Back To Work...

 Well, it took a few days to get the holiday washing done and the outstanding jobs out of the way, but we're back into the old routine now. I've had a few hours to devote to the chickens - I have to admit I spent far too long on the pearls as firstly we were experiencing a heatwave and inside the house was hot, sticky & uncomfortable and secondly, I just could not get them right.  Sorted now I think and I am working on the irridescent plumage of the black chicken now, much more fun.

 I've been experimenting with making little pendants full of the seaside - still in the prototype stage.

 After a false start with a super-glue incident turning the inside of the bulb milky white, I;ve got the look I want.  Now I have to wear the pendant for a few days to see if it will stand up to it and also to check nothing untoward happens.  I've already had one of them where the water has gone a but yellow for some reason, perhaps the cork?  Any suggestions welcome.

I'm hoping this works, as they are so pretty and a great reminder of our holiday.

Masterpiece in Miniature

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you will know just how soppy I am about my dog - here he is this morning, shutting his eyes in resignation as I take yet another photo...

Last time w went to Boston, I bought a fantastic little pendant at a craft fair with miniscule pigeons on a park bench, set in resin.  I wore it to death, until the resin went yellow and finally a chunk fell out.  I contacted the makers and ended up ordering myself another pendant, a custom order this time.

It arrived yesterday and I love it - look, a teeny-weeny Clovis just about to pee on a fire hydrant! (He pees on everything, it makes it his.....)

It's very difficult to photograph, here it is in daylight.

The company who made this for me are Stern Design Works - I can thoroughly recommend them!

This One's Mine!

While searching through my stash to find beads for my sister's necklace, I came across the perfect beads for my own.  My lovely focal bead has been sat on the sideboard for weeks now while I pondered what to do with it.  I discovered these lovely little pink and grey natural pebble beads which I have had for quite a while and never had a project worthy of them.  The two match beautifully and I m really happy with the result.  If I can't make it to the beach, at least I can wear a little reminder of it around my neck!

Birthday Blue

It was my sister's birthday yesterday - we won't go into how old she is, but she's older than me...
She's had a tough time of it lately; living in Greece has not been a bundle of laughs over the past year with ever decreasing finances and ever increasing taxes, social unrest and general chaos.  To add to the misery, she had her house burgled a few weeks ago and anything that wasn't nailed down was taken, including her jewellery.

I thought it might be nice to have something made especially for her to kick-start a new collection, so commissioned a gorgeous focal bead from the talented Kaz at Cheeky Cherub Designs.  I wracked my brain for days thinking how to show it off to it's best advantage without detracting from the bead itself - I'm out of practise when it comes to jewellery-making these days.  I hope I have achieved it!

Sunshine....

School broke up three days ago and I have been making the most of the sunshine by doing the garden - it was a jungle out there after a month's heavy rain.

I've also been catching up (or trying to) with some of my outstanding commissions - knitting little shoes, hats and tables; designing a knitted wolverine, knitting more pebbles. It's also been an opportunity to go through my big box of jewellery that I cart to various local craft fairs with less and less enthusiasm.  I've photographed some pieces that have been tucked away for far too long, and they will be in my Etsy shop over the next few days.  I don't get time to make jewellery any more, and it is a shame that what I have is hidden away - here's a chance for some necklaces and earrings to go to good homes.

Pretty Petals...

I took a small break from commissioned work last night in order to crochet this adorable lariat.  It's from a pattern in this month's The Knitter magazine and as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted one.  It is extremely easy to make, just endless repetitions of the simple petal motif with chain in between - I think the finished length was about 3 metres.  Then just tie the ends together and loop it around your neck a few times.  I just know I will wear this a great deal and I think I would like one in a different colour too....

