micro giraffe

Get well soon card for my granddad

2012-01-14T13:45:00.001Z

This is a card me and Mr T made for my granddad, who's in hospital with a broken hip (now mended and healing well). It's a kind of collage mounted on an off-white textured card.

The 'plants' are cut and torn from lots of kinds of paper and card, including glittery, corrugated and hand-made (by me) paper. They're arranged to look vaguely like plants, with 'water' symbolised by the horizontal wavy lines.

The fish is an image that Mr T drew ages ago, and he copied it and went over it in fineliner. Then I cut it out and stuck it over the top. The hardest part was deciding how to arrange the plants so that they looked best behind the fish (Mr T came up with the final arrangement).

Inside are three 'bubbles' of handmade paper to contain the words 'get well soon'. I hope he likes it.

Child's jewellery

2010-08-23T17:44:00.002Z

I don't normally make jewellery for children. But I will make an exception for people I like, and a work colleague who I like asked me to make some for a child of her acquaintance. So I did. Said colleague has a necklace of mine which said child liked, and so this is her tiny little version all of her very own, with matching bracelet. I'm quite pleased with getting the two different kinds of hearts to match (I used different kinds because a necklace likes dangly beads but a bracelet likes non-dangly ones, specially for a kid who may catch it on stuff). Hope she likes it - the colours are quite muted but I didn't have any in really bright pink, which is what small girls like, I'm told.

Wire twisted stud earrings

2010-08-23T17:37:00.002Z

I branched out recently. I had only ever made dangly earrings before, and I hadn't made findings apart from jump rings, but making these twisted wire studs was really easy. I got the idea from a book, though I can't remember which one now. Anyway, you start by just winding the wire into loops, round round-nose pliers is easiest, and when you've got a little bit left poke it through the middle to make the post. Add a butterfly back and you're done!

Kit necklace and earring set

2010-08-23T17:29:00.002Z

This set is from a kit I've had for years, from France. The instructions were in French so I learnt something from it too.

Asymmetric front-fastening necklace

2010-08-23T17:25:00.002Z

This necklace fastens at the front, making a feature of the toggle, and has asymmetric lengths of large oval chain either side of the focal beads. It's comfortable to wear and looks darn stylish.

Things for sale on Folksy!

2010-03-10T21:04:00.005Z

There has been a rather long hiatus, for a number of reasons. First, I can’t blog about things I make in the run-up to Christmas in case their intended recipients see them and spoil the surprise. Second, my main computer died (and is yet to be fixed) so the photos of those things are currently inaccessible. And third, I’ve been insanely busy so I haven’t actually been doing very much in the way of jewellery making. I have been knitting and learning to crochet though, which I’ll write about soon, I promise – I’ve made a scarf inspired by Hugh Dennis. And if that’s not intriguing enough to make you want to learn more, I don’t know what is.

In the meantime, here are some things I have managed to make. First up, a bracelet made with larger size jump rings (I bought the bigger jump ring maker as I liked the little one so much). (Buy it here.)

I discovered that a flush cutter is essential – any other kind of cutter just doesn’t... well... cut it. Side cutters, wire cutters, all a no-no. Flush cutters are the only way to do it so the edge is nice and un-chewed, and you just have to stump up the cash. Mine cost £25. I suspect I was fleeced and they are available for less.

Next, a necklace made using some charm beads I was sent as part of a mixed pack – I think the subscription gift from Beads Unlimited. (Buy it here.)

These, as you might be able to see, are the metal-cored ‘charm’ beads everyone is going a bit mad for. Their large hole means you can do funky things like this with them, and thread them onto chain. The large bead at the bottom is a lampwork bead I’ve had for years. I cut the chain in half, and linked it back together above the beads so that they don’t slide about. It’s fastened with a chunky toggle.

Some earrings, made with black beads and my new-found chain maille technique. (Buy them here.)

