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).