April Foolishness

Near the end of March, Red Bird Jewellery posted a thread on the Folksy forum asking if anyone fancied joining her for some April foolishness. Her suggestion? To list an item everyday for the whole of April. Yep that is list 30 items, one per day for each and every day of April Well, as if I don't have enough to so I decided to join in. Stupidly when I signed up I forgot I would be back home in Cornwall for the easter weekend and with limited internet access. So, I have been playing catch up. Here are the gorgeous lovelies I have listed so far.

Seaspray Earrings - Lampwork by Laura Sparling

Seaspray Bracelet - Lampwork by Laura Sparling Cosmos Earrings - Lampwork by Laura Sparling

Smokescreen Bracelet - Smokey quartz latern beads and hilltribe silver

Portholes - lampwork by Caroline Cash

Nautical - lampwork by Caroline Cash

Fern - Green Amethyst and Hilltribe silver

Most are available now in my Beady Pool Folksy Shop, a couple have already gone to new homes.

Wish me luck luck for the next 23 days!

Charity Auction

Another talented jewellery designer friend of mine, Melanie Poxon of Kookie Designs has arranged a big collective auction for charity.

There are 11 auction lots on offer for you to bid on from a fantastic range of UK designers and makers featuring ready made jewellery to lampwork beads to make your own pieces. All lots are stunningly gorgeous - I have my eyes set on some of Izzy's earrings yum.

I have donated a gorgeous lampwork bracelet featuring beads by Laura Sparling which Mel has put in a lot (Number 1) with a pair of her scrummy earrings).

If you fancy placing a bid then please head over here to the auction and have a look at all the generously donated items on offer. All money raised from the auction will be split between two charities - Headway and Royal Free Kidney Patients Association.

All money raised from the auction will be split between two charities - Headway and Royal Free Kidney Patients Association.

The auction opened on Saturday October 24th at 10:00am GMT and there have been some really generous bids already. It closes on Monday November 2nd at 8:30pm GMT, so you still have time to bag yourself a gorgeous piece of unique jewellery or some scummy beads to add to your stash!

Wiggle it....just a little bit

I seemed to off managed to disappear off the blogging radar for....wait for it....a month. Where on earth did June go to???

To make up for my vanishing act take a look at these lovelies - I've named them Wiggle It. Beautiful lampwork wiggle beads by Laura Sparling featuring a deep teal encased in ice blue. Simple stunning.

I continued the wiggly theme with some wiggly silver tube beads. I simply love how the necklace and earrings have turned out. I am tempted to keep them for myself, but I have already kept one set for me this month and a I mustn't be too greedy.

I hope to get them up on the website later this evening, so if they take your fancy take a look here.

Hopefully it won't be as long before my next blog post, fingers crossed.

Bead making again

So, you are offered a days babysitting - what do you do? Well, I persuaded Laura to let me have another play with her torch. Here are my efforts for the day.

It took me a while to get back in to the swing of things, I made a few basic beads - I love these colours and then I made some fritties. Note to self for next time - keep an eye on the sizes!

Then I made some floral beads, I am really pleased with these. Since last time, my dot placement is so much more precise. I love the plunged look as well.

Then I tried a bit of encasing - I found this really rather hard, but don't think my first efforts are too bad.

Then it got to about half an hour before I had to go and I had had enough of encasing (I was finding it hard and it was annoying me!). I was umming and ahhing about what to do so, Laura said "do a Jelveh". So, here are my beads, using up a little of everything that was left and a little bit of dichoric. Unfortunately one cracked. but it was great to practice more encasing, fritting, layering , squashing.

Well, what do you think for a second attempt? - that's about 12-14 hrs near a torch under Laura's expert tuition.

I am just a little bit hooked on lampworking now, I find it fascinating. Will I ever take it up? Who knows - maybe one day. Watch this space.

Pink Spangles

I just had to buy these gorgeous pink encased frit beads by Laura Sparling a while back. Just look at the vibrancy of the pink and that deep encasing just makes them sparkle and twinkle.

