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Friday, October 18, 2013

Experimenting again....

I've been experimenting again - well I am a scientist by training so that is hardly surprising.  I mentioned in the Autumn Design Challenge that I've been trying out some Pebeo paints and mixing those with resin.  The paints are lovely.....completely unpredictable but you get some gorgeous honeycomb-like effects, which develop over an hour or so.  It is fun to watch how the colours mix and interact.  Here are a few examples......



....and here is one made up into a necklace.....


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Sunday, October 6, 2013

Boot Camp - hoops

It is time for Boot Camp again - and this time it is all about hoops.  I don't know about you but when I think hoops, I automatically think earrings.  But I have a confession for you - I make jewellery but I don't have pierced ears.  People have looked at me incredulously about this for a while now but I've just never fancied having them done - plus I'm a bit of a baby about pain!!  I decided to make a pendant instead.

I made three silver hoops and textured two with different hammers and left one untextured.  Then I soldered them all together at the top.  While digging around in my scrap silver pot I came up with a perfect curled piece of silver that I'd chopped off a bezel I was making.  I soldered that at the top together with a silver ball (love making those!).  I also made a toggle clasp and then pulled everything together with some prehnite beads and a few black tourmaline rough stones.


I hope that you like the necklace.  Please go and have a look at everyone else's take on hoops - there is sure to be some interesting and inspiring work on show.

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Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Autumn Design Challenge

I was lucky enough to be chosen by Lesley and Caroline for their Autumn Design Challenge - have a look at the goodies that they sent me!

I started up with the Caroline's bird bead.  I wanted to find a perch for it and tried a few things - but I eventually decided on this wooden bead that came as part of a pack from Smitten Beads.  I decided to make some resin components - incorporating skeleton leaves.  Then I pulled out some Czech glass beads that had a frosty, autumnal feeling and put these together with the round beads from Caroline.  It got finished off with some peanut beads......


I've been experimenting with some Pebeo effects paints and mixing those with resin.  You get some interesting honeycomb effects - the end result is entirely unpredictable...it is quite exciting watching this paint dry!!  I picked some complementary paint/resin colours to Lesley's flower pendant - and some extra components for the necklace.  Again it is finished off with some peanut beads (I'm a little obsessed at the moment!)....


I've been making quite a few of these wire 'cocoon' beads lately - I make these on a coiling Gizmo.  So I made a couple more and matched them with Lesley's bracelet focal.....


The last thing I made was a bangle using Caroline's heart bead as a dangle.  I made the bangle in wire and then tightly wound on some sari silk.  I wire wrapped this adding a few seed beads for some extra sparkle.  I think I might make a few more of these - I think they'd be fun to stack up on my wrist......


I really enjoyed working with Caroline and Lesley's art beads.  Please do go and check out their work for yourself.  Lesley is at  http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.co.uk/ and Caroline is at http://blueberribeads.co.uk/.  Please also go and have a look at what everyone else made with the beads that they were sent for the challenge....



Caroline Dewison – http://blueberribeads.co.uk




















Melissa Trudinger – http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com/












Madeline Bunyan – http://madelinebunyan.com/mlj/


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