Keeping Busy

 I have been keeping occupied quite well over the last week or so.  Above is a pearl necklace which I re-strung for my mother-in-law as the catch was broken.  It took me several attempts and a bit of choice language to get there.  I have decided I need to practise with the pearl knotting tool,which, when I have got to grips with it, will make the whole process so much easier. When the necklace was strung before, it was knotted in groups of six pearls.  I have re-done it with one pearl then a knot.  It means if it does break (I hope it won't), only one pearl will be lost and it also keeps the pearls from rubbing against each other.  It does look nice now.

 In another jewellery project, my friend Rachael asked if I could make her a necklace for her birthday incorporating three charms she had been given.  I had a bit of a think and came up with this design. 

 I used wrap loops to join all the parts together for added stability and longevity. 

 I chose aquamarine, jadeite and labradorite as the gemstones and you can see the little charms here.  I made it just longer than a choker length and I hope it will be comfortable to wear.

 Last Thursday, I decided (on a bit of a whim) to tackle the patio and release the chairs and table from their prison of plants and pots.  They had been at the back of the patio for at least ten years and we weren't able to actually use them.  After a lot of sweeping, moving pots from here to there and re-positioning, we can now sit down.  Of course, the weather has been too cold since then, but they are ready for us.  (They also need a bit of TLC and repainting, but that's for another day.)

Finally, here's tulip Brown Sugar again, enjoying the sunshine, when we have had some.  It does complement the brick wall, I think.

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...

My first beaded Kumihimo jewellery - as seen on TV!

 You may remember that I started trying kumihimo ( a Japanese braiding technique) to use in my jewellery making.  I managed an eight strand braid in satin cord and was happy with that, but I really wanted to be able to add gemstones into the braid.

I bought this DVD from Jewellery Maker and watched it several times.  One of the projects featured was a Lariat style braided necklace, which you can see on the cover above and I knew I had to try it.  The thing I liked most was that it didn't use any findings (clasps, jump rings etc.).  

I gave myself a bit more of a challenge by using gemstone chips, which were a bit more tricky to thread on the the S-Lon thread I was using.  (This thread is my favourite at the moment).  I used clear nail varnish to create a 'needle' at the end of the threads and the chips went onto the thread much more easily. 

Braiding is a meditative process which I really enjoy and it can be picked up and put down as you wish.  So, having used some of my favourite colours and gemstones (sky blue apatite, neon blue apatite, amazonite and tanzanite), I decided to send a photo to Jewellery Maker Wall of Fame.  This is where JM features jewellery made by viewers from mainly JM supplies and they will show a selection on the morning shows. Everyone who enters (whether their photo is shown or not) is entered into a draw (which takes place on a Wednesday) to win £100 of credit or £50 of credit with JM.  That would be rather nice...

 I sent a photo in and forgot about it,  I was half watching the programme on Saturday when what should I see, but my necklace being featured! ( I managed to get the images from the JM bit on youtube - the shows are uploaded).  (I'm not being sponsored by JM - I am a customer and have been for at least four years).

 Here is my necklace's moment of fame!

 Here's a close up.  I was very excited, as you can imagine.  I am working on some more of these necklaces using 6mm gemstones.  I think I may be getting obsessed...

Finished necklaces

I finally got around to making some necklaces.  The one above features my polymer clay bead, with peridot, aqaumarine, amazonite and apatite chips, both on the necklace itself and in the tassel.  I think the colours of the gemstones really complement the polymer bead.

You may remember that I bought this peridot chip necklace at the car boot sale.  I have taken it apart and am using the peridot from it.

As I was in jewellery-making mode, I also made this necklace, using pearls from a previously bought necklace, aquamarine, peridot, two colours of apatite and amazonite chips.  I spent hours threading the chips onto the beading thread, held it up to judge the length, then promptly dropped the end without the bead stopper on it! Consequently, everything fell off, rolling to the far corners of the room and I then spent quite a few minutes retrieving it all, with a few choice words being said at the same time!  Once I had recovered, I set to and re-threaded it all on again. (Note to self: use a stopper bead on both ends when judging length of necklace!)  However, I do like the result as these teal/blue/green colours are favourites of mine and it is a necklace I shall wear a lot.

Versatility

 I know that I am often writing about how versatile polymer clay is, but the two projects featured today really do demonstrate this.  A colleague from work asked me if I could lengthen a necklace which she had bought recently.  I had a look at it and said I could.  Chris and I looked through our massive stash of beads and gemstones, but, we didn't have anything just right.  I then thought I could take the necklace apart and intersperse some round beads in similar colours.  I then had a brainwave!  Polymer clay! I set to and made lots of tube beads out of the ecru clay and baked them. I then painted the ends with some acrylic paint, which I rubbed off to just leave a faint colour.  Having glazed them with a satin glaze, I threaded them onto eye pins and made the necklace longer.

 You can see the beads I added in this photo, but I was pretty happy with the match.  I just hope my colleague is happy with them too!

 On a completely different subject, ever since I was a child, I had really wanted my own 'Toby's Japanese Mouse' from the story 'The Children of Green Knowe' by Lucy Boston.  I loved the illustration in the book which was drawn by Peter Boston.  In the book, here is the description: "...an ebony mouse, life sized with shiny black eyes. It was so cleverly carved that you could see every hair, and it felt like fur to stroke".  I visited the website for Lucy Boston's house, Hemingford Grey and was thrilled to see the shop offering resin versions of the mouse.  'I must order one', I thought,  However, I didn't and when I looked again, they weren't on sale any more. (Ironically, they are back on sale again now! Typical, isn't it?! I may have to have one anyway now...)

