Mobile - Captain Jack

This is my latest mobile. The wonderful Sue sent me a massive parcel of driftwood. I was dying to make something with it and on Saturday I made my first (mostly) driftwood mobile. Whilst I was making it, my son was watching Pirates of the Caribbean... and when it was finished (the mobile) it reminded me of Captain Jack - the beads in his hair, a little rough around the edges, suprising, butch and charming all at the same time... and a little scary. :-)

I've used lots of different beads, shells, driftwood, seaglass and hemp to put  it all together, hours of stringing and a little crochet. Oh, and there's a little aluminium wire to hold the beads at the top in place. 

If you like this... just contact me. It's for sale and I'd love to see it go to a good home. :-)

Spring in Paris

Spring is here - three days (at least) of sunshine and here's my offering to the goddess of Spring, Persephone:

Spring in Paris

This is another long necklace, but this time I included a clasp so it can be worn wrapped around your neck twice.

And doesn't it look just like Spring in Paris? It's elegant, romantic and a little whimsical with a shabby chic edge to it. Lipstick and sugar pinks, pale fresh Spring green, soft cream with a floral theme set off against stark black and with the vintage touch of the verdigrised filigrees.

I've added another organza/tulle flower, with layers in mint green, dark brown, burgundy, pale pink and cream and lovely gorgeous watery green Miyuki beads.


The flower is set onto a filigree with three more watery green Miyuki beads as a counterweight and so it looks pretty just in case it does turn the wrong way round. The filigree has been hand painted with a verdigris finish in acrylic paints and covered with two layers of special varnish.



Below you can see the details:

Little filigree hearts - painted verdigris - set between beautiful floral fabric beads that have gorgeous leafy bead caps in matte black. The fabric beads have come all the way from France again from the little beadhive shop on Etsy.

The pale green beads are amazonite rounds and the black ones are gunmetal beads.

The sugary pink beads are reconstituted pink turqoise and the bright lipstick pink ones are trade beads from Africa.


I've used two types of chain: one is a gorgeous matte black chain (new) that has little crescents strung together with (soldered) jump rings. The other chain is a vintage chain with a very dark patina and teeny tiny links.

The chain has a dangle that overhangs the small clasp with more watery green Miyuki beads.

I've also made a commission, but since it's for Mother's Day I won't show it on here till next Monday... just in case.

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....