Peacocks and Flowers

Tonight has been a night of preparation for my college classes, working out the dates for my next set of private tuition days - and editing photos and writing project descriptions! I'm all written out for now, so I'll just leave you with pictures of the yummy pendants I've made with Mindy Macgregor's beautiful and amazingly coloured lampwork beads and say that they are all available on the website here now!

Indian Peacock

Bright Flowers and A Gentle Spring

Oh, and the next set of tuition dates will be out on Friday!

Finished Projects!

Well, almost finished anyway. I did actually do all the work you can see in these photos last week with the intention of blogging about them and linking up with the post on Art Jewelry Elements last Saturday but blogging time has been short recently.

So, this is what I did with the unfinished bits and pieces that I showed in my last post - apologies for the over bright photos but I realised too late that I'd left my camera on the wrong setting after taking photos of the boys! This is also the reason that none of these are on the website yet, as I need to go back and take better photos!

Chrysocolla "bubbles" pendant with handcrafted silver bead and smoky quartz bead - this is eventually going to be a long necklace on a length (or maybe a double length) or soft brown leather. I've made the back of the pendant just as interesting as the front as a longer necklace is more likely to swing round so I wanted it to look especially nice!

I knew I wouldn't be able to complete this pendant, partly due to time and partly because I am still using it as a teaching example - honest! I need to add a bail, tidy up the prongs, polish, and then the stone is ready to be set.

Another one that is waiting for that soft brown leather. The bird is a clasp that hooks onto the ring at the top of the Botswana agate, and I'm planning a double strand of the leather to complete it.

Of course, a blog post showing off new jewellery designs wouldn't be complete with a Moogin bead! I know I've said it before, but I absolutely love Mindy's use of colour. The cage above was made with the longer piece of curved wire I showed in my last post.

And this is what the shorter pieces of wire became! I made myself a pair of these pretty petal stud earrings for my cousin's wedding in March and I've worn them almost every day since. They are so light to wear and have got me lots of compliments - so they will be on the website very soon!

Although I haven't yet put the moogin bead pendant and the stud earrings on the website yet they will be there very soon - but if you are interested in them please email me- address on the left!

Mystery Discs!

Earlier today on Facebook I posted this picture and asked if anyone could guess what they could be - either everyone was out enjoying the spring sunshine this afternoon or I had everyone stumped! Well, this is what the textured discs have turned into....

I am slightly obsessed with making hollow beads at the moment. One of the three projects that one of my evening classes are working on for their assessment pieces is a hollow bead pendant, and we've been exploring different ways of making hollow beads and decorating their surfaces. This is one of the most simple methods. I've used a punch to decorate the surface of discs of silver, used a doming punch to cup them, filed the rims smooth and flat and then soldered them together in pairs. One of my jobs tomorrow is to drill the holes in them.

The five smaller ones are going to be part of the bracelet I'm making with the wonderful cabochons that Mindy Macgregor sent me for our collaboration, and the larger one will be in a pendant with the largest cab - and here's a reminder of how beautiful the cabs are, just in case you'd forgotten!

A Collaboration

A new month, a new resolve to blog more often. I have to admit that last month was a harder one than I expected. I expected to come back completely refreshed after the Christmas break and bounce back into everything with lots of energy but I forgot a couple of things - firstly I was ill over Christmas so why on earth did I think that I was going to get refreshed?! And secondly - it was January! I didn't have the January blues, but with all the grey weather it was too easy to feel a bit flat after the boys' birthdays and Christmas. It was also an extra busy month in that I had a lot of private tuition students booked in - three last week plus a whole day teaching one of my college classes last Saturday plus my usual Tuesday and Wednesday night classes. Good for the bank balance, lots of fun while I was actually teaching but very little time to do my own jewellery making. I got everything done, met all deadlines, but I did have a lot of late nights in January!

