Do you wear glasses?

The reason I ask is that I have been asked to make some of those beaded glasses holders chains. Without trying to sound awful I always picture an old spinster wearing those chain version that you normally get and I wasn't sure what a beaded version would look like. Anyway after some research I discovered that you can make some fun and funky designs and really like most things the only limit is your imagination. Anyway I have made one or two now and although they will never be my best seller I like to have two or three on the stall so that people can have a choice. I needed to make a new one as I currently only had two and decided to make this one quite plain with just an odd flower decoration at odd intervals. My make for Friday 23rd April is the Teal Daisy spectacle holder.

   

Commisions

Last week at the market stall I had a very lovely lady looking at my jewellery. We got into conversation and she explained that as she was getting into the twilight of her years she had an issue trying to open and close her necklaces. I explained that there was two ways around this problem, one she could buy a very long necklace and wrap it around her neck a couple of time. Or she could have a necklace with a magnetic clasp. Having never heard of this before she was quite excited at the thought of having any necklace she wanted and not being worried about how she was going to get it on or off. Anyway after a lot of discussion she decided that she liked a very long necklace I had in shades of purple but she didn't want the length. I agreed to make her a shorter version with a magnetic clasp. When I brought it with me to the stall the following Saturday, I had a little trepidation, would she like it etc, I am sure you have all had that feeling. Anyway she loved it and I was one very happy necklace maker. I give you my make for Thursday 22nd April, Purpleicious.

Memories - Craftjuice Tuesday

When I opened up Craftjuice this week, the first picture at the top of the upcoming list was these coasters. As soon as I saw them I knew what my theme was going to be this week. I can rememeber playing these games as a child and searching for relevant items really brought all the memories back. They are made by Lemonade and Lamingtons and are for sale on Folksy.

Next up is the classic game Monopoly. Now be honest who hasn't spent a winter's evening arguing with the family over the money when you are losing? Retrofaerie has taken the houses and hotel and turned them into a bracelet. It is for sale on folksy.

And finally for this week, the classic game Pacman, if you can't admit to spending at least part of one afternoon in an arcade playing this game you must be a lot younger than me (or your memory is fading and you won't admit your age!). These brooches are made by Kittynoir and are for sale on misi.

Well that's it for this week. I hope that you enjoyed my choices and that it maybe just brought back some lovely childhood memories for you today.

What about Homer?

The reason for asking the question above will all become clear as you read. There are two Homer's that I am aware of and although unfortunately I am not cultured enough to quote you any Homer, the ancient Greek Poet, I m aware of him. However the Homer I am talking about is Homer J Simpson, and the reason for this is his love of donuts.

The reason I ask is becuse of the agate pink/white agate donut that I have used in this necklace. As soon as I saw it I thought of him and that image must have stayed in my mind because I carried on in the pink theme, which I believe is Homer's favourite coloured of iced donut. The star of the show is definitely the donut, so I did not want to add too much more to the necklace. I used a pale pink cord and added some metal effect beads about half way up the cord. Obviously the name of my make for Wednesday 21st April is Hmm Donut's.

More Chunky Jewellery

Carrying on in the chunky necklace vein I found these wooden beads in my local bead shop. They are actually two different shades of red, one is darker and the other is almost a pink shade. The picture doesn't really show the difference very well. Once again these beads have some lovely coloured markings on them so I teamed them up with one large brown tiger eye effect bead in the central position. For a change I wanted to string this onto something different, so instead of added chain to this necklace to finish it off I plaited some red and black cord and used this as the way to add length. If you enjoy chunky jewellery then please leave your comments on this and the previous post. So my make for Tuesday 20th April is called Bubblegum, I have called it this as carrying on in the sweet vein they remind me so much of the bubblegum I used to have as a child - I believe they were called Bubblys.

What a mouthful

Sometime you can get some very large beads and there are quite a lot of chunky necklaces that I like, however I also think that there are some out there that are so over the top that I would never be able to
wear them. I decided to tone down these very large beads with these red glass disks, they have a very light dusting of gold which I think picks up on the gold markings on the brown beads. The two last beads before the chain starts are actually black with stars cut out of them. I finished it off with some chain, so we can have the length but without the weight. So if you like chunky jewellery you may just enjoy my offering for Monday 14th April is Gobstoppers, so called because they remind me so much of the sweets you used to have as a child.

