Night Sky on wrist...

My beautiful assistant displays nine of the Night Sky beads:

I think if you are on a computer you can see the 12 second movie, but on mobiles I'm not sure it works/ (I shall look into it..)

Starry Starry Night...

Wow!

It's been a bit of a journey bead wise this last week or two.

You might remember that I had been asked by a lovely customer to make some "Night Sky" themed charm beads.. Well, I have loved the challenge and finally can show you all what I've been up to..

I'll start with a picture of them all in one, and then go into each one in detail...

This picture tries to show each of the sixteen beads as a summary.

OK. Details on the beads in the top line:

Details on the middle set:

 And finally the ones on the bottom row:

So that's what I've been up to. I've got to get straight back on it though because I have a few bits waiting now, as I think I got a bit caught up in all this Night Sky lark! I will let you know which other ones are available soon.

My next adventure are a set of rainbows for a very special lady and preparing for the stall at the Summer Fair on the 7th June. Wish me luck

Take care

Round the Twist!

Been on quite a bobbly journey recently with all those rockpooly beads and the like.. 

Well after getting all the bobbly orders and off to their new homes I have been doing twisty beads. Can't seem to stop!

It's really funny how you seem to go in phases; everything I have produced in the last couple of days has had twists (or twisties) in them!

And... Am really excited as am going to make my first set of 'night sky' inspired charm beads soon. I don't quite know how they will turn out at the mo. but it's a lovely concept and can't wait to start. (..just need to do a few other bits first as always...).

Been looking at some images for ideas: 

Do make comments/suggestions of themes if you think of any. So far I've been thinking:

Starry, starry night:

Aurora borealis:

Comet

Nebula:

Meteor/meteorite:

Moonscapes:

Moon dust:

Also:

Moon Rock

Witching hour

Black hole

Neptune

UFO 

Now,... how these ideas might come to life as beads I do not quite know yet, but I'll be having a lot of fun trying to make it happen ;-)

Watch this space to see how it goes! Wish me luck x

Where the Dunes and Rockpools Meet...

You might remember that a while ago I did my post about the Dunes and the like... Well more recently another lovely lady asked me to do a commission on some Rockpool style charm beads. I so enjoyed doing the work I just had to put some of the photos in the blog. 

There are more photos of the set on my Flickr page if your mouth is watering....

I can tell you that c, d, e, f, h, i and j are now sold, but the others (as of 30th of April) are still for sale.


And here are some of the individual beads in close up. They were such a delight to make! Thoroughly enjoyable!

These two look great together (l and k). Might be making their way onto my bracelet if I'm not careful....

This one is a little sea urchin

Last week I had a most pleasurable couple of hours helping a favourite customer marry up 'The Dunes' theme with the 'Rockpool' theme when she came over to the house and we created a new bracelet for her completely from scratch! A few cups of various hot beverages later, and here is the result...

Going from the clasp end they are as follows: 1. Lemon Grass dotty bead, 2. Rocky Bobble bead, then 3, 4, 5 are three beads from The Dunes set, 6 is a Rockpooly Sea Anemone bobbly bead, 7 is a Dune bead, 8 is another Grey/Green Dotty bead and finally 9 and 10 are two more from the Dunes set. She picked up a couple of silver stopper beads from me at the same time. (The bracelet and other silvers are the 'models own').

The whole effect is a bracelet that is full of interest and plenty of colour as it tones through from lemony green to marram grass green to seaweed green. There are gold tones, sandy tones and antique lace/white sand tones which give it some timeless elegance. The dotty beads add a bit of fun and contemporary fizz to it too. Yet, most importantly we liked where we got with it because the bracelet remains (usefully) to be easy to wear, and blends with many clothing styles and colours as the tones are still subtle and gentle.

close up of the Sea Anemone Bobble Bead

On the owner's wrist in natural light

Lastly, I thought I'd better get these in...

On the last sesh of the torch I was obviously in a really bobbly sort of a mood. I just couldn't stop myself!! As well as the sea urchins, sea anemones and rocky bobbly ones that I did, (most of which are now winging their ways to their new homes all around the UK), I also made this Purple Bobblishious bead pictured below. 