And finally, some charms. They all follow the same basic design, a ribbon knotted to form a loop and adorned with whatever charms I could lay my hands on. Some are just joined on with a jump ring, others threaded onto headpins first. The fish in the blue one is jointed, and very cool. They make nice little trinkets, and could attach to a keyring (though not function as one themselves). (Buy the black one here, the blue one here, the green one here and the brown one here.)

Buy my stuff online!

2009-11-30T17:27:00.003Z

I've just set up a Folksy shop. Folksy is a sort or marketplace for crafters, and you can buy all kinds of hand-made stuff there. I don't know how well it'll do, but we'll see. It's good to have the option, anyway. I've just got a couple of things on there at the moment but hope to put lots more on soon. I really need to improve my photography skills though!

Anyway, from now on, if anything I blog about is available to buy online, I'll link to it.

Items for sale on Folksy!

2009-11-30T17:17:00.005Z

I went to Leeds at the weekend and bought lots of beads for making Xmas presents, but those will not appear on this blog till after Xmas. However, I also got some other things too, among which these nice bumpy beads. I made links by putting each on an eye pin and linked them together, then attached a length of Byzantine chain maille at each end, then a length of pale pink ribbon and fastened it with a toggle clasp. I've listed it for sale on my new shop on Folksy too.

And I listed this one - made with my jump ring maker out of turquoise and silver-plated wire linked in pairs with seed beads on alternate links.

Make Jewellery magazine

2009-11-21T17:18:00.003Z

I bought the second issue of Make Jewellery magazine a few months back and liked it so much I've bought every issue since. There was one exception - I accidentally bought another title called Making Jewellery the following month and was dismayed to find it not as good as the previous one. Then I realised my mistake and am now careful to pick the right one!

I have since taken out a subscription as it's much cheaper that way, and it really is good every issue. (That's when I got the free starter kit I mentioned in a previous post, which was stuffed full of really useful findings and lovely beads - all of which I will be able to use.)

I like it because it's got a nice design, a good look about it. The instructions are very clear and the projects are just the right level of difficulty - they are different and interesting, but they don't involve specialist equipment or hours of labour. The photography is beautiful. It's also quite a young person's magazine, which makes a change from the usual craft magazines aimed at old people and housewives. It includes fashion and trends and so on. I've made loads of the projects and I'm really pleased with the results.

This is exactly what the market needed. When I first looked a few years ago there were only American beading magazines, and the adverts (which were obviously useless, being American companies) took up most of the pages. This is just what I wanted back then. It's an ideal resource for the established beader, but it would also be great for someone just starting out to learn techniques from, as there are varying levels of difficulty and all the basics are explained very clearly.

Handmade jump rings

2009-11-21T17:04:00.002Z

I've been enjoying the chain maille, which takes a lot of jump rings. So when I saw this jump ring maker, I thought I'd splash out. It came today (from The Bead Shop Nottingham, £9.95) and it's great! I got some silver-plated wire in two thicknesses, and some turquoise wire to play with as well.

You choose one of the widths of mandrel and screw it into the base like this:

Then you put the wire through the little hole to hold it in place and wind the wire round the mandrel as many times as you want jump rings. You cut the wire and take the resulting spiral off the mandrel and you get something like this:
Then you just cut through the spiral with wire cutters and your perfect little jump rings are complete. Like these:
I made these ones with 1mm wire on the 4mm mandrel. I got 0.6mm wire too, which is fine for 4mm jump rings for attaching clasps and headpins and so on, but is a bit thin for much bigger. It's really easy to use, mine came out perfect the first time I tried it, and wire is cheap so I think it's definitely worth just making my own from now on instead of buying them.

Things I have been doing lately

2009-11-21T16:51:00.003Z

As promised, here are the other things I just hadn't got round to posting. This is the chain maille bracelet I made from a kit from Creative Beadcraft. I decided to get a kit even though it cost £7.95 and I normally wouldn't buy a kit because I thought it would be easier when it's a complicated technique to have the instructions for the actual components rather than try and match up online instructions with whatever I could get. And also the beads are Swarovski and I wanted to see what all the fuss is about, whether they're any sparklier than cheaper ones. I'm not sure they are, really.

