Thrift Store Blog Hop Reveal!

I hope you all had a good time with my first blog hop. I think I might try running another in the not too distant future so keep your eyes peeled!

For my item I bought these from a Cancer hospice shop for 50p each. They are little ornamental masks I found in the junk bin.

I have no idea why I bought these. For a start I am scared of clowns and these sat in the kitchen staring at me creepily until I gave them a few coats of acrylic paint.

I painted one a deep rusty brown, and the other a very dark green. They both needed a few coats to cover the clowns face paint.

Then time for a design! I thought of a few different themes. A green man seed beaded bib style necklace, a voodoo shrunken head style wall plaque.

But ended up going with HR Giger.

And my meek little sketch in comparison? *laughs*

So next I drilled holes using my pin vice. I've used one of these on a silver art clay course before and knew I needed to have one "just in case" but this is the first time I'd used mine at home.

I drilled 4 holes through the mask which is made from a white plaster of paris type substance. I went fora  small hole to begin with, and then kept increasing the size of the drill bit until it was 2.3mm so fit my 2mm aluminium wire.

I threaded the wire through the holes and made spirals using the lovely nylon jawed pliers which I was bought for Christmas. And promptly broke off one of the nylon coverings. Oops!

Then with some silver wire, wire wrapped Czech glass AB faceted emerald glass and some pale green Chinese crystal rondelles down each side piece.

After finishing both side pieces, I wrapped the whole item around a lynx deodorant can to get it's shape!

Hope you like the finished piece. I most certainly do!

Don't forget to visit everyone else who is hopping today to see how they have got on with the challenge. :)

And as a thankyou for participating, I'm going to send a special bead soup type challenge pack out to someone who took part. I'd love it if you blogged about what you made though. If you are hopping and would like to enter my giveaway, shout out! (open internationally)

Sarah - www.pookledo.blogspot.co.uk
Deb - http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk/
Kimberley - http://goddessesandbeads.blogspot.co.uk/
Skye - http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.co.uk/
Ambra - http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/
Beti - http://stringingfool.blogspot.com/
Emma - www.apolymerpenchant.com
Shelley - www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com
Tammie -  http://ttedesigns.blogspot.co.uk/
Leah - http://beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.co.uk/
Denielle - www.somebeadsandotherthings.com
Keri Lee - http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com
Rochelle - acreativechelle.blogspot.com
Pam - http://pamelas-studio.blogspot.com/
Ingetraud - http://ingetraud.wordpress.com/
Audrey - http://esperianterra.blogspot.com/
Julie Anne - www.thepeacefulbead.com
Sharyl - http://www.sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com
Micheladas - http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com 
Lo -   http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk/
Kala - http://maybejustperhaps.blogspot.co.uk
Jo - http://jobunkum.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Edited to add: http://deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot.com/2012/08/thrift-store-blog-hop.html

So sorry I missed you from the list!

Thrift Store Blog Hop

I was at the Charity shop yesterday to buy some supplies to make some more thread wrapped bangles for my shop as I only have a couple of them left now.

And whilst I was at the store I realised how amazing some of the stuff there was and how fun it would be to turn some of the finds into jewellery. You can choose whatever you want as long as it is in budget from a thrift store. You can buy a piece of jewellery and take it apart, or a piece of clothing for the buttons or fibres, or something else. Just use your imagination.

So here's my blog hop challenge.

Thrift Store Blog Hop

• Sign up for the Blog hop here leaving your name and your blog website address
• Go to the thrift store/charity shop and buy an item for less that £1 ($1.50 approx at at the moment)
• Take a photo of the item when you get home 
• Take an "in progress" photo
• Take a photo when you have finished making your item
• And blog about it on Saturday August 4th.

