A bracelet in the snow!

 I am so pleased with this bracelet!

Laura's beautiful beads work so well with the Rose Quartz, I also added

some Swarovski Crystals for a bit of sparkle, as I do!

It's just how I pictured it!

The best things always come in small packages

I remember as a child being so upset when I compared the size of my tiny present under the Christmas tree to my sisters. It wasn't until I opened it, that I realised how precious that tiny present had been, inside was a delicate gold signet ring; perfect in so many ways.

I spent this morning at a seminar on Blogging, The speaker was a very informative Susan Hallam , obviously having just returned from such a seminar I was itching to get back onto my blog, so imagine my delight when I opened my door to discover that the postman had delivered a small envelope.
Immediately I knew what they were, I have been waiting for these to come with baited breath!

When I first started blogging I came across Laura's blog and chose to follow it immediately,

I always promised myself that one day I would buy some of Laura's beads and at last I have and here they are!

Aren't they delightful!
I know exactly what I am going to make with them but that I will save for another post.
Thank you Laura, I love them! They are exactly how I imagined them to be

Bracelet delights

I have a few minutes so I thought I would show you a couple of the bracelets I have made this week.

The bracelet pictured above is made with a mixture of freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals,small Venetian chips, and Sterling Silver beads. It has been made as a commissioned item.

This one you will recognise as another inspired from the ones in the previous post, I have silks in a range of colours and I am looking forward to creating so many more of these. This bracelet will be taken to the Gallery in Eccleshall very soon!

How can designs evolve?

Do you remember this,

I blogged about how to make it a few months ago. I couldn't part with it so I kept it for myself and wear it almost every day and not very many days go by without someone commenting about it.

It took me several hours to make, so although I wanted to make more along the same lines I knew it would have to be something special.

Eventually I sat down with some fine wire, sat and knitted the choker and bangle, these knitted pieces then sat on my work desk waiting for me to decide what to use to frame them. Yesterday I finally worked out how to finish it off!  I used some of the sari silk ribbons which I had purchased from the threshing barn also blogged about earlier this year! The ribbon is held in place with the wire I used to attach the knitted pieces to the frame.

The ribbon gives it a much softer and warmer look to the design than just plain silver would have done

This time, though, I have attached clasps to the ends, probably only required on the choker but I attached one to the bracelet as well to keep the design continuity going.

Please let me know what you think, I think these would look stunning on a winter bride!

What jewellery designs have I made already for Christmas?

I do like to see a range of colours on my jewellery table when I go out to events and coming up to Christmas means I will be attending quite a few events, so I need a good range of stock.
So as well as freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals and Venetian glass I always need to have a selection of other styles and designs in a variety of beads.
This week I have been concentrating on increasing my stock of made up jewellery ready for the start of my Christmas sales. Below is a selection of the items I made today - not a Swarovski crystal in sight, but still with a touch of sparkle

still so much to make, but at least I have made a start.
First sale is this Thursday (11th November) at the Newport Girls High School, from 7-30pm. Please come along if you are in the area it would be lovely to see you.
and don't forget to visit my blog shop , I can put any item of my jewellery from this post or any previous post into my blog shop too as long as they are still available

A flurry of pearls

This week marked the launch of my blog shop, if you haven't visited yet, please take a look the link is under the blog header.

Freshwater Pearls; they come in so many different shapes, colours and sizes. Yesterday I decided it was time to use a couple of the strings of pearls I recently acquired. If you add crystals, or other beads you can make one string go a long way. I chose to use Swarovski crystals and sterling silver beads with these pearls.

... and the exciting thing is I still have three more strings of pearls to play with!

beads and wire

Another day in the Gallery gave me a chance to make some more jewellery.
Sitting at a small desk which needs to be cleared quickly when a painting or vase needs wrapping it is best to keep my jewellery making compact, so a reel of wire and beads is ideal.
I chose to sit and crochet a necklace first as I only have two crocheted necklaces left in the Gallery at the moment. Decisions decisions what length to make it, should it have a clasp or just be able to slip over the head, I opted for a longer length this time.

It would be good if we could decorate the windows up this year for Christmas so I thought I would have a go at  a new design for a star, I am happy with this, no doubt I will adapt the design as I make more so no two will be identical.

Where in Staffordshire can you buy unique masks?

Look no further than Gallery at 12, Eccleshall.
Now we have Christmas fast approaching peoples minds are starting to focus on winter charity balls and many of these will be masked!
I have written about my masks before on this blog - Back in April I showed you this

This is a knitted mask, I do not have set patterns for my knitted jewellery, I just set to with a pair of knitting needles and see what evolves, so this is a totally unique never to be repeated item, I can make them in any colour, but I can't guarantee what they will look like, so although I make them to order, it is always a case of wait and see!
This one is on show in my jewellery cabinet in Gallery at 12, Eccleshall, Staffordshire.
This isn't the only mask on show in the Gallery, we do have a large selection of leather masks made by a very talented artist Steven Kirk. Below are a few of Steven's masks currently on display in the Gallery.

So, if you have been invited to a masked ball this season, please visit the Gallery in Eccleshall, there are plenty of masks to choose from and if you can't find something to suit your requirements, Steven and I are happy to take on commissions.
This Sunday, 17th October would be a great day to visit as the Gallery is holding an Open Day and most of the artists will be in attendance.
If Eccleshall is not within travelling distance I can also recommend you take a look at Masque Boutique. Where you can view some beautiful Venetian style masks online.

Simple on leather

Having spent the morning crimping crystal beads onto wire to make several floating necklaces this afternoon I had every intention to continue along the same lines, but for some reason I ended up making these instead, and I am really pleased with them. So simple yet really pretty. What do you think?