Happy New Year

Happy New Year


May you have
Walls for the wind
And a roof for the rain,
And drinks bedside the fire
Laughter to cheer you
And those you love near you,
And all that your heart may desire
- Celtic Blessing


And may you make only New Year resolutions that will be a joy to uphold!

I guess I do

I was thinking about missing sitting and doing the embroidery I talked about in my last post...
then the latest issue of Make Jewellery Magazine arrived and reminded me that I still do a lot, just with beads on the thread.
Find my latest project in the current issue.

I'm loving the beautiful model and the fact that the necklace fits her so well. I used one of those pre-made brass collars from Robins Beads, and now I've seen the end results I'll be going back for more and some of those gorgeous brass cuffs too.
I used semi precious stones, Turquoise and Jasper along with the seed beads, the cabs are quite small, but have lovely markings in them and are really well cut. I got them from Silvermoon Crystals, don't be put off by the eclectic mix on the homepage, their cabochons and semi precious stone beads are lush! another place I will be visiting again when I need to stock up.

matching earrings

collar detail

I also have quite a few brooches which I've bezelled onto a backing fabric so that I can add a bit more embroidery, I've been following the 'polo neck or not?' fashionista discussions and confess, mostly not, except when it's deeply cold, but I do admit to having a natty line in little knitted scarves which look fab with a beaded brooch on.

Simple cabochon embroidery

I have been known to treat myself to a really great cabochon from the team at Designer Cabochons whenever I see them at a bead show. Each stone is hand cut in their studio, and they travel the world to source truly beautiful slices of magical rock.

A quick check in the 'stones I have fallen in love with and will bead around one day when I have the time to play' box, reveals that I have no less than five beautiful stones languishing in the dark.
Bad lady!!!!
Anyhoo... this is a pic of one I did do and wear a lot. I used some home made copper leaves and my fave mix of turquoise and olive bead colours.
It jingles in a tinkly way when I move too.

Here's one I made earlier...

If you are in need of a sewing, stitching or knitting project, try the Making Spot...

visit when you need to stitch!

Created by magazine publisher Future Publishing. Here is where much loved projects and articles come alive again, downloadable for modest sums.
They have a cute blog too, I've added it to my blog listing so you can go see.
Or click here to visit the pattern site.

well you can never have
too many lavender sachets

It's a bit like a walk in the past for me as I discovered no less than 32 designs I'd created over the years for various magazines like Simply Knitting, Needlecraft and CrossStitcher.
My favourites are the embroidery projects, it's something I just rarely have time to do these days.

Like all crafts it takes time, not just time but that special time which is yours alone to use up how you please, bit of a rare thing in my hectic schedule. The spare time I have is usually filled with 'trying to get ahead' on commissions and workshops already looming in the diary.
So now I can look at the pictures of my favourite projects, take a deep breath and remember when time seemed to last longer... Such a lovely thought!

My much loved Auricula quilt

Now I guess it's back to the festive countdown...
If I was organised I would be putting my feet up just about now with the fairy lights twinkling, presents wrapped, groceries stored and 'to do' lists all done and fresh logs cracking on the open fire.
Bahaha!!!

What I actually have is a bare tree, a tangle of lights, a heap of carrier bags, the contents of which I hope equate to the number of presents required, no idea what groceries are needed, a house in need of a darn good clean up and a slightly unsettling feeling that I have failed some kind of seasonal exam yet again...

Friendship Fairies

My neighbour is one of those gifted gardeners who seems to broadcast seeds in the spring and have a burgeoning cottage garden all summer, without ever appearing to do very much, it is a gift I admire and envy. A delight this summer were swathes of purple poppies. The seed heads ripened into perfect rounds and tickled a little idea into existence. She kindly let me harvest as many as I wanted...
Which I dried, and saved all the seed (they just fall out if you upside down the Dried seed head).

poppy heads gently dried

First I painted the seed heads with a nice thick white emulsion paint. Then I added hair with brown acrylic paint. Two dots for eyes, a little red heart for a mouth and a couple of pink splotches for cheek.








Next,  twist some seed beads onto fine wire and wrap a strand to make a little tiara. Paint the very top of the seed head with a gold magic marker, instant fairy crown!

ready for Christmas

Wrap pipe cleaners (chenille wire) for arms and legs, changing over the yarn colours to make simple boots. Tie these to the stalk then wrap it all with a length of lace. This secures everything forms a little body and creates underwear too. Make a simple top with felt, a skirt with patchwork fabric, then cut a simple butterfly wing shape from craft tin, stamp or punch out holes for added pattern then sew to the fairy back.

Believe me this is great fun if you are doing a batch. Mine came out kind of 'Boden' with sensible A line skirts and boiled wool jackets.

WHY IS SHE DOING THIS!!!????
I really don't have time to bead fabulous gifties, but I do like to make something as a little thank you for my friends who help me in lots of ways through the year.

Each one arrives with a little card and a packet of poppy seeds ready to scatter in the garden, so next year girls... you too can make fairies!

Friendship fairies

Sparkly Christmas London

Lynn and Gillian

Had a lovely day in London yesterday with my friends Gillian, bead artist extraordinaire, Lynn, who owns a little slice of beading heaven in Dorset, and Jackie who is a gifted bookbinder and lover of all things craft.
We met at the V&A for a visit to the Power of Making exhibition before it closes. Fascinating and inspiring, and definitely thought provoking, not least in the selection of crafts and media. We had a lively debate about it over lunch in the divinely tiled dining rooms. In contrast to some of the sleek computer generated modernist objects we'd just been looking at, the comfortingly familiar font and the soft yet achingly lovely colour palettes of this completely tiled space were kind of reassuring in one way, yet suddenly and overwhelmingly fussy in another, definitely experiencing visual overload!!