Anyway, a new month - and a new collaboration! If you've been reading my blog for more than a month or so you must have picked up on just how much I love Mindy Macgregor's beautiful lampwork. The colours she uses frequently challenge me, which I need as I can easily get stuck in a colour rut, and the detail she puts in her beads is amazing. And thankfully Mindy likes what I make with her creations too! Before Christmas Mindy emailed to ask if I would be interested in a collaboration. She was keen to see some of her new, smaller cabochons set in silver to form a bracelet, and wondered if she sent me some, would I be interested in making a bracelet with them? Can you guess just how many seconds I thought about it before saying yes please?!

If you haven't guessed already, the beautiful lampwork in these photos are the cabochons that Mindy sent me last week. I can't decided which I love the most! I love the size of the set of smaller cabochons and I know that I will be buying as many of this size as I can from Mindy! They are perfect for bracelets and smaller pendants. The colours in the larger cab are just amazing, colours that I would not have considered putting together but work perfectly together. The smaller set will form part of a bracelet, and I have a pendant planned for the larger cabochon. I will post updates to show you how the designs are progressing!

Challenge of Color - UPDATED!

I just couldn't resist joining in with ErinPrais-Hintz's Challenge of Color this year - I've been working hard to create new stock for the Handmade Winchester show this weekend, so I thought the challenge would be a great way of adding more colours to my designs. This year Erin has joined forces with Brandi Hussey who has worked her magic to create beautiful palettes based on amazing pictures from the Earth As Art exhibit from the United States Geological Service taken from the Landsat 7 satellite. You can read more about the pictures on Erin's blog. 

Erin sent each of us two palettes and asked us to design a piece of jewellery using one of the palettes - or both of them if we were tempted! We could use all of the colours in each palette, or just a few. I was definitely tempted to use both palettes! Well, I did need to create more stock for my stall this weekend!

I took the red and blues from the palette from Colima Volcano (which is in Mexico btw - more here!) in the form of a red lampwork heart bead by Laura Sparling, and turquoise ceramic spacer beads, added in one of my lovebird clasps and some wood saucer-shaped beads to make this sweet bracelet. There's a little heart charm hanging next to the clasp too.

This next design is a slight cheat! All the colours I needed are in a beautiful lampwork glass cabochon by Mindy Macgregor. I kept the setting simple as the cab has enough detail in it, and I've turn it into a flower with silver leaves. The chain is attached to one bail hidden behind the flower and another behind the leaf. Part of my obviously really hopes that this sells at my show this weekend - but there's another part of me that will find it very difficult to part with!

It's probably going to take me all weekend to visit all the blogs taking part because of the craft show, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone has made, especially those who got the same palettes as me! Do make sure that you visit Erin's blog - she has a giveaway planned!

