British Bead Awards 2013

*Insert obligatory apology for not blogging for ages here*

On Saturday 19th October I got up at a time rather earlier than I might like to on a Saturday and navigated two mainline trains and wee zip round on the London Underground to arrive at Sandown Racecourse for the Big Bead Show. The reason for my early start? My entry into the British Bead Awards 2013, run by Bead Magazine, had been selected as a finalist in the seed bead jewellery category and I was off to the awards ceremony to find out the results of the competition.

As always, the standard of the finalist pieces was amazing, covering a wide range of jewellery making techniques including beading, embroidery, polymer clay, wirework and much more. When the results of my category were announced, although I did not place in top 3, my entry - entitled 'Fallen,' was awarded a commendation by the judges. I was very pleased to receive this, especially since I had a) entered the category which received the most entries and made the final selection, and b) I only decided to make the piece I entered 12 days before the deadline!

I had made a necklace with some CRAW teardrop shapes linked to form a pendant, and suddenly had the idea to make a necklace which featured this motif in multiples.

 

The necklace which sparked the idea for my competition piece.

Whilst I completed my entry in 12 days, it still took a considerable amount of time to bead and I had to snatch every available minute of free time (including my London commute on the train) to keep beading teardrops. I would estimate that each teardrop in the necklace took on average around 25 minutes to bead and embellish - and there are 27 teardrops of varying sizes in the whole piece, plus 5 bezelled Swarovski rivolis and the beaded toggle clasp. I'd put an estimate of roughly 20 hours beading time on the entire necklace, although it is probably more as obviously when I got to doing the second half I had the first one to refer to for all my sizings. 

 

I am very happy with what I achieved in that short timescale, although naturally I can also think of things I might have done differently had I had more time to experiment. I am proud that Fallen made it to the finals and it was a pleasure to be in the same category as all the other finalists and prize winners. If you want to have a look at the all of the winning entries for this years awards, there is a brand new website at http://www.britishbeadawards.co.uk/index.html. 

I had a fabulous day at the bead show (as always), catching up with beady friends and of course doing some bead shopping! 

My purchases from the day being surveyed by Beadrick Featherington.

All in all, a wonderfully enjoyable day....although it did mean I was falling asleep by 8pm after such an early start! Roll on the Big Bead Show in April 2014 :)

TTFN

Nicole 

xoxo

 

An Austrian, Sparkletastic, Adventure!

Hello beady folks. I wanted to write a blog post about my recent holiday to the beautiful country of Austria (my first trip abroad in 3 years due to my PhD!) and in particular, my visit to the homeland of Swarovski crystal.

The Swarovski Crystal World is in a place called Wattens, a short shuttle bus ride away from the city of Innsbruck. It is situated just behind the Swarovski factory, protected by the giant at the entrance to what can only be described as crystal heaven!

Part cave of wonders, part art exhibition...the Crystal World leads you through different rooms with themes, stories and more crystal than you've ever seen in your entire bead stash; including the amazing 'Wall' of crystal stuffed with every Swarovski element bead shape and colour you can think of and the stunning 'Crystal Dome.' 

 

 The full height of the Crystal Wall...not to mention a rather sizeable chandelier!

 

 Close up of the wall bursting at the seams with sparkle

The cool effect of being in a dome completely surrounded by crystal facets!

One of my favourite parts of the exhibition was the Crystal Stage, filled with fantastical creatures and animatronic sculptures, it left me feeling very inspired and eager to create a beadwork fantasy piece. I'm going to watch some of my favourite fantasy films to continue to keep my creative juices flowing on these ideas...Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal & The Never Ending Story. Spookily enough, when we got back to our hotel after visiting the crystal world and were sat having a hot chocolate in the dinning area, whilst I was mulling over all my fantasy based ideas and inspirations, what song should come on in the bar area...but the theme tune to The Never Ending Story film!! (A bit of a coincidence considering that that movie was released the same year I was born, some 28 years ago!)

