Treasure File

I went to a bead fair in Newmarket last weekend and got lots of gorgeous treasures. It was a good day out as we went to a carboot sale in Newmarket afterwards. The next one is in November and well worth going. For a list of bead fairs around the country click here.

My first stop and absolutely irresistible was Lush Lampwork Beads. I could have bought at least half the stall but restrained myself and only bought this:

These lentil beads somehow remind me of Japanese cherry blossoms. They have all sorts of colour flecks in them and are gorgeous and unusual.




I love the simplicity of the black and white swirly theme going on here.




And here are some orphan beads I picked up and just had to have!!! I should only be allowed to go to bead fairs with my hands tied behind my back! LOL



All from Lush Lampwork Beads.


I love unusual semi precious beads. And they don't come much more unusual than these lava cubes. They're a bit rough, which will be fine for earrings, however I may try and tumble some of them with pebbles. I'll let you know how it goes...


Labradorite beads - this string came with graduating sizes, which is unusual because normally such strings are roughly of beads almost the same size. I like the fire within labradorite - without the flashes of colour (blue or coppery gold usually) it would be a fairly unassuming gem.


The green apatite below was irresistible. One of those must-haves. It's a pale green with flashes of gold and copper and deep brown. It's not a perfect or flawless by any means but that makes it dearer to me because it is so much more interesting.

Prehnite is one of my favourite gems. I love it's ghostly lime green glow. It looks totally magical to me.


Cherry red jade, such a lush deep red, it looks good enough to eat!!!


All from Buffys Beads.

Right at the beginning of the fair was the Designer Cabochons stall. I am not that interested in cabochons as you have to make bezels etc for them, something which I haven't tried yet enough to make something worthy of a cabochon of their calibre. However, the beads below caught my eye.

Aren't these two pendants utterly fun? I love the robot and the zombie. They were far too expensive, but again 'must-haves'.


The swirly heart below is so pretty, like the red jade it looks almost edible with the glossy glaze over the top. It reminds me of a jam tart!



Last but by no means least a celadon green Day of The Dead pendant. I love the delicate colour with the flowers and then the contrasting skull. Works for me. Think this might be one I can't bear to part with.

All from Designer Cabochons. Note, these beads are not yet on their website as they are a new line, however if you want anything similar, just contact them.

Below is a selection of the trade beads I picked up. They are so light. The lady at the stall told me that they are made by women in Uganda displaced from their homes by draught and war. The beads are made by rolling paper strips cut from magazines and then coated with resin. It allows the women to send their children to school and feed them. I also got the lovely sterling silver calla lily beads.

From Spoilt Rotten Beads.

There was one more stand at the bead fair which stood out to me because of the quality of the beads and findings: Itchydo. I really liked the unusual beads and the great quality, alas, I'd run out of cash by then....

More Wire Fantastic

More wire artisan jewellery. I've really got the bug now. Got myself three proper jeweller's hammers today, just so I can have even more fun! :-)


Writing on the Wall

The first version has been made from bronze. I bent the wires into shape, then bashed them about a bit till they were nice and flat and sturdy, then fixed them together with handmade jumprings. I added handmade clasp so the bracelet won't get lost and a little charm with a cobalt blue, faceted vintage bead. To finish it off it has been oxidised to give it a warm dark hue. The matching earrings are shown underneath.


Bracelet




Earrings

Here's the Sterling silver version of the bracelet. The wire was much finer so the links are smaller too. I left it 'au naturel' because I liked it's shiny silverness. :-)



Violet Hoops

I adore these Violet hoops. I've made them myself from scratch with thicker, square Sterling wire for the hoops, and thinner Sterling wire for the ear wires. after bashing it about a bit, I added the beautiful, intensely violet chalcedony beads with yet more Sterling silver wire.



Wavy Sugar Drops

Earrings made with some leftover links from another project. The beads are quite large with a Givre coating. They look fantastic together. The ear wires and wavy links are made with brass wire that has been oxidised to make it less shiny and brassy.



Sleeping Dragon Pendant

Another lost pendant that hasn't found its chain YET. It reminded me of a sleeping dragon I painted a while back. See it here. I've made the pendant starting with a simple Sterling wire spiral. I hammered it flat and sturdy, added texture with the other side of the hammer and some netted wire, then I used much thinner wire to wrap around and to add the head and tail and the spikes. The head and tail are made of marquise cut labradorite and the spikes are labradorite heishi beads.