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year! It's been a lovely Christmas break but unfortunately over far too soon - it's back to work at the day job tomorrow and I don't want to go!  There wasn't much time for arts & crafts over the last 10 days and I would dearly like a few free days to do more.  I did manage to make this little bag for my new phone - it's been so long since I replaced my phone that I didn't know they no longer make them the right shape to fit in the special little phone-pocket in my handbag.  As I am very hard on my phone, jamming it into pockets together with keys and dog treats, dropping it in mud, dropping it on concrete, using it in the rain...you get the idea...it seemed sensible to give it a fighting chance to last as long as the last one by making it a protective case.  This was sewn from a scrap of gorgeous watery-blue cotton, lined with bright pink felt  with an appliqued goldfish on the back.  I'm sure it won't stay looking like this for long....

I've also managed to put the finishing touches to this scarf which was knitted well before Christmas but needed the fiddly-diddlies to arrive from China.  Now it has the sweetest little mother-of-pearl buttons sewn all over it, each one with a tiny flower design on it.  Pretty and practical, it can be buttoned in place however it's new owner pleases.

I've made a fair bit of headway with this miniature fireplace - now it needs some knitted tiles to go around it as well as a grate with knitted logs and flames.....nothing too difficult, eh?  We were watching Sherlock on tv last night when I saw exactly the right kind of fireplace tiles I want to make for this - I just wonder how to condense them into 2 cm squares!

I did manage to fight my way through the debris and get to my desk for some painting a few days ago.  I've had this picture in mind since we went to Boston and photographed these tame sparrows in a bush in the park.  I know they are common little birds with no fancy plumage, but I just love them - they are such characters and I spent ages hand feeding them at Boston Harbour last year.

I got given this spectacular necklace by the lovely Sybille from Magpie Magic as a combined birthday/Christmas present.  It is so pretty and I have enjoyed wearing it over the holidays with no fear of it getting pulled apart by little fingers or covered in goodness-knows-what - the hazards of working in an infant school.  It's been great wearing decent clothes and staying clean for a fortnight - the worst I've been covered in has been a bit of mud from dog-walking and gardening.  That all ends tomorrow, back to wearing the scruffy clothes.......

Finally, daft photograph of the week.  I can't leave anything soft and fluffy around without the dog thinking it's a custom-made pillow for him.  Nothing says comfort like a stuffed octopus apparently....

Cornucopia.....

The last jellyfish painting was part of a swap with the talented Sybille at Magpie Magic in exchange for one of her gorgeous necklaces. It arrived in the post yesterday and I adore it.  I am afraid the photo does not do it justice - the weather is overcast and wet today and I just cannot get a decent picture even with my daylight lamp. The necklace is very long, with a triple strand at the bottom and is full of wonderful treasures - an ammonite, glass beads, wooden beads, filagree, pieces of shell, beads that look like shell, you name it, it's on there.  I already own another of Sybille's necklaces which also has a enthralling collection of matching and coordinating beads and bits - they are always a pleasure to wear as they not only look good, you can spend hours admiring all the little details!  I would highly recommend her jewellery - it's all original, beautifully made and always fascinating.

Last week I also got sent a little parcel with some delicious beads in it from another talented lady, Jo Sacker.  She made these for me as part of the exchange a few months ago for a knitted dog and sofa. As she has moved house and was in a bit of disarray as far as bead-making facilities were concerned, it took a while to complete the deal - but I think you'll agree it was well worth the wait.  I am planning to make a bracelet with these very soon.

The postman also brought me some scrummy rust coloured sock yarn and some guinea-pig coloured eyelash yarn.  This little guy just needs a set of back legs - and then a little friend and somewhere to live!

It's that time of year again, fruit is starting to ripen and our local pick-your-own farm opened last weekend.  We took a trip up there yesterday and were pleased to discover that not only were the strawberries ripe and luscious, there were plenty of gooseberries as well.

So today is a jam making day - we ran out of last years' jam about a month ago, and I had to resort to buying a jar of raspberry jam for my daughter's breakfast toast - she wasn't keen on the home-made marmelade or  elderflower jelly.  She'll be all right for a while with this little lot....