You use the jump rings in pairs and make a chain of pairs (a 2 by 2 chain). Then you make another exactly the same. Then you link them with pairs of rings joining every other link in the chains, if you see what I mean. It's quite easy and not as fiddly as it sounds. The fiddly part in making this was wiring in all the beads - that took far longer.

This is the black bracelet made with beads from an old one. The one I took apart was a free gift I got with a magazine years ago, and I think I wore it once. These beads were knotted on black ribbon and it was pretty but impractical. I couldn't even fasten it myself. So I put them all apart from the one I used for this bracelet onto Elasticity and spaced them with black pearly glass beads and made a simple chunky black bracelet which is great for easy going out jewellery.

A very Pat-like necklace

2009-11-21T16:29:00.002Z

I made this cluster necklace from a kit which came with my Make Jewellery magazine subscription starter kit (from Beads Unlimited). As soon as I made it I thought of my colleague Pat, who wears a lot of black and loves pink and purple, and chunky jewellery. So I took it in to work and sure enough, she loved it. I enjoyed making it too, though it's fiddly trying to get all the beads onto the same jump ring. I think you get a good effect, and I like the dangly chains.

Black

2009-11-21T16:19:00.002Z

I've been into black jewellery lately, and chunky bracelets, so I combined the two to make this. The big faceted bead is from an old bracelet I took apart because I didn't wear it. I used all the other beads from that bracelet to make another one of just those, but for some reason I haven't put a picture up yet. I will. The other beads on this one are lava alternating with some nice flat glass ones from Beads Direct. It's strung on Elasticity.

And this is lava beads again (also from Beads Direct) with some metal spacers from Beads Unlimited. I got them in a kit I was sent when I took out a subscription to Make Jewellery magazine, on which more later. They're just threaded onto a headpin and strung on suede.

Leftovers

2009-11-21T13:13:00.003Z

I've been using up odds and ends of the things I've bought recently. Here's a necklace with heart shaped beads I've had for ages in the centre of those green shell rings - they're just the right size. I didn't have enough clear crackly ones to make exactly matching earrings so I made nearly-matching earrings with green ones.

Here, I combined more green rings with blue veined jasper squares, strung little seed beads in the centre and added dark blue, light blue and clear fire-polished faceted beads at each end to tie the colours together. The tiger tail is royal blue in this one (it was light green in the one above).

And the last ring left, turned into the centrepiece of a three-strand necklace. I'm not totally sure about this one actually, I'm yet to make up my mind about it. Anyway, there are random selections of green beads on each of the three strands, including leaves.

More blue swirly cube beads, strung with smaller beads between that aren't fixed so they slide about:

And the last of the blue jasper, mixed with some of those swirly round beads on a toggle-clasp bracelet. I've still got some swirly ones left actually, though only three.

Byzantine chain maille

2009-11-21T12:50:00.005Z

I've been learning chain maille! I've made a bracelet, which I'll post a photo of soon, from a kit. It was a good deal easier than I expected, so I did more. I learnt this new kind, called Byzantine. I don't know if it really looks like Byzantine battle clothing, but that's what it's called. I like it because it looks sort of natural, kind of fishy and less geometric than the normal kind. Here's a section of a necklace made with it:

And here's a zoomed out photo of the same necklace so you can see how it fits in. The bead is from Yum Yums in Leeds, and it's on a headpin. The whole lot is strung on suede. I like how the links add a bit of interest to an otherwise very simple necklace. This one's nice and long and would look good with a low neckline on a Christmas party dress.

And I did a similar thing but joined two beads with purpley colours on purple suede:

And some earrings, done with teeny tiny jump rings!

