Index Card a Day (ICAD) - Week Five

 How quickly the time seems to be going as I continue this challenge.  I am starting to amass a nice little collection of cards now and just need to decide what to do with them once it is finished.  Above, you can see: Citrus; Arcade and Font.  Arcade had me thinking and in the end the image was quite simple - just arches drawn with a biro and then some distress ink smooshed on.

 The next photo shows Earrings; Periwinkle; Board Games and Lantern.  For the earrings, I looked at lots of earring images and decided to use the suffragette colours of white, green and purple.  White was for purity, green for hope and purple for loyalty and dignity. (Dignity and Hope are certainly things we could do with at the moment.  I was in the town centre this morning and it felt like social distancing had gone out of the window - all rather worrying.)

 I rather liked the earrings I had created for this Dina Wakley stamped face and decided to make some real ones, inspired by these.

Here they are  - white pearls, green fluorite hearts and amethyst rounds.  Women's voices are still not being heard around the world so this is my little token of support for them.

April Artists' Trading Card (ATC)

 I am so pleased with how this month's ATC has turned out.  It really says 'Spring' to me.

 The background is blue acrylic paint with white clouds, then branch shapes painted on.  I used texture paste through a blossom stencil, which I painted in shades of pink once dry.  Tiny gold glitter accents add a bit of sparkle.

The gemstones are kyanite, rose quartz, peridot, chrysoprase, kunzite, fluorite and blue lace agate.  The gemstone of the month charm should be diamond (which I don't have) or clear quartz, which I used instead.

The back is decorated with the April rhyme and photos of primroses and daisies from the garden.
I think this could be my favourite card so far.  On to May!
Edited to add:

Here is a (rather dark - apologies) photo of the seasonal tree as it is at the moment.  It has wooden bird and flower pegs together with my felt flowers and birds too.  It will become an Easter tree shortly.  Chris made the tree shape for me and decorating it is something I enjoy as I mark the seasons.

More kumihimo necklaces - finally completed

 I have made a few of these kumihimo (Japanese braiding technique) necklaces now and have finally finished three which just needed the ends completing.  I chose colours that I wear at work in the winter.  The purple one above uses 6mm faceted and plain gemstones.

 The blue one uses 6mm faceted and plain gemstones too...

...whereas this blue/green one uses gemstone chips.  I wanted to use the Chartreuse S-Lon cord in a piece of jewellery, so decided to try it out here.

Here's a close up of the purple stones which include amethyst, fluorite, agate, lavender amethyst.

 The blue one has aquamarine, different agates, lapis lazuli and sodalite in it.

The blue/green one has peridot (which matched the Chartreuse cord beautifully), amazonite, apatite and aquamarine.
I really enjoy the repetitive aspect of kumihimo which does become a relaxing and meditative activity.

Update on the wall situation:  the wall man came to have a look at the damage and said that a fence would be cheaper, but a wall could be put back, although not with the old bricks.  However, this would involve foundations four bricks width each side, so would mean the raised border would have to go and I would need to save the plants I wanted and then start again.  We are waiting for the quote...

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...

Lilac necklace

 I decided to cheer myself up (as the constant rain is becoming a little depressing) and make a new lilac necklace.  I used lilac mother of pearl, amethyst, fluorite, amethyst chips, labradorite chips, blue chalcedony and some Venetian glass beads.

I have worn it already and am very pleased with the way it looks.  As I have used the blue chalcedony in my design, I can wear it with both lilac and pale blue.  Making and wearing it did cheer me up too.

Reds, Blues and Greens

Here are the latest jewellery creations.  Above is a bracelet made for a friend's special birthday, way back in January.  However, I forgot it was her special birthday and so had to make this after the event - actually, quite a long time after the event.  Still, she seemed pleased with it.  It is made using garnet rounds, garnet nuggets, black onyx and silver. 

 Another little something for me, with some of my favourite blues and greens.  This is a longer length, which was a bit of an experiment, but I really like it.  It is a mixture of abalone shell, shell, fluorite, kyanite (I think, although it could be a jasper) and little glass beads from Venice.

I do like these colours, patterns and textures.

Happiness is...