Don't forget to include links to everyone else taking part in the blog hop so that we can all blog hop together :)

Participants so far:-

Sarah - www.pookledo.blogspot.co.uk
Deb - http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk/
Kimberley - http://goddessesandbeads.blogspot.co.uk/
Skye - http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.co.uk/
Ambra - http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/
Beti - http://stringingfool.blogspot.com/
Emma - www.apolymerpenchant.com
Shelley - www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com
Tammie -  http://ttedesigns.blogspot.co.uk/
Leah - http://beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.co.uk/
Denielle - www.somebeadsandotherthings.com
Keri Lee - http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com 
Rochelle - acreativechelle.blogspot.com
Pam - http://pamelas-studio.blogspot.com/
Ingetraud - http://ingetraud.wordpress.com/
Audrey - http://esperianterra.blogspot.com/
Julie Anne - www.thepeacefulbead.com
Sharyl - http://www.sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com
Micheladas - http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com 
? -   http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk/
Kala - http://maybejustperhaps.blogspot.co.uk/

I am a Bead-a-holic

My stash of beads has reached a near critical mass. I'm sure G would say that happened a long time ago.

I'm wondering if I admit to what I buy on my blog I will slow down my rate of buying, or will it just enable others to buy too!

But I'll give it a go.

Thursday I bought 4 strands of beads from Beads Direct (where I work as a packer making kits and packing orders, and some time designing the occasional item.) They have a £1.50 a string promotion on at the moment and I couldn't resist a few strings.

I bought:-

Small Crystal Quartz Chips

 

 

Red Jasper Chips

Red Aventurine Chips

 

 

Yellow Turquoise 6mm Rounds

 

And then this morning, after reading about Wingsmith2010 listing glass cabochons in her shop on her blog, I bought 2 of the 3 she had listed for sale.

I brought the gemstone chips home with me, and will hopefully receive the cabochons soon! I'm not sure what I will make with them, but they were just so pretty, especially the skull one. I couldn't resist!

Wholesale Order to Go!

When I got in on Friday an email was waiting for me asking if I could post out a job lot of earrings.

Of course I can. Woohoo! I like it when I get an order like that.

So I got my pliers out and started making.

All lined up to make sure there is a nice range of colours and materials

A close up of a few pairs

Bagged and labelled with a card saying what each bead is made from

And off they went to their new home by first class post this morning!

Creative Chaos Blog Challenge - Geek Inspired!

Skye at Creative Chaos Blog set a challenge at the end of May in Honour of Fathers day.

"Raid the tool box, the junk drawer, or visit the hardware store to use up some of your pocket change ;) Then make a piece of jewelry out of your toolbox find / hardware store purchase and share it in your blog on June 16th."

 I asked G for some random "manly" junk I could upcycled and he gave me a grip-seal bag containing this.

 

My first thought on this bags of goodies was to make a rainbow bracelets but when I looked in to my stash of findings, none of my ribbon clamps were the right size.

Then I checked out the resistors but I couldn't get them clean enough. They were a bit rusty and dark in places. I'll look into how to clean them for the future though as I have some idea of what to make with them.

So I carried on with the bit of circuit board. I found I could cut it with my wire cutters which was a good sign and it didn't leave a sharp edge either. Bonus! So I even off all the edges and cut it in half so I could make two pieces from it.

I glued on a vintage escutcheon that I bought from a  vintage shop then wired on round tigers eye beads and some bronze tone butterfly connectors. 

I improvised a way to connect the cord by making spirals from the same wire that I made the eyepins from and clamping the cord ends in place.

Then onto the next piece of circuit board! I just love the patina on these keyholes!

And I thought I'd see what a similar pendant would look like with a chunky vintage style curb chain.

These are nice simple earrings using what I think may be LEDS? I've threaded patterned bone beads onto the wires that came out from them and used them like ball ended headpins for a quick fix pair of earrings.

Etsy is down at the moment but I'm hoping to get everything listed later today when I'm sure the glue has set properly and when Etsy is back up again after it's scheduled maintenance.

 Other Participants doing this blog hop challenge are:-

Skye - http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com/

Marlene Cupo - http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com/

Pookledo - http://pookledo.blogspot.com/

Julie Anne - http://www.thepeacefulbead.com/

Shelley Graham Turner - http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com/

Leslie Wayment - http://www.aabeadsonline.com/blog/

Sherri Stokey - http://www.KnotJustMacrame.com/

ingetraud - http://ingetraud.wordpress.com/

Dyanne Everett-Cantrell - http://deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot.com/

Keri Lee Sereika - http://pinklemonade.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/06/something-from-his-world-blog-hop.html

Shaiha - http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Check out what they have done for their fathers day inspired challenge!