And finally, I have no painting commissions on the go at the moment so it's an opportunity to have a little play with the Inktense pigment blocks. 

It's been quite a while since I painted a tiger so I am thoroughly enjoying this.  The black markings are being painstakingly painted with black Inktense diluted to make ink, the rest of the picture will hopefully be a bit more free and colourful.  The great thing about Inktense is that once dry, the colour can be painted over time and again with no ill effects, so as long as you plan what you are going to do, great depth and vibrancy of colour is possible.

I'm off to continue this while I have the time!

Fluffy and Feathery......

After having a success with the first experimental fluffy guinea pig, I have made another one, ginger this time with a white blaze on his forehead and little white feet.  He has the squeaker inside and wool jointed legs and comes with a cosy bed, carrot and food bowl.  This one will be going on Etsy shortly.  I'm liking the fluffy ones, they almost look real!

I'm hopelessly out of practice when it comes to making jewellery at the moment - over the past year or so the knitted commissions have kind of taken over.  So it has taken me a while to finish this necklace, whereas a couple of years ago it would have been finished in an afternoon. 

This consists of a little hand-made black wire nest lined with soft black feathers and ribbons and sprinkled with shiny black beads, containing one speckled egg.  Hanging from beneath the nest on a small chain are a couple of matching black feathers, and the main chain features black faceted glass beads and black star-shaped plastic beads. When worn, the nest kind of rests on one's cleavage!  I am not planning on putting this on Etsy as I have craft fairs coming up, but if you are interested in buying it before then, it will be £15 plus postage - just drop me a line.

Ocean Sunset

This is a commissioned set with an unusual combination of charms and red beads, which I think has worked very well. Once again, not something I would have thought of on my own but someone else's ideas gave me something to work on and it was a lot of fun figuring out how to make them into wearable pieces.

It's been such a long time since I made jewellery - I have bought new beads over the past year and they have just sat there while I have been otherwise occupied. Perhaps it is time to get back into the swing of things - I'm also always willing to take on commissions, so don't be hesitant in asking!

Tell Me What You Think To This........

I haven't made jewellery for such a long time - this set is just for me and I doubt I'll be making any similar for any one else.


Here's a close up of the bracelet....what do you think I have used to make this pretty bauble?(hands down you in the back, I know you know, but give someone else a chance!) Have I splashed out on some gen-you-wine chunks of turquoise? Nope.
Are they plastic imitation? Nope.
Paper-mache? Nope.

I'll put you out of your misery - these beads were made from............


....yes, a potato. Not only do I paint the darn things, I'm wearing them as well. It all started when I got a Secret Santa parcel through the post containing a very delicious box of chocolates and also a sheet of paper with How to Make a Potato Bracelet instructions tucked into an envelope. At first I laughed heartily, but then had a thought that if this method worked, it would make quite a fitting keepsake to remember the past 18 month spud marathon. Originally, I had planned that I would wait until I had the 100th potato finished and use that as the basis for a bracelet, but as you can read below, I never actually got Potato No.100 in my hand, so this has been made with the 99th - not quite as symbolic but close enough!


First I had to cut the potato into rough cubes, slightly larger than the beads I wanted to end up with. Then I speared them through the centre on a wooden skewer and left them to dry. The first batch were put on top of the radiator on some tinfoil and just left - these ended up quite angular and a few sort of caved in on themselves. After my son's adventures making freeze-dried potato stew with his Bolivian cookbook that he got for Christmas (a whole other anecdote...) I made a second batch and popped them in the freezer overnight. The has the effect of drawing the moisture out of the potato as it defrosts, making it dry quicker but also you can squidge it a bit and soften the edges - these are the smaller, rounded beads. Above is how they look when dry - they are as solid as pebbles.


Then each bead was painted turquoise with acrylic paint and left on a knitting needle to dry.


They needed a second coat to get a good covering - this is half the mess I got into......