Totally tiled tea rooms

Next, we spend several happy hours dribbling over the glass in the newly laid out Jewellery Gallery. With some of the exhibits comes that lovely feeling of greeting an old and much loved friend, often seen in favourite books, but so much more beautiful in real life. With others, the brain tick ticking away over shapes and how to redevelop them using just threads and beads instead of heat and metal and hammers... oooh!!! more experience overload, and still the bookstore to browse!
I treated myself to the book of the exhibition so I can read up some more about the thinking behind it.
Then there was just time to pop up the road to look at the Christmas windows created for Harrods by the Swarovski team. Best seen on a dark and rainy evening, the Enchanted Forest theme is lavish, monocrome, slightly strange and attracting lots of admiration from the passing crowds of shoppers. You can watch the beautiful and otherworldly film created for Harrods online by Anryk Bregman of unit9 here. Or listen to Anryk talk about it here. Or you can see my pocket camera snapshots of the bits I liked best.

moonlight and filigree, window detail 

dove window detail

pretty sparkly lovely things

Definitely a brilliant day. From the serious business of craft and technology embracing new media; tempered by the reassuring evidence that true craftsmanship is breathtakingly beautiful and timeless in the jewellery gallery; to the awesome power of brand to conjure and inspire a creative and completely ephemeral world. Best of all, to see it all in the company of good friends.

We're planning to hop on a train to Paris next to visit the Musee D'Orsey...

 now that will be a grand day out.

Sparkling, twinkly Christmas

A trip to the ballet on a midwinter afternoon is a lovely way to start the Christmas excitement.
Which is why I'm loving the scheme to beam live performances from the Bolshoi Ballet to local cinemas, what a great way to share the arts in a budget friendly way!
On Sunday we saw The Nutcracker Suite, it's the ultimate Christmas Ballet and this version was sparklingly pretty. I'm looking forward to seeing the other performances over the coming months.

Batch bake beading

Well, it's the time of year when anyone with an ounce of craftiness is either sitting smug or in a tail spin. I'm referring to that subtle pressure to hand make lovely presents. The smugly smug gals started last January and are now happily doing artful giftwrapping. For the rest of us, life got in the way, or we spent the summer gardening, or like with me, didn't really think about it until the weather turned a bit nippy, which is honestly too late.... almost.
I often thought that it would be lovely to spend my spare time all year industriously making things, then book a booth at the local Christmas market. Having just walked around the one in Bath on this bitterly cold November day, I can honestly say that I'm not sure I could stand the chilly winds of commercial reality!

knitted and felted and waiting for beads

Anyhoo, it's batch bake beading time and although a bit eleventh hour here's a project that is definitely
do-able at the rate of beading up one an evening.

First get a ball of Wash+ Filz-it! felting yarn, and a 4pin knitting dolly. Knit yourself 20 -25cm (including the bit in the bobbin). Sew the ends together then felt it. I make several and put them in with a regular washing load. You can easily knit five or six in an evening.

Once dry your knitted bangle will have shrunk a bit.
Also the join may look a bit blobby but will disappear under the beading.

Now for the beady bit. I tend to use up oddments of beads, bags of weird sizes and cheap and cheerful's which may not be ideal for precision beading, but you know, you fell in love with the colour...

seven bead netting, three sets fit a treat

Work the netting around the knitting. I find three sets of seven beads fits well. You can use a bigger  or different coloured bead for the centre/intersection bead. Not sure about netting? there's a good tutorial here So keep beading and rather than stretching out the knitting, push it into the beading so that it is the beaded net which stretches over the knitting. I use a little wooden stick, or knitting needle, or blunt end of a biro.
Tweek the size at this stage if needed, by squishing up the knitting more or less to get the diameter you want. It will look a really weird shape until you've beaded right round.

Once the beaded tube ends meet up, zip them together and the bangle is suddenly perfectly circular and good to go.

One ball of yarn will make about 8 -10 bangles... and there are lots of lush colours to choose from.
Make a gift tag to explain that these bangles are a bit stretchy, can be rolled on, and hand washed too.
If you're feeling generous, tie two or three together with a pretty ribbon and hand them over. If not, pop one in one of those cute organza bags.

finished bangles... can I really bear to part with them!

I am a big fan of netted beadwork, it works up satisfyingly quickly. If you'd like to explore some new ways with netting, my book on CD Beadnet covers all sorts of shaped and hollow form netting, with lots of colourful projects. One of my favourites is the spiky 'Sea urchin' bangle, it's really easy to bead.

Sea urchin bangles in monochrome

Little Owls

crochet and stitched owls

I love the way little icons suddenly get popular, just now it seems that cute owls are everywhere, cleverly made from all sorts of materials. Last year I made these crochet and felt ones for my chums. I stuffed them with cloves and cinnamon so the christmas parcels would smell nice.
Since then I've gradually acquired several variations of fabric ones, from adorably fat ones made of vintage Kimono silk, to colouring book graphic ones made of hand embroidered felt.

felt, cotton and silk owls

I can remember patterns for similar in the magazines and 'How to' books of my childhood. Now they pop up in handmade sites like Folksy and Etsy, with modern twists and endearingly thoughtful and clever variations.

Out of curiosity and a desire to add my own craft to the in love with owls mix, I decided to have a go at making a beady one myself. What started as a 'how can I make a basic owlish shape easily?' turned into several evenings of beading origami as I added or subtracted beaded components! finally remembering the golden rule of 'There are no rules'

I decided to just mix it up and have some fun.

Little Owl charm is now available as lovely kit  for you to create, packed full of beads, thread, needle, charm strap and instructions. It's a really stitch sampler too with no less than five different stitches, enjoy!