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.