Bicones two ways

2009-10-22T15:39:00.002Z

This one is lovely - in real life it's totally sparkly and fab. I like the red and black thing, very smart. It's on red tigertail, and very simple. I made the dangles by making wrapped loops from eyepins, as the hole in the hearts was too wide to use any jump ring. It was fiddly, but I think it actually looks really good. The matching earrings I debated for ages whether to make them with red or black bicones. I might do the opposite colourway too, and get some more of these beads. The hearts are 30p each (from Beads Unlimited) but that's pretty good compared to Swarovski.

And here are some super-sized bicones, lampwork ones. Pretty.

Copper, suger and charms (as Hawkwind never sang)

2009-10-22T15:27:00.002Z

This is a charm bracelet, my first experiments with chain. It's easier than I thought, and looks cool, I think. The charms are all ones I had from something I took apart ages ago, and I think they look much better on the bracelet. It's fiddly, mind.

These beads I bought because they look like they're covered in sugar, which can only be a good thing in my opinion. the design is similar to one I did a few years ago, made by twisting the beads onto strands of wire and twisting the strands together. The seed beads are loose so they move freely.

And another one I love and didn't want to give away. Copper lined pale blue beads, on memory wire with blue and copper seed beads, and little stars. I haven't got any more stars left now so I can't make another just like it.

Multi-coloured swirly discs

2009-10-22T15:21:00.001Z

A fab bright, bold necklace and bracelet set. the necklace is 2-strand, on red and blue tigertail, and the bracelet has a similar sized toggle to the beads. I love these and may make some for myself.

New beads for Xmas

2009-10-22T15:17:00.002Z

Look at these! In fact, I used most of them straight away, took them to work to sell and they all went immediately. But I shall post them anyway.

Shrinkles!

2009-10-06T10:38:00.002Z

Looks a bit Christmassy, doesn't it? It wasn't meant to be. This is a memory wire bracelet made with those square beads I've had forever, interspersed with wooden and fire-polished glass accents, and SHRINKLES! I got so over-excited about having Shrinkles again. I used to love making them as a child. It's basically plastic that you draw on, cut out, whatever, and then you heat it in the oven (or with a heat gun, as I did) and it shrinks seven times smaller and seven times thicker. It's fab and looks amazing. But if you heat them with a gun, they do tend to blow about the place so you have to be careful - I think using the oven is easier, but you have to watch them so it helps if your oven has a glass door, which mine doesn't. Incidentally, Shrinkles seem to have got hard to find. Fenwick's used to sell them but were unable to locate any last time I asked. Mine came from trusty eBay.

Solid links

2009-10-06T10:27:00.003Z

This one was made with these nice oval rings. They've been sitting about on my desk for ages because I couldn't find anything good to do with them but then I made this. As they're just a solid ring, they have to be linked with jump rings, and the in-between links are from Yum Yums again - they're wire wrapped beads, mostly black but with the odd dark blue one mixed in.

This necklace is similar, but the rings are twisty. Instead of jump rings to link them, I made links with eye pins - just put a few beads on and turn the non-bent end the same as the other end. You could do it with plain wire, of course, but using eye pins means half the work's done for you. The clear cubey beads were from eBay, they were a measly 99p for 100 with free delivery! They came from Hong Kong as well, so I can't imagine postage was that cheap.

Sweeties!

2009-10-06T10:18:00.002Z

They look a bit like sweets. To me, anyway. It's not that clear in the photo but they're strung on two colours of tigertail, blue and black. Here's a similar one with purple and pink where you can see the colours. The bumpy ones make me think of the everlasting gobstoppers in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (yes, the 1971 film, in which they for some reason made the gobstoppers which you suck forever in a shape which would be most uncomfortable to suck).

Spotty glass bead bracelet

2009-08-23T11:55:00.002Z

These beads are from Yum Yums too - I did quite well out of that one visit. It's a bit hard to tell in the photo, but the spots have a sort of metallic, petrolly effect which looks very cool on the clear glass. It's just strung on silver tigertail with small blue cuboids in between. I tried it with blue tigertail, but it stood out too much.