Erin Prais-Hintz    http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color-reveal.html
Rebecca Anderson    http://songbeads.blogspot.com
Kris Auderer    http://strandedinthecity.wordpress.com
Chrizette Bayman    http://beadsoupmix.blogspot.com
Lori Bowring Michaud    http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com
Courtney Breul    http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/
Lynsey Brooks    http://yellowunicorncreations.blogspot.co.uk
Stephanie Buss    http://maxandlucie.blogspot.com
Iveth Caruso    http://www.creativeatelier.net/
Shannon Chomanczuk    http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com
Lisa Cone    http://inspiredadornments.blogspot.com/
Cece Cormier    http://thebeadingyogini.com
Lori Dorrington    http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com
Dawn Doucette    http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com
Jeannie Dukic    http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog/
Kim Dworak    http://cianciblue.blogspot.com/
Beth Emery    http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com
Janice Everett    http://JLynnJewels.blogspot.com
Pam Farren    http://www.re-maker.blogspot.com
Donetta Farrington    http://simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com
Gloria Ferrer    http://judetaama.blogspot.com.es/
Cherrie Fick    http://designsinthelight.co
Therese Frank    http://www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com
Patty Gasparino    http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com
Tanya Goodwin    http://pixiloo.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html
Ambra Gostoli    http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/3rd-challenge-of-color
Jess Green    http://tabbiekoshka.blogspot.co.uk/
Denielle Hagerman    http://somebeadsandotherthings.com
Mary Harding    www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com
Karla Hartzog    http://www.karlakrafts.com
Kim Hora    http://www.kimmykats.com
Brandi Hussey    http://brandigirlblog.com
Emanda Johnson    http://ArtemisiaStudio.blogspot.com
Jennifer Justman    http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/
Sue Kennedy    http://suebeads.blogspot.com
Ema Kilroy    http://emakaye.blogspot.com
Lee Koopman    http://Stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Linda Landig    http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com
Kirsi Luostarinen    http://kirsiluokorut.blogspot.com
Cynthia Machata    http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/
Alicia Marinache    http://www.allprettythings.ca
Beth McCord    http://www.ebbeadandmetalworks.blogspot.com
Mary K McGraw    http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/
Karen Mitchell    http://www.overthemoon-design.com
Cheri Mitchell-Reed    http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/
Aimee Moisa    http://threecatsdancing.blogspot.com
Karla Morgan    http://www.texaspepperjams.blogspot.com
Penny Neville    http://copperpennydesigns.blogspot.com
Becky Pancake    http://beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com
Kashmira Patel    http://sadafulee.blogspot.com
Alice Peterson    http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com
Kayla Potega    http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com
Debbie Price    http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk
Bobbie Rafferty    http://beadsong.blogspot.com
Caron Reid    http://caronmichelle.blogspot.com.au/
Nicole Rennell    http://nicolerennell.com/blog
Cynthia Riggs    http://cynthsblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html
Andrea Ross    http://silvermapledesigns.blogspot.com/
Sally Russick    http://thestudiosublime.com
Annie Scherz    http://www.studioluma.ca
Pam Sears    http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Renetha Stanziano    http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
Sandra Stein    http://sannipanni.wordpress.com
Kristen Stevens    http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com
Tracy Stillman    http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com
Sherri Stokey    http://www.knotjustmacrame.com/2012/11/challenge-of-color-reveal.html
Lola Survillo    http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com
Kay Thomerson    http://KayzKreationz.blogspot.com
Jo Tinley    http://daisychaindesignsjewellery.blogspot.com
Emma Todd    http://www.apolymerpenchant.com
Cory Tompkins    http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com
Pam Traub    http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com
Melissa Trudinger    http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com
Michelle Tucker    http://michellescreativemusings.blogspot.com/
Shelley Graham Turner    http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com
Monique Urquhart    http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com/
Rachel Van-Walsk    http://balancedcrafts.com/blog
Patti Vanderbloemen    http://www.myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com
Lesley Watt    http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com
Lynn White    http://lynnwhitejewelry.com/Lynn_White_Jewelry/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog.html
Joan Williams    http://www.lilrubyjewelry.com

A Halloween Owl

I actually made some clasps for my own jewellery designs last week as well as fulfilling my etsy orders, so last Thursday evening I put together some new bracelets while catching up with Grey's Anatomy. This is the first one I made - and my entry into the jewellery design category of the Artisan Whimsy Hooters Challenge.

One of my owl clasps in oxidised sterling silver matched with a beautiful pumpkin orange spiral patterned lampwork bead by Mindy Macgregor. I've added in dyed jade and agate beads and sterling silver rings, so that no matter how the bracelet turns round your wrist there's something lovely to look at!

If you've visited my jewellery website recently you may have noticed that I've been moving things around. I've decided to keep my own website for my made-to-order jewellery such as my Golden Collection and for workshops and private tuition, and I've been moving my one-off pieces of jewellery over to Etsy, to a separate shop than my Daisychain Extra supplies. So, you can find my friendly Halloween owl in my Daisychain Jewellery etsy shop here.