This was my favourite piece in the crystal theatre - the 'dress' was covered in crystals in every shape and size you could possibly imagine.

Another very clever and inspiring room was the one entitled 'Reflections,' where large 3D polygons featured projected on their surface an ever changing representation of everything in the entire universe...maths, science, history, art, nature and everything in between; with beautiful colour changes and moving images, this room left me feeling both amazed and reinvigorated...I can't explain it, but I came out of that room smiling and the feeling of my spirit, which has taken a fair battering in recent months, being soothed and healed somewhat.

 

 

The final room before you exit into the remarkably mahuuusive Swarovski shop, is the Crystal Forest, featuring an amazing jellyfish complete with colour changing tendrils that draped the entire length of the room. I love the photos I got of this piece - there is only one jellyfish, but the mirrored walls created the effet of there being two, and I just kept snapping away as it went through all its colourways. I managed to put together a short sequence of these photos as an animated GIF so I hope you can get an idea of the beautiful effect created by this piece.

 I could show you soooo many more photos, but this blog post would go on forever! I will tell you that I did treat myself in the Swarovski shop - I bought a pair of beautiful tanzanite earrings that I hope to wear to my PhD graduation this summer, and a simple silver ring featuring a medium vitrail crystal star stone.

As well as those souveniers, I have come away with lots of ideas and a renewed sense of focus for the next 6 months, which after a tough previous 6 months, was just what I needed. I cannot wait to share some of these ideas with you in the weeks to come. 

I hope you have enjoyed hearing about my trip - I can wholeheartedly recommend a visit to the Crystal World for any beader or crystal addict, so if you ever get the chance to go, don't miss it!

TTFN

Nicole xoxo

A Beady Bird In The Hand

Ooopsy, another long gap in between blog posts. One day I will get the hang of posting regularly, one day!

I'd like to share a recent project with you in this post. I wanted to invest in some new props and display stands for my craft fair set up, and decided, given that my business name is Hollybird Beads, that I wanted to buy one of those ornamental wire bird cages to hang jewellery from to add interest and draw peoples' attention. I found one for a reasonable price and bought some wired paper flowers to wrap around the bars to pretty it up a little. The one thing my birdcage was lacking though, was a bird.

Having hunted around for a small ready made bird and not been able to find one, I decided to go ahead and try and make my own. Thus the challenge to create a beaded bird began. 

A search of the internet found this tutorial and pattern for a fabric bird http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog/2008/05/16/bird-mobile/ and so I embarked on first creating a fabric base out of ultrasuede on which to embroider. 

Pinning the pieces together ready for sewing...

The finished form - note, I had rather a bit of trouble with the ultrasuede being relatively thick...and had to resort to getting my pliers out to pull the head out through the small hole at the bottom of his tail to turn the form inside out to hide the stitching!

 Then the embroidery started - I definitely 'winged' it quite a bit with this piece. If I make another I would definitely draw out my patterns on the form first before starting embroidering.

 

The finished bird in the hand...several days work in short bursts, I couldn't tell you an exact time it took to make. I sewed 2 large beads onto the underbelly in order to allow me to thread some wire through to attach to the perch on the birdcage.

I love my beady bird, who has been named Beadrick Featherington. I hope to make another (I've plenty of ideas for modifications after my first attempt) at some point...well it would be rude if he didn't have a friend!

 Beadrick has been getting up to quite a bit of mischief...here he is inspecting my purchases from the Big Bead Show at Sandown last month.

He's also been out exploring in the garden...

I suspect Beadrick might have many more adventures in between adorning my craft fair displays. I hope you have enjoyed seeing how he was created.

TTFN

Nicole

xoxo

First Beadweaving Tutorial Released!

Things have been a bit hectic of late, but I'm back at the blog to make an exciting announcement. I've finally managed to find the time to write, illustrate and release my very first self-published beadweaving tutorial!

