Just wanted to say...

Merry Christmas! Or Yule...or whatever :o)

A change of heart

I made this bead a while ago and when I took it out of the kiln, I decided I didn't like it and banished it to my not-nice-enough-to-sell-but-not-bad-enough-for-the-fugly-jar pot. But I found it again the other day and I can't for the life of me see why I didn't like it! For me, it brings to mind weekends spent at Leysdown beach on the Isle of Sheppey, a lovely beach that always seemed to be bleak and deserted, even at the height of the season. My family had a little chalet right on the beach and we spent many a wild, wet and windy winter weekend there (alliteration unintentional!).

So I guess it's worthwhile going through all my beads once in a while, just to see what treasures are still lurking amongst my rejects! Anyway, I have listed it on Ebay, along with some others, so if you like it too, pop over there and take a look :)

Oak leaf challenge...the big reveal!

So, here it is...the necklace I made with Jo Tinley's copper oak leaf clasp :o)

I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do with it when it first arrived - autumnal colours were a must and I already had this lovely hand dyed silk ribbon from Diane Turton of Sowzere Designs and a rich orange Carnelian bead in front of me. I then raided my stash of my own lampwork beads for orphans and found these ones in different shades of amber, brown and pink. Finally, I needed copper findings, having never worked with copper before. The two hammered copper rings were from another Diane - of Dilunah Glass Designs.

And finally, the oak leaf! It is far too pretty to hide away at the back of the necklace like a traditional clasp, so I made the necklace into a slightly asymmetrical design, with the clasp hooking on to one of the hammered rings.

So there it is. This was a challenge in the true sense of the word, as I've never used copper before and I've not done a great deal of wire wrapping, but... I love it! And yes, I will be keeping it for myself :o)

Want to see what the other challengees have done?

Jo Tinley                 Daisychain Designs

Melissa Meman       Art, Life, Love

Niky Sayers            SilverNikNats

Kimberley Roberts  Bahama Dawn

Rebecca Anderson  Songbeads

Stripes

I made one of these and loved it, so made another...now I'd normally sell something like this as a focal, but they were crying out to be a set of three...so I had to make a third one! Part of the joy of making beads is that sometimes they tell you what they want to be and you just have to go with the flow.

What do you mean, beads can't talk?! :o)

You will find them on Etsy now...

Feeling blue

The nights are drawing in and winter's nearly here...so I'm making blue beads to cheer myself up! In particular, using a lovely glass called Great Bluedini. I had some ages ago and for some reason decided I didn't like it, so I gave it away. A colour of the month challenge on Frit Happens forum inspired me to try again, thanks to the generosity of a lovely lady who sent me a couple of rods to play with!

As you can see, it is a lovely, rich, almost greeny blue and it loves to be layered with other colours.

The first one is now on Etsy and the other will be up shortly.