All about jewellery making

Christmas is coming….and my bead shop, Bead Tree has new Christmassy beads!   I especially like these Christmas tree ‘window-pane’ beads.  They are so called due to the copper-plated edging that creates an effect similar to a window-pane.  On arrival one of these Christmas tree beads was damaged so I decided to used it to make myself a pendant with a wire-worked star at the top. 

Following instructions devised by Mark Lareau in his book called ‘All Wired Up’ I created a headpin with a star-shaped end.  This was not easy as it is necessary to judge the position of the star’s points by eye. It took me quite a few goes to make one I was happy with.  The rest is really very simple.  Insert the headpin into the bead with the star at the top and then create a wrapped loop (if you don’t know how to do this see my previous post here) at the other end from which to hang a selection of beads of your choice.  Add a jump ring at the top and ta-da here you have a fun Christmas tree bead pendant:

As well as my own tutorials I also have a collection of links to other festive beading projects on the internet in the Christmas beading section of my blog.

I just noticed that my blog has received over 100,000 visitors. A big thank you to all of you who stop by, I hope you enjoy it.

Bit of a retro theme going on here with this crocheted circle necklace.  The pattern for this striking design can be found on page 56 of ‘Crochet Jewellery: 40 Beautiful and Unique Designs’ by Kim Waejong (ISBN 978-1844482542).  It was very simple and enjoyable to make and all you need is a crochet hook, some thread and brass curtain rings!

I was surprised to realise how many of my necklaces are a short length when my preference is for longer styles. Just as with earrings I like dangly, jingly and arty! Feeling a bit short on inspiration I turned to my books on beading and based my flower bead lariat on a necklace featured in Stephanie Burnham’s book ‘100 Beaded Jewellery Designs’. I like to look through this book every now and then as it helps to get creativity flowing. I have had the acrylic bellflower beads for some time and not been inspired to use them but I think they look well here. What I like about lariats is their flexibility as you can choose how long or short to wear them. The seed beads are lilac-lined blue size 11/0s that I have for sale at Bead Tree.

It is that time of year when I begin to think about clothes and accessories for this coming autumn/winter.  I just love accessories whether it be jewellery, hats, bags, scarves or belts for their ability to transform or update an outfit.  They allow you to follow through with whatever particular vibe you are into at the time, to express your personality and to add some fun to your day.  I think I will be embracing this season’s upcoming ‘foho’ trend (Bohemian crossed with folk) as I have already been sewing woven braid onto jeans! Now what to make next….

This button necklace was very simple to make.  I found a good range of blue buttons lurking in my sewing box and decided to use their varying shades as a feature of my necklace.  Each button is connected to the next using jump rings that I made by wrapping wire around different size knitting needles (if you don’t know how to do this see my tutorial on making jump rings here).  For a bit of contrast I followed the pale blue buttons with white, finishing the necklace with a flower button.  The necklace is one long length, I wrapped it around my jewellery display bust to get a good photograph.

The focal is made from two buttons and wire.  It is really easy to do.  The central button has a shank at the back so I threaded my wire through one of the holes in the base button, up through the shank of the top button and down through the second hole of the base button again.  Then I pushed the remaining wire flush with the back of the base button so that I could make a wrapped loop at both the top and the bottom.  The top loop was used to connect the button focal to the main necklace and the loop at the bottom for a decorative bead dangle.

I found buttons lots of fun to work with and of course they are a recycled material too.  This encourages creativity as you have to work with what you have got.  I think the overall effect is quite retro and bohemian!