Challenge of Colour Blog Hop 3

Today is the 3rd Annual Challenge of Colour Blog Hop hosted by Erin Prais-Hintz and Brandi Hussey. Always an exciting challenge to take part in and this one is the best yet.

Erin chose two colour palettes for me and I was feeling brave so I decided to use both of them!

The first one is called Demini River and includes beautiful greens and purples.

I chose to make a bracelet with some gorgeous peridot chips, Czech fire polished crystals, more crystals and a lovely green glass bead made by Ray Skene of Celtic Glass.

The second colour palette is called North America. This palette has earthy amber and brown colours.

I've made another bracelet with black crystals, carnelian chips, black agate ring beads and the most beautiful large facetted carnelian beads.

I really enjoyed this challenge, thanks to both Erin and Brandi for being fabulous hosts. Make sure to check out the rest of the participants, you can find the whole list by linking to Erin's reveal post at Tesori Trovati blog here.

Postcards from the past

Whilst we were out for the weekend, I spotted a vintage postcard fair so we decided to have a quick look. Not really something that floats my boat but then I found some postcards of St Ives (favourite place in the whole world!)

I was amazed to see that despite the postcards dating from at least 60 years ago, not much has really changed. Then I started to read the backs....an interesting insight into life from times gone by but one thing in common with the present day, everyone loves St Ives! I loved the thought of getting a snapshot into someone's life and wondering what the rest of it was like.

I can understand why this is such a popular collecting pastime, in years to come, there will be few postcards for later generations to see, our generation will leave a legacy of Facebook posts, emails and tweets - quite sad really. It's really important for the handmade market to thrive - keeping old traditions alive in a time of mass production and I'm proud to be part of that.

Find April

Little April Jones, aged 5, was abducted from outside her home on Monday night, the support across the UK has been phenomenal. People have come from all over the country to join search parties looking for her and the momentum is huge. A man was arrested 24 hours after and whilst he is in custody being interviewed, she has still not been found.

April's mum has asked for everyone to wear pink ribbons to show that their thoughts are with April, her favourite colour is pink for a little princess.

The whole country is waiting with bated breath to hear that she has been found.

The latest news is here.

As a mother of a little girl, I can't imagine what the family must be going through, I can't put it into words. I can only hope and pray for April to be returned home safe and sound, and my daughter and I can wear our ribbons to show we are thinking of April every minute.

Girly Gothic

I've been planning to make something with the rose quartz skull beads I've been coveting for almost two years and have finally made a necklace with one of them! The skull beads come from Buffy's Beads at Carnaby Street, London. Buffy's supply great gemstone beads and I loved the skull beads as soon as I saw them and have never seen anything like them again.

For this necklace, I've taken inspiration from the designer Rosantica who make beautiful long gemstone necklaces, as seen on Net a Porter

I've designed a very long necklace so taking a picture of the whole piece was a bit tricky...

I'm off to make some earrings now, I'm enjoying having some creative time...finally!

I hope you're having a great weekend too!

Even the longest day...

I'm sad, sad and miserable today, it's been one of those days when you wish you could have stayed at home all day. One of those days when I wish I could make jewellery instead of having to go to work...sooo, I'm posting pictures of my favourite things to cheer me up...

My beautiful girl enjoying herself at our favourite place in the whole world!

The cutest kitten..having a rest!

My favourite piece of my own jewellery...this year so far!

My favourite wine in my favourite place!

Ok, feeling better now!

Tomorrow can only be an improvement....!

New beads from The Beads Nest

I've been caught up in buying rather than making lately, which is perhaps not good when you look at your bank statement afterwards :-)

I bought some gorgeous beads at The Beads Nest in Cardiff. The ladies at Beads Nest are always friendly and helpful, they have recently moved to bigger premises a few doors away and that can only be good for everyone!

I'm feeling unusually organised and have started planning for Christmas presents and parties already. In fact, I knoooow I should have bought some of the huge jewel coloured pearls, perhaps I will visit again next week...

Having checked out the latest trends, I'm going for red and black. I'm especially loving these resin coated stars, awesome for children's Christmas jewellery.

I also bought some beads which reminded me of summer, still not quite ready to say goodbye to summer after spending a week in St Ives very recently.