Works in progress

2009-08-13T15:04:00.002Z

I need inspiration. These beads look better on the ends than the sides, which means they won't look good just strung, so I need some creative kind of stringing that shows them off.
And this is a bracelet that I made and don't like. The balance is wrong. So I need to remake it, either as a bracelet or something else, but I'm not sure how exactly.

Big bead bracelets

2009-08-13T14:47:00.003Z

I've gone bracelet mad! I've been making millions of them, I can't get enough. These are all made with Elasticity. The beads for the ones in the top two photos are from the wonderful Yum Yum beads in Leeds, where I went a bit mad buying loads of stuff when I went the other day. They know how to run a bead shop - they have all their beads in little trays, and little tubs for you to gather them up in yourself. Le Beado could learn a lot from them. Which is where the beads in the bottom photo came from, actually - much more expensive than Yum Yum's, at 55p each (the ones in the top picture were 40p each on a multibuy deal).

And I made two more of the bumpy bead bracelets with the rest of the beads, so I got three bracelets out of that £4.50 pack, and a few left over. Not bad.

Paper beads

2009-08-13T14:39:00.003Z

I learnt how to make beads from rolling up strips of paper - I bought some recently which were made by some African women, and they're so pretty. You cut a magazine page into triangles, as wide at the bottom as you want your beads to be wide, and then just wrap them around a cocktail stick, gluing as you go. Then you really need to varnish them, to make them colourfast and to make them look really good. These are what they look like before varnishing:
And this is a necklace made with some pink ones (for another birthday present, as it happens).

Cherries

2009-08-03T16:18:00.000Z

I totally stole this design, but the one I saw was really expensive so I was never going to buy it anyway. How cute is it? The cherries are just red beads (they're AB but on the side that's facing away from the camera, dammit), they're on headpins, and the leaf is another bead attached to the same jump ring with some tigertail. It's strung between green AB beads and crimps on green tigertail.

Bumpy bead bracelet

2009-07-31T14:34:00.002Z

How cute is this? The beads are about half of a pack I bought from John Lewis (I haven't linked to it because you can't buy them online) and they're strung on Elasticity (a special beading elastic which is not too stretchy and very smooth). I didn't have the same problems I had last time with tying it either, so that's good.

Those charity shop beads

2009-07-31T14:29:00.002Z

I know I said I'd give the reworked piece back to the shop but I love this so much I'm not going to after all. The blue beads are the ones off that necklace I bought from a charity shop and they're threaded on a long bright pink cord, spaced in alternating singles and triples with knots. The pink bead is one I've had for years, just for some added interest. It was going to be a red star, but the damn thing had a blockage in its hole so couldn't be used. Bah. There's no clasp as it's a waist-length necklace.

Watermelon beads

2009-07-31T14:26:00.002Z

Don't these look like watermelons? I'll have to make a watermelony necklace or something.

Plagiarising my childhood

2009-07-31T14:18:00.003Z

When I was about 6 or so, we were on holiday in Brittany and we went to the festival of the blue nets (fete des filets bleus) at Concarneau. I bought a ring that was very simple, made of wire with a few blue rocailles as the decoration. I loved that ring, I really did, and of course it doesn't fit me now, having been bought for a 6-year-old's tiny little fingers.
But all is not lost - I have made myself a replica! OK, it isn't very neat, but it was my first attempt - I'll get better. I'm pretty pleased with the result, actually, so I think I will have another go. My original was silver with dark blue beads, not gold with turquoisey ones, as this one is. It probably would be worth getting some actual silver wire too, as this stuff is OK but it discolours quickly and smells metallic.