 ...lots of things, but making jewellery is definitely one of them.  I have been experimenting with some chunkier designs and am gradually starting to use my 'stash' to make into necklaces, bracelets and earrings.  The one above was made using labradorite, lapis lazuli, fluorite, shell, turquoise, blue/green jasper and a wooden flower as the centre bead.  Due to the labradorite and fluorite, it does sparkle in the right light and it certainly adds interest to a t-shirt and cardigan combination!

...buying new gemstones and designing new jewellery.  Above are some purple dyed agate circles which are going to become pendants, with only a few other gemstones (amethyst mainly) around them and the beading wire plaited.  They have the most beautiful patterns on them and it seems a shame to detract from the patterns,  so I shall only add details to the plain coloured ones.  I'm really looking forward to getting started.
I am pleased to say that the snow here has finally melted and the temperatures have finally gone up into the positives by day.  The poor garden is looking very bedraggled and sorry for itself, but hopefully, if we don't get any more snow, things will soon start to improve.

Amethyst

As my first love in gemstones is, and always will be, amethyst, I decided that I needed an amethyst necklace but with lots of sparkle and reasonably delicate in design.  Here it is.  Very simple, symmetrical pattern, two faceted rectangle creating a pendant and the beading wire as part of the design, plaited up with two amethyst beads near the clasp. There is also a small amount of silver (in beads) and two fluorite squares to add a different texture.  I have already worn it at work and I am very pleased with it.  I think I shall make more like this, possibly using jasper or botswana agate and definitely amazonite.

Chris has sorted the comments issue for me - thanks, Chris - and it turned out to be a compatibility problem.  Hopefully all is now well.

Jewellery (and problems with comments)

 Although I haven't been doing much felt making at the moment, I am making jewellery.  I love the way you can create a piece of jewellery and wear it the next day.  Above is a bracelet I made for my friend from Canada who has just been visiting England for the first time for three years.  I used amazonite, mother of pearl, labradorite, botswana agate, shell and zebra jasper, all in neutral shades.

The necklace is for me and is completely different from anything I have made before.  Usually, I have much more delicate designs, but I was trying to make a chunkier piece.  Initially, I tried to make an assymmetric design, but it just wasn't me at all, so I had to revert back to symmetry.  This design has a lot of different gems in it; lapis lazuli, keishi pearl, jade, blue-green jasper, shell, fluorite, labradorite, turquoise and kyanite.  I hope it will complement a lovely blue-green cardigan that I wear for work.  I am going to make an amethyst necklace next, leaving the wire showing at the back and maybe even plaited.

Incidentally, just to let my lovely followers know, I am having trouble with the comments on my blog.  For some reason, they seem to disappear and just show a white screen when you click on them.  I am hoping to find out what is happening and get it sorted as soon as I can.  (Technology, eh?  Brilliant when it works and a complete pain when it doesn't!)

Jewellery design

This is my latest jewellery design, made as a commission for the friend of a friend.  I tried several different versions before arriving at this one.  It has an amethyst pendant and the necklace itself is made from fluorite, amethyst and labradorite.  The greens and purples of the fluorite complement the amethyst very well and I have used various sizes of stones to add some interest.  I also used a weave technique as the necklace was too heavy with the beads threaded on singly.  I think it is quite eye-catching and am going to make myself some fluorite jewellery next. ( Incidentally, I do like the way that the fluorite reacts to the light - I have only seen this effect in photos so far.)

Latest jewellery for me

The set above is a present for myself and is something I have been meaning to make ever since I bought the gemstones in the summer.  I used kyanite, fluorite, jade, two silver beads and an agate circle and I am very happy with the set.  I love the blues and greens in the pieces.  The bracelet is made using a weave technique and I made the pendant for the necklace separately and used a wrap loop to secure it to the main body.  Now I just have to wear them!

