The big beading night was a roaring success and I was very grateful for the donations made in aid of Kidney Research UK. I was able to donate £136 which was brilliant! We made simple spiral bracelets and also a St Petersburg bracelet in a range of bead sizes. All attendees managed to go home with a completed item (although a couple of sneaky people managed to trick me into finishing theirs for them!) I'm pleased to say that a couple of ladies have since purchased more beads to make jewellery items for themselves and to give as gifts. Careful ladies - it's very addictive!!
Here are some of the fabulous results!
I have also managed to complete some of my UFOs from the never ending pile. The fabulous Alston Lariat from the bead merchant is lovely. Although the pattern was quite repetitive the results are lovely and it has already had several wears and lots of admiration.
The GJ beads Caris bracelet pattern, which was mentioned in a previous post, was also completed a while ago so here is a picture of it in all its finished glory. I used some odd rivolis that I had in my box, which I think were 10mm. The pattern needed a bit of adjustment but it turned out OK in the end. The photograph really doesn't do it justice as it is super sparkly!
Along with the GJ bracelet kit I also ordered a rizzo ring pattern. The pattern uses a 14mm rivoli but I used a swarovski hexagon bead instead. When the size fifteen beads are added around the front you are unable to see the threading hole in the bead so it worked out perfectly. It was also a quick make, taking about half an hour. Bonus!!
I seem to have a bit of an addiction to the truly lovely kits from Oak Tree crafts. I picked up a pattern for the shirazel necklace from the bead fair at Five lakes earlier in the year and then succumbed to buying the bead kit to go with it. Although I probably had enough beads in my stash to make it it's always useful to have everything that you need already colour co-ordinated. The crystals in the kit are czech and half coated which makes them really sparkly. The pink and green in the kit go together beautifully and I love the fact that I could make up a couple of beads in an evening resulting in a necklace by the end of the week.
Mother's day seems a distant memory now and, due to the opening race of the British Touring Car Championships at Brands Hatch, I was unable to see my Mum. Luckily we postponed to the following weekend, giving me an extra week to get her present made.
I used the same pattern as the picture in my last post but changed the colours and layout slightly. As before, all the fabric and embellishments came from my stash.
For months now I have been looking at the October butterfly kit on the Heather Kingsley Heath website. I fell in love with it months ago and it has been in and out of my shopping basked more times than I care to mention. At last I gave in and the kit arrived during the first week of the Easter holidays. I eagerly opened the kit and quickly started to bead, and undo, and bead, and undo, and bead until eventually it was finished. The wings weren't as rigid as I wanted so I coated the back of the beading with a couple of coats of clear nail varnish, which seems to have done the job!!
Although the instructions are very detailed I don't think this is a make for the faint hearted however the end result is as good as I hoped. The kit comes in purple and green, and pink (which is the one that I made).
The final make, which isn't yet finished, is a beaded flat-backed cabochon. I used beads from my stash to embellish it and am part way through making a spiral necklace to attach it to (although I may yet change my mind). The cabochon took about three hours to complete but I think that it's stunning in pink and black.
There are a couple of other beading projects which I have made for birthday presents so I will post pictures of them over the coming months. I don't want to spoil any surprises for the recipients!!
For a while now I have been following Paper Panda's facebook page and her work is truly amazing. She is a paper cutting expert and her work is just beautiful. I resisted buying a kit for ages but the time came when I could resist no more. It is a new craft for me to try and I loved it (although I'm not sure the OH would've liked the mess I created!!) I have completed a medium sized cut out, which I'm rather pleased with, but as it's a gift the picture will have to wait. I just need to pick up a frame for it and the job done.
By far the biggest job of the holiday was clearing and sorting my crafty stuff and having a good organise. Unfortunately I discovered yet more UFOs, although these are not beady in nature, and some are top secret (in case someone destined to get one as a present reads this!) There is now a new pile of bits to finish and a short list, although some of the items are going to be time consuming to get finished. To make matters more interesting there is a bit of a UFO deadline too! More about that later in the year I'm sure!!
So aims for this week ... To finish a pair of Christmas tree ear rings as the beads I ordered an age ago have actually arrived, Sewing, sewing and yet more sewing, and that's about it!! It sounds so simple but I guess time will tell. Wish me luck!!!
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