Well, I'm back online at last after a house move...not the most enjoyable of experiences, but hey ho, we're all settled in now. My new 'studio' (shed) is still in pieces in the garden - just waiting for some lovely person to volunteer to put it together for me, for the price of a pint of beer! Or, failing that, Chris and I may just have to put it together ourselves. I don't like that option, though...

Anyway, here are some beads I made a while ago, before I was uprooted from my lovely caravan workshop. 'Pink Granite' was actually one of those happy accidents. I was initially disappointed when I saw how it had turned out, but I looked again and decided I really liked it! 'Bonfire' was, unsurprisingly, inspired by the oranges and yellows of the flames of a bonfire. Very seasonal. Last but not least, 'Chocolate Pebbles', another of my organic pebble sets. I've said it before, but I love 'Tamarind', by Cim. Such a lovely (yummy), rich brown.

All of these beads and more are now for sale on Ebay.

Brown is not boring...

Whenever any new glass colours come out, I think it's only polite to try them out! CiM, an American company have just brought out some gorgeous and very seasonal browns and greens, so I just had to have a play. 'Caramel' is quite delicious! Even the glass names are all food based - maple, tamarind and ginger. This is a very tactile bead and it just demands to be stroked.

'Autumn' is not the most imaginative of names, but it couldn't really be called anything else, with those rich browns and sepia, with lots of pure gold leaf. Sadly, it has a small crack in it, so I can't sell it, but you will find 'Caramel' on ebay right now!













And now for my next inspiration...

Beads beads beads

I've been playing around with some more new ideas for this mini set and I'm pleased with the result! I'll be making some more of these in different colours. I called the set 'Silks', because the soft swirls remind me of dyed silk scarves.

Another new style for me is this beach bead. I've made a couple of these now and I'm enjoying making lots of different beaches...this one is called Hope Cove, which is a gorgeous sandy beach here in Devon.
I really, really love this set. I made a twisty with light and dark blue, turquoise and purple and then encased it in clear. The result is these stripes and zig zags, which are magnified by the clear. I'm very tempted to keep them...!
I will be listing these beads and more on ebay later on today.

Autumn...

...not that we've actually had a summer yet. Ho hum. I'll still be making bright, summery beads all the way through winter, got to brighten up those short, dark days somehow!

I'm a great believer in the way colours can affect mood, so I love the fact that I can almost create my own mood when I make beads and jewellery. For my 'day job' I work with clothes, so I'm very aware all the time of what's 'in' for each season...there is lots of purple, hot pink, teal and blue at the moment, which pleases me as these are my favourite colours. However, the trend for acid yellow and murky mustard seems to be persisting, sadly, as I hate them! You'll never see me making a bead in these colours. Yes, that is just my personal taste and I probably should make the odd wasabi/uranium/ghee coloured bead for those of you who love these colours, but I just can't bring myself to make something I don't like myself.

So, using colours I do like, here are some on-trend purple pebbles and another spacey bead with gorgeous blue, mauve and green dots. I have resisted the temptation to keep this little beauty for myself and both are now on ebay!

Variety is the spice of life

I've been making lampwork beads for two years now (with a couple of breaks for moving workshops) and I have yet to find my signature style. Does this matter? I don't think so, not at the moment, anyway. I am having so much fun playing and experimenting, I'm not quite ready to commit to a certain style.



My latest batch of beads are certainly proof of this! The top bead is made with Aurae, still my glass of the moment. It amazes me that it can look so different, simply by changing the base glass. And, lets face it, even using the same base glass is no guarantee that it'll look the same each time...this is one fickle glass.


The second bead is yet another moon, still one of my favourite styles. There are so many different ways of making moon beads, it never gets boring. I love the way the moon in this bead appears to glow, whatever the light. Just like the 'real' moon, in fact!

The third bead is fresh, zingy and fun. I don't make many beads in this style, but when I do, I love the results. I've been playing a lot with different colour combinations lately, so expect to see more of this sort of thing!

The final set of beads is a new style for me. I've made organic beads before, but not as a set. I just don't have the patience, as my Hothead torch is sloooow. I do love this organic, pebbly style, though, so I will make more.

Then of course there are my spacey beads...and my gem nugget sets...so many different beads so make and so little time!

Yup, you've guessed it - these beads are now up on ebay.

Inspiration...

More inspiration from nature...two hydrangea bushes in front of my house are in bloom and the colours are so beautiful, I had to try and make a bead in the same colours! Half the fun of creating a bead is looking at all my glass rods and deciding which ones to use. For the base of the bead, I used this gorgeous semi-transparent mauve and I think it's worked perfectly, along with the swirls of blue, pink and lilac.

I have just listed the bead, along with some others, on ebay, but I'm so tempted to keep it! Chris (hubby) says, "You can always make another one..." and technically I can...but the wonderful - and sometimes frustrating - thing about beadmaking is that you can rarely make two beads exactly the same. Which is great for anyone who buys one, because you know that your bead will be truly individual!

Broke

Not me, but these two lovely beads!

Every now and then it happens - you're taking the bead off the mandrel, cleaning it or even just looking at it and suddenly it's in pieces. I've been very lucky up until this point, in that it's only ever happened to beads I don't care about. Unfortunately, I love these two! The first broke in three pieces and the second has a chip out of the top. Why did it happen? Sometimes it can be down to different glasses being incompatible with each other or there too much silver on the bead, it may be pressed too thin or waved around in the cold air for too long when you take it out of the flame.

