of half-knitted or partially sewn-up jumpers.

Scarves are more successful as they don’t take as long to knit and the sewing-up is not a problem.

Last October, Mariel the proprietor of the PreHisto in Le Grand-Pressigny, was knitting a fabulous curly-wurly scarf in a plain grey colour. The plain grey was not for me but the effect was wonderful. The yarn is a sort of mesh tape.

She showed me how to pick up the stitches and knit with the yarn but I could not quite grasp the technique.

Recently I managed to get hold of a ball of the yarn, which is called Can Can. There are instructions on the ball-band but I was still flummoxed so I found this very helpful video on youtube.

It’s quite fiddly to knit but it grows very quickly so that’s ok.

PURPLE HAZE

2011-01-23T16:34:00.001+01:00

I teamed this lovely purple polymer clay pendant with some metallic tube beads, Swarovski crystals and little pyrite beads. The purple beading wire looked nice and bright. I was quite glad when it didn’t sell at the Christmas market as I had my eye on it for myself but then I was equally glad when a friend bought it as a present for a relative. I hope she liked it.

CORAL AND LAVA STONE

2011-01-09T13:38:00.001+01:00

Coral chips and black lava stone with silver bicones.

BRACELET SETS

2011-01-05T17:03:00.001+01:00

For my stall at the Christmas market I made several sets comprising a bracelet and earrings to match a little hand-knitted scarf that would be worn as if it was a necklace.

This one was in jolly colours with Swarovski crystals and bright pearls. It didn’t sell but a friend bought the bracelet for herself later. I still have the earrings and scarf so I will probably wear them myself as I love the colours.

This one was in rose quartz and crystals to match a delicate pink scarf. A friend bought the earrings at the market.

This set sold as a complete set including the scarf. I was pleased about that.

ON DOING THINGS THE HARD WAY

2010-12-23T12:47:00.016+01:00

My mum always said that if there was a hard way to do anything, even as a little girl, I would find it. I once read somewhere that this is a classic Sagittarian characteristic.
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So, when I decided it was time to sell some of my home-made jewellery at a craft fair for the first time, I decided to do it in a foreign country, with only a modest grasp of the language and in the middle of winter.

An outdoor food stall at the market.

It happened like this: my friend Nicole in Le Grand-Pressigny mentioned that there was a really nice Marché de Noël at Ferrière Larçon in the Loire every year about two weeks before Christmas. This seemed like the ideal opportunity. Christmas markets in France are wonderfully colourful, jolly and festive affairs. And with it being near enough to Christmas but not so near that everyone had done their Christmas shopping, surely this was perfect timing. So I asked her to find out if she could get me into it.

(Just to explain, I thought trying to get a table at a French market for myself would be extremely difficult from my home in the UK.)
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The atmosphere inside the church was festive and jolly despite the bitter cold.

This proved to be frustratingly difficult. Nicole left many a message for the organisers of the event and had no response. Time was ticking by and by October I still had no idea if I would have a stall or not. I had quite a few pieces that I could sell but would need to produce more to make a reasonable display of items for sale. On the other hand, I didn't want to make too many Christmassy items because if I was not selling at the craft fair, what would I do with all of them?

The variety of really nice home-made items on sale was enormous. This stall was all nice and cosy in the marquee.

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In November the contact finally replied to Nicole's messages saying that all the invitations to stallholders had already gone out, implying that only people who had previously had had a stall were invited to attend. In which case, how would newcomers get a foot in the door?
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Then, right at the last minute, I received an email with an attachment that was the application form for a table. For the princely sum of 10 euros I could have a two metre table with one chair, an electric socket and the option of some kind of grill that I could use as a backdrop.

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I sent off the form with my cheque straight away and followed it up with an email to the lady who was the contact for the organisers, explaining that the cheque was on its way but would probably arrive two or three days after the closing date.

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Then I waited. Nothing happened.

My stall was at the end of this long wind tunnel - there was an icy blast every few minutes as somebody passed through the long curtains that led to the interior of the church.