Modestly-priced expensive jewellery

2009-07-26T20:43:00.004Z

You might have seen these glass beads with a silver core, which are sort of like charms - you pick a few that you like and string 'em on a chain. They're blimmin' expensive, generally up to a tenner a go. Well, while in Bainbridge's (yes, John Lewis) looking for a clasp for my grandma's necklace (which I got in Fenwick's in the end) I found the very same beads for £3 for a pack of two. They may not be sterling silver, but they look just as nice. So after much dithering, and a trip to Fenwick's to see what they had (I bought the chain there actually, as it was a pound cheaper at £2.95) I bought the bits to make this:

I strang it when I went back to uni, it was so easy - you don't need any tools, a moron could put this together. And I love it so much I think I'll be buying more and will make others. You can change it, of course, whenever you want, or if you want to make it more permanent you could put a jump ring through the hole and make it so the beads can't come off. I think I'll leave it and then I can mix and match to my outfits. Though I love this with its bright colours. I think a black and silver one would look nice, or perhaps with a bit of light pink in too. I'll be making my mother one as she'll love these nice coloured beads.

And I did check the price of ready-made ones after - one similar was £30 in a cut-price jeweller's. Mine cost £11 and about two minutes' work, and it's just the way I wanted it. Fab.

My grandma's birthday

2009-07-26T20:36:00.004Z

It's grandma's birthday so she has been made a necklace very similar to the one I made my other grandma, but they don't know each other so it's OK, there will be no potential for necklace-duplication-related embarrassment.

Charity shop beads!

2009-03-31T19:48:00.002Z

I got a new book called 'Bead Simple' and it inspired me to look in charity shops for beads, epecially as I walk past several on my way into town. I went into Oxfam on Gosforth High Street today and found a necklace for £1.99 with transparent blue plastic beads on it, quite unusual. Success. I'll try and remember to post a photo once I've turned it into something else. I suppose I could be doubly charitable and give the reworked thing back to the shop to sell again. That would be very philanthropic of me.

Knitting

2009-03-30T21:07:00.003Z

I've expanded my horizons and learnt how to knit. I did learn when I was little but I wasn't very good and I immediately forgot how. I took it up again quite recently and I've been really enjoying it, mostly because I'm much better at it than I was when I was little. I haven't taken many pictures of the things I've made so far but this is a brooch I made using the 'yarn over' technique and sewing on beads:

And this is a hat (with my sister inside it) which she requested. You can't see very well in the photo but it has ears, it's a panda.

My grandma's birthday necklace

2009-03-30T20:51:00.004Z

It's nearly my grandma's birthday so I've made her a necklace using some beads I bought from a newish bead shop in Jesmond called Le Beado. Le Beado gets bonus points for its comedy name, though it loses some for having all its beads in pots that you have to take to the counter to be counted out for you instead of in tubs you can rummage in youself, which is much nicer. Anyway, here is the necklace:

I strung the little beads in the hole in the big ones. At the same time, I made this for myself, which can be worn as a bracelet or as a necklace:

I'm moving!

2007-12-28T03:47:00.000Z

I couldn't log in to Blogger for ages, and although now I can again, I'm going over to MySpace for a while, to see what that's like. I'll see what I can do about keeping both up to date, and in the end I may switch back to this blog, but in the meantime, if this is wildly out of date try looking at myspace.com/microgiraffe

earringification

2007-04-11T22:19:00.000Z

A friend of mine had a bracelet she liked but didn't wear, so I earringified it for her:

And as promised, the bead roller. See, it's two bits of plastic with channels in each one that match up. You measure out just the right amount with the little thingy that's just out of shot in this picture (you can see it in the next one) and put it in the channel of the desired shape. Then put the two pieces together, as in the next picture...

And roll the back and forth so the fimo is squished into a bead shape. You have to put a hole in it with a needle then and bake it. Easy!

spots, silver and stars

2007-04-03T17:34:00.000Z

I haven't blogged in ages - it's been a bit tricky getting on the internet in our house because The Tone is on the brink of becoming a world-famous rock star (I hope) so he's been occupying it rather a lot. Still, I've sneaked a slot, so here's a little update.