A splash of red

Once again I am trying to catch up and all of my good intentions have gone out of the window. I need someone to invent some sort of time machine whereby you can stop the clock ticking and the world stops for just a few hours. I might just manage to catch up on things then. Last weekend I had my market stall on Saturday and then a Vintage Steam Rally on Sunday, now don't get me wrong I love doing these events as it means I get to chat to all you lovely people but it does mean I have to catch up on housework, promotion of my website and updating my website during the week as well as replacing the items that were sold. Anyway enough moaning, nobody ever said that this would be easy. My make for Sunday 18th April is a bracelet called Chip off the Old Block. It is a silver plated chain bracelet and  on the end I have attached a large silver plated ring. From the ring there are chips in red and white. I have also attached a large clear faceted diamond shaped acrylic bead and finally some dangles with pale pink beads. Hope that you enjoy it.

Ring Bling

Decided that for this weeks Craftjuice Tuesday I would concentrate on rings. Look at some of these lovely makes that I have picked out today.
First up is this twisted daisy ring. It is so delicate and beautiful, just my cup of tea. It is made by Jemima Lumley and I she is showing it courtesy of flickr.

Next up is this amazing hand knitted ring. I have been meaning to try this form of jewellery making out for quite a while but have never got round to it yet. I could only hope to make something 1/2 as amazing as this example. It has been made by Maxine Veronica and is for sale on folksy

And finally this ring just jumped out of the page at me. Not sure if it something that I would wear but it sure is eyecatching. it is a Kawaii ring and is made by from japan with love. I imagine that a lot of work goes into making this ring. It is for sale on etsy.

Hope tht you have enjoyed my choices this week. See you all again next week.

Matching Items

Following on from the bracelet make yesterday, I still wanted to make some more bracelets but also wanted to have a matching item. I worked out that I had enough of the black and white square glass beads left over from the Monochrome necklace that I made earlier in the week. So a nice and simple make for Saturday 17th April is the Monochrome bracelet.

Spring is definitely here

It dawned on me that I haven't made a bracelet for a while. Obviously all this lovely sunshine and the garden starting to spring into life must be beginning to have an effect on me. The main beads have been in my stash for a while and because the hole runs through the middle from back to front they were not really any use for a necklace. So a bit like yesterday I must have looked at these beads with a pair of fresh eyes and decided to make this lovely spring inspired bracelet. Some of the beads are yellow with white underneath and the others are white with yellow underneath. I started by using a small silver effect bead as the centrepiece of the flower.Then I joines them at equal lengths along a silver plated chain. My finished make for Friday 16th April is Sunshine.

Let me know what you think

Sometimes I feel a little guilty that everything I put on here is just about jewellery. Do you actually want to hear about my boring life or are you quite happy just seeing what I have been up to. Let me know what you think, I shall take all comments on board and believe me I have a thick skin so you will not upset me. Do you want to meet the family? Shall I tell you about the "wonderful people" I meet at my market stall? Will I show photographs of random items that I take from time to time. Anyway have to run just going to be a taxi service for my daughter. Please leave some comments and you never know this blog might end up going in a new direction.

Art - Craftjuice Tuesday

Today I decided to try and broaden my mind a little and pick some paintings out of Craftjuice. I am not expert but I just picked what I like. First up is this Happy Wedding chalk art. I think is is so cute and would make an amazing keepsake for anyone who is or has just got married. It is drawn by KnK and is for sale on etsy

Next up is Lulu. Something about those eyes is so mesmorising. it has been drawn by mochalulu and is for sale on folksy. 

Finally for today a very simple black and white painting inspired by Jane Austen's novel Emma. Emma is waiting patiently for Mr Knightley. This would look really good on anyone's wall. It has been drawn by Ollina and is for sale on etsy 

That's it for today, hope that you like my choices. Remember and come back next week to see what I pick then.

Bronze Age

This necklace started with the hexangonal copper focal point. When I first bought it I thought that you could have something hanging in the middle. Just proves that you should investigate what you but thoroughly before you purchase. On closer examination I realised that you would need to drill through to enable something to hang from the middle, because of this it has been in my stash for quite some time. Sometimes though all you need is a fresh pair of eyes and on this day when I looked at the pendant I realised I had been looking at this the wrong way. I found some triangular copper coloured beads and threaded these onto some eye pins with gold seed beads. I joined these together with some gold plated jump rings that I turned into chain. This is probably a first for me, using this particular colour but I am really happy with the finished result. Also because the pendant is hollow it is nice and light. The finished result is my make for Thursday 15th April is called Bronze Delight.

