The Big Bead Show 2010

I had a lovely time at The Big Bead Show today. I could have spent a lot more money than I did, but I've noted down a few things which I saw and didn't get - they're going on my Christmas list!

Here's what I got...


Labradorite freeform faceted slabs. I 'ummed and aahed' over these for a while, as they were £21...but there's 18 on the strand, and they are seriously beautiful, so I couldn't resist in the end.




Some lovely potato-shaped freshwater pearls.



I love the mixture of colours of these - Botswana Agate 8mm rondelles. Just lovely.


Pyrite 4mm roundels - love these, but I wondered whether they would look good teamed with silver - in the end I decided they would, especially with oxidized silver.



And finally some texture plates to use with my art clay. There were lots to choose from, but in the end I picked out this lovely dimpled one...


..and this gorgeous floral rose one, which is so me :)

I also picked up some sterling silver findings, which I very much needed.

All in all, I did pretty well I think! My Mum and I watched the guy do some lampworking, like we did last year, and my Mum suggested that she could buy the kit for me for Christmas. It does look like a lot of fun, but there are other jewellery-related bits I've thought about which I might like, so I'll have to have a think!

xx

An Update

I'm such a bad blogger. But I've got today off work, so thought it'd be a great opportunity to post a quick update.

First things first, some new pieces in my shop...










Just click on the images to be taken to them!

I've also listed some new things in my supplies shop - including semi-precious beads, lampwork beads, wire and gorgeous vintage chain. So if you're also into jewellery making, go have a look!

I think I'll go into town later and do a bit of Christmas shopping before I meet the boyfriend from work. I've bought quite a few bits for people off folksy, but have found it quite difficult to find things on there which I think the males I need to buy for would like. So I think that's on my agenda today!

I'm off to The Big Bead Show at Sandown with my Mum on Saturday. I went last year and it was great. So looking forward to going again and seeing all the Exhibitors and buying some beautiful beads!

xx

New pieces and free shipping!

As well as being busy making new things for The Gift Gallery York, I've also made a couple of new pieces for my folksy shop.


Bow ~ fine silver pendant


Wish Upon A Star ~ fine silver pendant

And I'm offering free postage from now until midnight on Sunday! So feel free to have a browse. I will refund the postage via paypal.

Have a lovely weekend!

xx

Silver Jewellery & The Gift Gallery

I went to London Jewellery School on Saturday for a beginners silver jewellery class. I'd been looking forward to this since booking it in July, and I wasn't disappointed.

There was 7 of us in the class, which meant that Liz [the tutor] was able to give each one of us help when needed. We spent most of the day making a simple textured band ring each, using techniques such as sawing, soldering, annealing, sanding and polishing. We were able to choose how wide we wanted our ring to be [I chose to have a thin band] and which hammer we wanted to use for our textures. Some people used stamps to put words onto their rings too.
The final part of the day was spent learning a different technique, using the rolling mill. We annealed a strip of silver three times, before choosing some texture plates and putting them either side of the metal, before putting it through the rolling mill. We then could either leave it flat, to be used as a pendant, or shape it into a wrap over ring. I chose to make a ring.

And here are some photos!! First, the band ring, then the wrap over one, which has a floral texture on the outside, and a contrasting circle texture on the inside. I also think this ring would look great strung onto a chain.








I had a really great day, and learnt some new stuff, which is always good! I'll probably end up going back there for another class at some point, but it's just a matter of choosing what to do next...

As you may have read in my blog a while back, I've got some of my jewellery being stocked at The Gift Gallery. Well, it opened on Monday and by the sounds of it has been a great success so far. So well done Kate! I've sold two items there so far - I'm really pleased. I need to get making some more stock to send! Hopefully my boyfriend and I will be taking a trip up to York soon, so we can pop into the shop and have a good nose!

What crafty stuff has everyone been up to lately?

xx