Category Archives: something shared

Small parcels of wonder…

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Oh dear, I’ve been a bit remiss here. I haven’t written a post for a couple of weeks. I haven’t been idle. I’ve been working with some new materials, on a new batch of beads. It’s quite a time-consuming process, but a very fun one and I’m quite consumed with it. But, more of this anon. With no new makes to share, I thought I’d offer a little view of some of the new beady goods that have arrived from others in the last month or so. It’s been a time of holding the purse strings quite tight, and a lot of my funds have gone on tools and bead-making materials. So, post days have been fewer, but all the more treasured for it. One of my new favourites is Happy Fallout. Although, I’m really quite sickened that I didn’t come up with the text technique on these palimpsest beads.

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Here’s a few more beauties:

happy fallout

I’ve been a fan of Jo Lucksted‘s ceramics for ages. I’ve used her buttons in several pieces but she doesn’t usually offer beads for sale, so these had to be had.

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Aren’t they marvellous? I shouldn’t really look when Petra updates her shop but I find it hard not to - and harder still not to spot some needful thing. These are just some of the latest additions to my Scorched Earth collection.

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I just love that pale lavender colour. And that’s why I had to bag this clasp, a combination of Rebecca Anderson‘s wirework and Bo Hulley‘s ceramics, from The Curious Bead Shop.il_570xN.442706415_sy8z

I have Rebecca to thank / blame for the next acquisitions. I risked the customs trap to get these marvels (and a couple of clasps) from Amanda Davey. And, yes, of course I got caught. amanda davie

I’d had my eye on that tatty lace pendant for some time. It’s going to get a simple treatment - and it’s staying with me.

I got another customs hit when I received a parcel from Tree Wing Studio, but I’ve wanted some of Rebekah’s aster beads for ages, so it was worth it. I got them in three different colours, along with some other flowers. She also, very kindly, popped in a free owl.treewingstudio

I’ll leave you with these beautiful glass oil drums from Helen Chalmers. Expect to see them in earrings very soon!

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New designs and photo woe

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If I wasn’t so set on my plans for a shop facelift, I’d be regretting embarking on it already. It is surely the worst time of year to be taking masses of photos. I have a good number of new pieces, and I’ve taken dozens of pictures of some of them and I still don’t have the necessary five advised by Etsy. In fact, I don’t even have one that I like of this necklace.

glimmer blue necklace

There are little faceted labradorite tubes between the larger czech glass beads (which are also more lovely than they look here). They give off wonderful flashes. You can see some trace of it here but its nowhere near that you can see by eye. To make things worse, the pendant is proving tricky to photograph on the white background. Anyway, I thought I’d stop by to share some of my more successful pics of what’s to come.

pierce earrings

(lampwork beads - GlassBeadArt; ceramic tips - Scorched Earth)

lava pink shock bracelet

(ceramic charm - Scorched Earth; ceramic lantern - Gaea)

indigo line bracelet

fleshly necklace

(ceramic focal - NKP Designs)

thick hemp rainbow bracelet

(lampwork bead - Tobairas Beads)

polar bracelet

(lampwork polar bear - Madeline Bunyan; penguin charm - Rejetta Sellers)

flower remake bracelet

(ceramic flower - Captured Moments)

light fitting

Tomorrow will be another day of crouching in the cold trying to get decent pictures. I may be some time. In the meantime, the sale continues on. Thanks to Picmonkey, I managed to put together a couple of collages of pieces available. All the earrings are currently available for between £6 and £10, and the bracelets for £10 to £15. All you need to do is enter the discount code (SPRINGCLEAN) when you check out. They’re rather ridiculous prices, really, and ones I won’t be able to offer on these new pieces - so now’s the time to buy, if you’re after a bargain! Click here to get shopping.