Hathern Carnival Photos

Had a lovely day at the Carnival yesterday and actually managed to take some photos for once. I really do have to get in the habit of taking more photos!

Me in pink with Jo from JojosBeads

A selection of my wares

And some of Jo's

And I think this gorgeous creatures has to get the award for cutest dog of the day. I just love his red white and blue hat! I couldn't resist taking a photo. Can yous ee the cute baby with a sleepsuit with ears on in the background too?

More photos of some of the great stalls I saw and brilliant people I met coming soon...

Sewing Machine Earrings

I've been having an earring making spree. I think these sewing machine charms have to be my favourite.

 I'm making them for £2 a pair with a choice of different beads.

I have lots in stock. Turquoise Magnesite as shown, or amethyst, glass pearls, garnet, jade and many many more. Only 60p postage for however many pairs you buy too.


Other handmade jewellery for sale at www.pookledo.com
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/PookledoDotCom

I also now have a wholesale price list for a range of handmade jewellery for small retailers, and a scheme for people who want to sell earrings at pocket money prices to earn some extra cash. Ideal for mums!

Vintage Inspired Bead Embroidery - Take 2!

Progress has been made on my vintage inspired bead embroidery. which I talked about at this link.

Then I stuck my salvaged hardboard disc on the back with superglue.

Vintage Inspired Bead Embroidery - The Beginning!

I made a bead embroidery piece a couple of weeks ago for a feature in a magazine (Coming soon!) and decided that I fancied making another in a similar style.

I found a cabochon from a broken piece of jewellery which was a small portrait of a girl in sepia tones decoupaged onto acrylic.

I found a piece of board to use as my backing stiffener. It's a piece of hardboard whcih was the base of a jewellery stand I bought on ebay. When the stand arrived in the post it was smashed to bits bit I managed to salvage the unbroken base.

Next step was sketching out a rough design.

And choosing a colour palette.

Then getting started!

More to follow when I've got some more completed! I still haven't decided what the final item will turn out to be. Any ideas?

Busy Times! - Craft Fairs, Paperwork and Other Stuff

I can't believe it's a week since I updated my blog! Where does time go to? 

Well, there's been lots of form filling in going on around here. Insurance forms, craft fair applications, phone calls to book stall spaces.

And I've been on a needle felting course which was great fun. I'm playing around with different techniques to see how I can incorporate it into the work that I already do. I've got some great samples which I'll share when they have a bit more work done on them.

My next Craft fair is on April 14th and 15th at the Derby Eco centre. It's their Spring fair and wool festival which sounds like it could be a great weekend. With all this bad weather over the last couple of days, I'm glad I paid extra money to be indoors!

But with craft fair imminent, I'm doing all of those getting ready for a craft fair jobs. All my jewellery needs boxing up whether I've listed it on Etsy or not, I need to made a few extra pieces of stock where there are gaps in my product lines, and a few extra pieces which will hopefully appeal to my audience at the fair I'm going to. I'm going to make a few more heavily recycled jewellery pieces, and some yarn inspired earrings. Maybe even some of my new needle felted items will make an appearance.

And I'm also waiting for a couple of shipments to come in. A box of recycled cabochons from vintage jewellery, and a secret surprise parcel for a magazine project. I hoe they arrive today so I can play with them over the bank holiday weekend!

Recycled Shell Wearable Art Necklace

Wearable Art Necklace

I've got a collection of these shell piece in my stash. I just can't resist damaged or broken items when they come my direction. Obviously shops can't sell broken or damaged items as new so a lot of the time they are just thrown away. I like to think of them as nature pushing you towards a design plan.

The top of this shell was broken but the rest of it was fine so I used seed beads to make am asymmetric freeform peyote feature bail.

Next I had some sari silk from Stef Francis which was just crying out to be used. A little wire with seed beads threaded on to it held the silk tassel in place.



It took me a while to figure out what to hang the pendant on. I'd just been focussing on one step at a time. Letting my ideas flow organically from one step to the other.

With my pink and purple palette of beads still laid out in front of me I figured I'd make a piece of seed bead rope until an idea came to me. Duh!

I threaded the rope through the bail and it hung beautifully.