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However, I got on with the job of creating jewellery for the event. I repeated a few designs that had been admired or sold in the past and made lots of new, Christmassy styles, focussing on red and black with lots of silver and a bit of twinkle. I had no idea what the other stalls would be selling or what might or might not go down well. Being snowed in at home at the beginning of December helped to boost the stock slightly !!

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The snow fell in huge quantities in Derbyshire and by the time the day arrived to set off for France, we debated over and over whether or not to risk the journey. The Christmas market was on the Sunday and we were intending to get to France several days before, making a bit of a holiday of it. In the end, we left home more or less as planned. The journey was largely uneventful apart from a couple of hours driving through a blizzard in Northern France. But we made it without mishap, although with nerves very slightly frazzled.

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What was more worrying was that by the time I left home I still had had no response to my email and the cheque for 10 euros had not been cashed. In other words, having put all this effort into the event I was prepared for the possibility of turning up to find no table for me at all. I considered phoning the lady organiser but speaking French on the phone is something I still find extremely difficult. I manage in a face to face situation because facial expression and hand gestures go a long way towards helping either party get a point across. On the phone I easily get completely out of my depth. So we decided to just turn up on the day and see what happened.

My little stall.

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The system worked !! As we pulled up outside the church where the market was held, with a boot full of beads, busts and boxes, a man with a clipboard and a list approached us and my name was on the list. What a relief.
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My friend Jackie was there to help and we had practised setting up the table and arranging things on my dining table at home the day before. Most stalls were ready to go when we arrived but within a few minutes we were all set and waiting for our first customers when the doors opened at 10.00 am.
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I quickly worked out that I had a table in the least favourable position in the market. I was expecting this - why should they give a good pitch to a newcomer? When the man with the clipboard told me we were indoors in the entrance to the church I was initially pleased but in fact an outside stall would have been better and one in the marquee attached to the side of the church better still. My pitch was in a perishingly cold area and the light was poor. In fact it was in something like a freezing wind tunnel. Those outdoors fared better when the sun came out and those in the marquee were positively toasty for a large part of the day.

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There were three other stalls selling jewellery. This lady's work had a more modern look than mine.

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Business was slow. In fact we observed that nobody was selling very much at all. I chatted with my fellow stallholders and we came to the conclusion that the event was mainly a good place to catch up with friends and enjoy a glass of mulled wine in jolly surroundings rather than a place to do some Christmas shopping.
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By lunchtime I was frozen through and the number of visitors dwindled as people drifted towards the food stalls. Jackie and I decided we would pack up discreetly about three o'clock and slip out before the market officially closed at five. I really didn't think I could face another four hours of advancing frostbite.
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But then, at about two-thirty, crowds of people arrived. Suddenly, as if by the flick of a switch, the place was buzzing. There was loads of activity around my stall and I made a few more sales and answered lots of queries. My business cards were disappearing fast. Sadly, if anyone was thinking they would look for my stuff in a shop in Le Grand-Pressigny, they would be disappointed - at the moment anyway.

Another stall selling some jewellery.

All in all it was a good and interesting experience. A few glasses of mulled wine helped to keep the chilblains at bay and put a rosey perspective on everything. I was pleased with the appearance of my stall and very pleased with the reaction from the French ladies to my jewellery. It was obvious from the sales I made that I was appealing to a certain age-group and that was fine by me. I would rather make things I like and would wear myself than try to make stuff I don't feel comfortable with. For now, anyway.

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I was very pleased too that I was able to communicate adequately with the French ladies, using my limited vocabulary, and glad I had swotted up on a few relevant words beforehand. Nobody seemed at all perturbed or suprised that I was English either, which was something I had worried about. Looking at the other jewellery for sale, my prices were about right, too.
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Would I do it again? Definitely, but at a warmer time of year and a different kind of event. One of my customers suggested that my stuff would sell well at a couple of other local markets so I will see how easy it is to find out about that. Apart from being the coldest for the longest that I have ever been in my life, it was a good day and a very worthwhile experience.