Earrings - Spring Clean Sale

PicMonkey Collage

Right, time I got back to the photoshopping…

Spring Clean Sale

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It’s time for a spring clean, and I’m starting with the Etsy jewellery shop. I have lots of new pieces to list but before I put them up I want to give the shop a bit of an overhaul. When it first opened, it seemed such a job just getting the basics done and getting the listings up there. Now, after just a few months, and after learning lots from others, I can see lots of things that need fine-tuning. The whole thing needs more cohesion! There are a number of things I want to change. I’m not happy with some of the photos and I’m really not happy with the style of the listings. I find writing them very awkward, and I want to come up with a new way of doing it.

The pricing is also inconsistent. This isn’t helped by there being some pieces I made some time ago, which were priced rather low. I want to avoid putting up the prices of things that have been listed at a lower price. I also want to avoid having to redo listings for all the current stock. So, I’m going to have a sale while I’m sorting out the changes I want to make and preparing new listings. There’ll be 25% off everything, using the discount code SPRINGCLEAN. When I’ve finished fussing, I’ll be taking down some of the pieces, rather than redoing all the remaining listings, so if there’s anything you’d like to reserve please let me know - otherwise it may not be available after the sale! 25% may not sound a huge discount but with quite a number of pieces, the sale price will be really rather low. For example, enter the code and this bracelet will be £11.25.

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Both of these pairs of earrings are now £6.75

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sailing by

And this necklace will be just £16.12.

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There’s plenty more like that in the shop. So do head over. And don’t forget the discount code: SPRINGCLEAN!

Fade away and Giveaway

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I’ve been wondering over the last few days, how many folk share my enthusiasm for what I started off on Sunday, terming ‘barely there’ colours. ’Barely there’ doesn’t really meet it. To be more precise, it’s more faded cool tones, with some warmer touches. The bracelet currently on my page header serves as some example, as do these photos by Stephane Couturier, that I came across recently.

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https://www.stephanecouturier.fr/couturier/accueil.html

Looking at them, I’m drawn back to the phrase ‘barely there’, perhaps it is closer to the mark, thinking about it. I was asking myself whether I was alone in this liking, when making this bracelet at the weekend. There was quite a bit of umm-ing and ahh-ing.

faded shades 1

I made another this morning. I got some kyanite a couple of days ago and when this blue poppy turned up this morning, they had to go together.

faded shades 2

The poppy was made by Elise Canning. I got a number of flowers from her and they’re all wonderful. I’m not always a fan of polymer flowers - I find some a little sugary - but these ones are beauties. It was only after I’d made both bracelets that I realised they both had flowers in them. While it wasn’t planned, it seems quite fitting that there should be a little something blossoming away quietly there.

The other flower is one of Rebekah Payne’s (Tree Wings Studio). It arrived a few days ago with a lovely set that I won in a giveaway on her blog. I’ve won a couple of blog giveaways recently and I’m always stupidly chuffed. One of my other wins was in Rebecca Anderson’s (Songbead) pay-it-forward draw. There’s some extra fun elements in the PIF giveaway; one of them being that winners, in turn, ‘pay-it-forward’ and run their own giveaway. So, that’s what I’m doing here. It’s very easy to take part. All you need to do is comment on this post, leaving a contact email. The first three people to comment will each win a little handmade surprise from me, simple as that. I will also pick another two commenters, at random, and they will win gifts too. For added fun, your mystery gift will be sent on a mystery date some time in the next 365 days. And as I haven’t included any bead pictures on my blog yet, now seems a good time to do so! Although, that’s not to say you’ll win one of these…

Owls for blog

Of course, if you win you have to run your own PIF giveaway. You do, however, have 365 days in which to do it. And it doesn’t have to be beads or jewellery that you give; so long as it’s handmade and something you’d be happy to receive yourself, that’ll do sweet. Please make sure that you leave a contact email address with your comment. If I can’t contact you, I can’t count you in. The competition will close in a week’s time (23rd January). I’ll then contact the winners to get your postage addresses and check a few basic details - metal allergies, colour phobias, that sort of thing. You’ll then be scheduled to receive something lovely sometime in the next year. Fab, eh?