Voila!

Quartz Necklaces

Blue Quartz Crystal Front Fastening Necklace

I'm finally getting round to listing the backlog of items I have made for sale on Etsy.

Whilst I'm on Etsy I've been hanging around the forums a little, in particular the British team Forum. They are so lovely and friendly on there. And helpful too.

I've been given a critique of my shop which has given me lots of extra work to do in my shop to get it up to scratch, and it's so good to see the work of so many talented designer makers based in the UK.  I recommend a wander over there if you have an Etsy shop.

Rose Quartz Freeform Peyote Necklace

These are a couple of quartz based necklaces I have made. The top one is simple but effective. Each of the leaf shapes are made from tiny glass seed beads threaded onto silver plated copper wire and bent into shape.With the toggle clasp being at the front of the necklace, it's so easy to put on and take off yourself. I frequently have to ask G to rescue me from a necklace at the end of a night out!

And the pink necklace is an experiment of freeform peyote stich using rose quartz chips as well as seed beads to create a slightly assymetric statement piece.

As you can see from the close us, the chips sit in nicely where I have stitched the seed beads around them.  I think freeform peyote has to be one of my favourite styles of work to do to just chill out and relax.

Mexican Lace Agate Necklace

I seem to have been distracted from listing a necklace on Etsy. I got part way through listing it when I realised I couldn't remember what stone the focal bead was. I posted a photo and found out from some very talented friends, and was all ready to carry on with the listing.

Then I put it on and looked in the mirror. I couldn't list it! I kinda fell in love with it and now it is mine Mwahahaha!

It was my first piece of spiral rope I had made too. I was taught in my lunch hour by a friend at work and then just carried on going with it when I got home. Very relaxing to make! but then I realise that I had no bail the right size for it. Eventually I found one on Etsy on sale by an American seller who had imported them from Israel.

So I put the project to one side and waiting for the bail to arrive. It fitted the rope. Woohoo!

And then none of my findings matched the metal of the bail. Noooooo!!!!

So off to work I went in the morning and went through all the picking bins to see if I could match the colours. (A huge perk of working in a bead warehouse) And eventually I found something.

So I think I may have become a little attached to it and here it stays.

Absolute Beads Challenge Pack - March! (Including Challenge Bracelets #13 and #14)

I do like a good challenge when it comes to jewellery making. I like commissions where I have to incorporate random items into a piece of jewellery, or are just given a bag of beads and asked to make a necklace from them.

So I bought another challenge pack of beads from Absolute Beads. In fact, I paid for a 3 month subscription so I don't even know what I'm going to get before it lands on my doorstep. Whats the point of a challenge if you know what you are getting beforehand? And this is what I got.

I have to admit I was absolutely stumped. I took it to work to see if anyone could give me inspiration. They were quite stuck too. The charms were a bit too big for a charm bracelet. There was quite a  a lot of acrylics. And the dyed jade was just too big!

But then there was a plan! If I had a solid enough structure, then the charms wouldn't be too big. and the berry beads could be made into a beaded bead so that they sat well with the larger beads. Hooray!

But it was not to be. I couldn't get my beaded bead to work with the berry beads. More practice needed for that one. I just wasn't having fun on my chill out night in on my own but then I had another plan!

I knew I had a choker wire with a removable end ball so I threaded a few of the larger heavier beads on to the wire so that they were stable, and started wiring the other beads on using silver plated wire.

(The colours aren't right on my photo. I'm not the worlds best photographer and my camera not liking this colour is really confusing me. I want to list them in my shop for sale but can't as the colour isn't a good representation of it in real life and it would be far too misleading as advert.)

After I'd made a base row of wired on beads I wire on seed beads with a thinner gauge wire along the row, and then added the silver charms on the top. Lovely!

Next I wanted to tackle a large piece of the dyed Jade. This was just a case of stringing the beads on a wire, then adding chains and dangles. Voila!

There was still some more beads left though so carried on until I'd made a nice selection of items.

A macrame inspired floating style necklace using hand dyed threads from The Rainbow Girl

And a wirewrapped bracelet which matches the choker I made first off. I used a recycled bangle as the base and wire wrapped with textured wire I received in a  swap on Swap-bot