One of the items that did sell.

SNOWED IN AND BEADING

2010-11-30T11:39:00.004+01:00

This was the view at the back of our house at 10 am today.

And this was the view at the front.

It's still snowing heavily.

We're snowed in !!

So who can guess what I'm doing today ??

Just as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining !!

EXCITING TIMES

2010-11-16T20:25:00.002+01:00

I am busy creating necklaces, bracelets and earrings for a Christmas craft fair in France.

I decided to take up one of those "free business cards" offers to have something to give people with each purchase.

Exciting times, and I must say, I am inexplicably nervous !

WINDOW SHOPPING

2010-09-07T18:09:00.004+02:00

Some interesting ideas for jewellery designs spied through the window of a shop in Poitiers.

Interesting prices, too.

This selection seemed to be mainly black lava stone or agate, coral and hemetite.

RECYCLED SURFBOARDS

2010-07-28T11:27:00.005+02:00

A friend was given a pair of earrings by an aunt last Christmas. This lady usually gives lovely presents, often jewellery she has bought at craft fairs. Last year, the earrings had enormous dangles. My friend said they were like mini surfboards and they were much too big for her to wear. So she gave them to me to see if I could do anything with them.

No problem ! I used one of the dangles to make a nice pendant necklace, just adding some sparkly beads, and made a dainty pair of earrings to wear with it.

I could see what she meant. They would have been enormous as earrings but made a lovely necklace.

Detail of the surfboard pendant.

JUST DOODLING

2010-07-17T10:01:00.006+02:00

I recently bought these lovely big pink beads from Clare's Beautiful Beads in Belper, along with the disc beads. I was having a doodle and ended up with a design where all the beads happen to have come from the same shop, although I have had some of them for probably a year, just waiting for inspiration.

Just like any other hobby, designing is the fun part and finishing off is the fiddly part. I have quite a few part-made things to finish off. No doubt I will get round to it one day.

This is another doodle from a while ago.

I am waiting to be inspired as to how to complete the necklace.

WEDDING DAY BLUES

2010-07-01T17:49:00.007+02:00

I offered to make a necklace for a colleague to wear with her "mother of the groom" outfit next month. Her dress is a mixture of blues and greens, with an aqua colour predominating.

I partly made up a few designs so that she could decide what sort of thing she wanted. Mostly they were too strong in colour and drew too much attention away from the dress, I thought.

We decided on a minimalist design, including some of my favourite beads to use, crackle beads, shell and Swarovski crystals. Also some black beads to reflect the black bits in the pattern of the fabric and to blend with her black accessories.

She was very pleased with it. I have suggested that she wears it a few times before the big day so that I will have time to fix it if it falls apart - always a worry !!

Detail of the heart pendant. My colleague doesn't usually go in for too much glitter or soppy hearts but she felt it was ok to have one at her son's wedding !!

TRUE BLUE

2010-04-26T09:30:00.002+02:00

Someone asked me to make them a blue necklace. I aked her what kind of blue and she said "true blue".

I wasn't quite sure what that meant but after a rummage through my bead box I found the bluest beads I had. She likes it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACKIE

2010-04-18T13:02:00.006+02:00

It's my friend Jackie's birthday today so I made this necklace for her as a present.

The birthstone for April birthdays is diamond or crystal. So I made it from rock crystal and hemetite with some matching earrings, too.

Happy birthday, Jackie from me, Nick and Lulu !!

SECONDHAND BEADS

2010-03-29T12:08:00.003+02:00

These beads were given to me by a neighbour who thought I might be able to do something with them. I'm sure I will ! They are glass beads in lovely earthy tones.

I bought these beads for next to nothing at a secondhand stall at a craft fair last year. I love the old fashioned feel of the AB coated glass.

I am still pondering what to do with them but I'm sure inspiration will come soon, it usually does, at about 4.30 in a morning when I can't sleep and am dreaming of beads.

