Coming back!

Hello to all my followers :) Just wanted to do a quick update to say I'll be back into full blogging mode again shortly - sorry for the recent absence.

Hopefully I'll have lots to show, as my Mum has asked me to do a Jewellery party for her in July, so busy, busy, busy!!

In the meantime, please pop on over to 1st Unique Gifts and have a look at Handmade Monday and all the fabulous crafter's blogs on there. I hope to be taking part fully next week!

Thanks xx

It's a Button of a dilema!

I have recently inherited an absolutely fabulous vintage button collection. Great I hear you all say!! Well, it would be, but I haven't the foggyist idea what to do with them!

There is quite a selection of them, all lovely sorted into colours and then handsewn onto card to keep them all organised. I have taken a few photos of the best of them, but as you can see there are hundreds!

There are loads more pictures, but I don't want to block everyones browsers! Anyway, I am after ideas please. I would love to use some of them in my jewellery, but am lacking inspiration - also any other ideas I could use them for would be very gratefully recevied!

Some of them are pretty lovely aren't they - What's your idea???

Handmade Monday

What a lovely day it was yesterday here in the South West of England. I spent most of the day in the garden and pottering about outside. Luckily the previous days were miserable, giving me plenty of indoor time to make some jewllery!

Just a couple of quick makes this week, but I was struck with inspiration to make a fruity lemon/lime style necklace, well short of using real fruit I think these Murano style glass beads capture the 'taste' quite well!

 I can't wait for summer to come so I can wear it!

Having found my Murano beads, I thought I'd make another necklace for those not so sunny days..

Which one do you like best?

Please also pop on over to 1st Unique Gifts to check out all the other talented crafters' makes for this Handmade Monday, and don't forget the auction for Cancer Research UK at Angels and Diamonds - details in my previous entry.

Thanks for reading xx

Cancer Research UK Auction 2011

Lucie from Angels and Diamonds is holding an auction for Cancer research this week for some of her fabulous jewellery. Please pop along to her facebook page and support this cause by bidding on an item (or two!!). Along with supporting the charity, you'll also be grabbing yourself some beautiful jewellery.

Plenty of others crafters have also supported the cause by donating some very creative stylish pieces. I have donated this beautiful bracelet as my Grandad sadly passed away to cancer last year - I'm also seriously tempted by some of the other things in the auction!!

Full details are below - Good luck everyone!

CANCER RESEARCH UK AUCTION 2011 – ANGELS AND DIAMONDS

Start date: Saturday 12^th March – 9am

End date: Sunday 20^th March - 7pm

Where: www.facebook.com/angelsanddiamonds

Albums: cancer research auction

How it works.

On my Facebook page, in the photo albums there is an album called ‘Cancer Research UK Auction’ each item up for auction is listed here (this will be updated every day until the start date). The starting bid price will be listed under the photo, as well as details of the item and details of who donated it (if it’s not one of my items). Bids to be made in increments of 50p and £’s. not 10’s and pennies please.

When the auction ends I will contact each winner individually. If you haven’t heard from me within 24 hours then please send me a message (it may well be that you have high privacy settings set on your page which prevents me from emailing you).

My contact details:

My facebook page:  lucie porter (Simmons) http://www.facebook.com/#!/lucie82

My email address: lucie.simmons@live.com or angelsanddiamonds@hotmail.co.uk

My phone number: 07769166166

What will be in the auction?

There will be many items up for auction.  Mainly jewellery (handmade by myself).  Some items are custom makes so at the end of the auction I will contact you to find out your preferences.

35% of the proceeds will be donated to Cancer Research.

Feature item:

I will be donating a feature item of which 100% of the proceeds will be donated to cancer research UK.

Items donated by others:

100% of the proceeds will be donated. There will be a link to the webpage of the person who has so kindly donated.

Payment:

Payments made through Paypal to Lucie.simmons@live.com

Bacs transfer is also accepted. If you wish to pay this way, please let me know at the end of the auction.

Payment is to be made within 24 hours of the end of auction.

How can you help?

