Welcome back!

It has been a terribly long time since I updated my blog, so sorry for neglecting you all. There have been a lot of changes in my life in the last few years but now I'm in a position to dedicate more time to my passion for beading, and my love for sharing that with you all.

I have been creating during this time, I've designed so many lovely things, and I'm very happy to say that I will be sharing lots these tutorials here on my blog. You have necklaces, ropes, earrings, bracelets, and even some 3D objects to look forward to.

This spring time necklace is one of the designs I'll be sharing first, even though the daffodils are just about past  their best, it doesn't mean you have to stop feeling the spring vibe.

This is one of the most sparke-tastic pieces I've ever designed, I think. It was made using Swarovski crystals, and I loved how the chatons looked like little inkwells of colour in amongst all of the clear crystal. I'm sure it will look equally amazing with Preciosa or Aurora chatons and crystals. This is the Scintilla necklace,

The last little sneak peek I'm going to share with you is a pair of earrings that I designed in my 2021 earring marathon. I did manage to complete the challenge and bead a pair of earrings for every week of the year, which was an epic achievement. This pair I was especially pleased with, and I named them after my little cat, Pixie!

And because she's adorable, I couldn't leave Pixie herself out!

I look forward to Seeing you all really soon and sharing the pattern for my Daffodil necklace with you.

January Retrospective

 I must say, I've beaded more in January than I have in a very long time, and I've really enjoyed it. Although there were only 5 weeks in January (I've been beading a pair of earrings for every weekend, rather than every week)... I've actually made 7 pairs of earrings! If you read my new years resolution blog, you'll be familiar with the first two pairs, but I wanted to keep a record of each month's makes together, so I've included them here again. 

Tassels and Superduos - my own design. 

Scintilla Earrings - my own design. 

Keep your eye out for Bead & Jewellery Magazine issue 107 to see a tutorial for how to make these.

RAW Pearl Bezel design by Jean Power from her book Rivoli Beadwork. 
I initially made these as I'd seen a friend make them with sapphire rivolis and cream pearls, and they were beautiful, but very traditional looking - I wanted to see how different they would look with dark pearls and a lighter rivoli. The long kidney wire earring findings added to the different look. I really love them. 

In fact, I loved them so much.... I beaded a second pair! 

These are based on the Bicone Snowflake design from Jean Power's book Rivoli Beadwork, although I have used chatons - the 14mm chatons are lovely, etched Chinese crystal chatons which have a really unusual look.

I am in love with these Little Lantern earrings from Sabine Lippert's book Beaded Fantasies.   I made a pair years ago and they have been worn a LOT, so making a second pair seemed like a good idea. They were quick to make up and used some really interesting construction techniques, as Sabine's beadwork always does. 

This last pair for January are my design. A simple loop of CRAW with a crystal dangle in the middle. I must say, if nothing else, I'm very impressed with my wire wrapped loops on these earrings. They're neat and they match - that's quite a feat for me! 

I hope you've enjoyed joining me on my earring journey in January. If you have any questions about the designs I used, or have any suggestions for future months, please drop me a message in the comments. 

I've also noticed that my colour schemes seem to fall into the pink or blue/grey box, so if you have suggestions for colours you think I should try, just let me know.