Unsurprisingly they didn't stay on the website for long. The lady who bought them wanted a pendant to go with them. Now normally when I use lampwork then that is all I have, but in this case I had made the earrings and had beads left. So, after a bit of discussion here is the matching pendant.

It was a joy to make, it just worked straight off. Sometimes a piece does and sometimes it doesn't. With this it was as if it was just meant to be.

So, is she pleased? Well, I think so as I have had to make the remaining beads into a set for her daughter.
Oh, and the Pink Spangles well, I borrowed the name. It is the name of a Heather Cultivar found and named by my grandfather Neil Garland Treseder.

I borrowed the picture from Burncoose Nurseries which is the UK's largest mail order plant specialist. They stock a lot of granfather's plants and are well worth a visit.

The beads what I made......

Well, here they are the earrings I have made myself with some of the beads I made during my lampwork lesson with Laura Sparling. I have added a Karen Hilltribe daisy spacer and a faceted amethyst rondelle. I am really pleased with them and am wearing them as I speak. I cannot start to describe how impressed with myself I am - I made the beads and then the earrings whoo hoo :)

The beads what I made......

Well, here they are the earrings I have made myself with some of the beads I made during my lampwork lesson with Laura Sparling. I have added a Karen Hilltribe daisy spacer and a faceted amethyst rondelle. I am really pleased with them and am wearing them as I speak. I cannot start to describe how impressed with myself I am - I made the beads and then the earrings whoo hoo :)

Been a making

Whey hey I made some fab pieces yesterday (well I think so). I was on a roll and am so pleased as I either haven't been able to find time to make or had no inclination for a couple of weeks. I have even made some earrings with the beads I made during my lesson with Laura. Hopefully I can take some photos later and post some up here for you to see.

Will have to see how it goes though as my little man has chicken pox - he is pickled. I did think he was getting off lightly with it, but this morning he has triple yesterdays count and I can see where the next lot are going to come up as well. I feel a little guilty as I took him to play with a friend who had it, I decided it was better to get it over and one with LOL. I am definitely seeing spots at the moment.

Been a making

Whey hey I made some fab pieces yesterday (well I think so). I was on a roll and am so pleased as I either haven't been able to find time to make or had no inclination for a couple of weeks. I have even made some earrings with the beads I made during my lesson with Laura. Hopefully I can take some photos later and post some up here for you to see.

Will have to see how it goes though as my little man has chicken pox - he is pickled. I did think he was getting off lightly with it, but this morning he has triple yesterdays count and I can see where the next lot are going to come up as well. I feel a little guilty as I took him to play with a friend who had it, I decided it was better to get it over and one with LOL. I am definitely seeing spots at the moment.

Ta dah....

Well, if you haven't already guessed I am just a little bit pleased with my efforts from making beads with Laura Sparling last week. Typical me there was lots of blue glass being used :)

Oh and then I had a bit of a roll and made a set of fritties.....I can't wait to hold them in my hands and see how even they are in size as I kind of guessed that, but for a first attempt I think the girl did good. Now all I have to do is make some jewellery with them - at the moment that may take much longer than the bead making did!

So, the big question - do I want to make more lampwork beads. I would love to, but I think space and more importantly time are at a minimum at the moment. However, if anyone is willing to rent me time at the torch nearby I won't be saying no :)

Ta dah....

Well, if you haven't already guessed I am just a little bit pleased with my efforts from making beads with Laura Sparling last week. Typical me there was lots of blue glass being used :)

Oh and then I had a bit of a roll and made a set of fritties.....I can't wait to hold them in my hands and see how even they are in size as I kind of guessed that, but for a first attempt I think the girl did good. Now all I have to do is make some jewellery with them - at the moment that may take much longer than the bead making did!

So, the big question - do I want to make more lampwork beads. I would love to, but I think space and more importantly time are at a minimum at the moment. However, if anyone is willing to rent me time at the torch nearby I won't be saying no :)

Me making beads

He he, I almost look like I know what I am doing :)

Photos of the beads to follow later this eve.....

