Category: Making Something New

1. One size fits all.

   Posted on 3:00pm Thursday 4th Apr 2013

   Hi,

   Hope you all had a lovely Easter, I stuck to my plan and only ate a couple of creme eggs, yes I know booooorrring,  but I just did not feel like munching my way through a mountain of eggs, like I seem to do year after year.  

   I did however make a coupIe of bracelets over the weekend and thought I'd share some handy tips about them with you, especially if your looking to buy a bracelet for a gift. If you don't know the lucky persons wrist size, then maybe a memory wire bracelet, could solve your problem.

   Memory wire bracelets are bracelets that are made with a strong wire that retains it's shape and is a 'one size fits all' type of bracelet. All you have to do is loop it around the wrist and it curls into bracelet sized coils and you can have any number of coils.

   

   This is a silver crystal memory wire bracelet that I made at the weekend, this one has 4 coils and is made with silver czech glass pearl beads and purple and silver faceted crystal beads.

   

   This one has 6 coils and has a vast selection of beads in different shapes sizes and colours, too many to mention. 

   Another good point about memory wire bracelets, is that if the person your buying the gift for, has a problem with opening and closing clasps, there are no clasps to worry about on any of these bracelets.

   If you would like to see the other memory wire bracelets that I have made, do pop over to the bracelet section of my shop

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2. It's oh so quiet

   Posted on 1:01pm Thursday 14th Mar 2013

   I like to do my jewellery making at night, I enjoy the piece and quiet and I'm able to get on with my creating, without any interruptions. I'm lucky enough to work from home, so when, the twins and partner are off to school and work, my day is filled with housework, nipping to the shops or the post office, to post orders, then it's working on my websites, taking pictures, which I love doing, one day I'm going to take a photography course, then editing, ordering stock and working on my Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook accounts, which are all very addictive, I can quite easily get lost in Pinterest for hours and hours.

   I made this bridal comb late one night. I started round 11pm by the time and finished at 1.30am. the only one's awake was myself and my cat Bobby, who normally sleeps next to the radiator, who can blame him with the awful weather we have been having. Today he has sneaked up onto my bed, grrrr..

   

   I chose to add some red Swarovski crystal bicone beads and made them into beaded flowers, as red is one of the hottest bridal colours this year! I made the bead and crystal bead sprays first, using 0.4mm silver plated beading wire. When I felt I'd made enough, I laid them against the comb and played around with them, till I was happy with the layout. Then I began to attach each spray, one at a time. I'm very happy with the result.

   

   I don't stay up every night, only a couple of nights a week. In the early days, I was staying up till 2 am in morning, then getting up at 6am, to get the boys ready for school and I felt tired all day, but now I don't do that anymore, well I try not to, lol.

    When do you do your crafting, are you a night person like me, or you can craft anytime of the day?

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3. What to do with leftover beads?

   Posted on 1:30pm Tuesday 5th Mar 2013

   I've got a plastic bead container on my workdesk and whenever I finish a project, I pop the leftover beads into it. Sometimes I buy beads in bulk, it all depends on what I'm making, but generally I buy only the beads I need. I hate to waste things, so unless you've planned to make several projects with your stash of beads, those leftover beads are just going to sit there.

   Well, last weekend was my mother-in laws 70th birthday lunch. I had the outfit, black dress, jacket and heels. I wanted to make a necklace with a bit of colour and sparkle, to brighten up my outfit.

   I went to my spare bead container and choose a selection of yellow glass beads, blue AB faceted beads and also added some gold filigree beads and some gold plated chain. I always think the colour gold is a strong contrast against the colour black.

   I got to work, I wanted to make a statement necklace, I had an idea how I wanted it to look and I'm pleased to say, it turned out exactly how I thought it would.

   Here is the statement necklace I made.

   

   

   My necklace received lots of compliments and I love the way it drapes when I am wearing it.

   I've talked about my leftover beads, but I know all you crafters out there must have leftover supplies from a project you have completed, whether it be fabric, card e.t.c.

   Drop me a line and let me know how you made use of what you had spare, I'd love to know.

   x

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