Terrible Blogger Makes Amends

I cannot believe how long it has been since my last post. I cannot even claim to have been busy making jewellery. In fact I have been mostly knitting. 2 sweaters, a cardigan, a hat and 2 shawls, in case you were interested.

I have made very little jewellery lately, but I did make 3 pendants for my neice's bridesmaids (the wedding is this Saturday). They are 1" sterling silver circles, which I have wrapped with Swarovski crystals and sterling silver wire. They are very delicate and quite pretty but I haven't got a photo of them yet. The colours of the crystals are just stunning.

Some other news is that the June/July issue of BEAD magazine has been in the shops for over a month now. It is the issue that has a feature on me as a jewellery designer and bead business owner, plus a project feature on my Fantabulous Bracelet. I have now produced a kit for the tropical colourway of this bracelet and it is available in my online store at http://www.beadgarden.co.uk/ . Of course their photography at the magazine beats mine hands down!

I thought that I would make up for not updating this blog by posting some free instructions for a little charm/keyring or even earrings motif.

Spring into summer pendant/charm

You will need; Beading thread
Beading needle
Seed beads - 3 colours of size 8/0, 2 colours of size 11/0 & 1 size 15/0.
6mm Round Bead
Jump Ring

This motif is worked from the centre.

1. Thread your needle and thread on 12 seed beads (A). Go through the first seed bead again to make a ring. Secure this ring shape by passing your needle and thread through the ring once more.

2. Add your 6mm bead to the centre of your ring by threading it on and then passing your needle through the seed bead at the opposite side of the ring of seed beads. Pass your thread through 3 more seed beads.

3. Commence herringbone stitch by adding 2 seed beads (B) and then passing your needle through the next 2 beads in the ring. Continue adding beads in this way until you have added 6 pairs of seed bead (B).

Reposition your thread so that it emerges from a (B).

4. Repeat step 3 with seed beads (C), (D), and then (E), following the same thread path through the centre ring and repositioning the thread to the top of the next stack each time. Ensure that the new rows of beads do not twist. The pairs of beads added should begin to lie side by side as you continue to add rows.

5. Bring the thread through a bead at the top of one of the stacks of beads and add 1 seed bead (F). Pass the needle down through the next bead in the same stack, and the 2 seed beads below it. Add 1 x (F), 1 x (A) and 1 x (F) then pass your needle UP through the corresponding beads on the next stack. Continue with this step until all six stacks are complete.

6. Reposition your thread so that it emerges from an (F) at the top of the nearest stack. Add 7 more (F)’s and go back through the one at the top of stack to create a small ring of seed beads. Pass your needle and thread through this ring again to secure it and then secure your thread by passing it through several beads in your pendant. When the thread feels secure enough you can cut it. Add the jump ring and attach your pendant/charm to a chain, keyring, ribbon or handbag.

I promise to try to blog more often! More next time.

Snowstorm Slave Bracelet Project

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted. Sorry about that!

My latest news is that one of my jewellery designs is featured in the current edition of Bead (UK) Magazine (Issue 8). It is a slave bracelet, which is a bracelet that connects to your finger as a ring. It is based on my Snowstorm Necklace kit. To go with the magazine article I have produced a kit containing all of the beads, etc. on my website http://www.beadgarden.co.uk/ .

It is surprisingly comfy, but not something I would wear for a day of chasing the kids and changing nappies (which rules out most days for me). It would look great for a special occasion, maybe even for a bride.

Bead magazine are also running a feature about me in June, together with another of my projects and featuring some more of my jewellery. I am quite looking forward to it but I desperately hope they don't ask for a photo of me, although they probably will do.

I am not one for new years resolutions but I am trying to get a bit better at organising my beads and jewellery. At the moment I am taking pictures of beads and jewellery for my great new inventory. I honestly did not know that I had quite that many beads, even though I run a beads business.

It would probably take me ages if I had to price everything up myself and do all of the maths. But, with the help of some fantastic software I can create a file for each bead and component, add a photo if I like and then just add the price and quantity. Then, if I make a piece of jewellery I can create a file for it, add a picture and then select the beads, etc. that I used to make it from a list. Tap in how many I used and how long it took, etc. then the software just calculates the cost of the jewellery and now must I should charge for it. BRILLIANT!!!

But that's not all! It also removes the beads that I have used from the "stash" files, so I know how many beads I have left. This will make my life a lot easier as I am terribly disorganised usually. Even when I try to organise myself, I just end up with note books everywhere and no idea of what I have put where. So I am very impressed with this software.

I have added a link to this software on the right hand side of this page, if you are interested. If, like me, you are UK based you can take advantage of the weak dollar (sorry America).