Backwards

I giving up beads for lent - thats the reason for being backwards because as you know lent is over!! Over the weekend I added up all the bead sets I have - now I'm talking about Artisan Glass (lampwork) which is something I have always held my hands up to being addicted too! BUt this I actually hang my head in shame I counted (and this was me being honest - when I say counted these are just the ones I sorted) 47 sets in total (well actually I counted 46 but then found another set under a book) yes you read that right 47!!!


SO because of this I am on a bead buying ban - yes I have to show you in the next month at least 20 pieces made with lampwork - Hopefully you will help me count this down and when I reach 20 I can start buying again - eeeek - this will be extremly painful as I adore buying them!! Please hold my hand throughout April so I keep strong - haha! So all my flame fueled friends please help me be strong and I am not ignoring you if I suddenly stop buying your beads - I need to be strong ;)

New pendants and Koil Kutter

I made today two new pendants. The first one I started last night, but I didn't like they way I did it, so I rewrapped it this morning.
It is based on the nautilus tutorial I bought a while ago from Etsy. Purple freshwater pearls and a white milk opal briolet.








The second one is a paisley pendant using the same pearls and additionally white freshwater pearls and sterling silver beads. I quite like this one.





Finally good news on my Koil Kutter. My blades purchased from the US arrived (my friend Mary on Bookmooch was so kind and sent them to me as shipping to Cyprus from the company was $25, which is crazy! Just to see the difference, putting them in a small envelope Mary paid $1.80 for the same blades...)
Today I put one of the new blades in my KK and it cut my copper and silver coils like BUTTER!! I can't believe the difference! I put all the cut rings in the tumbler, so tomorrow my next project will be chainmail again.

Featured in a small interview

A lovely interview (with moi) has been just posted on this site today. Le Bar du Vent/meherio68 is a great Dawanda jewelry seller, who decided to feature other Dawanda artists. Today was my turn. You can read here the article - if you want to know some of my 'secrets' :)
Btw, you might also want to check out her Dawanda shop, which has some really beautiful jewelry from France.

Good Friday!

Well I've had my Hot Cross Buns for breakfast - yum and now we have a lazy day ahead - the weather here in the UK is wintery - last easter was so much later and we had beautiful blue skies and hot sun - in fact there are photos of us in t-shirts enjoying a Easter egg hunt! Why do they change the month Easter falls in? I have been told its something to do with the moon and would love to know if this is true - maybe a google is in order!
OK this is what I have found out

Easter Sunday is the Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon (PFM) date for the year. In June 325 A.D. astronomers approximated astronomical full moon dates for the Christian church, calling them Ecclesiastical Full Moon (EFM) dates. From 326 A.D. the PFM date has always been the EFM date after March 20 (which was the equinox date in 325 A.D.).

But next year apparently it falls on April 12th so I think a picnic will better be saved for next year!!

I haven't a great deal to show as my dizzy spells are still happening - I think I may have to brave the dr next week. FIngers crossed I will be able to still create something this weekend ☺

What's new?

I've been a bit quiet lately on my blog, however I did a few more things that I added to my shop.
A small sterling silver pendant with purple freshwater pearls, done in freeform wire wrapping style. It's reall too cute :)
Modified version of the original Vita pendant with adding some gorgeous freshwater pearls around the frame, I feel it fills the whole pendant quite nicely now.
Listed a double spiral turquoise chainmail bracelet I made a while ago and never got to list until now. Sterling silver, as usual.
And if you are making greeting cards with stamps, I have a whole bunch of unmounted stamps that I need to destash. Haven't made greeting cards in at least 5 years, so I'm afraid I won't be returning to parchment and to stamping anymore, I'm too much wrapped in making jewelry :)
So you can get the whole batch for only 25 Euros here. I might list some other cardmaking supplies later on, once these stamps are gone.

Spin me round

So sorry - I fully intended to post on Sunday evening - then MOnday but I had this weird dizzy thing - just like when you have had to many drinks and the room spins round except I hadn't had anything stronger than a cup of tea. Even with my eyes closed it felt like I was being spun around - and with that headaches and nausea - yuk. I managed a few moments yesterday on here but not enough to post.