TURQUOISE NECKLACE

2010-03-13T23:24:00.003+01:00

A combination of turquoise nuggets and cinnabar with silver.

INSTANT NECKLACE

2010-03-07T08:57:00.008+01:00

Sometimes I can fiddle for ages with a selection of beads and somehow the design just doesn't seem to come together. Then other times the beads seem to sort themselves into something that works straight away.

When I spotted this large bead in my local bead shop I couldn't resist it (even though I have more than enough beads already and just needed a packet of crimps). A quick browse around the shop and I found the little strawberry quartz beads and the smokey quartz hearts that went with it so well. I added a few green Swarovski crystals and little shell beads I had at home to tie in the other colours and add a bit of sparkle. All done in one day before my purchases made it into the bead box.

A QUESTION OF INTERPRETATION

2010-02-24T19:58:00.010+01:00

A colleague asked me to make another birthday necklace for her. The vague idea was for a messy necklace for someone who likes nature. So I was thinking shell, bone, wood and semiprecious beads. Then she added that she also likes sparkly things. Hmmmmm.

She also wanted a the birthday girl's name on it. As I was unable to get to the bead shop to buy the letter beads, she volunteered to fetch these for me. She also bought a selection of other beads that she thought I might put in the necklace. Now there's a surprise, I thought.

This is not what I had in mind at all. However, I added a pretty shell pendant I had picked up at a charity shop last year and some other "natural" beads of wood and shell - et voilà. A necklace for someone that likes nature and fairies, made from a mixture of natural and sparkly beads but pretty all the same.

I hope she likes it.

INTERNET SHOPPING

2010-02-19T17:05:00.011+01:00

When I was recently unable to get out much, I did a bit of internet shopping and ordered some beads. Then these lovely beads from Artisan Clay plopped through the letterbox, all the way from America.

They are beautiful glazed pendants with some toning semiprecious beads.

I can hardly wait to get going with them.

BEADING AGAIN

2010-02-16T11:55:00.006+01:00

Now that I no longer have to sit with my foot up most of the time, and I can sit at the table for long enough, I can get back to making some jewellery. Thank goodness.

Having sorted my beads and being in the frame of mind to be sensible rather than indulgent, I decided to get on with finishing projects that were already hanging around. This is one I was doodling with a few months ago.

The beads are dyed shell, hemetite, Czech crystals and aventurine. The clasps and earhooks blend in with the hemetite circles and rondelles.

BEADING THE KIT

2010-02-08T10:14:00.009+01:00

This is another kit that I bought recently from Celia at Jencel. I had fancied doing one for a while so, being confined to the sofa and she having a sale on, gave me the perfect excuse to buy one.

Detail of the way the beads are strung.

It uses three strands of wire of all the same length and the beads are strung so that two wires pass through each bead at a time, alternating which wire misses out, if you see what I mean. It's a very neat idea and produces a pretty, delicate and lightweight necklace. I'm sure that once my beads are sorted and I'm up to speed on my feet (literally), I will be making another one.

It's a very nice design and well worth the money. Well done, Celia.

HAVING A SORT OUT

2010-02-06T15:15:00.007+01:00

I have now got lots and lots of beads. They are not very well organised and it's so frustrating when you don't know what you've got or where you've put it. Rummaging through tupperware boxes of little plastic bags was becoming a pain and things were getting very jumbled up so I decided to have a big sort out. It's good for the soul anyway, like spring cleaning.

Bead storage is a problem, I find. Somehow I have ended up with a hotch-potch of boxes that don't necessarily stack too well. It would be nice to afford one of those custom-made drawer systems that are advertised in the glossy bead magazines but they are sooooo expensive.

Here are some of my current solutions.

These clear plastic bead boxes are ideal for small quantities of beads as you can see the colours properly. I have bought them for about £3 each from Hobbeycraft or John Lewis. Last year I swooped when they were "buy on get one free" somewhere.