I got a bead roller, which is really fab (actually, I should have put a picture up - I will do next time). You use it with Fimo or any oven-bakeable modelling clay and it makes regular-sized and shaped beads. I've been having modelling clay fun, making beads like the spotty ones in this bracelet:

And you'll be on tenterhooks waiting to see my latest silversmithing efforts, I know. Well, here's the ring. I'm not sure whether it looks much different from the last time, but in silversmithingland that's several hours' work.

And, excitement knows no bounds, a new project! This is a brooch (or it will be) made in copper with a silver bezel and pin, and a lapis lazuli stone set in it. I've slightly cheated for this picture, as I haven't set the stone yet but you get the idea. And obviously that nasty muck'll all be removed and it'll be fabulousy shiny when it's done. There's only one week left, though it's the Easter holidays at the minute. My last session will be the 17th April and that should be finished then. I think I have to leave it to be assessed but I can have it back in May.

stretchiness

2007-02-16T20:36:00.000Z

The latest update on my ring: I'm now polishing it up.

And some examples of the things I've done lately:

But the most exciting thing is that I got some elastic and I can make stretchy bracelets!

I got Elasticity (by Beadalon) which is designed for beading. It's extremely strong and it's plastic, really, not elastic, so it stretches but it won't 'stretch out' (i.e. over-stretch, I think). That's what they claim, anyway. It's also extremely expensive, but worth it if it's stronger, and it is really smooth.

But I initially found it very difficult to use - any knot I tried, including the one they recommend (a surgeon's knot), unravelled itself. The elastic just seemed to want to be straight. So I was on the verge of taking it back but luckily Tony saved the day and worked out a way of doing it. He did a knot with the two ends together, pulled that really tight and then did another two normal half grannies, pulling them both really tight after each one. That held it.

So the secret to tying Beadalon Elasticity so it stays tied is to use two different types of knot and pull it really bloody tight!

chips and chunks

2007-01-29T17:35:00.000Z

I recently got some semi-precious chips and things:

(clockwise from top left: rose quartz, fancy jasper, mother of pearl, malachite, blue lace agate, rhodonite)

I made this wrap bracelet using the malachite:

And I was given a necklace to take to bits by a colleague. In return I made this necklace with some of the pieces , some mother of pearl chips and white square 4mm beads:

the return of me

2007-01-26T11:26:00.000Z

I haven't posted anything in ages, mostly because it was Christmas, so I just made things and then gave them to people with no intervening time for photographing them and posting the photos. Then I spent about three weeks doing nothing but write essays for university. But I've been busily making stuff since then, so here's a small selection:

Some rather funky chunky necklaces

Some dangly earrings

And some 2-strand bracelets

my silver ring again

2006-12-13T23:37:00.000Z

Here's my ring again. Now you might think it looks worse now than it did last time, and you'd technically be right. But it's going to be a zigzag, and those notches will eventually join up. It may take several weeks, but I'll get there.

safety pin brooch

2006-12-13T23:34:00.000Z

And finally another safety pin brooch, in my favourite colour.

wrap bracelets, rings and random necklaces

2006-12-13T23:26:00.000Z

This style of wrap bracelet has proved very popular, and although it's really time-consuming, it's not hard to make. I've switched suppliers for the memory wire and now I get an extra loop, but it's a lighter gauge.

I've made a couple of rings in the same style - the person who bought this one asked for a matching bracelet to go with it.

I made another floating necklace. This one's purple with garnets, although the photo doesn't do the colours justice (they never do with gemstones).

And this one's another simple spaced necklace, just grey and black. Striking, but easy to wear.

spaced necklaces

2006-12-13T23:24:00.000Z

These three necklaces are all made the same way - tigertail threaded with glass beads, spaced with crimps.

twisty wire bracelets

2006-12-13T23:21:00.000Z

I made these wire bracelets from three strands of black copper wire, threaded with mixed beads of three different shades and twisted together.

some phone charms

2006-12-13T23:15:00.000Z

I haven't posted in a while because I've been so ridiculously busy. But that certainly doesn't mean I haven't been making stuff - here are some phone charms I did to start you off:

a little something extra

2006-11-30T21:35:00.000Z

I just remembered that I never posted these pictures of my special chocolate truffles. Secret recipe obviously.

my latest ventures

2006-11-30T18:36:00.000Z

I've been really busy lately, as I've been selling my stuff at the office where I work. It's been very popular and I can only just make enough to keep up with the demand! It also means I haven't been able to photograph a lot of the things I've made, because I've just taken them staight in. But here is an example of one of the newest things I've done: a bag clip.