I even managed to make some earrings to match.

It's all black and white

Sometimes colour just gets too much and you want good old black and white. I have had the pendant for ages but was never too sure how to attach to a necklace. At the bead shop I saw these black and white squares and new instantly they would make a brilliant combination. When I got them home that's when I remembered about the pendant and this time I was determined to use it. I pondered for a long time, just how was I going to conect the pendant to the necklace. I didn't have a large enough bail to fit and I wanted to finish the necklace straight away. After much deliberation I decided to try and make something with wire. I started with making a coil, I am quite happy with it, it is nice and tight and fairly circular. I then carried it through the hole in the pendant and made a bail to hang it from the necklace. I maybe could have made the bail look a bit neater but I think it looks not to bad for a first attempt. I then strung on the white and black beads with metal spacer beads inbetween. Finally it is finished off with some black coloured chain to make it a nice length. I give you my make for Wednesday 14th April, the Monochrome necklace.

Really long necklaces

Not sure what you prefer, long or short lengths of necklaces. Normally I make something in the middle and to be honest that is what this necklace started out like. I had 5 of the acrylic light blue wavy beads. They are so tactile, very smooth, such a lovely feel. I joined these with white pearlescent seed beads either side and threaded them onto eye pins. Next up I took some white cat's eye beads and threaded them onto eye pins with metal ridged beads. I then joined the links together with sections of silver plated chain. The finished result is so long you could easily wrap it around your neck 2 times, or if you prefer just have a very long necklace. The finished result for Tuesday 13th April is called Blue Ice.

Oh no what have I started

At Easter time instead of buying my daughter an easter egg and over loading her with chocolate. I bought her a starter pack for making cards from Dottie Designs, if you click on the link it will bring you to her folksy shop where you can buy some of her lovely items. Anyway after sending an e-mail to Dottie she managed to put together a small starter pack for my daughter with some lovely items in it. I have taken a picture and it is below. When it arrived it was all beautifully boxed and I was really impressed with the service from Dottie, I would have no hesitattion in recommending her to any card making people out there. These are the lovely items that she included in the pack.

Anyway here is her first finished card. She made it for her brother who has 16 on the 10th. I don't know if giving her this is going to be a good idea, she is already talking about making cards for all of the rest of the family. Think we may have another crafty person in the house.

Do you have a favourite animal?

The only reason I ask is because these amazing hearts reminded me of a zebra as soon as I saw them. They were the final 3 in the shop and I was going to leave them as I did wonder what I would do with three. However I couldn't resist and bought them anyway. I added some metal effect hearts and attached them all to a toggle clasp bracelet. Nice and simple but sometimes simple is what people want. I try to make charm bracelets to suit all people and while some like really chunky and busy bracelets, others prefer just a few charms or beads on them. Do you have a preference, if so let me know. So for Monday 12 April my make is Zebra Hearts bracelet.

Dainty offerings

Well on the previous post I spoke about some disk beads that I bought from my local store. I told you to look out for the blue bead and here it is. This is a really dainty necklace and just goes to show that if you think laterely enough anything can be used to make jewellery. These filigree rounds are actually from a card shop but when I saw them I knew that they would have a brilliant effect. I paired them with some milky blue and white beads, some clear crystals and finally added the blue focal bead and two pale blue seashell shapes. Then just finished it off with some silver plated chain to make it the desired length. So my make for Sunday 11 April is called Filigree necklace.

I also made some earrings to match.

Apples anyone?

I had been on one of my many visits to the local bead store and found these gorgeous large disc beads which I thought would make an excellent focal point. I bought a green one and a blue one. (Watch out for the blue one being used later). As usual when I got them home I couldn't wait to rummage through my stash and find matching or complimentary beads. I found the lighter green small disks first and then the larger round beads that matched colourwise. The ridged metal effect beads came next and then in that box that I know you all have, you know the one I mean all the spare beads left over from previous projects, I found the two amonite shell shapes and also some clear and some green crystals. I decided to join the beads in patterns and feed them onto large eye pins. Add some silver plated chain to join the beaded sections together and you have the finished article. So I give you my make for Saturday 10 April and I have called it Golden Delicious (hence the apple theme).