More Trials and Tribulations of Jewellery Making ( and my thoughts on creativity)

 Here are my latest attempts at jewellery making from yesterday.  I had gone up to a colleague's house (the colleague who I do felting with occasionally) and as she has recently started jewellery making, we thought it would be nice to sit and chat while we made jewellery.  She got on really well, dismantling a pearl necklace to create two more and then creating an amethyst nuggets and pearls necklace.  My afternoon was less productive!  Initially I started by taking a blue lace agate necklace apart to create a simpler design, but my wrap loops went wrong and somehow, whatever I did wasn't quite right.  So, I tried a Botswana Agate bracelet instead.  The design was fine but I kept making it far too big.  In the end, I brought it home and tried again.  (I realised when trying to make it that I didn't have my glasses - this could have been the reason things wouldn't go right for me!)  Eventually, I was happy with it and I made some earrings to go with it (see above).  I think that the markings on the stones are absolutely beautiful and I shall enjoy wearing them.

Deciding that I had better continue while things seemed to be going better (and I did have my glasses!), I made this amazonite bracelet which has rounds and one large chunky piece at the front.  It also has two smaller fluorite beads near the clasp.  This is a calming colour I find and it is rapidly becoming one of my favourite stones.  I just need some clothes to go with it...
I decided that I wasn't in the right mood to be creative yesterday afternoon, and that is why things didn't go right for me (the fact that I couldn't see that well probably didn't help either). Note to self: go with the creative urge when it hits you and give up and do something else when the muse isn't there!

My first jewellery making project

Above you can see my first attempt at jewellery making, using some of the gemstones I have been buying recently.  The stones are amethyst, fluorite, black shell and labradorite and I used the weaving technique to create the pattern.  I am really pleased with the result and have worn the bracelet and earrings at work.  I need a clasp for the necklace and then I shall wear that too.  It took me a few goes to get the bracelet the right length as I am not keen on bracelets that drape all over my hand and which have to be shaken back to the correct place. I really enjoyed putting the gems together and making the pieces as the weaving was very therapeutic to do, although the threading required me to wear my glasses!
I have also ordered some blue chalcedony, more (darker) labradorite, botswana agate and larger amethyst stones and I am considering a final order (for now) of the aforementioned clasps, more botswana agate, some jade, some aquamarine and maybe even some tanzanite.  Then I need to make lots of pieces.  Somehow, I think this may become a bit of an obsession!

A new hobby - Warning, it is addictive!

This is where my new hobby (Chris says it is on its way to becoming an obsession) of jewellery making all began.  I have always loved jewellery, especially earrings and am usually on the lookout for new ones to add to my ever expanding collection wherever we go.  I saw some faceted amethyst and silver ones on a local craft stall, and bought them because I hadn't seen faceted amethyst before, and because they were gorgeous!  A couple of weeks ago, I was idly channel flicking and came across jewellery maker (also a website http://www.jewellerymaker.com/) which is a shopping channel for gemstones and jewellery making supplies.  I have quite quickly become au fait with beading thread, crimp beads, toggle clasps, jump rings, shepherd hooks and all the other vocabulary required.  Gemstones, shopping, beautiful colours and textures - I was hooked!  So, my first purchase was faceted amethyst beads and silver grey pearls (see above).

My most recent purchase was a mix of stones including labradorite which is the grey stone above, but which in certain lights has a flash of blue or cream or pink shades inside the stone (called a schiller, in case you are interested). 

The whole of my latest purchase, from left, labradorite, black shell squares, lapis lazuli puffy coins, two strand of green fluorite, three strands of picasso jasper.  The presenter said the fluorite is known for its fluorescent qualities in certain lights and I must admit, I wasn't convinced, but looking at the photo above, perhaps it does have this quality after all!

I love the fact that I can make my own bracelets and earrings (well, once I get to grips with the techniques).  Lapis Lazuli sounds so exotic and I think it is amazing that I can wear jewellery made from a stone that was precious in Egyptian times and was ground down to create the vibrant blue used in medieval books of hours or renaissance paintings.

 The picasso jasper reminds me of stones on a beach, especially at Hunstanton on the Norfolk coast, where I spent many happy holidays.  I'll probably use the grey/blue stones for myself and perhaps some of the chocolate brown colours.  It is odd how I have become so interested in such a short space of time - if I feel any of my creations are worthy of being put on future blog posts, I'll include them.  Now I just need to go and have a bit of a practice...