These cases are less than £3 each from Focus. They're not quite so good in that the lids aren't completely transparent but they hold a lot of beads for the money.

I also saw these in Focus. Just over £5 for a pack of three boxes and they look as though they will hold plenty of beads and be good for findings, too. Filling them is my next task.

I spotted these ice cube trays a while ago. For less than £1 each they make a good recepticle for beads whilst work is in progress and I find they help with the tidying up and putting-away of beads when something is finished. I have to exert enormous will-power to do this, otherwise I end up with a box of mixed beads that would take hours to sort but otherwise just be completely fogotten and therefore wasted.

INSPIRATION FROM BOOKS

2010-02-01T12:47:00.011+01:00

I love books. Always have. Fortunately there are lots of books on beading and making jewellery available so I have treated myself to some. I have also been given some as gifts and borrowed lots from the local library (although parting with these after a couple of weeks is hard!).

A friend spotted this book in a secondhand shop and bought it as a present for me. Miriam Haskell (1899 -1981) made costume jewellery for the rich and famous in the 40's, 50's and 60's.

It's full of fabulous designs. Some of them would be impossible to repeat using the basic skills I have but there others that have given me lots of ideas.

In the book, it's interesting to see how a very chic but simple outfit would be transformed into something quite spectacular by the addition of the right piece of jewellery.

These necklaces are some of my favourites. They would go perfectly with a "Carmen Miranda" outfit !!

THE SUNSHINE AWARD

2010-01-27T08:54:00.012+01:00

I have seen other people on all kinds of blogs getting awards and wondering how it worked. Now I have one, too. (This cheered me up no end on a grotty January day, feeling very sorry for myself with a gruesome-looking foot now the dressing is off.)

Thank you, the Jewellery Girl for sending it to me. Now I have to send it on, too!

The rules for accepting the award are :

Put the logo on your blog or within a post

Pass the award on to 12 bloggers

Link the nominees within your post

Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog

Share the love and link the person from whom you received this award

My nominees for the award are:

Saffies Blog - this blogger makes gorgeous beads and jewellery

Chelester's Beads - this lady makes lovely jewellery and is branching out on new techniques

Little Castle Designs - Sabine makes fabulous beads and lots of other stuff as well. If only I was even half as talented.....!

Bead the Change - Sarah does the sort of beading that makes me gasp because I know I'll never have the patience for it myself !

The Lone Beader - it was the poodle that did it !

Beadography - I can only admire her work - never in a million years could I do this....

Beads and more by Lois - this lady makes lovely jewellery

Beady Pool - great jewellery and that recipe for cheesey tomato spirals.......yummy!

I deleted this one from my list of nominees as she deleted my invitation from her comments !

Maybe she thought I was just spam !

Chameleon Designs - this lady makes lovely beads

Elca Designs - more gorgeous jewellery made in the north of England!

Ken Devine - I'm not sure if this really counts as craft work or how Ken will take this, sitting amongst all the ladies, but he's a painter with an ambition to paint forever in France, and a really nice guy, too.

That's the lot !!

I hope everyone is as chuffed with receiving their award as I was !!

BEADING ON THE SOFA

2010-01-19T10:23:00.006+01:00

I am confined to the sofa for a while, having had an operation on my foot. I can't sit at the table to do any beading as the foot has to be kept up.

If I had had more time to be more organised, I would have had several projects lined up to do on a beading tray on my lap but what with Christmas and everything........

I saw that Celia at Jencel had a sale on, including her beading kits so I ordered some. That was easy, then, I just tipped the beads into a bead tray, sent his nibs to get the tools and away I went.

This kit included a very pretty agate slice and all the beads needed to make the necklace. In the instructions the method for making loops was different from how I normally do them so I gave it a go and was pleased to find they mostly came out neat and evenly sized.

I made the necklace slightly shorter than intended and added a clasp of my own. I made some earrings with the unused beads.

Detail of the agate slice.

GOING GREEN

2010-01-16T05:51:00.003+01:00

Green aveturine nuggets with green, clear and silver beads.