These orange beads are so not me but they were so bright and sparkly I decided to try something new. I'm thinking they will look great paired with the blue beads.

Also, some purple jewel coloured crystals of which the picture doesn't do justice unfortunately.

If you're ever in Cardiff, make sure to visit the Beads Nest for their great selection and helpful friendly service - you don't often get the two hand in hand unfortunately!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Challenge of Travel Blog Hop Reveal today!

I signed up to a Round the World blog hop organised by Erin of Treasures Found. I have long been a fan of Erin's jewellery designs and her blog, both are thought provoking and inspirational. This is the first time I have signed up for one of Erin's challenges.
The rules for this Round the World hop were to choose a region of the world and then a country, you could choose your own or be brave and allow Erin to choose for you. I chose Oceania as the region and asked to be surprised with the country and received Vanuatu.

I have been researching Vanuatu and discovered that it is a string of 80 small islands. The landform is mainly mountainous with tropical rainforests. There are active volcanoes and tourists are attracted by the fantastic diving opportunities which include wreck diving and secluded beaches.

Having been inspired by the beautiful images of diving and the seascape which were returned through the results of a Google search, I made some earrings with blister pearls and sparkly aqua crystals.

I really enjoyed this blog hop challenge. The research element combined with designing a piece of jewellery inspired by the research was very rewarding. Please take the time to visit the other participants in the list below. I'm not sure I've got the links to work, if they don't then please visit Erin's blog in the link at the start of this post!

Name Blog Region Chosen Inspiration Nation
Monique Urquhart http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.ca/ Africa Burkina Faso
Niky Sayers http://silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk/ Africa Egypt
Therese Frank http://www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com Africa Kenya
Raychelle Heath http://abeadloveaffair.blogspot.com/ Africa Lesotho
Joan Williams www.lilrubyjewelry.wordpress.com Africa Mauritania
Sherri Stokey http://www.KnotJustMacrame.com Africa Senegal
Regina Santerre http://reginaswritings.blogspot.com Africa Seychelles
Raida Disbrow http://havanabeads.blogspot.com Africa Tanzania
Kristi Wodek http://livedinlife.blogspot.com Africa Zimbabwe
Sally Russick http://www.thestudiosublime.com Americas Brazil
Melissa Trudinger http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com Americas Mexico
Tracy Stillman http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com Americas USA
Sandra Wolberg http://city-of-brass-stories.blogspot.de Asia India
Tanya Goodwin http://pixiloo.blogspot.com Asia Japan
Susan Kennedy http://suebeads.blogspot.com Asia Japan
Beth Emery http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com Asia Japan
Lisa Cone http://inspiredadornments.blogspot.com/ Asia Japan
Tanya Boden http://fusionmusebangkok.blogspot.com/ Asia Japan
Inge von Roos http://ingetraud.wordpress.com Asia Laos
Erin Prais-Hintz http://treasures-found.blogspot.com Asia Nepal
Dee Elgie http://cherryobsidia.blogspot.com Asia Phillipines
Carolyn Lawson http://carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com Asia South Korea
Lisa Stukel http://carefreejewelrybylisa.blogspot.com Asia Sri Lanka
Elly Snare http://themagicsquarefoundation.wordpress.com Asia Thailand
Shelley Graham Turner http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com Europe Austria
Mallory Hoffman http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com/ Europe Bosnia Herzegovina
Paige Maxim http://www.pmaximdesigns.blogspot.com Europe France
Jenny Davies-Reazor http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog Europe Germany
Sharyl McMillian-Nelson http://sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com Europe Greece
Evelyn Shelby http://raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com/ Europe Iceland
Holly Westfall http://silverrosedesigns.blogspot.com/ Europe Ireland
Rebecca Siervaag http://www.godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com Europe Ireland
Toltec Jewels http://toltecjewels.blogspot.com Europe Ireland
Lee Koopman http://StregaJewellry.wordpress.com Europe Ireland
Laren Dee Barton http://larendeedesigns.blogspot.com Europe Italy
Cindy Wilson http://www.mommysdreamcreations.blogspot.com Europe Norway
Kathleen Lange Klik http://ModernNatureStudio.blogspot.com Europe Poland
Shaiha Williams http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/ Europe Portugal
Jennifer Justman http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/ Europe Romania
Elsie Deliz-Fonseca http://ladelizchica.blogspot.com Europe Spain
Lola Surwillo http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com Europe Sweden
Kim Hora http://www.kimmykats.com Europe Switzerland
Leanne Loftus http://firstimpressiondesign.blogspot.com Europe The Netherlands
Patti Vanderbloemen http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com Europe The Netherlands
Marcie Carroll http://labellajoya.blogspot.com Europe Turkey
Marlene Cupo http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com Oceania Federated States of Micronesia
Ine Vande Cappelle http://jewelsbyine.blogspot.com Oceania Fiji
Tammie Everly http://ttedesigns.blogspot.com/ Oceania Guam
Alice Peterson http://www.alice-dreaming.blogspot.com Oceania Kiribati
Elisabeth Auld http://www.beadsforbusygals.com Oceania Nauru
Susan McClelland http://mistheword12.wordpress.com/ Oceania New Zealand
D Lynne Bowland http://islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.com Oceania New Zealand
Denielle Hagerman http://somebeadsandotherthings.com Oceania New Zeland
Rebecca Anderson http://songbeads.blogspot.com Oceania Papua New Guinea
Mischelle Fanucchi http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com/ Oceania Samoa
Kari Asbury http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com Oceania Solomon Islands
Cece Cormier http://www.thebeadingyogini.com/ Oceania Tonga
Emma Todd http://www.apolymerpenchant.com Oceania Tuvalu
Debbie Price http://greenshoot.blogspot.com Oceania Vanuatu <<<<< You are here!