When the turquoise paint is completely dry, paint the beads with black acrylic paint. Now, you have to be quick here - the instructions said paint with black paint and rub off with a paper towel - that just left me with a smudgy black bead. What you have to do is mix a slightly watery black acrylic, paint it on then quickly dip the bead in a pot of water and rub with a damp paper towel until the black is left only in the cracks and fissures of the beads.


When this is dry, do the same with white acrylic paint - you can see in the photo how little remains in order for it to look authentic.

Finally, paint the beads with two or three coats of acrylic varnish - I used matt finish as I preferred to have a soft sheen rather than a high shine on the beads - it's a matter of personal taste.

It's a very effective but quite labour-intensive way of making your own turquoise - I'm pleased with the results and wore my necklace to work today where it got quite a few compliments. The beads seem really hard and robust, although doing the washing up with the bracelet on might not be such a good idea on a regular basis!

Ticking Over Nicely.....

Well, I'm just about recovered from the madness of last week after a quiet weekend and an enforced day off work yesterday due to my daughter's streaming cold.
The above necklace was made last week but didn't sell......I may modify it a little bit before putting it on Etsy. There will be quite a few new items on Etsy soon when I can get some decent photographs - of we ever see daylight again the the UK that is. We've had I don't know how many weeks of rain, cloud, rain and heavy rain.


Meanwhile, guinea pig production is in full swing as are the final few potatoes......chill that champagne, the end is nigh.

A Bit of Skullduggery......

Some more last minute pieces as I received some larger skull and bone beads in the post yesterday.


A bead and thong necklace........


....a handbag dangle.......


...my personal favourite, a skull and bones bracelet........


...and a mini-skull and bead bracelet. These are all for sale at the Christmas fairs today - not very Christmassy I know, but I like to fly in the face of convention. If you see anything here that you fancy, let me know as even if I sell the above pieces, I can replicate them for you.

It's taken a week of very hard work, but I have everything priced and packed and ready to go - wish me luck!

Back from Bolivia....now I can relax.....

Yesterday my son arrived back from Bolivia, all in one piece albeit a bit beardy. I think if I'd known what he and his girlfriend had got up to out there, I'd have been having a nervous breakdown but as it's all over now and they are fine there is no point in freaking out! They went on the 'most dangerous road in the world' in a taxi..even the photo above makes my stomach churn; they had a lit stick of dynamite thrown at them during a street riot - it blew my son's hat off; they went into the jungle in the dead of night and saw crocodiles - and these are only the tales I've heard so far. Think I might need a stiff drink before hearing the rest.....


He brought me a lovely little necklace, handmade by natives - I absolutely adore this and wish I could work out how it was done in order to make a few of my own! Give me time.....


And a cute little hand embroidered purse - the character of the alpacas caught in these tiny little masterpieces is amazing. I know they probably churn them out for tourists, but I can appreciate the skill involved.

As for me......potato No.77 beckons - there must be an easier way of making a living.......

If You Can't Afford It, Make It Yourself!!

Where I live there is a lovely little jewellery shop that sells all silver pieces in contemporary designs. I have to walk past it every time I use the car park to go shopping and can never resist having a look in the window as there is always something I would very much like to own...in fact, I wouldn't turn down the chance to possess each and every shiny thing on display! But times being as they are, I can't justify spending the supermarket money on pretty things.....

Occasionally, however, it is possible to re-create something using what I have in my craft stash, which is what I've done with the above necklace. I've been drooling over this one for a couple of weeks now, and found some beads that would be suitable while rummaging in the bargain bags at the Gem & Bead show, and the rest I already had in my collection, so it was just a matter of putting it all together. There are a couple of differences - the large round bead should be wooden and the thonging should be double, but I am very pleased with the results - and all for under £5!

Banana Trees & Better Butterflies......

