Coming down a chimney near you!

Hi everyone, Happy Christmas!!

The wrapping is just about done, the kids are off from school; this Christmas thing is really starting soon isn't it?.. I don't feel quite ready for it yet!! Maybe a Christmassy blog will get me in the mood…

Might actually get me a little Sherry to sip while I write…hang on…

(she goes to kitchen to get Sherry..)

Oh yes that's much better! (she has her Sherry..)

In the last few weeks I've been making beads for Christmas commissions and also making lots of presses for my friends and family too. (Funny that.. everyone has asked for beads this year…)

I thought I might pop a few on here to show you what I've been doing.

Right then first up:

 This is one of my 'spotty' sets. A little birdy said that they would like something in red and black. So this is the result. There is a little opaque core covered in clear encasing and then little random black dots placed all over. I did some earrings to match..

This pair of earrings were a special commission in particular colours for a Christmas present. I really love the way they have turned out.

I've got into hearts recently.. These turned out really interestingly, and they are really festive. They have  a base of ivory with a deep crimson red circle of six hearts around the middle… The red colour doesn't photograph that well I'm afraid..sorry!

I also did some cute little charm beads to go with the earrings.

This set is also quite Christmassy and similar to the ones above in some ways but very different in others. These have a pure white background and a more bright red colour to make the pattern. They are still festive but have a cleaner more modern look…. and they also come out much better in a photo!

These ones are real stunners! All purply and gorgeous! Some are made with silver reactive colour changing glass (1,3 and 4). One has gold stone glitter encased inside (2), and one is made with a clear purple pinky glass.

The bobbly one in the middle is my favourite!

 

This set is similar but more in the blue/green spectrum. Again my favourite is the bobbler one on the end!

The last silver glass set has really interesting colours. We have greens, blues and browns. I imagine that if mermaids wore beads, they would wear ones like this!!…

The next ones are for a lady who really loves pink! This pair of beads have a mixture of baby pink and candy pink. The first one has a series of bubbles all the way round and the second has a heart motif running all around it.

The earrings turned out to be a really lush mixture of the two colours in a swirly pattern.

The last two items are really delicate little earrings. One is an multi-shade opaque and white turquoise, and the other is a clear glass almost translucent blue pair with pretty see-through ghost flowers inside.

 

 

Well, there is still time to fit a few more bits in before Christmas descends. If anyone needs/wants anything then just give me a shout and I'll be happy to put something together for them. The shop is a bit understocked at the mo. (Sorry about that), been too busy with homey stuff. I will rectify the situation over the next few weeks!!

Happy Christmas again everyone. Have a lovely holiday!!

Christmas Gifts and Little Treats

I'm really happy to say that the teal and purple set was just what my special customer was looking for. All the beads pictured in the previous blog have now been sold. It is a colour combo that I will do more of though so hopefully I will put some similar ones on the shop before Christmas (if there's time….)

Does anyone else feel like time is running away this year faster than ever in the lead up to Crimbo? It's crazy at the moment!
No - I have not done any Christmas shopping yet really,… bead making is just too much fun!

This week I have been catching up on beads, pendants and necklaces that customers have requested in the last few weeks. Some will be found in stockings on Christmas Day, and some are little treats that they saw in 'me little studio' and couldn't resist!

Today I had time to photograph them so thought I would do a little blogette to show you what Ive been up to!

 This one is quite unusual. it was hiding in one of my display boxes not made up into anything particular, when Charlotte found it and asked if it was for sale. "It certainly could be for sale.." I said, "but not in it's present state." So I set about 'shinying' it up with some sterling silver bits and giving it a nice glass and silver polish. Now it's ready for you Charlotte!

This one below was also spied in the studio and ear-marked for a pressie. Its a sort of lentil shape made mainly of silver glass with black stripes on it and a textured swirl on the front with a few dots thrown in for good measure. It's quite abstract in design. Almost modern-arty I guess!