Thank you Erin for such a thoughtful and inspirational challenge! I can't wait to see what everyone else made.

Thrift Store Blog Hop Reveal

A huge Hello on this rainy Saturday morning, it's the day of Pookledo's thrift store blog hop reveal.
This challenge really appealed to me in terms of upcycling and creating new jewellery out of old and of course the added twist of sourcing the main component from a charity shop or thrift store without spending more than a pound - who doesn't love hunting for bargains!

I found an old brooch which I think is silver although it's not hall marked. It has loops at the end of the bow so I think it had a second part which has gone missing.
Here's what it looked like when I polished it up...

And here's what I made...of course it had to have hearts!

To see the rest of the thrift store participants, visit Pookledo's blog here

This blog hop was great fun, please be sure to visit the others.

Bead Soup Blog Party 6 Reveal!

Welcome to the 6th Bead Soup Blog Party! I'm really excited to be invited to the first reveal date. My bead soup partner is the lovely Dana from Tumblestone Handmakery. Dana was the perfect bead soup partner and she sent me a generous package of beautiful beads, so many that I've saved some for another day.

Here are the beads I received...

And here's what I made....

I loved the ceramic beads and bead caps, they fitted together perfectly with some small swarovski crystals i added and are now affectionately known as my flying saucers!

Please visit Dana's blog to see what she made with the beads I sent to her.

You can visit the rest of the party goers by clicking on this link.

It only remains for me to thank Lori Anderson of Pretty Things Blog for organising and hosting this fabulous party! Thank you, Lori!

Have fun visiting the rest of the party!

Bead Soup has arrived!

Wow, my bead soup has arrived and it is looking fab-u-lous! This is what I received from the lovely Dana of Tumblestone Handmakery.

I love the cute packaging...together with a discount card for Dana's on line shop.

Some gorgeous copper findings, pendant and clasp...

Some beautiful ceramic beads and pearls, love the colours...

I think this soup has almost made itself, I'm so pleased with the ingredients I might start tonight! Thank you Dana for being so generous x

You have to make whatever I draw....Earring Special!

This week, as well as planning the ingredients for my lovely bead soup partner, I have been challenged to make some earrings by my little girl. We have an earring special for you today!
Here's the first pair, I have been informed that these were designed to be party earrings...

And the second pair have been designed specially for me to wear to the office!

So there we have it, earrings for all occasions. I'm thinking of wearing my party earrings tomorrow night!

I hope you enjoy these as much as we enjoy designing and creating them.