My first tutorial, available in my Etsy shop here, is for my crystal 'Gazania' flower necklace. I love this design; it came together so easily upon having the original idea and I have since enjoyed making lots of them in different colourways, and have sold a fair few online and at fairs too. This sparkling pendants don't require too much in terms of supplies - a small amount of size 15 and size 11 seed beads, plus some firepolished crystals, and are suitable for intermediate beaders who have had experience of doing circular brick stitch and right angle weave.

I am hopeful that this tutorial is just the start. I've several other designs that I would love to turn into tutorials - all I need is the weather to stop being so crazy and awful so I will be able to get good quality step by step photos! 

I really hope that people will enjoy my Gazania tutorial - and if you do have a go at one, I'd love to see photos of your versions, it's so exciting to see my designs on other peoples' bead mats and see what colour combinations they have chosen. If you aren't a beader, then I have several ready made Gazanias in my Folksy shop, including the femine rose pink version below. Alternatively, I am always happy to create a customised one to reflect your own colour choices.

That's all for this post. I've got my first craft fair of 2013 on the 20th April, so I really need to get cracking on new stock. I'm off to make a list of what items I am low on and decide what other new pieces I want to make for this event; I've got a new necklace design featuring pressed glass leaves on my bead mat too.

TTFN

Nicole

xoxo

OTTBS Pendant a Week Challenge - Week 3

Another slightly late OTTBS pendant a week challenge blog post this week. The weather here in the UK has been decidedly wintery this last week and although I finished this week's pendant on Saturday, I couldn't actually get outside to photograph it until this morning as itsnowed all day on Sunday.

Another version of my new Tudor Rose necklace design is this week's pendant. This one is the 'House of York' white rose, featuring frosted silver-lined crystal petals, metallic moss green leaves and a stunning crystal ab Swarovski rivoli centre - check out the blue/gold colour flash!

 

The photos of this one aren't the best as the light outside wasn't too good, plus anything with white beads in is a pain in the bum to photograph well. I think I will experiment with it on a black background and see if that works out better. Once I get some slightly better quality photos then this version of the design will go into my Folksy shop. 

 

I think I really need to to a red version of this design as well, but I also want to try some other new ideas as part of this weekly challenge too, so I might not get round to a red one for a few weeks (I do have the perfect rivoli for the centre of it though!) I am thinking that since Valentine's day is not too far away, I might try and create something 'hearty' for week 4.

TTFN

Nicole

xoxo

 

OTTBS Pendant a Week Challenge - Week 2

A little bit late posting this one. I did finish this piece during week 2 of the Operation Tackle That Bead Stash weekly challenge...but I hadn't managed to put in on a necklace chain or take decent photos. 

This is a brand new, original design from me. I ordered, as part of my prize winnings from the British Bead Awards, some teeny little crystal rondelles in a couple of colours, and as I had a few other types of rondelle lurking in my stash, decided to try and design something to include them.

The resulting pendant is actually one of those rare occassions where a sketch on paper actually turns out remarkably similar when translated into beads! Apart from a few size changes on some of the seed beads, the main part of this pendant was as I had drawn it, but it was only when it came to adding the final edging touches that it suddenly evolved into its flower form and gained a name - Tudor Rose.

With a central Swarovski rivoli in medium vitrail (one of my favorite Swarovski colours), this little pendant is beaded in galvanised silver grey and metallic purple seed beads, with half silver coated crystal rondelles. For the chain, I just used some simple trace chain, which has a slightly textured finish, and added in a few wire wrapped crystals in the same medium vitrail colour for a little bit extra in the glitter department.

This one is going to be mine to keep, but I've already ordered some more rivolis (I only had the one in the right size) to create some more. With the name Tudor Rose, I am itching to make a white one and a red one, but I will have to see what colours speak to me once the rivolis arrive next week, as they are colours I have not bought before. I'd like to do a tutorial for this design too, but I suspect that that will have to go and join the other 'tutorials to do' list for once I've finished doing the corrections to my PhD thesis.

Hope you like this week's pendant...I've got to think about this week's new creation now!