This one is going to be a pressie for someone. It's made of colour changing silver glass and is bauble shaped. The colours in it are really lush. You can kind of get lost in it!

Up-close and personal view of the silver glass bauble. It looks like a far away nebula somewhere in distant space I think!

 Mandy - your Christmas pendant is finally ready! I feel like I have taken ages to do this one. This little pretty had been spotted on numerous occasions in the studio and I was asked if I could make it up into a nice pendant. To be more in keeping with her style though, she didn't want to wear it on a chain so we found some nice 'more modern/casual' cotton cord that has been teamed up with some 100% sterling silver findings beads and toggle clasp pictured below. She also wanted the necklace part to be a particular length (she is quite demanding ;-)).

I hope she loves wearing it; and even better she is getting it from her hubby for Crimbo!

The next one is another butterfly! (A few blogs ago, I did a few of these, and had been asked for another) This one is a pinky, fushia sort of shade with more bluey purple highlights and I managed to find a ribbon that complemented the colours really well.

This one is another colour reactive silver glass pendant and sterling silver snake chain. It has a really delicate shape.

Close up of the swirling colours in the pendant

The last one here is going to be another gift. Again we used the 'not chain' necklace and we felt it gave the pendant a more contemporary/elegant feel. The glass used is colour reactive on a cobalt blue base which has brought out this dreamy petrol blue and turquoise highlighted focal bead.

I teamed it up with this complementary smooth and shiny cord and finished it with sweet little sterling silver cord ends and a beautifully simple sterling silver toggle clasp. I hope the lady likes it. Shh can't tell you who it's for…

Close-up of the silver bits!

If anyone wants anything particular done for them or a loved one for Christmas, I might be able to squeeze a few more requests in. Just drop me a note, contact me through convo on etsy or give me a call if you have my number.

I love commissions they are really fun because it's great making something especially and individually for a person and knowing that they are going to get exactly what they wanted!

See you later x

Colour Combining - Purples and Teals!

Hi Guys,

Long time no see.
I have had lots of fun over the last few days!!. This time got lots of different Pandora/Troll style beads in purples and teals.

One of my lovely customers has asked me for some beads to fit her Pandora bracelet in a combination of purple and teal.

Well, there are lots of purples to choose from, so I have been on a colour adventure experimenting with different ones and using them in different ways to see what designs I can come up with.

The first colour combo is a sort of purply/blue mauve.

The one of the left is a reverse of the one shown on it's own above.
 The teal almost looks aqua because it has a white dot behind it.

This one has an interesting basket weave sort of pattern.

I really like this combination. It has a lightness and a freshness about it as well as a richness that comes from the purple. 

(Most of these pictures have been taken before the silver cores have been fitted and apologies for photo quality. They have been taken with the iPhone 'quick and snappy-like' so they don't really do the beads justice.)

purply, bluey, mauve combo

The next set pictured below are made with the second purple which is darker and more of a plum like purple. They really look vibrant in natural light and the teal somehow looks lighter because of the contrast I think.

Second set made with a more deep plum/wine
coloured purple

spaced out a bit to see the detail

The two pictures below on the leaves show the different ones in more detail.

From top left to bottom right:
1. Concentric petal rings
2. Narrow twisty
3. Game of two halves
4. Mirror Lotus
5. Shaded triangles
6. Ribbon Twist

From top left to bottom right:
7. Silver thread
8. Tortoise Shell
9.Teal on Purple ZigZag
10. Purple on Teal Zig Zag
11. Opaque Core Zig Zag

(12. Ripple Pools) 

 This one I absolutely love. I think it looks even more pretty in real life! 

The colours look like ripples in little pools. Cute!

Ripple pools (12) from the side. 

13. Whirlpool 

Whirlpool (13) from the side

The next set is going to be made with a deeper purple again

 which is more of a deep violet kind of purple.

 I'm hoping to make them tomorrow (or maybe the next day) xx