…on this grey wet weekend. These book thongs were for a commission and I had so much fun making them, it was great to just lay out loads of bright funky colours and go wild! Don’t forget, you can make your own beads just like these using my tutorial ; )

First of all, good news. Remember these earrings (bottom of the post)? Well Jean loved them and they are going to be in a future issue of Bead! I’m so excited : )

This is a bracelet I made over the weekend. I’m really pleased with it, partly because I’ve had these pink beads for some time and not really known what to do with them. They’re that strange shade of pink that I find really hard to match with other colours, but I put some copper next to them and wow! I have some left over so I think I’ll make a matching necklace. Watch this space ; )

My arm’s a little better today so I’ve managed to squeeze in a bit of beading. I really enjoyed making these little angels! They’re all available here  ; )

Remember glam rock? Well these are glam punk! A punky safety pin holding glamorous Swarovski crystals. The small one measures 1″ long and has four crystals in gorgeous Fire Opal and Siam Red. The larger one is 1.5″ long with a Fuchsia crystal and smaller clear crystals. Both are on a 20″ silver plated chain. I’ve been road-testing one for the past week and they’re very comforable to wear, nice to ‘fiddle’ with as the crystals aren’t fixed. And the sharp point is filed down for obvious safety reasons. I’ve popped these two in my Etsy shop ; )

I’ve been very busy lately so I’ve not had time to post for a while! I’ve given my website a bit of a makeover, so rather than having all the info on one page each item now has it’s own little space with just sneaky thumbnails on the main pages. No more pop-up images! I’d love to know what you think.

 Here’s my latest batch of beady bits and bobs. I’m trying to use my vast collection of semi-precious gemstone chips in different ways, rather than just stringing them. I’m sure there must be tons of other ways to use them, ideas on a postcard please…..

Odessa is made from Citrine chips on a peyote base of Miyuki seed beads. I love this bead mix, it’s called A Touch of Teal.

Pan is Peridot chips on a peyote tube, topped and tailed with Swarovski crystals. It was meant to be one of a pair of earrings but it was so difficult getting my needle through the beads in the tube that I couldn’t bear to make another. So I made it into a pendant instead!

Last but not least is Katiyana, which is a square of matt black Toho beads in peyote stitch again with Snowflake Obsidian chips. This one is my favourite, you know how much I like black & grey so it was hard not to put it in my jewellery box! The name means ‘night snow’ in Inuit which I thought was not only appropriate for this piece but also a really pretty name.  All are available on my website ; )

I made these earrings for a challenge over on the UK Beaders forum where the theme is Earring Extravaganza, I think these have to be the biggest I’ve ever made at 2″ across! I’ve had the idea to do some big hoops using seed beads for ages but it’s taken me a while to figure out the best stitch to use. Peyote and brick stitch make great tubes but they’re not so good at bending and I didn’t think I could get a tight enough circle without cracking some beads. Then I tried herringbone and it’s perfect! I’ve also made a couple of beaded beads to go in the centres. I wasn’t sure about them at first but they’re growing on me, whatever you think of them they’re certainly different!

Here’s a few pairs of earrings I’ve made. They’re looking for new homes so if any of them take your fancy you can find them here. First off are brick stitch flowers made from seed beads and cubes and were designed by the very talented Lynn Davy.

My very first piece of maille! Ok so it’s extremely simple maille made by linking pairs of jump rings, but I’m pleased with it and think it looks fab with the Swarovski crystal hearts : )

I love these earrings! They’re made from Czech firepolished crystals in shades of purple and I’ve used some unusual silver plated chandelier findings.

And I finally managed to get a decent photo of my Blood & Gold earrings.

I’ve added these new earrings to the website today, they’re very simple but the crystals are absolutely gorgeous! I love the new faceted doughnut shaped beads I bought recently and for a change I’ve used gold plated components, which work great with this shade of amethyst. Hope you like them too! You can find them here.

Here’s the finished necklace and I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out! I made a few tiny beaded beads and peyote tubes, spacing the rest of the necklace out with various glass beads and added a Sterling silver clasp and chain. I’ve learnt a lot making it, from which thread to string the necklace with, the best way to finish the ends and how to attach the pendant and fringe. I think I’ve achieved the icy, frosty look I was going for – perfect for this time of year. The only problem I have now is to decide whether I want to keep it or sell it!

I had a lot of fun making this gorgeous Poppy Pin! The pattern is from the current issue of Bead magazine (issue 14). Made from cylinder beads and brick stitch, it’s designed by Kerrie Slade, a very talented beader who creates the most amazing flowers. You can see more of Kerrie’s work on her website and on her blog.