By sharing my page with your friends/family/colleagues.  The more people that turn up to the auction the better.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks for reading xx

Handmade Monday

Hello lovely followers, it's Monday again so please pop on over to Wendy's blog at 1st Unique Gifts to have a read and see what other crafters have been up to this week.

I have been very busy this week making a gorgeous commission - however I cannot show it as the recipient has not received it yet and they might read the blog!! I promise to take pictures though and post as soon as I have the go ahead :)

I have found a tiny bit of spare time however to make the piece of jewellery that I plan to giveaway when I reach 50 followers, so if you're not following already then please do, and pass the word out so I can reach 50 as soon as possible and launch the giveaway for this beautiful Swarovski pendant:

This really is a sparkler of a piece and is finished with a sterling silver bail and chain. It's quite large as well, measuring 27mm. The shape is called Galactic and it is Aquamarine in colour - perfect for the spring season!

Please get following and not forgetting to have a nosey at 1st Unique Gifts blog for some Monday reading.

Thanks for reading x

Handmade Monday

Wasn't able to take part last week, but am back participating in Handmade Monday over at 1st Unique Gifts. Please pop over to Wendy's blog and have a read of all the other blogs taking part and see some of the fabulous work that has been created this week :)

I've been pretty busy this week and not had much time for jewellery, however I did have a go at a couple of things that are not normally my style. I love working with sterling silver and gemstones, but thought I'd have a rummage through my stash again and try my hand at some different styles.

Firstly I made this lovely necklace using some old pink and metal beads I had lying around, finished off with some beautiful stripey ribbon I found. I've never used ribbon in a piece before and am very happy with the final look of the piece - will be lovely for spring/summer!

The second piece I made was a two strand bracelet with freshwater pearls and Czech beads. I love the rose clasp on this which I bought ages ago and completely forgot I had! I think this looks quite vintage and hopefully it'll sell :)

I've got a few projects on at the moment with commissions and restringing for a colleague, but hope to have some more pieces to show later in the week.

Also I today ordered the centre piece of my planned 50 follower giveaway competition which will soon be launched - keep your eyes peeled for more information coming soon :)

Thanks for reading x

Handmade Monday

Handmade Monday is a lovely way to share what handmade items fellow bloggers have been working on all week. Wendy at 1st Unique Gifts started this a few weeks ago, and since I have this Monday off work, thought I'd take part :)

I've tried something completely different this week and am quite chuffed with the result! I was online buying some silver chain for an order I have at work and discovered at check out that there was a minimum spend! Normally I click off and find another site to purchase from, but really whilst having a mooch found something that intrigued me - so bought it!

What do you think of my very first watch...

The watch face is the item I purchased, and I have used some sterling silver chain with Swarovski crystals added along it for the strap. It does up with a lobster clasp and sits beautifully on the wrist.

It does slip round the wrist occasionally, so will have to try and find a way to counter this in future, but if I move it just below my wrist so it slightly sits on my hand, it doesn't move at all :)

While you're over at 1st Unique Gifts, have a look at all the other blogs taking part and add them to your blog reading list if not done all ready!

By the way, I plan to do a 50 follower giveaway when I get to that magic number, so watch this space for an announcement shortly :)

Thanks for reading x

Stylish Blogger Award

Am so excited! Not been blogging very long, so feel very chuffed that I have been awarded the Stylish Blogger Award by the lovely Beadelicious Beads @ http://beadelicious-beads.blogspot.com/ :) My very first award!! Thank you Louisa x

This is a fabulous way to find out about and explore some blogs you may never have come across before. I love reading all sorts of blogs, but many I found by rumaging through the links of blogs nominated for above such awards.

Here is how is works.....

Step 1 - Make a post linking back to the person who gave you the award - Done! Beadelicious Beads is a fab blog

Step 2 - Share 7 random things about yourself

Step 3 – Award 15 recently discovered bloggers with this award

Step 4 – Contact these bloggers and tell them they’ve won the award

So.... 7 random things about me

1. I hate camping! I have been several times and really tried to love it for my husband and daughter, but cannot stand bathroom facilites with open spider access!