I was busy making though - so I have lots of new things to show you in the next few days - a couple of commission need sorting too - being off doesn't work when you have work to do!!

Jump!

This bracelet is one of my favourites at the moment (I know, I know I say that about them all!) but I think the colours in this one are just fantastic. This is actually boro glass - which is not that easy to come by in the UK sadly (hopefully that will change soon) - boro glass has lots of silver in it and has to be treated in a whole different way (my source on the subject hopefully will be playing with her new glass real soon ;0) ) I adore boro, the colours are fantastic - these are actually from the US by an artist called Cory Walker.

I added little glass spacers (Shirley Giles) Green Kyanite, Rubies, Moonstone and Teal apatite - I just love how the colours pop! I have a few other sets of boro here waiting to be played with so expect more soon.

A Motley Crew of Bracelets

The days are growing longer; I locked the office this evening at 7:30 and it was not totally dark yet - and it was around 70 degrees! I love warm weather and the long, long days of summer - and especially summer nights when I feel totally energized and focused on whatever I'm doing whether it's reading a good book, making jewelry or cooking dinner.
The bracelet above reminds me of summer; turquoise and coral, the colours of swimming pools and summer dresses.
The lapis bracelet below also used coral for that hint of summer warmth. The pretty lampwork bead is by Lynn Nurge and is a beautiful colour also - the inspiration for the bracelet. The lapis bracelet is topped off with a toggle with lapis cabochons in each end.

Last is a bracelet with two strands of mixed gemstones: lapis, yellow calcite, carnelian, and turquoise, and yes, it too makes me think of the bright colours of summer - and for some reason, also Colorado. I don't know if it's the generous helping of sterling silver throughout the bracelet (I love the little twisted rings) or just the bright colours (don't ask me why), but it evokes memories of the summer when my son was finishing graduate school at the University of Denver and living in Fort Collins. I drove all the way from Arkansas to spend some times there - all through Missouri, turning left at Saint Louis, and then through Kansas - straight through the middle of Kansas which seemed to go on forever. Arriving there was worth the drive however - I would do it again tomorrow if I could. I had spent the previous 2 years visiting Denver, a city I liked, and I liked Fort Collins even more. By the way, yttrium fluorite comes from Fort Collins, the only place where it is found. It is a stone that is a pale lavender colour - quite pretty - and it keeps eluding me. I'm hoping I find some soon to make jewelry for my daughter-in-law and myself as a memento of that time in Colorado.


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Jens Pind bracelet with rhodonite

Jens Pind is the name of the latest weave I've learned today. It took me yesterday close to 2 hours of frustration after which I gave up, but today I started with full force and it 'clicked' almost instantly. Must have been very tired last night for my mind to blank out so much.
I made this bracelet within the hour (of course, not counting the time it took me to coil, cut and tumble polish the rings).

Two in a row!

I am doing well - two posts in a row!! I have to show you Elli's pasty she made on Saturday - being Cornish we love pastys - lovely beef, potato and turnip with lashings of pepper, a pinch of salt and a knob of butter - all wrapped up in short crust pastry! Elli decided she wanted to make her own - and I was extremly impressed with her heart pasty! She ate the lot to!

Another reason for todays post I wanted to show you something my two fab friends are doing at the moment. Allison Raposa of Msbaubles and Angela Mckenna of AM Designs have both entered into the new volume of the Etsy promo book (see HERE).

TimothyAdamDesigns says: With 140 etsy artists featured in 4 volumes, the handbook to handmade is a small cut of very talented artists from around the world. "the handbook to handmade" is a monthly volume of 36 ETSY artists and their shops...this is a promotional tool that is used to help promote artists and etsy. the first volume was a success, with a great mix of artists from 36 different cities from around the world.

I love Etsy and have bought a few bits and pieces on there - more and more UK artists can be found on there - really there is worth a look - everything from Knitting to canvas's, soaps and pottery! I really hope Allison and Angela get to show us what the finished book looks like with their pages! Allison and Angela both have unique styles which I admire greatly.

The first picture shows the latest silver necklace I have made - simple and sweet with that dark edge ;) and the bracelet is a birthstone commission I had with my customers childrens birthstones - I love the mixture of the stones - peridot, Amethyst and Topaz.