July crafting

Hello lovely readers. I hope you are all well. I am not too bad. Feeling increasingly lumpy and not long to go now. Readers from the UK will know we had some rather warm weather in July. Lovely for some but not so much when you're 7-8months pregnant! I've been melting somewhat.

I did very little creating in July. I started a few bits but have not been in a very crafty mood. Heat and sciatica (thankfully, eased now) did not help matters. I think the only things I competed in July were a little baby hat, some resin cabochons (a custom order) and three pairs of stud earrings that have been almost finished for some time now!

Here's the baby hat I knitted. It's far from perfect but I'm sure baby wont mind! I need more practice knitting in the round with dp needles. My tension in ok on the needle changeovers for the knit stitches but very loose on the purl rows. Ah well, never mind. I like the colour of the yarn! The free pattern is by Ulli S. Shibuya.

The cabochons I made were a commission. I was contacted through my facebook page and asked if I could make 5 watch part cabs with a black/very dark green background. After some discussion, we decided to use black resin with a hint of green mica (well eyeshadow actually!) Here is the result. The cabs are now winging their way to Australia. I hope my customer likes them!

The final thing I competed in July (I think) were these resin studs. They all feature a single dandelion seed tip and are backed with black resin. It was a bit of an experiment really but I do like the results. I'd like to do some in other colours at some point. These are technically for sale but I haven't gotten round to listing them anywhere yet.

I think that's everything I finished in July. I have already finished 2 things in August though so maybe I'll have a more creative month. There's lots I still want to make before baby arrives and I've only got approx 6 weeks till my due date. Eeek! Better get making!

Have a fab August everyone.

xxx

January Crafting

Happy February lovely readers. I hope you are all well. I've been somewhat under the weather myself but nothing serious, just hanging about and leaving me with no energy which is somewhat annoying. Ah well, never mind.

 

I did a little crafting in Jan but not a huge amount due to aforementioned lurgy. Just not been in the mood for the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately I can't show you all I've done yet though. One is a present and another is for BB&B (hopefully revealed in a few days). I can show you a pendant I made for someone as sort of a commission after she saw a pendant I made some time ago on my facebook page.

 

Here it is. Its a resin pendant with dandelion seeds, approx 2 inches across. I made the mould for it as I didn't have anything big enough using "vinamold". Great stuff that can be melted down and reused.

 

 

I have also been doing the earring challenge again. Readers from last year may remember that I was attempting to make a pair of beaded earring a week for all of 2012 as part of an OTTBS challenge. I did not succeed! This year I am not going to limit myself to just beading, hopefully there will be some beading, resin and silver work as a minimum. Unfortunately I am ALREADY behind. Oooops! I'll catch up when my energy returns but here are the 3 pairs I have made so far.

 

 

 

 

Almost everything in the first pair, including the fab instructions for the beaded beads, came from Pam Gordon of Westcoast Gems and Beads. The instructions and most of the beads came from Westcoast's 'beads of the month' Feb 2013 kit.

 

The second pair are stud earrings made from resin and tiny watch parts.

 

The third pair are resin and dandelion seeds.

 

The first 2 pairs are not for sale, the third pair should eventually go in my folksy shop, should I ever get it up and running again! If you want them though, the easiest way to get hold of me is probably via my facebook page.

 

 

I think that's everything I can show you at the mo. Hopefully February will be a little more creative.

xxx 





May Crafting

Well May was not very crafty at all. Lost my creative mojo a bit. I only made 5 pairs of cup studs (that's one day playing with silver and one day playing with resin). Here they all are.

 

 

I think I might keep the rainbow bead soup pair. I love making cup studs and finding little bits to put in but I've never kept a pair for myself yet. The ones on the left have pink sugar in them! I was going to make another pair with pressed forget me nots in but unfortunately I left my pressed flowers out in the sun by accident and they've gone brown. Must get on to picking and pressing some more soon... maybe this afternoon.