All aglow

I know that I am biased but I do think that this is one of my most favourite necklaces I have ever made. It has been a long time in the making, not the actual putting together but the thought process. You might know what I mean if you make crafted items also. The germ of an idea is always there but you can only see half of the picture. Well finally all of the pieces fell into place and this is the finished article. So my make for Friday 9th April is All Aglow necklace. I even made a very quick pair of earrings to match.

Dog or Cat Person?

It seems to be that British people are split in two. You are either a dog person or a cat person. However there are a few of us who have had the fortune of being loved by both. I am one of those people we had a Westie for 12 years called Smudger, a mental springer for 2 years called Gizmo and currently have a very loving cat (when she wants to be of course) called Tink. I must admit I always thought that I was a dog person but I love my cat to pieces and wouldn't swap her for anything so I must fall into both camps. I wonder what you are? The reason for asking is that this week for Craftjuice Tuesday I decided to try and find both dog and cat related items. There are surprisingly lots and I have tried to pick items just that little bit different from the norm.

First up for all you dog people is this lovely greyhound from FlirtyMyrtle. She makes all her items out of paper mache, I remember putting paper mache around balloons at school but I am completely in awe of what she has achieved with this medium. This dog looks as if he has just realised you are coming in the door and you know by the tail that he is happy to see you. His name is Flicker and is for sale on etsy 

My other choice for dog lovers is this adorable brooch . He just makes me go aah and I know that all dog lovers will fall for that face. Yes I know it is a button but he still looks very animated. He has been made by ellies-treasures and is for sale on folksy.

Now for all you cat lovers. First up is this amazing oil painting. This would just look amzing on my living room wall although it may feel a bit like it would be following you around the room. It has been painted by ollina and is for sale on etsy

Finally for this week is this cute but functional cozy set. When I am doing the market stall on a Saturday one of these around my mug would keep my hot chocolate just that bit longer for a little longer. They are made by sharnemaniaknits and are for sale on folksy

  

I hope you have enjoyed my collection of items this week and please let me know are you a dog, cat or both person.

More Metal Effects

For Thursday 8th April I was still in a metal mood. I had lots of ideas in my head to do fancy things with the diamante heart pendant but after making my Ball and Chain bracelet yesterday I decided to stick with the metal effect and go for a simple necklace. I used silver metal effect beads and threaded them on with the heart pendant in the middle. Nice and simple, the necklace has quite a rigid shape and sits really well on the neckline. I have called it Silver Heart necklace.

 

Metal Effects

The make for Wednesday 7th April is metalized (is there such a word). I decided to have a day just using metal effect beads and chain. I am not entirely sure where this idea came from but after fiddling around with the beads and chain I came up with this as the finished article. It has three different shades of metal and the beads and chain seem to go really well together. I am really happy with it, it has quite an edgy feel and I am hoping that lots of different people like it. Let me know what you think. It is called the Ball and Chain.

Sparkle

The make for Tuesday 6th April is almost a carry on from the day before's make. Once again I started out with a silver plated chain. In my stash I have had for absolutely ages 2 round beads with these amazing crystals all over them - serious bling. The problem was only having two beads, they cost too much to justify turning into a pair of earrings and whenever I tried to incorporate them into a design they just never seemed to look right. After making yesterdays make and realising that sometimes less is more I decided to bite the bullet and make a necklace with just these two beads. I threaded them onto an eye pin, attached these to the chain and then for a final flourish added two chunky chain dangles from the bottom of the beads, hiding the join by using bead caps. I am really happy with the final result and I personally think this would look good on a little black dress or even jazzing up a plain jumper. I hope you like it as much as I do. I have called it Sparkle.

Teardrops

The make for Monday 5th April  won't make you cry but it might make you smile. I took some silver plated chain and just made the pendant the focal point. I started off with some acrylic teardrop shaped beads in lovely shades of pink and purple in various sizes. Each one of these was joined by a jump ring to a length of chain. Each chain was then attached by a larger jump ring to a silver plated large ring. I think that as the better weather comes along we need to try and make ourselves look summery (if there is such a word) and I believe that this particular necklace would look amazing with a lovely white dress on. Just imagine yourself on a summer holiday, skin a lovely shade of brown, nails painted and best of all you are feeling nice and relaxed. Have I painted a nice picture, I hope so now just imagine yourself with this necklace on.