Nicole

xoxo

OTTBS Pendant a Week Challenge - Week 1

 As part of the online beading group Operation Tackle That Bead Stash (where members share their beading and "attempt" to use up their sizeable bead stashes, rather than be tempted to add to them!), I am joining in their weekly year-long challenge for 2013. There were 3 options; create either a ring, earrings or pendant each week for a year. 

Since I find necklaces are one of the most popular items in my online shops, I've decided to go for the pendant challenge. I'm hoping I can play with the designs of other beaders as well as coming up with some new necklace designs of my own.

So, without further ado, I present my pendant for week 1 of the challenge. This is one of my own designs, which I came up with towards the end of last year, featuring the new Czech glass spike beads. I sold the original black and silver version I made just before Christmas and had been wanting to make one for myself to keep. 

My 'Athena Blossom' necklace is beaded in haematite and amethyst gunmetal seed beads and features silver Swarovski crystal bicones, purple iris Czech firepolish crystals, and of course a central matte silver glass spike. I am hoping that in the near future I'll be able to have a tutorial available for this design. I've also just finished beading another one for the shop in copper, gold and sapphire blue, but it needs to go on a gold chain, and typically that is the one metal colour that I only have the teeniest bit of chain left in (nowhere near enough to make a necklace chain with), so it'll have to wait until I can order some more before it goes on sale.

I really like this design - it also has a  'pretty bottom' so to speak, which I am wondering if I could work into another design.

Now I have to get think of what I want to do as my pendant for week 2!

TTFN

Nicole

xoxo

Year of the Dragon

Well, hopefully it won't take me the whole of 2013...but over the Xmas holidays I started off a big beading project, a sculptural piece in the form of a beaded dragon.

Through a Facebook beading group a fantastic bead artist and her wonderful (and free) tutorials was drawn to my attention, and the thing that captured my imagination most was her tutorial for a large beaded dragon. I'm a lover of all things fantasy (just started book 5 of Game of Thrones the other day) and so I decided to take the plunge, buy some beads and get started.

The tutorial allows plenty of room for you to customise your dragon to your own tastes - mine is going to have plenty of sparkle. I have been working on the head to start with and have been pleasantly surprised at how quickly it has beaded up given that it's way bigger than anything I've ever worked on before. 

This picture shows the head after I'd beaded the top and bottom jaws, joined them together and added in a beaded tongue. I'm using Toho gold-lustered 'moonshadow' seed beads as my main colour - these beads are one of my faves, a light purple with pink and green colour flashes, very dragony I think. I made his top lip a bit pointier than in the tutorial and I think I am going to add on some more detailed nostrils at some point too. 

This is what he looks like as of now. The tutorial used faceted round beads for the eyes, but I bezelled two light vitrail rivolis for my dragon. I'm not 100% certain they're positioned right so I've left the threads loose so I can unpick. I want my dragon to have a 'brow' of some sort which is going to take me a little while to figure out. 

Obviously, this dragon is a long term project and one I can pick up in between beading other things, but I will keep you up to date on the blog with his evolution. I'm really enjoying working on him, never having done 3D beading to this extent...hopefully I will be able to come up with my own scuptural work after he is finished, I have a few ideas, just not the skill yet to realise them, but I think this piece will provide me with that.

Here's a link to the tutorial I am using if you'd like to make your own dragon http://rrkra.deviantart.com/art/Big-Bead-Dragon-Tutorial-207390628 - I recommend looking at the gallery too to see more of Rrkra's fabulous work.

Happy New Year to you all

Nicole

xoxo

More New Designs and a Christmas Craft Fair

Apologies once again for a long gap in between blogs - I've recently started a jewellery making diploma course at an academy in Hatton Garden and that, beading and working on my thesis corrections are swallowing up so much time right now, I so do not know where the last month has gone!

I promised another blog post about new designs after showing my Athena glass spike jewellery, so here are a few of the most recent additions to my online shops.