 

 

Still trying to decide what to do with my DamselflyGemma shop. My folksy shop is in holiday mode and I don't know whether I'm going to go back there or try somewhere else. Been pondering this for about 6 months now and just don't know! Now's not really the time to be getting into it though. June is going to be very busy. The maths GCSEs are in just over a week so I'm working the bank holiday and over the rest of half term as some tutees want last minute lessons. After the exams I'll be marking again although I do have the Laura McCabe beading workshop over at stitch'n'craft just inbetween the exams finishing and marking starting. Good timing there!

 

 

So with all that gong on in June, I don't think I'll be doing much creating this month (other than the workshop). Have a couple of bits I'd like to try and get done as pressents for people though so hopefully there will be a little more to show you next month even though I'll be busier!

 

 

Have a fab June everyone xxx

Edited to add: I did pop out and get some forget me nots so hopefully will be able to make forget me not studs in a couple of months :o)

April Crafting

Yes, I know, this blog post is a fair few days late. Not really been in a crafty/blogging mood recently. I did a little making in April though so here it all is!

I think this necklace was the first make of the month although it does feel like a loooooong time since I crocheted it. Its not on March's roundup post though so I guess it must have been! Very pleased with how this one came out. I was experimenting with beaded crochet to see what I could achieve.

I'm majorly behind on the earring challenge though I did make these. One pair to match the above necklace and one pair for a tutorial. They are basic right-angle-weave beaded beads and you can find the free tutorial for them in my previous post.

 

More beaded crochet. I made this bangle from the April issue of Beadwork magazine, designed by Linda Lehman. I did have a few difficulties (it kept coming out too small) but got there in the end. Linda produces gorgeous beaded crochet patterns and sells them in her Esty shop. Go see!

I also made five pairs of resin and silver cup studs. I feel its only fair to count one in the OTTBS earring challenge as only one includes beads. I do like making these studs though. It was great to get the silver and resin kit out as it'd been a while. The dark blue star pair were made for a prize in the OTTBS facebook group birthday celebration but the other pairs are available for purchase if anyone wants them. Haven't listed them anywhere yet (still trying to decide what to do with my Damselfly Gemma shop) but give me a shout if you're interested in any.

Hmmm....what else...oh yes, how couple I forget?! I FINALLY finished my skirt (with a lot of help from my lovely friend Jen and her Mummy). I started it before I moved into my current house and we've been living here for 4 years now. It has in fact been hung up in the far end of the lounge waiting to be finished for aaaaaaaaaaaaages. Haven't worn it out yet. Must do that soon :o)

I also made a couple of beaded sunflowers. I started out intending to make something for the OTTBS moodboard challenge but as I was beading it took me in this direction instead. I am planning on writing another blog tutorial for them at some point in the not too distant future so keep an eye out here if you're interested.

And that's it, I think. Looking back through this post makes me feel like I was all productive and stuff :o) Hopefully I'll be back making again soon or May's roundup post will be empty!

Have a fab May everyone, whatever you're up to.
xxx

RAW beaded bead earrings tutorial

I made these earrings earlier this month as part of the OTTBS earring challenge. I was just playing about embellishing right-angle-weave.When I posted them up in the facebook group someone asked about the pattern. I said I'd write it and put it on my blog at some point so here goes! They're easy peasy if you're familiar with the stitch. Hopefully not too tricky if its new to you.

You will need (for 2 earrings- halve them if you only want 1!):

2 x earwires

2 x jumprings (I used 6mm)

12 x 6mm fire polished crystals

6 x 6mm corrugated/fluted metal beads

12 x size 8 seed beads

A sprinkle of size 11 seed beads (I can't be bothered to count how many! As it turns out, a tiny sprinkle more than in the photo below)

Preferred beading thread, thread conditioner, needle

The earrings above are made with AB coated montana blue fire polished crystals, SP corrugated beads and galvanised silver seedies. In the tutorial I am using purple iris fire polish, SP corrugated beads and gunmetal seedies.

