Dear Old Blighty

I originally designed this peyote pattern for one of our challenges on OTTBS last year but I ran out of time and could only manage to work up one of the motifs! With a bit of ingenuity I turned it into a bracelet with lengths of waxed cotton cord, which you can see here on the blog. While the British flag is always popular, with the Queen’s Jubilee fast approaching I thought I would get my skates on and make myself the full version.

The pattern uses three colours (I’ve used funky turquoise here instead of the traditional blue) and because of the geometric design of the flag, I found that once you get going it’s quite intuitive as to where the next bead is going. Saying that I did make some mistakes due to not concentrating so I spent a fair amount of time unpicking and replacing my tattered thread! Even so, it only took me three evenings to make. If you want to fly the British flag and make one of these bracelets for yourself, you can find my Blighty pattern here in my Etsy shop. Don’t forget, all of my tutorials and patterns are permanently 3 for the price of 2 :)

Bloody Hell!

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve just finished my very first peyote cuff pattern! Inspired partly by one of my favourite TV shows, Dexter, and partly by a painting I did a few years ago, the design shows blood spatter on a white background. Hopefully you shouldn’t find a bracelet design like this anywhere else!

The design is in even count 2-drop peyote and uses just two colours. I’m currently not including peyote or finishing instructions, hence the lower price, but this is something I’m going to be working on very soon. Blood Spatter is available in the tutorial section of my Etsy shop and instantly downloadable on my website.

And here’s another eye pendant that I made a few days ago, it sold before I got a chance to share it :)

Heart of the Volcano

I love making spiral rope bracelets but I feel I’ve got stuck in the same old routine of using just size 11 seed beads for both the inner and outer sections. While I love the slim twists this gives, I decided this time I would inject a little oomph into my project. I’ve used size 8 beads in a gorgeous red mix for the core and added some matching drop beads to the size 11 beads on the outside.

I finished it off with one of my beaded beads and a loop as the closure and I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out, satisfyingly chunky with an amazing texture but still with a fluid feel. I was very very tempted to keep it for myself (it fits perfectly!) but that would just be greedy wouldn’t it? So instead you can find it in my Etsy shop ;)

Flower Power

I made this chunky cuff for our Monday Moodboard challenge on Operation Tackle That Bead Stash and I have to say I enjoyed every minute of it! I like to be spontaneous when I’m creating jewellery and very rarely plan too far ahead. This often means that I’ll encounter problems along the way but sometimes these same problems turn out to be a blessing in disguise. This cuff was no exception as the flower originally had petals made from herringbone stitch, but I ran out of beads about ¾ of the way through! I decided to unpick the petals and redo them with a simpler stitch and halve their length. This turned out so much better, the length suited the face more and the petals are fuller and have their own little twists and turns giving them a bit more life.

I also have a funny story about the face. I use a flesh coloured polymer clay to make them and I was debating whether or not to add some pink acrylic paint to give it some colour. I decided against it and started the beadwork. Not long after I noticed the face starting to get a little pink. Then I saw my thumb and realised what was happening. I’d coloured the backing material with a pink permanent marker and hadn’t quite left it to dry long enough, as I was working my thumb was tranferring tiny amounts of pink from the backing to the face. And you know what? I thought it looked really nice! I think this is what they call a happy accident!

So here’s ‘Flower Power’ which will be for sale very soon. If you’ve got a minute please visit the Monday Moodboard post and see what the team and our readers made :)

Bollywood Challenge – Voting Now Open

Just a reminder that voting is now open for the Etsy Beadweaver’s September challenge. Please visit our team blog between today (9th) and 15th of September to vote for your favourite Bollywood beauty… http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com

Here’s my entry, entitled Bombay Jewels. When I read that the theme for September was Bollywood, I knew I wanted to create something colourful and vibrant as well as to try and capture the lively dancing and the wonderful sound their jewellery makes! I painstakingly made 38 beaded beads and wire-wrapped them to a chunky bracelet. It’s a really great ‘shimmy’ bracelet and makes the most fabulous sound when worn.

A real labour of love, the beads took about 8-10 hours in total to make. Jean Power asked me in an interview for Bead magazine recently, what would I consider to be my ‘masterpiece’? I replied that I felt it was yet to come, but you know what, I think this may very well be a contender for the title! This unique piece is now for sale in my Etsy shop and will be on my website very soon ;)

 

 

 

 

A Couple of Commissions

Here are a couple of commissioned pieces that I made over the weekend. I can’t tell you how much fun I had making this Rainbow Moonbaby! It was made to hang up and has a beaded face on each side. I can see a few more of these being made very soon ;)

You all know how much I enjoy making spiral ropes and this bracelet with it’s lovely combination of Toho apple green and Miyuki Evergreen mix was no exception. For the closure I used a handmade lampwork bead from Rob Johnson.