2. I have 4 lovely and cuddley pets. Maysie the Springer Spaniel, Rosey the cat and Polly and Rory the fish (they are really my daughters!)

3. I love love LOVE reading and am currently a member of 3 book clubs.

4. I have been a very lucky girl and lived abroad in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia for several years during my childhood :)

5. I cannot stand baked beans. I don't know what it is, but they really give me the creeps!!

6. Rugby is my favourite sport to watch.

7. Granny Smith apples are my favourite - Yum!

That was fun!

Right, now for my 15 blogs to pass this onto...

http://lorraines-place.blogspot.com/

http://www.melaniemoertel.com/

http://lazydaisyglass.blogspot.com/

http://sher821.blogspot.com/

http://ooak-fairy-fae.blogspot.com/

http://rafflesbizarre.blogspot.com/

http://sillyoldbearcrafts.blogspot.com/

http://siteground208.com/~silverth/wordpress/

http://soozintheshed.blogspot.com/

http://zukiestyle.blogspot.com/

http://anitemeachdayoftheyear.blogspot.com/

http://angels-and-diamonds.blogspot.com/

http://brambleandburdock.blogspot.com/

http://bumpybeads.blogspot.com/

http://passionforsoap.blogspot.com/

Whew! Now off to let all of the above know - happy reading x

Starting in Silver Clay

I've been a bit busy this week with a poorly daughter and have not had much chance to make any new pieces. So, I thought I'd show you come of the silver clay jewellery I have made this year.

Silver clay is an area I am really keen to get into as it allows complete creativity and originality - which I love! I have been very lucky to have been given a kiln, tools and assay office membership as presents - it's just the clay that I have to buy!

This is my most favourite piece of jewellery that I have made. It was made quite simply by rolling the clay over a template, cutting a circle shape and making a hole. Then sanded, fired, oxidised (I think that's the word) and polished! This was also my first ever attempt at silver clay!

I really do LOVE this piece :) Below is a pendant that I am very proud of. It is a silver holly leaf which was created by painting a holly leaf with silver clay paste. After several coats it gets fired, where the leaf burns away, leaving  a perfect imprint of the holly leaf in the silver - this needs a hole, but am too scared to drill it in case it falls apart!

The below pictures are a couple of smaller pendants. The one on the left is a heart shape with random circle patterns on top - quite simple really. The one on the right is a scalloped rectangle with silver clay syringed on top and flattened to create the pattern. This was also oxidised, but wouldn't go a dark black colour - instead it seems to have come out in these gorgeous coppery brown shades!

The last couple of pictures are a selection of things I've experimented with when using up smaller bits of clay I had left over. The round one is made from a button mold and I plan to attach this to a ring in the future - same with the double teardrop shape which I also think would look fab on a ring. the other two are a simple bead and hollow teardrop pendant - sooo shiny! The picture on the left are a couple of pendants, that I'm not that happy with, but they have been made and there's no going back once it's fired - someone might buy them one day!

Actually I do have one more picture - this is of a ring I made a couple of weeks ago. It's a bit rough round the edges, and took me several failed attempts to get the band to stay as one piece and fill in the join so it was stable - but I got there eventually! It's not really good enough to sell, but it is my first one, and I want to keep it lol!

Which is your favourite?

Thanks for reading x



How NOT to organise beads!

I've seen a few posts about lately on organisation and storage of beads and other crafty items. Well, I'd thought I'd show you some pictures of how I organise my Jewellery stash...

Not great is it! These are all my main beads, all organised into types/colours and popped in a grip seal bag, then thrown into a plastic box. It does get worse though...

 *Sigh* On the top is a matted collection of silver plated findings - in much need of sorting out! below is my tin of all things (beads and findings) that need taking apart; found on the floor or given to me - basically my miscellaneous selection!

I really want to be able to organise my beads so I can find things quicker, so any ideas would be much appreciated!

On the plus side however, after have gone through my stash tin I found some beautiful little flower, dragonfly and butterfly beads and I've made a cute little bracelet with them...