Of course I had to take the piccies with the bluebells as a backdrop for obvious reasons...

It's quite big (15.5mm by 7.5mm wide) and it is made to fit a Pandora sized bracelet as the hole through the middle is a little larger. I've just listed it in the Etsy shop if anyone likes the look of it ;-).

I just love the way the colours are magnified by the clear glass bobbles!

Well I should really sign off now,  otherwise I won't be up for school-run in the morning... Take care chaps!!

Enough of this British Weather - I'm going to Bead Land!

A lot later than I thought I would, I got round to making, cleaning, silvering, polishing and photographing some brand new beads. These were meant to be done just after Christmas, but hey, better late than never!

Some of this little collection will be making it onto the Etsy shop soon and others have been ordered for customers. If you see any thing you might like or maybe would like something similar just send me a message and we will sort it out for you!

In this blog I thought I would try to show you how the beads are born and how the ideas come to life. In many cases I might randomly pick a rod of glass and start melting a bead and it brings an idea into my mind, triggered off by a colour, a colour combination, the way the light moves through the glass or the texture or shapes that are created. Then I set off with gusto (and much excitement and anticipation, I might add) fixed on this theme trying to 'round out' that thought making the other beads in the series. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.. I might need quite a few goes till it looks right, but this is how many of the beads sets and individual focal beads get 'born'.

So here, I have tried to match up the finished beads and bead sets with the images that no-one usually sees; these are the images that percolate around in the brain while the beads are forming at the torch!

My first set is called 'The Dunes' This set reminds me of being back in Somerset on good old Berrow beach taking a walk to blow the cobwebs away in the sand dunes there. (It's very, very windy; ALL the time!) These beads have a lovely cleansing and calm feel about them, just as one might feel after one of those fresh walks.  They are very natural and organic, and I was trying to make something that was relatively 'neutral' so you can wear them without worrying that they don't coordinate with what you are wearing! These are clear-minded, worry-free beads!

The next set I will call 'Fairground Attraction'. These beads are really cutsie and small (they are just over a centimetre in diameter), but the colours have a wild abandon about them, like that amazing feeling of being let loose at a fairground for the first time when you are a teenager or when you go out on the town for the first time...AT NIGHT! There is neon excitement with these, electricity, fun and frivolity. Good things come in small packages!

...Now we are leaving the fairground, and moving to the Amazonian Rainforest for the next collection. I've had another request for some 'dotty doughnuts' this time with a green theme and here they are fresh and verdant and lovely. They will be called 'Rainforest Fresh'.  

There is something distinctly watery and lush about these. They say aloe vera, ferns, dew drops, crystal water and thick swathes of abundant leaves. They say juice and freshness and vivid green to the extreme!

A new set of black and whites will soon be winging their way to the shop. Black and white is timeless; so sharp and clean and neat! Humbugs, piano keys, dominoes, zebra stripes, polka dots!!

 

I went a bit candy crush crazy last time I was on the torch. These colours really remind me of sweets and candy in general. Cupcakes, sticks of rock, seaside games, donkey rides - the works!

The next one is pink too but has an interesting mix of gold swirls too so it looks much richer like a gilt pink gates of a pink palace or something or a golden sunrise firing the pinky orange colours in all directions! Maybe a bit bollywood. Will call this one 'Pink Princess'.

The other colour I've been really into is this one! We have decided it's called 'cerulean' (thanks Kate for the heads up on that one!). It is SUCH A DREAMY COLOUR!!!

This is a Cerulean Kingfisher on the right. What a colour! It makes me go weak at the knees! On the left, to get you in the mood, is some beautiful cerulean water that that lucky lady's swimming in...OK now for the beads, now you have the colour in your head...

These trio are a similar sort of hue, but more rockpooly and seashoreish!

The last ones are a collection in an on-going theme for me. Organic, earthy rich tones like a forest floor or a mossy bank. Greens, purples, gold and deep red and brown. The warmth of the earth and the vibrance of the living things all rolled into one! This is the type of bead I love!!

Well, that's quite enough for one night. Sleep tight xx