Aladdin

At last, I am showing a few of my very own handmade glass beads!! Simon (my OH....oooh look at me I know some blog speak now, taken me a longtime to work it out though!!) bought me a bead making kit for Christmas and in between everything else, I have just got the hang of the basics. There is a mixture of blue and purple glass beads in here that I never intended to go in the same necklace! Also, whilst experimenting with the glass, and watching to see how two colours work together, I made some yellow and blue beads; the contrast was lovely, but I didn't plan to use them...Not until I decided to make this necklace anyway..I laid them out with the others, expecting to take them away again, but no, they look fantastic! As usual, my photography lets me down and you just don't get the colours showing as well as they could, but I hope you can see just a little bit!

Oh and for those of you who haven't yet looked at the title, would you have guessed that it was aladdin? I hope so! The purples, blues and gold and yellows are just made me think of Aladdin straight away!
Kids are back to school now, so I have set myself a goal of posting at least one blog a week and tweet at least once a day.

Thanks for looking!!

Finding Nemo

I'm not sure whether I love August or hate it!.. As with most of us, it's when we go on holiday, and I don't know about you but I hate the packing and preparation before and after! This means I have less time to do the enjoyable things like beads and jewellery! Actually thinking about it, I DO like August! I've had a glorious week in Crete, soaking up the sun and looking at the history and then a lovely long weekend in Jersey. Oh, just for your information, If you ever go to Crete, make sure to visit Spinalonga Island. It's a former leper colony, before the cure for leprosy was found.Fascinating place. Also a good read is Victoria Hislop's book called The Island which is about Spinalonga. It makes a change to see some of the modern history of Crete rather than just the Greek Mythology, (Although I would happily have seen that as well!!).

Anyway, back to beads.....

I've had some orange beads for a while and have always found it difficult to make a necklace that I like using them. Then when I started with this theme, I suddenly had inspiration. The colours of Nemo in the Disney fim; bright orange, white and black. I think the contrast with the black makes the necklace quite striking. Don't you think?. I love this necklace and feel it would go nicely with a plain black dress. I decided to make the drop earrings to match to complete the whole set. The necklace is finished with silver findings and most of the beads are glass.

Has it really been that long?!!!

Oh my god! Doesn't time fly! I realised that I hadn't blogged for a while, but three months? Now I'm going to make good on that one..

I had a bit of a blip in inspiration for jewellery making recently and got sidetracked making a few other things instead... (They'll be going on here later...) So I bought myself a beading magazine. Just what I needed to spring me back in to creativity. A very sympathetic partner then helped by buying me a repalcement gas bottle so that I could go back to 'experimenting' with making my own beads.. (for those of you who don't know, I was made redundant about three months ago and even though I now have a new job, money has been a bit tight.). So, I sat down over the weekend and thought of a theme, not an original one on this occasion, but my friend gave me the idea without even realising it! just by telling me of her next years holiday plans..The result? Disney inspired colours... They use such vibrant colours in their animation, that I decided to base a collection of jewellery each with a specific film in mind....Oh and for those keen eyes out there, this one is not using handmade beads, they'll be appearing in another creation.

So this first one is from the colours in Fantasia. Why not start at the very beginning and use this magical film to make a magical shiny necklace? The beads are big and chunky but are made from acrylic, which means that it is not too heavy to wear comfortably. By using the purple and siver coloured tigertail it also sits almost 'magically' (see what I did there?!!) and appears to 'float' on your neckline. I love this necklace, purple has got to be one of my most favourite colours.

The picture doesn't do it justice really; theres are two different silver colours, shiny and matt whch gives a good contrast to the purple without being too 'samey'.

Enjoy!

Any comments or suggestions for other films, leave a comment..

Happy 50th Birthday Dawn!!

Do you remember the chunky red necklace I made before? Well my sister loved it so much that she wanted another one in black and silver... So being the good sister that I am, I made it for her birthday.

I'm enjoying making some chunky stuff, it's different for me as I usually make more delicate things. This one is made from black glass beads, silver metal rings and silver coloured palmwood beads. And, in case you go on her blog and think that I've spoilt the surprise by putting it on here as her birthday isn't until Saturday; Well, I've already sent it to her and it didn't take a rocket scientist to work out what it was!! - Oh and if you like cards and card making, check out her blog, she has put some 'blog candy' up for grabs to celebrate the big event. I've entered already, so fingers crossed, I might get lucky!!

Pink earrings

Look at my latest 'make'!! I had some extra beads left after making the pink and gold necklace, so I decided to make some earrings. They are made with pink glass beads and gold coloured palmwood beads with gold plated findings. I really like these earrings and I was really tempted to keep them for myself; but, because they match the necklace, I decided to put them in my shop...never mind, I might just go and make some more for me!

Blue and Gold Necklace

I think I'm on a roll!

I made this necklace a little while ago, but just haven't managed to show it... Oh and when I say I made it, I truly did make most of the glass beads myself.. I was lucky enough to be given a glass bead making kit for Christmas and all the blue glass beads are my own. I finished it with gold plated chain and findings. - (If anyone is reading this and is wondering why not use gold or sterling silver, the obvious reason is the cost, but it is possible to finish it with a precious metal if wanted.) This is another different style for me so any comments or suggestions on other ways to incorporate chains would be gratefully received.

This necklace won't go in to my folksy shop; it was a prototype with the beads, so this one is mine! That's the only problem with the jewellery making, I started so that I could make some for myself, but I now I'm selling them, I have to make more for me!

Enjoy this necklace...

Pink and Gold Necklace

This beautiful hand made necklace is made from pink glass and gold coloured beads and finished with gold plated findings. It is approximately 24 inches long and can be worn as a day time accessory over a jumper or to compliment an evening out. I am enjoying trying this new style and liking the result, I hope you do too! Oh and check out my new Folksy shop; www.folksy.com/shops/JJCreations.

This is the first item of hopefully many items that are going to listed in the future.