As another part of my 'Tiny Sparkler' range, I have added a few of these crystal flower necklaces. Made using an 8mm Swarovski crystal chaton stone, each features a bezelled and embellished crystal petalled flower and its own tiny beaded leaf. A few draped chain tassels and some more crystals add movement to the pendants. 

 

These little flowers really are tiny - the flower head measures just 2.5cm across; the entire pendant from top to bottom measures in at around 6.5cm, perfect if you want a necklace with some glitter but that you can wear both day-to-day and of an evening. I think I will have to make myself one of these - I have some purple chatons left so I think my flower will have one of those as a centre...although I do now need more tiny silver seed beads as I've used them up really quickly of late!

Inspired by the tiny leaves in these necklaces, I decided to try something using the same motif in cubic right angle weave, but bigger. I also wanted a design which would use up some of the many gorgeous Czech pressed glass flower beads that I seem to have built up in my bead stash! This leaf and flower cluster necklace was what I came up with; two beadwoven leaves and a central chain packed with glass flowers, pearls and crystals.

I've so far beaded this teal version, with emerald green leaves on a silver chain and also just finished a purple version with antique gold findings. There are plenty more flowers in my bead box so I am sure there are a few more of these necklaces to come!

 

All the beading I have been doing of late has been in preparation for the craft fair I am doing this Saturday (24th November). I did the same market last year and it was brilliantly organised, in a wonderful venue and I had a great day of talking to people about my work and sent a fair amount of sparkles off to new homes. I am hoping that this year will be just as good, if not better. 

 

The fair is the Made-It Market, being held at the Cambridge Guildhall. You can find all the details on their website here. A perfect place to start your Xmas shopping (or treat yourself!) - there are a whole host of stalls filled to the brim with fantastic handmade work. Perhaps I will see you there on Saturday!

Nicole

xoxo

The Jewels of Viridia @ the British Bead Awards

So in my last blog post I was able to announce that my entry had been selected as a finalist for the British Bead Awards 2012, run by Bead magazine. Well, last weekend was the Big Bead Show at Sandown racecourse...I spent my pennies (sticking to my list pretty much, I might add) on new beads for Christmas craft fair stock and came home with some gorgeous crystals and findings in different metallic shades.

My piece, entitled 'The Jewels of Viridia' was a finalist in the 'Crystals' category of the Bead Awards. There was some amazing work on display across all of the categories, and sadly my necklace did not win a prize in its category. Myself and my mum who had come along to the fair with me (and who bought some beads with which she would like me to make some jewellery for her!) had to leave before the end of the show since we had several hours travel on the train to get home and our feet were very tired. So it happened that we missed my name being announced at the show - my necklace had been voted 'Best in Show' by people who visited the bead fair! What a surprise, especially given the amazing talent and range of jewellery making styles on display on the finalists table. So thank you to whoever voted for me, your admiration of my work is greatly appreciated!

The show over I can now finally show you some pictures of my necklace. It was inspired by some amazing 'fine jewellery' - a diamond and emerald necklace which was part of the auction of Elizabeth Taylor's jewellery collection. I decided I wanted to create a piece that emulated 'fine jewellery' but in beadwork, with silver and emerald green as my colour theme. 'The Jewels of Viridia' is the result. 

The full necklace - there are over 300 Swarovski crystals in this piece, including bicones, chatons, octagons and that fabulous central teardop stone.

A close up of the pendant section

The beaded toggle clasp and beaded-bead 

I learnt a lot whilst beading this competition piece, and I've definitely got ideas about how to take some of the design ideas from it to make some smaller pieces too. This necklace is going to have pride of place on my craft fair stand this Christmas - hopefully it will draw people's attention with its sparkle.

TTFN

Nicole 

xoxo

We're going to a bead show!

It's that time of year once again. The end of October draws closer, and that means only one thing if you're a beader - the Big Bead Show at Sandown Racecourse! 