ETHNIC TOUCH

2010-01-10T21:55:00.003+01:00

Another polymer clay pendant, teamed with bone, copper and freshwater pearl beads.

The beads are very tactile, somehow and the leather thong just adds a bit extra to the different textures.

TAKING ORDERS

2009-12-20T23:12:00.011+01:00

A colleague asked me to make a selection of necklaces and earrings for her young children to give to their teachers as Christmas presents. I had no idea kids did that sort of thing. I certainly didn't when I was at school. When did this custom start ??

A polymer clay pendant with various glass beads including some of my favourites - "crackle beads".

Detail of the pretty polymer clay pendant.

Black and brown beads for a teacher with short dark hair who likes dangly earrings.

I was given a brief description of each person who was to receive a gift and the rest was up to me. It was fun if a bit worrying designing something for someone I hadn't met.

Detail of the dangly earrings.

Dyed shell and more crackle beads.

Glass beads with Swarovski bicones and freshwater pearls. This was the most expensive set to make.

A selection of earrings, ready to be finished off with earhooks.

The word from the staffroom is - everyone was pleased with their gifts. That's a relief.

AUNT SALLY'S NECKLACE

2009-12-03T18:46:00.007+01:00

A second colleague asked me if I could make a necklace and earrings as a Christmas present for her Aunt Sally. She liked some of the beads in one of my Christmas party earrings and the style of the "double trouble" and "lime cordial" necklaces.
-

This is how it turned out. I hope Aunt Sally likes it.

A BIRTHDAY NECKLACE

2009-12-02T21:08:00.008+01:00

A colleague asked me to make a necklace for her friend's 60th birthday. Interpreting her ideas was a bit tricky - the general design was to be for something bright and a bit wild and unusual.

I found it completely nerve-wracking to come up with something. I don't normally do wild and unusual. I used a polymer clay pendant that I got from an Ebay seller that I use fairly often, and just put in a complete jumble of beads.

Detail of the polymer clay pendant.

The requirement was also to personalise it with her name and "60" on the clasp. I couldn't find "60" as a charm anywhere so I decided to use letter beads and spell it out. The words are attached to the clasp by beading wire so she can snip them off if she gets tired of advertising her age !!

I hope she likes it.

CHRISTMAS EARRINGS

2009-11-15T15:35:00.020+01:00

This is BBC Children in Need week and every year we support the charity by having a cake sale at work. The first year (2003) we made £135. Last year we made £575.
I have never seen so much cake in my life.

This year I decided that as well as a Nigella Lawson Chocolate Guinness Cake, I would make some Christmas jewellery to sell.

I started with a few snowman earrings.

Pearl snowman, glass snowman and crystal snowman earrings.

Christmas pudding and Christmas angel earrings.

After mass-producing a small stockpile of snowman earrings I was bored so decided to branch out a bit.

Christmas lantern and Christmas heart earrings perhaps ?

Christmas party earrings.

Christmas carol earrings ?

Christmas card earrings. ?

I got this idea for displaying them on a black champagne glass from a magazine.

More champagne, Vicar ?

UPDATE - on 4th December we banked £640 for Children in Need. There are a few earrings left on sale and money is still trickling in to start us off for next year.

DOODLING

2009-11-08T11:05:00.010+01:00

I get lots of ideas from just rummaging in the bead box and seeing what turns up.

The hematite circles came from the last bead fair at Newark (from Jencel, I think).

The green metalic facetted beads came from a local bead shop that has been closed for two years, so I've probably had them for three years.

I really can't remember where I got the the minty coloured shell beads but I've had them for ages. They came to the surface again yesterday.

Now there's an idea.

LIME CORDIAL

2009-11-08T11:02:00.002+01:00

I was so pleased with the red and black version of this necklace that I decided to make another one in a different colour.

Might as well, as I had the beads in my bead box.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

2009-11-07T15:39:00.008+01:00

Red and black matt stripey beads with red and black crystals on a double string of red and black wire.