I think this is a bit of fun. The flower beads are made of metal sheet in lilac, purple and black and the dragonflies and butterflies are Tibetan silver. Not something I normally make but very sweet I think :)

Thanks for reading x

Fimo Swirls

After a very generous present from my parents last year of a jewellery kiln, I have started to experiment with Silver Clay and hope to make a lot more of this in the future - however, as I'm sure many of you know, Silver Clay is very expensive and so in order to have a little practice I have been using Fimo instead!

Fimo is very versatile and with the aid of a pasta machine to make it paper thin, and a lot of rolling and cutting you can create some fantastic results, which once baked in the oven it becomes rock hard and is perfecting usable in jewellery making.

So here is one of my first attempts....

I made the bead last year with blue and white Fimo and thought the colours were so vivid that I ought to make something with it! I think it works well as a pendant - the Fimo bead is about 15mm wide, so is a good size and hangs lovely.

I plan to make some more Fimo beads soon, so will go into the process more in depth next time.

Couldn't get the photo to come out right though! The weather is miserable and so not much light, but not making any excuses it's a terrible picture!

Let me know what you think?

Thanks for reading x

When Cats Collide!

Afternoon to all my lovely followers - it's a bit dismal here today, but I find this forces me to stay inside and make jewellery ;)


As promised I have created a piece of jewellery using my gorgeous 'Tabby' lamp work beads mentioned in my previous post. I really wanted the beads to become the focal point of the piece and started off looking for something in a contrasting colour which would achieve this, but couldn't find anything in my bead stash!


Second thoughts were needed and whilst rummaging I came across some leopardskin round gemstones I've had for a while but never had inspiration to use...

At first I thought these would clash terribly with the Tabby's, but when I put them together I discovered that the similarities complimented each other in a way I never would have thought of!

With the merging of the Tabby and Leopardskin beads I have called this piece 'When Cats Collide'. I love this piece and with all the intricate colours in the beads, it really catches the eye. I also love this picture, I think the colours came out well and the stone (which I found on a walk) feels like it merges in with the piece.

Let me know what you think?

Thanks for reading x

In with the old and in with the new!

Firstly I'd like to say welcome to all my new followers and hope that you enjoy reading my blog :)

I've been digging around again in my archived jewellery that I made last year, and have found some pieces that need to be torn apart completely, some that are salvageable/adaptable, and some that I love and  are perfect for bringing back into the limelight!

So in with the old....

I'm not happy with the picture itself - could not for the life of me work out how to erase the duvet hiding at the back! This is however an old fave of mine made with Tibetan silver, Czech and fabric beads with a sterling silver clasp. I love these fabric beads, and think they look so summery. I think I'll be sourcing some more this year and seeing what else I can come up with!

And in with the new....

I was having a hunt through my woefully inadequate bead stash trying to find inspiration, when I came across these beautiful lamp work beads I bought last year from Bumpy Beads,  they are called 'Tabby' and they really do look like sparkly shiny tabby cats! They are a kind of sand and brown swirly colour with pockets of silver and sparkle in them too.

I have 7 in total, and plan to create something with them this week, so check back to find out if I can do them justice (unlike my dreadful photo!).

Thanks for reading x

Off the Mark!

How exciting to have finally gotten round to getting this blog off the ground!

I've been making jewellery now for a couple of years and really enjoy the creative process involved. I hope this blog will become a part of this process by generating new ideas, meeting and making new friends and followers and becoming an outlet to share my makes and mistakes!

This last week I've been rediscovering  the jewellery I made last year which I had packaged up whilst I embarked on some much needed DIY at home. I've never used the web to sell my jewellery, but plan to do this in the future and need to improve my photography skills before this can happen.

A good friend of mine brought me back a beautiful lava stone from her holiday in Mauritius and I plan to use this in some of my photography....

Ok, I know it's a little rough around the edges and the colour of the Swarovski crystal is not done justice - but the stone looks good right?!? lol!

Hopefully with a bit more practice I can improve on the photography - but I will be making more jewellery and will try and use this blog to take you though it as I go.

Thanks for reading and hopefully following! x

Stacey