Autumnal Jewellery

As well as making things with yarn and fabric I like to make jewellery, and have sold it in the past to friends and relatives, as well as on craft stalls. I've made such a lot of yarny things in the last couple of years that I don't make as much jewellery as I used to, but every once in a while I get my beads and pliers out and sit down for an afternoon's creating. This week the richness of the season's autumnal colours inspired me to make a necklace from some bright, firepolished glass beads. 

I wanted to keep the colour selection as random as possible, so I threaded them onto a piece of tiger tail wire and finished it with a lobster clasp. 

It's a simple make and the beads have a lustre to them which makes the glass catch the light.

I love the prettiness of them.

Still feeling inspired, I got my semi-precious beads out and made another simple item, a bracelet made from stones which reflect the colours of fallen leaves - agate, jade and jasper. I finished it off with a sweet silver clasp.

The stones give the bracelet a nice weight, and they feel cool to the touch. Some of them are clear while others have interesting streaks and patterns.

Here's another very easy autumnal bracelet which I made last year. It's made from wooden beads on elastic thread in bright, zingy shades of orange, yellow and purple. It reminds me of autumn flowers like chrysanthemums, and vegetables such as aubergines and pumpkins. 

Happy colours, I think.

A few years ago I made this orange and antique silver bracelet from a very random collection of odd beads. I like the mix of large and small, clear and opaque, and the mix of materials. For the findings I used tiger tail wire and an antique-effect clasp.

Isn't this large glass foil bead gorgeous? It reminds me of a sweet wrapped in shiny paper.



I've enjoyed my little bead diversion, but I think it's time to go and do some more work on J's university blanket. I'm determined to get it finished sooner, rather than later!

Creativity and Party Rings

Due to it being the summer holidays, most of my posts recently have been about days out or flowers, so I thought it was time for a bit of crafty creativity. I've bought a few of these ceramic hand-made buttons in various places, and enjoy making them into simple pendants which are very easy and quick to make.

The designs on the buttons are floral (of course) and quite intricate, so I like to match them with plain beads and cotton cord in toning colours.

I love these rich aubergine and plum shades.

I also finished my first attempt at Lucy of Attic 24's Bower Bird, and was very pleased with it. I made it as a present for my mum and she thought it was very sweet.

However, I think I'll use a lighter yarn next time and a smaller hook as it turned out to be a bit of a beast! (I used a dk cotton and size 3.5 crochet hook). My next one should turn out a little more dainty, but I must say, it was a very easy pattern to follow.

And so, finally, to the party rings. The youngsters in our house like to have them as a bit of a retro treat, and sometimes buy them to share. I don't really like them, as they're a bit too sweet for my liking, but when I saw these raspberry ripple ones I had to get my camera out - what pretty colours!

I put them on a spotty plate on my hexagon patchwork and admired them, whilst my daughters wondered why their mother was arranging and photographing biscuits.

Funny how blogging makes you look at things differently - I did let them eat them in the end, though :)

Bead Therapy

I haven't blogged about my jewellery making before, have I?

 I started making jewellery 18 years ago when my oldest daughter was 2, and I wanted to go back to having a creative hobby after the all-consuming excitement of having a baby. At that time bead shops were starting to pop up and you could order beads from catalogues too. I bought some tools and findings and a small bead assortment and had a go at making earrings. I used to have short hair and wear dangly ones, so I started to make them in my favourite colours.

I soon became addicted to making my own jewellery and progressed to pendants, necklaces and bracelets. I'm mostly self-taught from books and just experimenting, but I've also done a couple of short courses, as well as two silversmithing courses which were much more technical and really enjoyable. I've built up a sizeable collection of beads since then and have sold my jewellery at craft fairs.

So, a couple of weeks ago on a wet Sunday afternoon I decided it was time to make a necklace or two. I was feeling very inspired by the blues and pinks in the flowers below, so I selected beads in these colours.

The first necklace I made was a mixture of some pretty glass beads which I've had a while. I like the rich pinks and the little pink roses on the deep blue beads.

Then I made a simple necklace from beads in these shades of blue. I like the frosted look of these acrylic beads. 

I was pleased with that one so I made another very similar one, but in deep pink this time. 

Finally I decided to make a floating necklace with a mixture of beads. I enjoy making this style of necklace, as I can choose random beads and space them out with little silvery crimp beads.

I was very pleased with my necklaces - not bad for a couple of hours' work, I think. I've made lots of jewellery over the last few years and will share some in coming posts, as well as new things I've been working on too.

 See you soon.