Like a lot of beaders, I do most of my supplies shopping online as although there is a bead shop fairly near me, it's only small and doesn't sell a lot of the beads I like to use in my work. The Big Bead Show is liking having at least 50 bead shops under the same roof, selling everything one could possibly want for creating all kinds and styles of jewellery. I've written myself a shopping list, since I'm building up stock for Christmas craft fairs, so I need a list to keep me focused on what I really need...but I'm sure I'll spot something not on the list that I just 'have' to have (fortunately it was my birthday earlier in the month so I have a reasonable kitty to help fund my purchases!)

I am also thrilled to announce that my entry into the British Bead Awards was selected as one of the finalists, so I will be hot-footing it to the show right from the start to attend the prize giving. The judges have already picked the winners, but they will be announced at the show - I am proud of my piece but I am going with no expectations, just with pride at having my work on display for all the visitors to the show to see. I am also looking forward to getting to meet some of the members of the online bead group OTTBS in person - including Dee of Wingsmith's Bead Creations, who has also made as a finalist for the awards. I'll let you know how I get on - and post pictures of my piece if you aren't going to be at Sandown on Saturday to see it in the flesh, when I return. I'll also probably have photos of my beady purchases to show you too!

For more info on the Big Bead Show, here's a link to their website.

I'll leave you with a picture of my latest new piece up for grabs in my shop - a gorgeous 'Starflower' bracelet in silver and violet, featuring glass pearls and one of my favourite seed bead shades, gold-lustered 'moonshadow' purple.

TTFN - and happy shopping if you are off to the fair on Saturday!

Nicole 

xoxo

New designs - Czech glass spikes!

I've been really rather productive beading-wise the past few weeks. It has suddenly hit me just how not very far away the big craft fair I am doing in Cambridge is and how I really have to get a wriggle on with beading up enough stock to fill my table. This is especially important given that I also realised I booked a slightly bigger table than I had at the same event last year, so I definitely need to have more piece than I had then!

In an attempt to tackle this in an organised fashion, I spent a little bit of time trying out some new design ideas, before I put together a list of all the things I want to have made by the end of next month - a mix of old favourites and some of the new things I've come up with recently. I'll probably end up with several posts to show you these new designs (I've got 2 necklaces sitting on my display stand that need photographing). I already introduced the first pieces of my 'Tiny Sparkler' range and there are more variations and developments on that theme to come.

The first new designs I have to share use some new beads which have been exciting beaders worldwide - Czech pressed glass spikes! Very Mawi-esque, these beads come several sizes and a whole host of colours and finishes. I wanted to design at least one new bracelet/necklace which incorporated these beads. Starting with the idea of having a long chain necklace with a spiked pendant, my beading took a turn for something completely different, with one unexpected 'twist' of my beadwork. 

'Athena' is my first bracelet with glass spike beads, featuring 3 spike motifs joined together with beaded oval/diamond shaped links. The silver version below is my prototype - it is staying with me I think, although I have to make the links a little smaller than they are in this photo as I only have small wrists.

I have since created a second bracelet in jet black with silver embellishment, including some amazing fire polished crystals that have a 'marea' effect coating, meaning they have a fantastic firey gold flash. This one will go on sale in my online shops very soon - I'll come back to this post and link it to the listings once they are up. I think this one has a more rock chick feel to it with the colour palette used.

I also wanted a variation of this spike motif to use as a necklace pendant, and so added a little extra beadwork in order to turn it into a floral motif (albeit with a glass spike thorn as its centre!). My first 'Athena's Blossom' necklace - in the same jet black colourway as the above bracelet - is already available online. I am hoping to get my hands on some more spike colours soon so I can create a few more in different shades for you to choose from. I think I can turn this floral motif into a brooch too, so I might be able to bead a few of those too.

To view the online shop listing for this necklace, click on the image.

Hopefully there will be a nice day this week so I can get photographing some of the other new designs I have been working on. Hope you enjoy these new spiky creations!

