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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.