Feeling much happier - Christmas in July Swap 2015

 

You may remember that I took part in the Christmas in July swap, run by Kim at Wisdom with needle and thread and today was the opening day! The idea was to make three Christmas things from a list, and then send them to someone whose name and address was emailed to you, but without them knowing who was their Secret Santa - until they opened their parcel.  I received my parcel in very good time and waited patiently until today to open it up.  Inside were three carefully wrapped  presents.

Here's what was inside.  A card and Christmas picture inside the card, a wooden Rudolf the red nosed reindeer, a red heart and a cross stitched decoration, which could be used as a pin cushion, although I don't think I could bear to stick pins in it!  I discovered that my Secret Santa was June.

The beautifully made cross stitch decoration.  I know I wouldn't have the patience or skill to create this!

 The bright and cheerful red heart.

 The Rudolf decoration.

 The card within a card.

The Christmas Card which gave me the identity of my Secret Santa.  A HUGE thank you goes to June for her lovely gifts, which I shall love displaying on the Christmas Tree each year.  Thanks to Kim, the organiser, as well, for organising, keeping in touch and keeping us on track!

 Of course, Scruffy decided to have a closer look at the parcel - "Hmm, I think I shall just have these for myself! If I sit on them, she can't get them!"

 "I told you, they're mine.  You can't have them!" (I have since removed them from harm's way!)

My recipient was Nina, from Turkey (and I hope she doesn't see this before she opens her gift!). Here's what I sent her: red and white bunting (some with reindeer patterns!), some polymer clay decorations with peace, joy and love stamped on them. and a felt star with embroidery.

(I added some non-Christmassy things too, just for the fun of it.  A notebook cover with felt flower, a pair of sterling silver, quartz and pearl earrings and a coloured quartz bracelet.)

Here were my gifts ready to be packaged up.  The parcel arrived, so I shall wait to see what she thinks.  It was a lovely swap to be involved with and I really enjoyed making the gifts and enjoying the anticipation and excitement of the build up to today.

A Catch Up

 You may have noticed that my blog has been a little garden-focused this year.  This was pointed out to me by a friend who said "Another garden post?" in a voice which implied it would be nice to have something else instead.  So, I thought I would do that today.  Above is a memory wire bracelet I made as a commission, but I think I will have to make one for myself too.  I used lapis lazuli, sodalite, rainbow moonstone, pearls, and blue fire agate.  I have also made myself a pair of rather baggy long shorts to wear around the house and in the garden (not to go out in!), but haven't got a photo to show you.

In other news, I have been experimenting with Flitterglu (Flake and Glitter glue, in case you are wondering), which can be put onto a stamp, then stamped onto baked polymer clay, then gilding flakes applied onto the glue, then wiped off, to leave a pattern.  The glue is a bit like PVA, but stays tacky, so it doesn't matter if you need to go and do something else as you can come back to it.  It can also be used on lots of other materials such as wood or card, and can be used on fabric, although if gilding flakes are used, the fabric can't then be washed.

I particularly liked the writing, which has worked very well.  A lot of detail can be picked up by the gilding flakes, which creates some lovely patterns.

Apologies for the flash glare in this picture - but it does show the gilding flakes well.  

 This was an experiment on a white background, which I didn't think worked as well as the darker colours.

I'm doing reasonably well with my reading challenge (to read all the books in the photo above before I buy any more books).  The reading has gone well, but the 'not buying any more books' has not lasted!

I haven't yet read The Last Pre-Raphaelite, but have read and really enjoyed the other books shown here. The Lost Pre-Raphaelite began as delving into the history of the author's recently bought house, but developed into a mystery about the life and family of a painter who lived there and it was an engrossing hypothesis.  
The Beverley Nichols trilogy was a joy and delight - houses, cats and gardens, with various odd acquaintances putting in an appearance throughout.
 I have also read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, which was unsettling but an incredible first novel and a cleverly created parallel world.  I have also enjoyed the BBC adaptation of the book, despite some small divergences from the story, but I shall definitely read the book again.
 I am currently on 'Colour: Travels through the Paintbox' which is fascinating.  For instance, did you know that the colour 'Mummy Brown' actually contained ground up Mummies?  No, nor did I until I read this book!  I had been putting it off because I thought it looked a little hard going, but, in fact, it is easy to read, well written and really interesting.  I wish I could remember a few more of the fascinating facts the author reveals...
I have also been very busy with a 'Christmas in July' swap (three handmade Christmas things from a list), which is also a Secret Santa, where the recipient does not know who is making gifts for them.  I shall be posting my parcel this week and on the 25th July, or thereabouts, we will all be opening our presents, so I shall share my makes and what I received then. It is exciting to think that somewhere in the world, someone is busy making gifts for me too!