If you've been reading this blog for a long time, you'll know that I have a penchant for growing tropical plants even though I live in rural Hampshire. Last year my two banana plants reached a size which made it impossible for them to come indoors for the winter and I was very concerned about them both, especially after some early snow in October all but destroyed the most tender of the two, the one I grew from seed many years ago. So my other half, who currently works in Belgium building racing car engines and has a large, rather empty and amply windowed apartment, suggested he take them back with him to overwinter there. I had also given him a small purple banana plant for his very own that I had rescued from the casualty corner of the local garden centre.

Well, all three thrived in the warm centrally heated atmosphere and grew...and grew...and grew. Spring came and we started thinking it might be time to bring them back to the garden - easier said than done. Now none of them would fit in a car, and business trips over with the company van were either in totally the wrong part of England or non-existent. The bananas started to falter having gone so long indoors and not having any breezes to strengthen their tall stems.

But at last today someone had a trip over with an empty van and the route sort of went past our area, so at the crack of dawn this morning the bananas were finally delivered home. I've just put the largest one back in his place by the pond, splinted up the purple one which is now over 6 ft tall and leaves are starting to break, and am still plucking up the courage to totally rearrange all the plants on the patio to accommodate the third. The garden wouldn't look amiss if a couple of monkeys swung through the trees and a parrot landed on the lawn....


I wasn't entirely happy with the necklace I made the other day - I am very impatient and instead of waiting until I had bought the cord I really wanted, I cobbled it together with some not-quite-so-nice cord I already had. After wearing it yesterday and being annoyed by my own half-baked efforts, I bought some decent cord and restrung it...which is what I should have done in the first place. I'm a Sagittarius....impetuous to a fault! Sorry for the rubbish photo - it's very hard to take a picture on your own of a necklace when you are wearing it!

Next on the agenda - more felt puppy sets, a portrait to put the finishing touches to, and yet more potatoes......

Well, Durrrrrr.......

After work today I had a potter around the town and a look in Claire's Accessories. I saw a necklace I really liked with wooden butterflies and glass beads strung wide apart on some brown thread. I was just about to reach up and check the price with a view to buying it when the penny dropped that I had all the makings of this at home.....so I went home and made it. Not quite the same as the one in the shop, but near enough for me.

Key to My Heart......

Having come across some fantastic little vintage keys at a car boot sale over the weekend, I was inspired to make a couple of necklaces. Felt a bit creaky as it has been a very long time since I have wielded the pliers, and the bead boxes were a tad dusty, but everything was still there! The first was a simple cluster of various charms - a red glass heart, a key, a little ceramic dove and a clear glass cross, with a few pearls & beads thrown in for good measure, all hung on a plain black thong.

The second was a bit more ornate, with several glass hearts, a bigger brass key, as well as a piece of chain and a tiny key charm, again on a simple black thong. Both will be for sale in the not too distant future, check on Etsy or e-mail me - both are £15 plus p&p.

Socks, Beads & Zebras....

This week I've been making a few things for myself for a change. I've had this yarn for months - it's been a failed scarf, a failed pair of gloves, but finally found it's calling as a pair of socks. I'm not usually very good at socks, but these turned out pretty well - they fit and they match each other which is all one can ask for! And they are nice and warm too..


Also hanging around for months was a necklace I bought at a car boot sale last summer with the intention of taking it to pieces and making it into a long necklace. The beads are a dark greeny-blue with AB coating, and the necklace had a fabulous AB clasp that reminds me of the 'shiny beetles' we used to find in our garden when we lived in Greece - if you've ever read 'My Family and Other Animals' by Gerald Durrell, he used to see an old man in Corfu with these beetles tied to strings for sale as playthings. We just used to marvel at their irridescent wing cases and leave them about their business! Anyway, I finally got around to making the long necklace and had enough beads left over to make a matching bracelet with the clasp as a focal point.

Finally, I've been making slow but steady progress with my zebras and enjoying every brushstroke! I did wonder if this was too ambitious, but it's going well - looks a bit strange with them floating in mid-air, but the water will go in last of all.