And of course I've been plodding on with the extremely slow process of getting my silver ring lovely. Here it is as it is now, polished and ultra smooth. It just needs decorating now (Just! As if that's the easy part!)

wot, no chimps?

2006-11-13T19:27:00.001Z

A disaster! I've run out of crimps, or chimps, as Mr Tony likes to call them. Crimps are the tiny little things that you squish to hold everything together, so without them I can't hold anything together and I can't make anything! Apart, of course, from things that don't require end-squishing, like these two extra-long necklaces:

They are on nylon thread which is knotted, so the join can't be seen and you can wear them as a bracelet if you wind them round lots of times. And you don't need crimps.

Here's the necklace which made me run out:

The ends aren't finished off, but it's mostly done. It involves lots and lots of crimps and little sections of tigertail and it's very fiddly, but worth it in the end, I think.

I'll be ordering some more stuff soon so I can get on with it.

more silver

2006-11-10T00:06:00.000Z

Lately I've been making a lot of birthday presents and things, and not doing so much of my own stuff. But I have been going to my silversmithing class, and this is my latest creation:

I spent the last class bashing it into this vaguely round shape, and eventually I'll be able to solder it into a ring and decorate it.

I also thought I'd stick up a couple of pictures of things I've done recently, so here's a necklace made with green tigertail and green beads with copper wire wrapped round:

And a purple and black (and therefore ultra-fashionable) bracelet made - I hasten to add - before all the magazines said it was fashionable:

It's on three strands of black wire and looks really striking when it's worn. I did another in blue and silver for a friend's present.

I've also added my email at the top of the page, so feel free to send an email if you don't want to post a comment.

christmas cards phase 2

2006-10-22T13:25:00.000Z

I began making them this weekend. I've made all these little squares and they'll go on the cards. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought, mainly because I prepared well - I got all the stuff together and it all co-ordinated, so I could just put them together very easily a few at a time. Now I just need to make a load more and stick 'em on cards. They should hit the shops (well, shop) within a couple of weeks.

what I've been up to

2006-10-13T13:18:00.000Z

Here are those rough bits of silver again. They still look rough but I can assure you they're very smooth under that tatty plastic covering. I spent two hours filing them (and filing my fingers while I was at it).

I ran a card-making workshop for Northumbria University's 'Give it a go' programme. I showed people how to make these cards. It was a bit manic because I only found out I was doing it the day before so I had to rush round at 5 o'clock getting all the materials. But I managed it, and I might be doing another near Christmas.

And I got some coloured safety pins from Yum Yum beads in Leeds, so I've been having fun with them. Here's a brooch I made for a friend's birthday present (hope she doesn't read this before then):

christmas already

2006-10-02T22:42:00.000Z

As it's October it's time to start thinking about Christmas cards. This is what they look like at the moment - a pile of sparkly bits. But in a couple of weeks' time they'll be a pile of Xmas cards, with luck. Watch this space.

my first attempts at silversmithery

2006-09-28T18:21:00.000Z

I started a silversmithing course this week, as I've only done beaded jewellery up to now. I really enjoyed the first session. All I've done so far is these slightly rough looking bits of silver, but they'll be a pair of earrings soon.

three necklaces

2006-09-27T19:54:00.000Z

Three necklaces I've made in the last few months

micro giraffe has a blog!

2006-09-24T17:55:00.000Z

I'll be posting on this blog photos of my jewellery and cards and any related news.