The clasp is one of those neat little press-stud fasteners.

Fastening it is a bit more fiddly than I expected.

One day I will get some black headpins and remake the earrings. That would look better than the silver ones, I think.

RECYCLING

2009-11-06T16:55:00.021+01:00

The large glass beads are Gutermann beads and were in a necklace I bought a while ago. (From the lady in the woolshop as it happens.)

One day I noticed that three of the beads were cracked. I must have dropped the necklace at some time and not realised. So I took it apart, discarded the damaged beads and added a few of my own to remake it.

(I know they are Gutermann beads as I have since seen them for sale.)

***

Not many years ago I wouldn't have known how to do that and it would have ended up in the bin.

A long time ago I binned an old necklace that had belonged to my former mother-in-law because some of the beads were damaged.

I now wish I hadn't. I didn't know it then but I know now that they were old millefiori beads and maybe even quite valuable. If I still had it I could have done something with the good beads.

***

You live and learn.

AUNTIE VERA'S NECKLACE

2009-10-26T22:51:00.006+01:00

My Auntie Vera is in hospital and feeling very fed up.

I decided to make her a necklace to try to cheer her up a bit.

It's made of shell and plastic beads so it's nice and light around her neck, with little glass spacers to give it just a little bit of weight to make sure it hangs properly.

It has a magnetic clasp so it won't be fiddly to fasten.

I hope she likes it.

IT'S A MIRACLE

2009-10-26T08:56:00.007+01:00

I constructed this bracelet months ago - it took me about 5 minutes. Ever since, I have puzzled over the best way to get the beads to stay put and not drift along the bracelet spoiling the design.

Eventually I decided the only option was a dab of glue at each end of the design. I held the beads in place whilst the glue was setting by using those little miniature craft clothes pegs. It worked and you can hardly detect the glue.

The green beads are "miracle beads" and they sort of glow like little lightbulbs in certain levels of light.

So after months of kicking around in my bead box, the bracelet is ready to wear. All I have to do now is make a necklace to match.

ROSEBUDS

2009-10-26T08:53:00.003+01:00

The large glass beads have rosebuds and foil strips in them.

Inbetween there are rose quartz chips and silvery coated glass beads.

AMBER

2009-10-05T14:49:00.004+02:00

I love amber.

These enormous beads were teamed with some gold metal spacers.

BEAD QUEST

2009-09-27T16:56:00.016+02:00

I bought a few beads today.

THE BLACKS AND YELLOWS

I had talked myself out of going to the Bead Fair at Newark for several reasons:

I had enough beads already.
I hadn't used all the beads I bought there last time.
It was too nice a day to be spent indoors.

THE BLUES AND REDS

I talked myself back into going to the Bead Fair for these reasons:

A girl can never ever have too many beads.
It only takes place every 6 months so it would be a shame not to.
Fresh air is just fresh air and the dog has had lots of great walks lately.

THE TWINKLY ONES

AND THESE FABULOUS DICHROIC GLASS BEADS

ROSE QUARTZ DUO

2009-09-26T09:21:00.004+02:00

Rose quartz is one of my favourite stones to make things from. It blends well with lots of other colours and comes in all shapes and sizes.

It is also relatively inexpensive but can look anything but cheap when made up.

In the first necklace I combined it with some pretty lavendar crystals and in the second some silver beads and just one crystal.

3 AM EARRINGS

2009-09-24T22:47:00.011+02:00

The other night I couldn't sleep. I was tossing and turning, saw the clock at 1 am, 1.30 am, 2 am......

I decided to get up and read or something. My beads were on the table so I finished a repair job I had started. Then I was dibbling in my bead box and found these metal beads. Another rummage found the little glass hearts. Et voilà.

MORE BELLY DANCING EARRINGS

2009-09-20T11:03:00.012+02:00

Designed to dangle and jangle as you wobble and wiggle.

This pair would not keep still even to have their photo taken.

