Bead Table Wesdnesday - Or...I've stopped faffing around and got something made this week!

After a slow start to the week which went something like this....

...OK, need to make a lot of beads this week, because I had a storming day at the Craft Fair on Saturday and now I have next to no stock...I'll just make a cup of coffee first because that will get me in the swing of things...while the kettle is boiling I'll just have a quick look on Flickr....oh Wow, pretty things, shiny things, gorgeous things!

Ok, really need to sit down and make some beads, but I finished my coffee whilst I was on the computer checking out important stuff so I will make another and then I will really get on.

I'll just check if I have some black opaque seed beads for this design first...ok really need to order some seed beads, just check what that new site has to offer....oh look lots and lots of beads and clasps and ooooh look shiny stuff and pretty things.....

Right I need to settle down and MAKE SOME BEADS.......gosh I'm hungry, look it's lunch time already, I'll just make a sandwich and then....

You get the general idea lol!!

But today I was disciplined, I was focused, I was productive (makes a change!)

And here is what I made!  Feeling good, feeling pleased and just a little bit better about the amount of beads I still need to make lol!

Would you like to see any of these on Etsy?  At the moment they are earmarked for necklaces for the craft fair, but I would love to know if you like them and if they are something you could use in your designs!

Thank you so much lovely blogger friends!

Seed Pod Beads

Metallic Motif

Candy Hearts

Purple Haze Snowdrops

Buttons



Lots of Sunflowers!

 Phew....That was a good days work.

Hope you week is proving productive too!

Pippa

Newbies!! Faux Ceramics

Just had to share some new things I made this week.

Faux Ceramic Pendant - Trees

I had bought some Cernit Clay ages ago and had had a little play with it, but not made a lot.  Then whilst having had one of those day when nothing goes right, when my pile of scrap clay grows bigger and bigger as everything gets squished, I decided to have another go with it.  I am really glad I did. 

These pendants and beads are all made with "Basalt" which has a lovely soft green colour with tiny inclusions and when sanded and buffed really looks like Ceramic Clay.  I created the picture by "drawing" in the clay and then painted into the texture with burnt umber acrylic paint.  Waited for that to dry and then sanded the excess away.  I love the slightly aged look to this.

Having posted some pictures onto Flickr and Facebook and asked for some feedback, I had such a lovely response from everyone that I made some more and listed them tonight on Etsy.  Pop over to my shop if you would like a closer look.

Here are the other things I made - I would love to know what my lovely bloggers think of them!

Rounds Zig Zag

Landscape Pendant

Ivy Leaves

Rounds - Dot and Dash

I also made a few of my Chinese Leaf Beads earlier in the week, they are in the shop too.

Chinese Leaf Beads in Blue, Purple and Teal

Well, it is off to the Craft Fair tomorrow, wish you could all pop in so we could chat!

Hope you are all having a good week and enjoy your weekend!

Pippa

Creations and Cupcakes and Celebrations! (extremely Picture Heavy!!!)



We have had such a lovely week!  My Beautiful and Talented Daughter Katie, has just had her Sixteenth Birthday.

Katie



Most of the week seems to have been taken up with preparations for the big day.  Here are some pictures of Cupcakes and Celebrations!





Springtime Blossom Cupcakes



16 of them!



Waiting to blow out the candles (wearing the balloon hat I made her and made her wear!!!)



Wake a Wish

Logan Posing!!!

The rest of the time has been filled with making up orders for Beach Huts and other beads.  (I am still a little in shock at how well they have been received!).

And now to the Creations part of my blog post.  Last week I promised you pictures of some amazing designs that some very talented artists have been making with some of my beads.  They so kindly sent me pictures or blogged about their designs and I have been squealing all over the place at seeing what they have done - soooo exciting!

So, in no particular order, here they are:

Bracelet by Jean of Jean A Wells Handcrafted Artisan Jewellery

Jean of Jean A Wells Handcrafted Artisan Jewellery made this amazing and beautiful bracelet.  There are so many beautiful components in this and I love how Jean has used Sari Silk.  I adore it!  Check out Jean's Blog here.

Elephant Earrings by Therese

Therese of Therese's Treasures asked me to make some of my little elephant charms, but in Coral Red.  They are a present for her sister whose birthday is in March and she is a graduate from the University of Alabama and a huge Alabama football fan.  Just how much fun are these!!! 