Me making beads

He he, I almost look like I know what I am doing :)

Photos of the beads to follow later this eve.....

Flaming hot hot hot....

Yesterday I had a fantastic day melting glass with the very talented Laura Sparling. I feel sorry for my hubby as I think I may be a little bit (just a little bit) hooked :) I had to laugh though, I came home and showed him one of Laura's cupcakes and all I got was "did you make that?" as if!

Pics to follow soon hopefully of some gorgeous frit beads - my flowers however leave a little to be desired but for a first time I think I did ok. As they say watch this blog.....

Flaming hot hot hot....

Yesterday I had a fantastic day melting glass with the very talented Laura Sparling. I feel sorry for my hubby as I think I may be a little bit (just a little bit) hooked :) I had to laugh though, I came home and showed him one of Laura's cupcakes and all I got was "did you make that?" as if!

Pics to follow soon hopefully of some gorgeous frit beads - my flowers however leave a little to be desired but for a first time I think I did ok. As they say watch this blog.....

Scrummy

Well, I just had to have a go at making Laura's cookies - the looked so scrummy. Oh and they are. So much so that there will be no picture to show you my efforts. Hubby came home for lunch and took some back to the office. The others are ready for me to take to my friends this afternoon who has just had baby number two and if I don't leave them in the box.....well they may just get munched:). My mix ended up a bit wet, but a few more oats and we were fine - some mix never even made it into the oven LOL. Lets just say my son enjoyed licking the mixing spoon. I made the second oven batch a lot smaller, they are now just right for my son (and me I won't feel so guilty when I eat two!)

So, instead of a biccie pic, you will have to make do with this:

Ebb and Flow

Lampwork by Rachel Dawes at Earth and Fire Beads. With lovely faceted aventurine rondelles and Hilltribe silver. Hopefully I will get some time later this week to do some more and show you some more. Off to look and not touch the biccies till I am at my friends, they will be even better with a good cuppa.

Scrummy

Well, I just had to have a go at making Laura's cookies - the looked so scrummy. Oh and they are. So much so that there will be no picture to show you my efforts. Hubby came home for lunch and took some back to the office. The others are ready for me to take to my friends this afternoon who has just had baby number two and if I don't leave them in the box.....well they may just get munched:). My mix ended up a bit wet, but a few more oats and we were fine - some mix never even made it into the oven LOL. Lets just say my son enjoyed licking the mixing spoon. I made the second oven batch a lot smaller, they are now just right for my son (and me I won't feel so guilty when I eat two!)

So, instead of a biccie pic, you will have to make do with this:

Ebb and Flow

Lampwork by Rachel Dawes at Earth and Fire Beads. With lovely faceted aventurine rondelles and Hilltribe silver. Hopefully I will get some time later this week to do some more and show you some more. Off to look and not touch the biccies till I am at my friends, they will be even better with a good cuppa.

Orange Zing

A little while ago a lovely lady called Barbara contatced me about commissioning a set of jewellery. Her family wanted to buy her something special to celebrate her graduation. I was so touched when she approached me. Especially as she found Beady Pool via a link from Lauras website. Today I finally posted the jewellery set off to her and her are the pics for you all to see.

It has taken a far bit of time to finish the set as I even commissioned the lampwork beads especially for her. These have been made by Alison Davies and are funky 70's inspired florals in baby blue, yellow ochre and zingy orange.

Barbara wanted a necklace/pendant combination. Something that was a bit busier than just a chain but still with a focal point. To achieve this, I interspersed the chain with wired lampwork beads and swarovski crystals.

The earrings really speak for themselves. Capped lampwork beads, spacers and Swarovski crystals.