Whatever the reason, I'm not happy about it. I'm really enjoying making spacey beads and I particularly love these - I can spend ages looking at them and I see something new every time. They are made with a black glass that reacts with silver, pure silver foil and silver rich glass - Aurae (again!) and another one called Triton.

Still, nothing a bit of glue won't fix, and now I'm just going to have to keep them both...hee hee!

More beads on the 'Bay

Pink is my favourite colour. Not girlie pastels, but lovely hot magenta and fuchsia...so I was really pleased with this pink set. Musn't keep it, though! It can be hard sometimes to let go of certain beads, but there are only a couple I've regretted selling. Usually I know straightaway when a bead is a 'keeper'.

I love this etched moon bead, too. I've used a new olive green glass, which is just lovely for organic beads like this one. The bottom bead different for me, I'm not normally a brown sort of person, but I really like this transparent sepia and I think it looks even better with the Aurae. I just can't stop using this glass...

All are up on ebay right now!

Feeling summery!

My beadmaking definitely seems to be affected by the weather - which, living in England means I make a lot of grey, stormy beads covered in raindrops! We've had quite a few sunny days lately, though, so I've made some more cheerful beads, including this bright, sunny set and the blue, cloudy sky beads. Oh, and the inevitable rainbow...

I make a lot of these coloured nugget beads; they are some of my favourites. I love experimenting with swirling different colours together and it always looks completely different once it is encased in clear glass. I think another reason why I adore these beads is because I am a huge fan of gemstones and they remind me so much of little sparkling gems.

I have listed these beads and several more on ebay so pop over and have a look if you're interested.

Shiny, sparkly, bling!

I have just got some gorgeous new glass called Aurae. It has lots of silver in it, which means it does all sort of lovely things - it turns gold, metallic and sometimes even goes different colours. Thing is, you never know exactly what it's going to do, so it's no good if you like your glass to be predictable...I like to be surprised!

So that's the shine; I have also been using goldstone for that lovely, golden sparkle that combined with the Aurae, makes for some really 'bling' beads. You can find the moon bead and the cool blue bead on ebay now.

Today I have been recycling - not bottles and cardboard and boring stuff like that (although I do that as well!), but silver. My aunt gave me some old sterling silver napkin rings and spoons, so I have been sawing them up to turn into lovely pieces of jewellery. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to finish them, because I broke my drill bit attempting to drill some nickel silver (who knew it was so tough!), but watch this space and I'll post pics as soon as I finish them.

Rainbows...

I love rainbows, they're just magical. This rainbow in the field next to my house inspired me to make these gorgeous 'Harlequin' beads. I've added these and lots of other beads to Ebay, so if you're interested, pop over and have a look.

Finally...new beads!

Now I've finally got my new workshop set up (in the form of a caravan!), I have been busy making loads of beads...and have I missed it! I have made a couple of the old favourites - moon beads. I just love making these, there are so many variations on the theme. All of my moon beads are named after moons in our solar system - this one is called 'Nereid', which is one of Neptune's moons.

I have also tried out a new style...spacey beads. I love these and have just listed them (and a few others) on ebay, so hopefully you'll like them too!

Moongazy

Sometimes I keep a bead for months before it 'tells' me what it wants to become. This is what happened with this moonscape bead. I made it several months ago, but wasn't happy with it until I decided to acid etch it, which has given it a lovely velvety texture. I left the moon shiny, so it really glows! After that, it was just a case of finding the right 'ingredients' to make it into a fabulous piece of jewellery. I've kept it simple, with only a tiny precious emerald bead and a moonstone with a silver star. It just makes me want to go and gaze at the full moon!

You can find this necklace, as well as some bracelets and earrings, on my website.

I'm in the process of messing around with the website, so don't be too surprised if it changes from one hour to the next...

New(ish) necklaces

I made these necklaces a little while ago, but I've only just listed them in my Etsy shop. 'Moon' is made with one of my hourglass shaped moon beads - it's a simple necklace, but with plenty of sparkle and shine. 'Just Peachy' is so summery! Just peach lampwork beads, another of those stunning clear quartz nuggets and lots of silver. I'm sooo tempted to keep this one!

Folksy & Sheds

I've added these necklaces and a couple more to my Folksy shop and my website and I've still got lots more to list, so watch this space!

I'm just taking a break from purchasing a shed. I need one for my workshop, but I just can't believe how much choice there is! Overlap or tongue and groove? Pent or apex? And what size?! Very confusing. Chris (DH) and I will be putting it together ourselves, which is a scary thought, because we argue whenever we put together flat packed furniture, so we probably won't speak to each other for a week after this! Still, it'll be worth it. I haven't made any beads for a couple of months and I've missed it, so it'll be great to get my workspace back again.

Misi Shop

You can now see my jewellery in my new Misi shop - lots of new necklaces there, including this lariat, one of my personal favourites! It is made with blue and silver lampwork beads by Laura Sparling, with lots of gorgeous gemstones. I particularly love the clear quartz nuggets - they're so beautifully clear, just like drops of water. I called the necklace 'Starlight', because that is exactly what Laura's beads remind me of, sparkles of silver in a deep blue night sky.

It may sound like a cliche to say that my jewellery is inspired by nature, but it's true - I live in a beautiful part of Devon and it's hard not to be inspired by the sky, the moors and the sea. I just have to learn to pay more attention to the road when I'm driving, rather than the views...!

GALAXY

MERCURY

NAVAJO