Macramé, Art Beads and Wire

6 brand new projects featuring art beads 

from Moogin Beads, Humble Beads, Starry Road Studio, Beads of Passion

50 pages

over 100 photos

step-by-step instructions for projects and macramé knots

inspirational gallery featuring work by 

Rebecca Anderson,  

Leah Curtis, 

Malin de Koning,  

Keri Lee Sereika, 

Sherri Stokey 

and Cilla Watkins

The book costs £12, which works out at only £2 per project!

It is available through my website and also through my Daisychain Extra etsy shop.

I hope that you enjoy it!

Thank you to the wonderful designers who contributed to the gallery 

and to Rebecca and my very own T for proof reading for me!

Happy Easter!

My non-chocolate Easter present for my Mum - a lampwork chicken by Mindy Macgregor with macrame to turn it into a sweet hanging

I hope you're all having a lovely holiday weekend with your loved ones!

BTW

I had to take today slower than usual. I spent most of yesterday in bed with a tummy bug which has thankfully all but gone now - we've had too many bugs in this family recently and I'm fed up with them! T had gone into school to do some prep in peace and quiet during the first couple of days of the Easter holidays, but I had to call him to come back home to look after the boys. The only way yesterday's tutorial was posted was because I was very organised on Monday and wrote and scheduled it in advance!

So today was spent finishing and packaging orders from the weekend (if you haven't taken advantage of the discount code over on Art Bead Scene, it's still valid!) and finishing the necklace above - more macrame in a gorgeous shade of dark dusky pink to finish an amethyst and silver necklace with the most beautiful Moogin lampwork bead I have ever worked with. The colours inside the bead blend from lilac to green encased in clear glass that Mindy has decorated with such lovely flowers. The colours really glow.

BTW part 2

It took me a while to get going this morning. I knew what I wanted to get done, has my list of jobs drawn up, but it wasn't until mid morning that my brain was ready for the delicate task of stone setting! Lots of hammering had to be done to wake me up first. Wednesday morning, you see, is the morning after the night before of teaching two 2 hour college classes back to back - the 15 minute break between the two never really happens! Don't get me wrong, I love teaching my classes, love helping my advanced class bring their beautiful designs to life and teaching them more advanced techniques, love seeing the delight on the faces of my beginners class when they complete a new piece of jewellery - and reassuring them that everyone, no matter how experience they are, has off days when things don't quite go as well as they planned! But some Wednesday mornings are a bit sleepy.

Anyway, I did get my list of jobs done in the end. Parcels have been sent with NOTHS orders in time for Mothering Sunday, two of the stone settings that I posted a picture of this morning have had more silver added to them and added the box of items to be sent off to Goldsmiths' Hall for hallmarking, new clasps made to polish tomorrow and list on etsy before the weekend.

This evening has been spent editing photos of the four pieces I finished today and listing them on my website - you can see them above. The lampwork cabochon much admired in the comments on my post earlier today is by, of course Mindy Macgregor. I've taken about 50 photos of this pendant to try and show the colours and the pattern on the cab as clearly as possible! The silver surrounding the cab has been decorated to mimic the pattern on the glass. The other two cabs are porcelain, shaped and glazed by Lisa Stevens. I've used a combination of bezel and prong settings to hold the stones in place - I love how it has worked, and I'll definitely be using this design again! The fourth pendant has been sitting on my desk part done for weeks, and I finally finished it this morning as part of my "warm up"!

All of the pendants are now on my website - and the lampwork cabochon has 10% off as I've decided to extend the Moogin sale until the end of March as Moogin March sounds good and I want to buy more of her beads!

BTW

Today has been a day of hiding away from the rain inside my workshed, standing over a hot kiln working on some keum boo jewellery. I've been putting the finishing touches to a couple of gallery orders, but although that was most of my work today I forgot to take any photos! Never mind, I do still have some photos to show you as the last hour or so of the day was spent taking and editing photos of new pendants.

Some more Moogin Special pendants!