Cut and condition some thread. A wingspan of thread should be enough to do both beaded beads although this will depend on how thoroughly you weave in your ends and how long your wingspan is!
Thread one fire polish, one corrugated, one fire polish and one corrugated. Tie into a ring leaving a long enough thread to weave in at the end and then pass the needle through the first two beads you added.

Thread one fire polish, one corrugated and one fire polish. Pass the needle back through the corrugated bead in your first loop that the thread was exiting from in the picture above, to create two rings.

Pass the needle through the first and second beads you added in the step above. Add one fire polish, pass the needle through the 4th bead you added in the first ring (the corrugated one at the end of your row) and add another fire polish.

Pass the needle through the 3rd corrugated bead you added. Basically you have three loops in a triangle.

Pass the needle through the top three fire polished beads, back through a corrugated bead then round the bottom three fire polished beads to strengthen them. Pass the needle through the nearest corrugated bead and add nine size 11s, then through the next corrugated bead in the direction shown. 

Repeat twice more so you have lines of beads between each of the corrugated beads so it looks like this.

Add four beads and pack through the 5th bead in the last set of  nine 11s you just added.

Add four more size 11s and pass the needle through the next corrugated bead to make a cross. Do this twice more to get three crosses around the bead.

You are now going to add the beads on the top and bottom, around the fire polished beads. Thread one size 8, eight size 11s and one size 8. Pass the needle through the next corrugated bead so that the seedies you just added form a semi circle.

Repeat the above step on the other size of the bead but make sure that the bead corrugated you stitch  in is not linked to the semi circle on the other side.

Add one size 8 and four size 11s. Loop the thread round the middle of the semi circle and back through the five beads you just added and the corrugated bead.

The corrugated bead you just passed the needle through will already be linked to a semi circle of seedies on the other side. Pass the needle through the first 8 and the next four size 11s. Add four 11s and an 8 and through the corrugated bead that isn't linked up.

 Basically you're done! Just weave in the ends, tying a few knots as you go. You can go around the thread path to strengthen it if necessary, depending on your tension. Then you just need to add a jumpring and make another.

Here's mine!

Hope this all makes sense (I have a feeling I've waffled a bit!!) and  have fun! I'd love to see what you make with this tutorial! Pop me a link below.

Gemxxx

As far as tutorial use goes, you are more than welcome to sell what you make using these instructions but please do not copy this tutorial to redistribute/teach without contacting me. If you wish to share my tutorial, then thanks muchly, but please link people to this post. You have my permission to use an image for the purposes of linking to this tutorial only. For any other use, please contact me.  

February Crafting

Hello all and welcome to March! Hope your February was fun filled.

My February has been busy. There are maths exams tomorrow and over the next few days so I've done a load of tutoring recently. Crafting wise, its all been beading/jewellery making.

Here's a roundup of everything I made in February.

I finally caught up with the OTTBS earring challenge. Here are weeks four through nine:

Week four: These star earrings are made from a fab pattern by Jean Power. If you want to make your own beaded stars, you can get the pattern from Jean's website.

Week five: Crytal hoop earrings. I made these for me using 3mm fire polished crystals. I also wrote a free tutorial for these. It's here if you missed it.

Week six: I made these for a friend's birthday. They are made with dyed purple freshwater pearls and sterling silver wire in a herringbone weave.

Week seven: A quick little make as I'd gotten a few weeks behind again. These are lava rock and sterling silver. I'll probably list them in my Folksy shop at some point in the near future so if you want them, give me a shout.

Week eight: Another fairly quick make to catch up. These are facetted red aventurine drops and sterling silver. I decided to oxidise these. Again, these will probably end up in my shop soon.

Week nine: I made these to match my OTTBS beadalong project (see below). I used the same beads as in the bracelet but used abalone rounds instead of chips. Sorry for the not so brilliant photography! Too lazy this morning to set everything up properly! 