Swirl beads, jewel enamel powder and bracelets

 I really enjoy working with polymer clay and am constantly finding new techniques which I just have to try.  The swirl bead was new to me, as was using jewel enamel as a glaze, which gave a look of enamel.  The swirl techniques worked better on some than others but it was a good way to use up some scrap clay and the end of a striped cane I made some time last year.

 Here are my beads, ready to go into the oven, with a top layer of the jewel enamel.

 This is what they looked like once cooled.  The jewel enamel has given a glaze to the top surface.

This is my favourite as the swirl worked well and the blue translucent polymer clay I used for the base has silver foil running through it (a bit of gold also got in there!)  This is a technique I shall use again...

 The macrame bracelets were commissions from a work colleague who loves pink, but wanted a delicate pink. I used crackled quartz, rose quartz and star rose quartz to create these and made two different sizes so that she could choose which one fitted her best.

The flash has washed out the delicate pink, but this combination works well, I think.

Spring colours - jewellery and bargains

I decided that I was going to make a piece of jewellery for myself.  I have a huge stash of gemstones to choose from (oops) and initially, wasn't quite sure which I was going to use.  In the end, I decided on larimar, amazonite (one of my favourites for the blue/green shades it has), rainbow moonstone and silver pearls.  (That sounds so indulgent, doesn't it?)  However, as I used gemstone chips and memory wire, it was quite cost effective.  As I have mentioned before, I find threading the chips onto the wire to be quite a meditative process and the best thing is, I have got a lovely piece of jewellery which I'll really enjoy wearing. Although the photo above doesn't show it, the moonstone does have lovely flashes of blue when it is in the light.

 As for the bargains, well, on a recent trip to Horncastle (a place well known for antiques and charity shops), I found this little embroidered tray cloth in a charity shop (50p).  Of course it had to come home with me.  I was bought it and the primroses by our friend who we had gone to see.  I know primroses aren't cowslips, but I thought they went together well and do a sterling job of representing Spring colours!

(I did wash and iron the tray cloth, but it does look a little creased in the photo - ho hum!)

Brooches swap - "Such Fun!"

You know how I enjoy blog swaps (did you get the quote from Miranda's Mum?) and I signed up to a brooch swap run by Jo at Three Stories High, who had the great idea of making a brooch in your favourite craft medium and then swapping it - just a little pick-me-up for the end of Winter.  Terrific idea, I thought, and put my name down.  I was partnered up with the lovely Emma at Bubsiekins and after the usual emailing to get some clues about likes and dislikes, off we went to create.  We swapped gifts last week and here's what Emma sent me:

 Two lovely gifts - how exciting!  So, what was inside?

 A beautiful brightly coloured circle brooch and the happiest cat in the world brooch!  She had been very generous and made me two.

 I mean, just look at him/her - isn't he/she just gorgeous?  He/She makes me smile too.  Thank you so much to Emma for being such a thoughtful and clever swap partner!  You would probably like to know what I sent to Emma?

 I made her a flower brooch from my own felt in colours that she told me she liked and put a pearl in the centre as that is one of her birthstones.

I also made her a bracelet, because, like her, I wasn't sure that the brooch would be to her taste (it is such a personal thing, after all), but I think she likes it.  All in all, a very successful and fun swap to be involved with. Thanks to Jo for organising it and to Emma, for her lovely gifts - it really was "Such Fun!" (hmm, perhaps a bit too much with the Miranda quotes?!).

Memory Wire bracelet and Tassel necklace

I have been busy experimenting with new jewellery techniques and also trying to complete a piece which has been quite complicated.  Above is my first ever memory wire bracelet, made using opal chips, labradorite rondelles, silver pearls and peacock pearls.  I made it as a surprise for my sister's birthday, as her birthstone is opal. I hope she likes it.  I really enjoyed the process of threading the chips onto the wire - time consuming but quite therapeutic.

 My latest polymer clay book was this one by Debbie Bulford (who is the polymer clay expert on jewellerymaker.)  I was very taken with this design on the front and was pretty sure I could make my own version of it.  I had two attempts, one using translucent clay, which was suggested in the book, but I thought the colour mix was too brown.  I tried again and lightened the colours, but I still wasn't happy.  So, not to be defeated, the third attempt used pearl clay instead of translucent and I was happy with the result!