"I THINK, THEREFORE I AM" Rene Déscartes

2009-09-15T09:26:00.010+02:00

A recent trip to our local bead shop produced a little haul of interesting beads.

Now what shall I do with these?

Detail of the gorgeous glass beads

(I actually only went in for some earrings posts and some yellow beads for a project I had in mind.)

STRIPEY NECKLACE

2009-09-10T19:55:00.003+02:00

A pendant from a craft shop strung with some garnet glass beads with silver spacers.

BLACK AND BLUE

2009-09-09T23:24:00.009+02:00

Blue foil-lined and black beads with silver spacers.

The pendant was made by pushing a large bead into one of those ready-made bead cages that looked much too small. The stretched effect of the wire made it look like wire-wrapping.

This was demonstrated to me by the lady who owns the woolshop in Clay Cross, so the credit for the clever idea must go to her, not me.

LILIAN'S NECKLACE

2009-09-09T23:17:00.002+02:00

Mostly plastic beads and a plastic pendant for a little girl.

RAINBOW NECKLACE

2009-09-09T23:13:00.002+02:00

Glass foil-lined tile-shaped beads and gold spacers made a very versatile necklace that goes with everything.

THE MOTHER-IN-LAW'S BEADS

2009-09-09T22:56:00.004+02:00

Some painted plastic beads with "faux" pearls in unusual olive and khaki colours, probably from the 1960's. I just added the little gold spacers.

Last autumn my mother-in-law gave me a box of old beads and broken jewellery. I felt rather awkward about that fact that she had given them to me and not to one of her three daughters. So I came up with the idea of remaking some of the beads into gifts for the daughters, and the grand-daughters, for Christmas. These are two of them. I think they all appreciated the jewellery and it made me feel better, too.

Some pretty plastic beads in a marbled purple and aqua colour. I added some glass beads, silver spacers and Swarovski crystals. The old beads were probably 1970's.

HONEY AND SHELLS

2009-09-08T22:38:00.009+02:00

The large beads seem to be pieces of shell set in resin and the small ones are honey coloured glass beads, made using a technique called "lampwork".

Detail of the shell beads.

BELLY DANCING EARRINGS

2009-09-06T13:14:00.004+02:00

I made these for a colleauge who recently started to learn belly dancing. The red heart beads are glass and the little discs are metal so the earrings jangle as she dances.

(Not that anyone will be watching her ears !!)

JACKIE'S NECKLACE

2009-09-06T12:12:00.005+02:00

The beads are abalone shell and Swarovski crystals in "golden shadow" colour.

SCARF SET

2009-09-06T11:46:00.006+02:00

I found some lovely scarves / cowls on sale at a craft fair in Derbyshire last autumn. The scarves looked like necklaces when worn so that gave me the idea for some Christmas presents.

The bracelet and earrings are made from brown and aqua coloured beads plus some copper spacers to match the scarf. The matt round aqua beads are called "ice beads" made by Gutermann. Sadly, they seem to have discontiued them. (Luckily, I did buy lots of them so that's OK!)

I have discoverd which yarn the cowls are made from and am currently experimenting with needle sizes to see if I can get the same effect myself.

Mme ANDRÉ'S NECKLACE

2009-09-06T11:24:00.005+02:00

I made this as a gift for our French neighbour, Mme André, who has been so kind to us. And so understanding. She doesn't speak a word of English so our French is improving thanks to her.

Its made from Swarovski pearls and glass beads.

NICOLE'S NECKLACE

2009-09-06T11:20:00.006+02:00

A polymer clay pendant strung on black wire with glass beads.

AMÉLIE'S NECKLACE

2009-09-06T09:12:00.001+02:00

A matching necklace and bracelet made from rubber beads at the centre with a mixture of glass and wooden beads. The necklace is strung on memory wire.

ISABELLA'S NECKLACE

2009-09-05T22:23:00.000+02:00

A matching necklace and bracelet.

Made from fimo beads and a fimo pendant, strung on purple thong and ribbon.