The bracelet was the most intersting of the peices to make, I had orginally made it with silver spacer beads, but Barbara wasn't overly keen so I ordered some more orange spacers from Alison and one Zingy bracelet is the end result. Depsite liking making bracelets, I do find them sometimes difficult as I tend to need them to be symmetrical or following some kind of pattern and that doesn't always work with the length you need the bracelet to be :) If I can find the picture I will post my original design and you can compare the before and after! I hope you like, I would love to know what you think especially as I was out of my comfort zone a bit with the colours - I'm a bit of a blue girl you see :)

Orange Zing

A little while ago a lovely lady called Barbara contatced me about commissioning a set of jewellery. Her family wanted to buy her something special to celebrate her graduation. I was so touched when she approached me. Especially as she found Beady Pool via a link from Lauras website. Today I finally posted the jewellery set off to her and her are the pics for you all to see.

It has taken a far bit of time to finish the set as I even commissioned the lampwork beads especially for her. These have been made by Alison Davies and are funky 70's inspired florals in baby blue, yellow ochre and zingy orange.

Barbara wanted a necklace/pendant combination. Something that was a bit busier than just a chain but still with a focal point. To achieve this, I interspersed the chain with wired lampwork beads and swarovski crystals.

The earrings really speak for themselves. Capped lampwork beads, spacers and Swarovski crystals.

The bracelet was the most intersting of the peices to make, I had orginally made it with silver spacer beads, but Barbara wasn't overly keen so I ordered some more orange spacers from Alison and one Zingy bracelet is the end result. Depsite liking making bracelets, I do find them sometimes difficult as I tend to need them to be symmetrical or following some kind of pattern and that doesn't always work with the length you need the bracelet to be :) If I can find the picture I will post my original design and you can compare the before and after! I hope you like, I would love to know what you think especially as I was out of my comfort zone a bit with the colours - I'm a bit of a blue girl you see :)

I've been tagged

I've been Tagged by Caroline at Crafted Gems and the rules are as follows:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Okay now 7 things about me - not sure if I can come up with seven LOL, however those that know me will know that once I start talking........

1) I love chocolate, I'm not particularly fussy, it doesn't have to be "good" chocolate. Mainly chocolate on its own without added extras but I do have a penchant for praline seashells and I used to love Spiras. If I am having a bad day then yes I do reach for the chocolate

2) I'm a sorter outerer, if someone has a problem I have to come up with a solution - it's instinctive.

3) I am a bead horder - I have far more than I know what to do with and I still keep buying more!

4) I am Cornish born and bread, but don't like clotted cream, will only eat my mums' saffron buns and didn't really enjoy pasties until I met my hubby - who is from Essex. He and my son LOVE them though.

5) I have a degree in Physics and I used to teach it (all boys school up to A-level - fun :)).

6) I'm fairly messy, but my wardrobe is very organised with my clothes all neatly folded on piles of t-shits, jumpers, long sleeve jumpers etc. You can get far more in if they are folded on shelves!

7) I love cooking and baking. I used to belong to WI country markets and sell cakes through them. Unlike the stereotype, I was under the age of 30 at the time!

I hope those facts are interesting enough? Can I add another? I can't get my blog to edit correctly...all those extra spaces and gaps are meant to be there - honest!

Here are the people I am tagging.

Laura Sparling - I think I bought one of my first lampwork beads of Laura and then was hooked

Angie Finn- I love her strawberry beads - I've just made a charm bracelet with a set - pic soon...promise.

Rachel Dawes - lovely organic beads and florals.

Barbara at Wildberry designs, she makes some lovely pearl bracelets, check out Alannah.

Craft Clare - I have yet to purchase any from Clare, but her beads are gorgeous and her recycled range is such a fab idea, brilliant keepsakes

Tina at So, whats new today, Tina makes lampwork beads and I love her serenity earrings.

Alison Perry, she has just prompted me into looking at doing more wirework - watch this space.

I've tried to find folks who haven't been tagged yet.....hard, I am a bit new to all this so don't read many blogs yet...there were lots of other people who I would of tagged but you have all been tagged already ;) Jo at Gem Heaven, Izzy at Flame and Glass, Brandi...and I could go on and on. If you don't already, why not try some of the blogs listed on the right, they make interesting reading.