 Here's my version of the tassel pendant, using polymer clay and amazonite, with a wooden doughnut bead at the top.  I altered the main bead design to make it my own and the colours are brighter than Debbie's design.

Here's now it will look as a necklace - I am really pleased with it.

 Here are two pendants I made for myself using the simple flower cane design (again from Debbie's book), but with centres in colours to co-ordinate with my work clothes.

I like the geometric pattern and the shine that the pearl clay gives to the 'petals'.  I think it is simple, but effective.



Autumn Glow swap

I took part in Blueberry Heart's 'Autumn Glow swap' (it was my first blog swap last year and I enjoyed it so much that I was so pleased to be able to join in again!).  My swap partner was the lovely Blueberry Heart herself and we emailed each other to sort out the practical details and then got making and buying.  Her presents were wrapped in a beautiful gold leaf patterned paper - almost too pretty to unwrap...almost!

 Here's what she sent me.  A tea towel with a shortbread recipe, a vanilla scented candle, a dried cranberry heart, an autumn diary, a hand made pumpkin picture, a hand made leaf shaped pot holder, some chocs (which didn't last long), a hot chocolate fudge drink, and a clay pumpkin, which was fragile and had sadly got broken in transit.  (However, armed with glue, it is mended and hanging on the seasonal tree and looking lovely!)  What a lot of lovely things - many thanks to Blueberry Heart for being such a great swap partner!

Here's what I sent: felt heart and brooch, earrings, bracelet, a polymer clay key ring, some autumn coloured mini-bunting made from sari materials, some hot chocolate, a notebook and pens, some daffodil and tulip bulbs and a tea towel.
I loved being a part of this swap and am looking forward to taking part again next year.  I do think I need to make myself some mini-bunting now, amongst many other projects currently underway!

Latest projects

 Here's what I have been up to lately, when I have had the time.  Above is a fluorite and amethyst bracelet that I made for a colleague's birthday.  She loves purple, so hopefully she'll love this too.

Here is the Christmas Bunting, which Joy's fabric, included in the Christmas Cracker swap, had inspired me to make.  It has turned out a bit long to appear all in one photo, but I like it so much, I am in the process of making some more so that we can have a double bunting effect. 

I am really pleased with how this has turned out.  I made it up while getting into a suitably Christmassy spirit, watching 'White Christmas' with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye.  You can see how well Joy's fabric fits in with the green and red theme.  Thanks, Joy!  It will hang across a mirror eventually and I think it will look great.
On another note, I have also had inspiration about incorporating the little floral buttons (also received in the Christmas Cracker swap) into some jewellery.  It is on my 'to do' list, so watch this space...

Macrame latest

 I have learned a new way of adding non-circular beads to macrame and was eager to have a go.  I took the previous bracelet with these stones in it apart, as I wasn't happy with the cord which didn't seem strong enough to support the stones. This latest technique is called floating stitch/knot as the stones sit above the macrame and are held in place by one strand which is lifted up and then incorporated back down again.

You can see the way the stones are held above the macrame in this photo.  The stones are blue sandstone, which is made from glass.  I do think this is a much better way of incorporating them than just knotting them on one strand.  The next technique to try will be the herringbone/fishbone stitch...

Blog swap - the gifts I sent

So, here is what I sent over the sea to Ireland.  There is a notebook with stamped decoration, a bookmark to match, a felt brooch and felt heart made out of my felt, a gemstone bracelet and earrings set (Picasso jasper, botswana agate and labradorite) and a macrame bracelet, a sunshine badge made by Chris, some pumpkin and pepper seeds and some leaf decorations.

I also added a postcard with a quote on the back and a postcard from Lincolnshire.  Here are the packages ready to go.
I have since seen another item which will be just perfect (shame I didn't see it earlier, but never mind), so am going to send that as an extra surprise.  I'll let you know what it is once it has been received.
It was a lovely thing to be involved with and I would highly recommend the process.  If it runs next year, I'll definitely be signing up again.  I'll try to include some more items local to this area, as my blog swapper did, because that was a lovely touch.

Another jewellery present

 I made this latest bracelet for a friend and work colleague, whose birthday was in March.  This dictated the choice of aquamarine as it is March's birthstone.  I had seen a technique that I wanted to try and thought that this project might be just the thing, so after a few practise goes, I made the bracelet.

The stones have been woven to create squares around the bracelet and I used two amazonite stones by the clasp to add another gentle colour and different texture. The bracelet was very successful and I was pleased with the pattern I made.  Rachael was also pleased to receive it!