Skyline Bangle: Kiss

This is a completely new design. Sterling wire bent into the shape of something resembling the Manhattan skyline, the adorned and prettified with gorgeous sky blue millefiori beads with little red flowers and crayon red seed beads. This is quite delicate but comfortable to wear and absolutely stunning!

Busy-Bees-R-Us

Sorry for the pun, couldn't think of anything else for the title... brain not working very well today.

Made lots and lots of stuff as I've caught the wire bug. Just can't stop making things with wire. The next project is already on the drawing board. However, I thought I better take some time out to show you what I've been making... especially since I am SOOOOO pleased with the latest pieces.

Let's start with some more


Rings

First, here's my Sweet Pea Ring, made with a sterling wire tube, fresh water pearls in green and silvery grey, sterling silver ball pins and lots of tough love bending in all into shape. The ring is a standard size M but can be adjusted.




This is my Mint Sorbet Ring - check out the matching earrings in the earring section below! This ring has been made with bare copper wire, thick gauge for the ring frame and a darker coloured, thinner copper wire to wrap the beads. This is so pretty and the little crystal faceted beads have a lovely green shimmer and a gorgeous sparkle. The ring comes in a size M.



And here's my Fruit Salad Ring. I love this ring, it's full of sunshine and summer. I've used bronze wire - thicker gauge for the frame, thin gauge for the wrapping. The jewels are: orange sunstone, golden citrine, and minty amazonite. The ring comes in a size M, however, I can make all rings in different sizes.


Earrings

Been hammering and bashing away. Here are the results.

Number one are the Leafy earrings - a hammered sterling silver leaf with a labradorite dangle. All the findings (including the jumprings and earwires) are sterling silver and handmade.




Lime and Lemon Sorbet earrings. Again, everything handmade, sterling silver, and lime green and pale new jade cubes with lovely handmade little spirals dangling at the bottom.



Ice Cube earrings. These are so pretty with the black oxidised sterling wire and the pale jade cubes interspersed with vintage (Edwardian) crystal seedbeads.



My favourites - Icy Tulips, made with Sterling wire, Sterling chain and earwires and the most gorgeous pyramid shaped prehnite beads. Not sure I can sell these....




Frosty Morning earrings: these have been made with silver plated findings, frosty white sea glass, green faceted crystals, and vintage dangles that hold the sea glass in place. You can see in the first and third picture how the dangles create lovely swirly reflections on the sea glass.




Mint Tea earrings: similar to the ones above, again with sea glass but this time in green, and aventurine round beads and vintage diamond dangles.



Black Star earrings. These have been made with Swarovski headpins bent into ear wires and Sterling silver paddle pins wrapped around the onyx briolettes. Small, but perfectly formed.


Raspberry Sorbet earrings, made with oxidised Sterling silver wire and beautiful sparkly rose quartz briolettes.






Tangerine Dream earrings: Made with oxidised Sterling silver wire and bright orange Chalcedony.

Mint Sorbet earrings: copper with green faceted crystals. See matching ring above.




Sets

Ophelia Set

Necklace: vintage brass figure of eight chain, gorgeous microfaceted grey/green crystal, labradorite briolettes, brass wire and lots of patience, TLC and hammering....



Earrings: same materials (except for the chain)


Bracelet: same materials as above, even more patience, and a little angel because I was a good girl going to all this trouble. ;-)






The Etruscan Heart Set: TaDA!!!

This one has been made with more patience and TLC in bronze with little Heishi labradorite beads interspersed between the double heart sections. The necklace is long enough not to need a clasp, however, I could add one if required.





The earrings have been made with more bronze wire, labradorite Heishi and briolette beads and a little leaf instead of the hearts.



Most of the items above should find their way into my Etsy shop some time in the next few days...



Works in Progress

Below are pendants, that as of yet haven't been turned into necklaces. Sometime soon they will be the pretties necklaces and lariats. So watch this space and enjoy a sneak preview.


Funky Pink Heart pnedant: hammered, oxidised Sterling silver wire and a gorgeous bright fuchsia pink chalcedony briolette.




Fossil pendant: a real ammonite wrapped delicately in square Sterling silver wire.




Art Nouveau pendant: bronze wire encasing the dark green nugget of sea glass, pale grey/silver freshwater pearls and a gorgeous deep green moss agate briolette dangling from the bottom.



Beaded Ammonite pendant: Sterling silver wire - two different gauges, gorgeous Japanase Raku fired beads in a dark brown with a peacock shimmer, vintage crystal beads and a faceted amethyst coloured glass bead in the centre. All wrapped around and around and around to create this pretty pendant.