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

I have my eye on you!

As you might have read the other day, one of my trickier customers... (yes Kate, it's you!) asked me to make her a spooky eye pendant.

Mmmm. it's trickier than you might think. Especially when the iterations you make are just not 'evil' enough! Here we have three of my goes at it. I don't think any of them look particularly evil but I have really enjoyed making the little critters!

This is my second go. This one is definitely more 'orc-like' and grotesque looking but still wasn't right. Mrs Pinickity says still no good!

By now I'd got a bit fed up with trying for EVIL!!! So I just started having a play with eyes which was much less stressful....

Now this one I love!

I'm going to call her a Schmoo! She is the founding member of a little alien race of critters that have come to earth to make us smile!! Her name is Viola and her eye is so cute!

She is of course NOT evil at all!! She is made with an ultra-violet (quite substantial) body 1.5cm thick (not counting the protruding eye) with a lovely delicate amethyst frilly bit on either side. She is 3.4cm by 3.7cm wide.

The eye is really deep and swirly. I love it!

She has a knobbly back (like every good alien being should have) that has the same blue that I used in the eye.

Here is a sort of side-on view that shows the depth of Viola's eye. She really sparkles in the sunshine!

I hope to make a few more of these in the coming weeks. I'm not sure whether they will be popular to sell or not, I can tell you my DH absolutely hates them and says they are just too freaky and weird, but they are certainly good fun to make and look at afterwards. Take care everyone!  xx

Flutterby Beads!

A little bird mentioned to me the other day "have you tried to make a butterfly or a dragonfly yet?". Well of course that got me thinking... No, but I'd love to have a go!.. So I got all my green, aqua and purply pink glass out and had a little go at some butterfly type beads. This is the result of the first attempts yesterday afternoon.

This one is a reasonable size at 4.3cm at it's widest part and 3cm tall. I love the way he turned out! He looks particularly nice when the sunlight catches him!

This little guy is much smaller. (DH says he is more of a moth than a butterfly but I still love him.) He will look cute made into a pendant with some lovely sterling silver findings. He is 3cm wide and 2.3cm high.

This little ultra-violet number is very simple and elegant looking. When I was making it Mandy was over for a coffee and told me not to pimp it up, and add dots or other details, but leave it plain. The lines on it are so pretty, I'm glad I did leave it. I think it will be just fine without loads of fuss. Thanks Mandy.

Obviously..later I went back to fiddling as you can see with this little rectangular pendant piece. The inner core is dark periwinkle covered with a mixture of blues and purple transparent with a bit of silver reactive glass thrown in for good measure. Not to forget it's amethyst 'gills' which I am loving making. This pendant is 2.8 tall by 2.1cm wide.

Then I carried on fiddling and using tweezers and scissors to my heart's content, poking and prodding the glass around till I got the shape I wanted. This one goes back to the 'rock pool' ones I was making the other day. It looks like an exotic shell or something that you would find in some warm tropical waters somewhere... well that's my little dream in my own head anyway. It's 3.7cm by 3.2cm.

This is the same sort of thing in a really gentle purple and sea blue. But it has more substance to it's middle and less 'gill' action It's overall size is 4.0cm by 3.3cm tall.

Here's the full lot that I made during this session. The eye one deserves a little blog all of its own (which will be coming soon!)

Take care guys, see you soon xx