Ok, now that I have painted this wonderful picture in your head, unfortunately I am going to bring you back to earth with a bump and say welcome back to Britain in April. However you could always purchase the necklace and still have the dream. The necklace is called Teardrops.

Links Galore

My make for Sunday 4th April (oh my god I am so behind, watch out for mass postings - hopefully - over the next couple of days) was a linking necklace with hot pink, black and metal beads. Each bead has been strung on a eye pin and then each eye pin has been linked together with a jump ring. This takes a little longer than simple stringing but it is quite satisfying when it is finished. I have called the necklace Hot Pink Links.

As a small bonus I even made a pair of matching earrings.

Spring has definately sprung

For Craftjuice Tuesday this week I took my inspiration from the garden. This past week or so the weather here in Devon has been glorious and because of this the garden is starting to start blooming. It is amazing how quickly things change. We have gone from bare branches to buds on everything. Lots of lovely flowers are starting to make an appearance so I decided to look for items that were flower based. My first choice is this stained glass window. It was made by amyorangejuice and was commissioned by a customer for a house in Devon. She actually made 7 windows and you can see the others on her blog. I would love to have one of these in my house.

Next up is this wonderful little girl's hat. While you are outside enjoying all this lovely sunshine looking at the flowers make sure that you keep your little one's heads covered. This hat is nice and sunny looking but functional at the same time. It has been made by mysparetimedesign and is for sale on etsy.

Next up are these fabulous flower earrings. They are lovely are just the kind of thing that I would wear day in, day out. They are made by jinjajewellery and are for sale on folksy.  Hope that you like them as much as I do.

Finally from  me don't worry if you don't have green fingers. If you garden is not as lovely as you would like and all off your house plants die, then cheat and use these fabulous felt flowers instead. They are made by fairyfox and the pattern to make them is for sale on etsy 

I hope that you have enjoyed my picks for this week and that they have brought a little bit of the garden into your lives. Hopefully the weather is nice where you are and you manage to get out into the garden and enjoy the sunshine over the next couple of days. Just don't forget to check out Craftjuice when you do come back inside and have a look at all the lovely goodies that are on there.

Craftjuice (Tuesday) Wednesday

As promised last night here are my choices from Craftjuice for this week. There is no theme this week, I just picked items that made me smile. First up is food, knew that would get your attention. Check out this redcurrant and strawberry pie, looks good enough to eat but unfortunately is has been crocheted. It has been made by Melbangel and it for sale on etsy

Next up is these amazing bookmarks.  They are just so different. I would love to have one of these marking the page on any book I was reading. They are made by umeorigami and are for sale on etsy 

Next up is this ice cream cone pattern. This could keep the children busy over the last of the Easter holidays. Nothing better than a bit of gluing to keep the children happy. It is made by fairyfox and is for sale on etsy

And finally for this week I have picked this Welcome hanging. It would be sure to brighten up any room. It is made by KnK and is for sale on etsy.

Hope that you have enjoyed my choices this week. Feel free to check out Craftjuice yourself, it's free to join and if you submit some items you never know that I may just showcase them here next week.

Where is Craftjuice Tuesday?

Just incase you are wondering where are my choices this week for Craftjuice Tuesday, there have been some technical difficulties. This morning as usual before I went to work I picked the items I wanted to showcase and sent my self an e-mail so that I could pick them up this afternoon and do a blog post about them. However whenever I have tried to go onto the website I keep getting error messages. So I do promise that I shall post tomorrow and for one week only it will have to become Craftjuice Wednesday.

Earrings to choose from

The makes for Saturday 3 April were some new pairs of earrings. I needed to replace some pairs that I had sold earlier in the day. I got out the stash of beads and decided to go for bold. I made three pairs in total. Are these your style or do you prefer small and dainty? The first pair are Bollywood. They remind me so much of Indian films, I couldn't resist naming them as such.

Next up is Daisies. These lovely rhodium plated flowers are amazing.We couldn't make our mind up what kind of flowers these are. We started off with Roses because of the centre part but ended up with Daisies because of the open petals. Are there any gardeners out there. What flower do they remind you off?

 

Finally for today's makes is Blue Butterflies. These are very interesting as only one half of the butterfly has any adornment on it. However I think that it works really well as when you move your head the sunlight will make the crystals sparkle.