However, my clever sculpting friend, Rachael, has come to my assistance and has made me my very own Toby's Japanese Mouse out of polymer clay.  He isn't exactly the same as the illustration, but that makes him more special. 

Isn't he sweet?  I dry brushed him with a grey acrylic paint which I wiped off straightaway, so that the fur can be seen and the details can be seen.

I then glazed him with a gloss glaze so that he would be shiny.  Thank you so much, Rachael, he is wonderful!

Christmas Cracker swap

I have been taking part in Tracy's from Mad About Bags Christmas Cracker swap for the past three years and it is a lovely one to do as you are limited to what can be fitted inside a kitchen roll, which gives you a real challenge.  This year, I was paired up with the lovely Alison from  fatdormouse and View from the Teapot.  We emailed and I discovered that she didn't sew, so she asked whether I could wrap the cracker in paper, for paper crafting, rather than material. Of course I could!  We found out about likes and dislikes and then got on with the making and buying.  We swapped our crackers and here's what I received:

 A cracker with an added extra of the most beautiful rich purple coloured felting wool...

 ...and when I opened it up...well!  What a lot of goodies!  Alison had even drawn a zentangle picture featuring a cat, which was also ingeniously wrapped around the cracker.

 Lovely buttons, a necklace, a key ring, two corn dolly decorations (which will be going on the tree), chocolate coins...

lollipops, ribbons, mints, toiletries - how lucky I was!  A HUGE thank you to Alison for her generosity

Here's what I sent (although, rather foolishly, I forgot to take a photo of the wrapped cracker): hot chocolate, Lindt bears, a felt heart, star decoration, quartz earrings, ribbons and cosmos seeds.

I found this rather gorgeous hand made paper so wrapped that around the kitchen roll before wrapping in paper and adding ribbon.  It was a lovely swap, so thank you to Tracy for organising and many thanks to Alison.  

'From My Home to Yours' Blog Swap - Parcel Two!

As you may know, I took part in the blog swap organised by Betty and my swap partner Emma sent me a lovely parcel.  She also told me that there were more things she had got ready for the swap, but had forgotten to post them, so to look out for them in parcel two. They arrived safe and sound this week. 

 The parcel was unwrapped with great excitement and here's what greeted me...

I set it out and there was a lavender shortbread pack, made with Jersey lavender, a map and tourist guide of Jersey, a bags of blue beads, a blue crocheted flower, a peach rose brooch, and a very pretty bead necklace (the flowers and necklace made by Emma),

 Here are the necklace, beads and flowers - so pretty!

 So, I put the two parcels of goodies together and this is what I received.

Wow - what a fantastic lot of loveliness!  I am really looking forward to making (and eating) the shortbread - I'll let you know how I get on. A HUGE thank you to Emma for all the beautiful things.  Blog swaps are so much fun!

Spring/Easter swap

I have just taken part in my third swap of the year which was organised by Joy over at Welcome to Daisy Row ; this time a Spring/Easter swap.  The idea was to fill an ice cream carton with lots of goodies with a Spring/Easter theme.  Once we had our partners, we emailed and my partner was Jean from Talking Beads .  Once we were ready, we did email again to check all was on schedule and at that point I admitted a couple of things wouldn't fit in the carton and she said she wasn't going to use the carton, so that was all fine!  I received my parcel yesterday and with a lot of excitement, opened it up.  Red tissue and lovely red ribbon greeted me, followed by red gingham material.

It was a bit like pass the parcel!

 Once I had opened that, here's what I found.  Individually wrapped packages and a lovely card.

 Inside the packages were: a bag of chocolate eggs, a yellow scented candle, a notebook with a beautifully hand made cover and my challenge - a seed bead necklace kit in a lovely spring green.  I have never made a seed bead necklace, so Jean was right, it will be a challenge!  Thank you so much to Jean for these lovely gifts and for being such a lovely swap partner!
So, what did I send?

My parcel was a bit squashy looking because I chose a very nice but rather flimsy cotton checked material to wrap it in.

 (I did have to pack the things quite carefully, and not all would go in!)

Here's the selection of Spring/Easter bits and pieces (including, of course, a felt decoration and some earrings made by me!) that I sent.  It was great fun to be involved in this swap, so thank you to Joy for organising it.

Latest Jewellery

Here is the latest jewellery I have been making, for my work colleague, Leanne's birthday, last week.  She likes dramatic jewellery, so this gave me a challenge for my polymer clay.  I made a large pendant on wire, and two bracelets.



Above is a close up of the pendant, made using polymer clay in black, white, red glitter and silver.  As you can see, I had fun using the extruder tool again!

 I then made some polymer clay beads using the same colours and made them into a macrame bracelet.

 I told Leanne that this was a complete original because no-one in the world would have one exactly the same.  I wouldn't even be able to make one exactly the same.  I love that about polymer clay.

The final macrame bracelet is made using black rutilated quartz (also called rutile quartz and apparently the black flecks in the quartz are tourmaline).  Leanne immediately put this one on and wore it for the rest of the day.  I think they were successful gifts.