I finally finished my anemone cuff (based on a BWG project by Stephanie Burnham). Thanks to the OTTBS beadalong I felt compelled to actually finish off all that fringing. I used press studs as a fastening to give it an almost invisable join.



Really chuffed to have finally finished it but not sure when I'll actually wear it! Although I have got the earrings to match now too....

All my other beading this month has been curtesy of Gillian Lamb's beaded crotchet workshop I went to at Stitch'n'craft. It was my first time a their studio and I had a fun day. It was a little over an hour away but not a complicated drive. Becs of Bead by Becs fame was also there. It was great to meet a fellow OTTBSer. By the end of the day we had both gotten the hang of it and had two crotched ropes on the way. I finished off both of mine over the weekend.

The top one was the first I started at the workshop and is a necklace made using 3mm toho cube beads. The bottom is a bracelet made with three different colours of size 8s and delica drops.

My next crochet project was flourite chips. This was much fiddlier than the regular shaped beads but I love the result. Its a little big for me but I'm keeping it! I'll just have to be a little careful when wearing it!



And that's everything I made in February...well everything I completed. I did play about with some donut beads, as you may have read on my last post, intending to make something for the OTTBS February moodboard but it didn't go brilliantly so I didn't get round to entering this month. There were 36 fab entries though- you can see them here if you're interested. 

Creating aims for March? Well I'll be exam marking along with tutoring so not sure how much creating time I'll get. I want to keep up with the earring challenge plus I have a couple of UFOs I'd like to get done. I'd also like to sort out my Folksy shop. I've kinda taken a break from it and left it on its own for the past 2 to 3 months so I've got loads of delisted stock and, as I haven't been listing, I haven't had sales. Not sure if I'll get round to sorting that out though. We'll see.

Have a fun March everyone, whatever you're up to.

xxx 

Crystal hoop earrings tutorial

Well, as some of you know, I am currently participating in the Operation Tackle That Bead Stash earring challenge of making a pair of earrings every week for a year. I'm a little behind already (oops) but these are my week 5 earrings. I decided to jazz up a pair of old silver coloured hoops with 3mm fire polished crystals.



They're pretty easy to make so I thought I'd write a tutorial.

You will need:
A pair of hoop earrings- mine are 25mm in diameter
Enough 3mm crystals to go around both earrings- I used 48 in total (they are the lilac mix from RB Beads)
Clear beading thread (I'd recommend fishing braid like Fireline but I didn't have any and the monofilament fishing line I used is holding up fine so far!)
Beading needle

You need to work out how many crystals you need per earring. Lay them out around the hoop to check. Different sized hoops will require a different number of crystals. My hoops are 25mm in diameter and 24 crystals fit around perfectly.

Cut a length of thread, about an armspan length as you'll be using it doubled. This amount should be enough to complete the entire hoop unless they are enormous! Thread both ends through the eye and hook the looped end over the earring.

Thread all the beads you need for one earring onto your thread in the order you'd like. I used 3 different colours in a repeating pattern. Hold the crystals against the earring. Loop the doubled thread under the hoop and pass the needle through the last bead you added.

Loop the thread under the earring again, between the beads, and then go through the next bead. (Red thread path.)

Keep looping the thread under the earring, between the beads, and then go through the next bead until you get to the last bead.

After exiting the last bead, loop the thread under the earring and pass the thread back through all the crystals.

Remove the needle and cross the two threads under the earring and knot them. Cross the threads over the top of the earring and knot again.

Rethread the needle and pass the thread back though several of the beads before cutting the excess. You can add a dab of clear nail polish to the knots if you like.

Repeat for you second earring and you're done :o)

I'd love to see any earrings you make using this tutorial. You can leave me a link here or on my facebook page.
Any questions? I can be contacted via email: gemma[at]damselflygemma[dot]co[dot]uk

If you wish to share this tutorial, you may do so, but please link directly here. Do not publish it elsewhere. You may use a picture for the purposes of linking only. You are welcome to sell earrings made using this tutorial but please take your own photos!