In Answer to Jill

One of my readers asked me whether I would show the blue and green spotted beads when I had etched them.  Yes, and here they are

As you can see the etch gives a lovely matt finish.  The beads with the white centres look as though they are glowing.

This is just a quick post as I have got the kiln warming!

Toffee, Hobnob and Cocoa

Introducing the latest additions to the household;

Toffee

Hobnob

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cocoa

They are beautiful little guinea pigs only six weeks old!  They are settling well into their new home and their new owners are delighted with them.  If you ever need an incentive to get little people washed, dressed and ready for school I would suggest buying a guinea pig.  Every morning this week my tribe have been ready to leave for school a good 45 minutes before we need to get in the car.  Their logic is that if they are ready for school I won't have any reason to tell them to leave the guineas alone thus giving them some precious time with their new charges.  How much longer it will continue only time will tell but I intend to enjoy it while it lasts.

It has been a busy weekend so I didn't manage to make my commission piece until today.  I am rather pleased with it I hope the recipient is pleased likes it.

I hope the sun is shining wherever you are.

Luxury

Today I have the very rare pleasure of being home alone for a couple of hours so I thought I would take the opportunity to show what I have made using the green and black beads in my previous post. 

 The glass beads were calling out for some beaded beads so I dusted off my beading needle and raided my large stash of seed beads.  I had forgotten how much fun it is to make beaded beads.  The clasp is one of my favorites from Bijoux Beads.  Unfortuanately I am going to have to re-make this bracelet as it is a wee bit small, but it won't take me long.  It will be interesting to see if the bracelet takes the same form in the re-making.

I have also had a commission.  The brief is 'a bracelet in black, yellow and white'.  I rarely work with yellow so this has been a nice challenge.  I was so pleased with the green beads above that I decided to follow a similar pattern.  The urge to make some more beaded beads was too strong to resist, you can just about see some in the bead soup bowl. 

In other news; the tortoises are awake!  We had to wake them as the winter has been so long and cold they have been very sleepy.  I am pleased to be able to report that they are all doing well, stretching their legs and grazing on dandelions.  We also have some new additions to the family which will be arriving at the weekend.  Be sure to drop by to find out about them over the weekend.

I hope the sun is shining wherever you are!

Some beads to show!

I thought I would share some pics of my latest beads, we haven't had any sunshine here today so the colours are a little dull.

This is a nice bright spring-like set made with aqua and bright green.  These might get the acid treatment to give them a matt sheen.  The centre of the large beads are white so when the beads are etched they have a slight glow.

I made this set to match a top I bought.  Again I might etch these, I haven't decided yet.

Lastly is the set I made last night.  I have been lacking inspiration so I turned to my trusty 'Passing the Flame' book, a bible for bead makers.  This pattern requires starting the bead in a different way to the method I usually use which has resulted in some slightly uneven shaped beads.  However, I think this adds to their charm and I don't think it will show when I have made them into either a bracelet or necklace.

Thanks for looking!

An Easter Make

I have had this design in my mind for a while but not actually summoned up the energy to make it.  That is until the Easter break! 

The beads were made by yours truly.  The metal beads are from my local bead shop and the tiny hoops that you can just about see are from Lush. I love the way the large glass beads move over the small black beads giving the piece some movement.  I am hoping to make some more of these in different colours and who knows I might even get around to posting some for sale.  In my head I am going to close my Etsy shop and re-open my Folksy shop.  But, lets not get carried away with empty promises, I have a week of the holidays left but they are going to be pretty action-packed so lets see how we/I get on.

Enjoy your Easter break.