These are all made with Moogin lampwork beads with such beautiful detail. My favourite is the one in the middle with glorious shades of purples and reds. The centres of the flowers are slightly raised rather than melted completely into the bead, and so the bead has a lovely texture to it. I have to admit that I've been hoarding this one for quite some time!

These three have all been listed on my website, and remember that there is 10% off jewellery with Moogin Beads during March. The Peacock bracelet that I made for the February ABS challenge sold today. I've started making a couple more feather clasps so I think I'll be using another one in a bracelet soon.

Thank you for all of the lovely comments you have made on my Bead Soup post! I'm about halfway through the list of blogs - I will get there, but I want to leave a comment on each blog I visit so it's taking a while!

Moogin Special!

If you've followed my blog for a while you will realise by now that I LOVE Mindy Macgregor's beads. Actually, let's be honest here, even if you've only read the posts from the last week or so you must have realised how wonderful I think her beads are by now! I love them so much that when Mindy sends out her newsletters letting people know that she's just listed new beads on Etsy I know that if I go and have a look I will definitely end up buying at least one, quite often a set, as I know that if I don't buy them when I see them I may never see them again - unless I see them on Rebecca Anderson's blog that is. She loves Moogin beads just as much as I do and sometimes we end up unknowingly racing each other to buy them!

Anyway, I have been badly neglecting my jewellery website in favour of my Daisychain Extra etsy shop in the last few months, and I've been really bad at listing my new jewellery on there. So, I've been busy taking and editing photos today, concentrating on the jewellery I've made with Mindy's beads. I've listed six new pendants on the website this evening, and there are more to come over the next few days. I started with these pendants as I adore all the bright colours in them - they bring a touch of summer! The focal beads are some of the largest round beads I've seen, and the detailed patterning on them is beautiful. I've soldered, hammered and polished "bubbles" of sterling silver to go between the focal bead and the brightly coloured spacer bead on each pendant, and hung them from long chain.

And the special part? Well, apart from the fact that Mindy's beads are special in their own right, for the next week, starting today, I'm offering 10% off all of the jewellery I have made with Mindy's beads. The reason is simply that if you buy the jewellery, I can buy more of Mindy's beautiful beads and make more jewellery with them - everyone wins!

I've set up a separate section on my website here for all of the jewellery using Mindy's beads, and the discount has been automatically applied.

Peacock Bracelet - ABS challenge

The inspiration for the Art Bead Scene blog challenge this month is a wonderfully painted manuscript page full of beautiful birds. The colours are so rich, despite the page being over 400 years old. At the centre of the page is a peacock, and as soon as I saw it I knew that I had the perfect bead! It's a bead by Mindy Macgregor (of course!), one of a set that I bought from her a few years ago and that had been sitting in a dish on my desk for ages waiting for the perfect project - and here it is!

The clasp is the silver feather clasp I made on Wednesday, and I've used dainty faceted amazonite, amethyst, Swarovski crystals and lovely soft purple lampwork spacer beads to pick out some of the colours in the bead and the peacock's tail. I did try some tiny faceted labradorite beads in place of the amethyst at first - it seemed appropriate considering the original name for labradorite was peacock stone - but they looked a bit washed out. The glossy purple brightens up the bracelet instead. Unusually for me, I've strung the beads in the bracelet rather than link them with wirework, and I've formed the beadalon into loops to stop the strands of beads from being too narrow. The clasp hooks onto one of two rings - I put two at the end of the bracelet so that the length can be adjusted if need be. The silver has been given an antiqued patina using liver of sulphur both to highlight the texture on the clasp and it seemed more appropriate considering the age of the manuscript.

I am so pleased with my feather clasps! I'm definitely going to be making more, but each one will be different as no two feathers are ever the same. In fact, the two I made on Wednesday still turned out differently despite being made from the same feather. I've added the copper feather clasp to my etsy shop if you fancy using it in your own bird inspired jewellery, and the peacock bracelet is on my website here.