TTFN

Nicole 

xoxo

A Beady DIY Fashion Project - Embroidered Peter Pan Collar

The other week I went out clothes shopping - having been working from home on my PhD thesis since the beginning of this year, I have hardly bought any new clothes (you can get away with having few 'nice going out things' if you are at home most of the day and therefore don't mind if your jeans are looking a bit threadbare!) 

I'm not a huge fashion follower, I tend to buy things because I like them, not because they are this week's hot trend - however, I couldn't fail to notice that beading was everywhere on the high street, especially on collars. There were also plenty of necklaces to be worn as 'detachable collars' covered in beads, pearls and crystals (well, I don't think they were real crystals, but they were going for that effect). I thought some of them looked great from afar across the shop floor, until I actually got up close and was actually quite horrified at the poor quality; one collar had thread ends sticking up all over it (shop shall remain nameless) and looked like it might disintegrate at any moment - it was priced at £15! It makes me sad seeing things like this, especially being a part of the beading community and seeing all the beautiful beadwork and embroidery that is done 'properly' with so much effort put into it. 

So I decided to have a go at making my own, having wanted to do some proper bead embroidery, but not having had a project to get going. Fortunately, I had some interfacing as well as a big bag of silvery seed beads that aren't regularly shaped enough for beadwork, but had definite potential for embroidery. First off, I drew a peter pan collar shape (one side) on to my interfacing and cut it out. I then used this as a template to draw around so the other side of the collar would be the same shape. Fancying a little bit of bling, I hunted in my bead stash and found some pretty bright blue Swarovski flatback crystals, which I stuck to the interfacing and left to dry (and de-stink from the glue). 

Now for some embroidery! I started off by bezelling the crystals and then surrounding them with a ring of clear fire-polished crystals, and then moved on to adding the seed beads following the circular shapes of the crystals. 

I decided I wanted a few more different beads on the collar, rather than just doing all the rest of it with the seed beads, so I added some larger white pearl fire-polished crystals and embroidered round them to create something of a leafy/diamond shape around them. This is how the first half of the collar is currently looking.

There's not actually that much left to bead embroider - the seed beads I'm using are size 8s so they are fairly large and so cover the interfacing quite quickly. The challenge is going to be getting the other half of the collar to match! 

I'll be sure to update you on the blog once I've finished this DIY fashion project.

TTFN

Nicole 

xoxo

Introducing...the 'Tiny Sparkler' range

It's been a while since my last blog post - but now that I've finally submitted my PhD thesis, I have time to both bead and blog about it!

I love big, intricate, crystal-dripping beadwork. But it's not exactly practical, however gorgeous it looks, and you might get a few odd glances if you turned up at the office looking like you've bathed in Swarovski crystals. Hence why I always try and offer beadwork jewellery in my shops that captures the essence of this style of jewellery making, but is wearable day-to-day, as opposed to being 'saved' for a special occassion. With this in mind, I've started making a range of gemstone and crystal necklaces which I have christened 'tiny sparklers.' 

Each tiny sparkler features a bezelled and embellished semi-precious gemstone or Swarovski crystal, just enough glitter to keep your inner magpie happy, but not so dazzling that those around you need to don sunglasses. These pendants are only between 2 to 3cm across, so definitely deserving of the name 'tiny.' I think they would also make a wonderful bridesmaid necklace - they're completely customisable to match the colour scheme of your wedding and they would be a lovely gift to give them for being an important part of your special day. 

Expect to see plenty more, in an array of colours, but here's a look at the first few that have landed online in my Folksy shop in the past few weeks.

Rose Quartz with opalescent Swarovski crystals

Turquoise Cabochon with Swarovski crystals

Blue Goldstone

Aquamarine & Pacific Opal Swarovski crystals

I've got lots to blog about in the upcoming weeks - I've been beading like crazy now I've got the time and got several new designs to talk about, plus a few other things I can't say too much about just yet. Hope you've enjoyed a peek at the 'tiny sparkler' range.

TTFN

Nicole

xoxo