Cilla from Tell Your Girlfriends beautiful Earrings





And last but by no means least, feast your eyes on what Cilla Watkins from Tell Your Girlfriends made with my Petal Capped Beads.  I love these so much!

 

What can I say?  Such beautiful and amazing designs.  I am so happy to see what you have all created using my beads, thank you all so much for sharing with me!

 

Goodness, this is a long post!  But I hope you enjoyed seeing all the pictures of beautiful daughter, yummy cupcakes and amazing designs and creations.

 

Hope you have had a wonderful week too.

 

Pippa

 

 

 







What A Week!

I hardly know where to start to tell you about my week!  Probably the beginning..

Well, it started with the Beach Hut Beads.  When I finished making the first one, I thought I had made something good, but I was amazed at the response.  The first four sold within 20 minutes of me listing them on Etsy and my Flickr photo was given so much love and loads of comments.  Then more sales followed and more comments...I was just blown away!  I was dancing around the living room with a very silly grin plastered on my face.  It is just the best feeling in the world when something that you have designed and made is greeted with such enthusiasm.

Tuesday and Wednesday had some more orders and I was busy, busy making more little beach huts and trying to stop smiling!

Then Thursday morning arrived and at about 11.00 I received a FB message from the lovely and talented Chris of Chris Pellow Designs to say that I was on Polymer Clay Daily!  Can you imagine the excitement?

Cloud 9 Here I Come!

It just doesn't get any better than this!  A huge thank you to everyone who messaged me, commented on PCD, Facebooked me, and left comments on Flickr.  I am overwhelmed and hugely thankful.

I have had so much traffic through this feature and have had comments from lots of new people.  It goes to show how small the world really is.  Here in my little corner of the UK I have suddenly been "meeting" people from all over the world.  Amazing!

Anyway, having finally calmed down a little, it was nose to the grindstone and time to get on with filling orders, posting them out and to make some new beads.

Lesley from Thea Jewellery asked me if I could make some Seagulls to go with the Beach Hut Beads, and she wasn't the only one!  So after a few hours of squishing and muttering (things were seriously not going right with the beaks!) I came up with these:

A Flock of Seagulls!

There are in the Etsy Shop now if you would like a closer look!

I also made the first couple of beads in a new series called Gold Leaf:

Gold Leaf in Teal Big Bead

Gold Leaf in Teal Accent Beads

I am planning on making these in lots of different colours and already have some pink ones in the Etsy Shop.  If you have a colour preference that you would like to see in these new beads, then just let me know!

Phew......as I said, What a Week!

I have had some lovely messages from a few people who have sent me photos of what they made with beads that they have got from me recently....just wait until you see the photos, so much talent and such beautiful designs!  I will be posting again later this week with those so keep an eye out!

It will be Katie's 16th Birthday on Friday,  I can hardly believe that my little girl will be 16!  That will be a whole other blog post as well - expect balloons, streamers and cupcakes!!!

And lastly.................just Thank You..........every one of you..........for making this an amazing and wonderful week. 

Hope your week is wonderful too.

Pippa

Beach Hut Beads



Beach Hut Beads



Half Term is now over and the Children are back at School!  More time to clay!!!

We had a quiet week, maybe a little too quiet....Logan was excited to be going back to school today!  That has to be a first!

So, after a somewhat frustrating Sunday, one of those days when I have time to experiment, time to play.......nothing would happen.  I spent about 2 hours just staring into space waiting for my fickle muse to come up with something and then gave it up as a bad job and had a long hot soak in the tub instead (a chilled glass of white wine helped of course!).

And then today, just when I was getting no ideas yet again, lo and behold, muse decided to put in an appearance - I am so glad she did!!

Beach Hut Beads!  I had so much fun making these.  They are only tiny, but full of detail from the textured roofs, to the tiny, tiny windows made from slices of a cane.  There is even a little door knob!

Detail

I antiqued them with a mix of brown and white acrylic paint, sanded most of the paint off to give an aged look and feel and then sealed them with Renaissance Wax and gently buffed them. 

I hope you like them as much as I do.  They are up in my Etsy Shop now if you want a closer look.

A Hamlet of Beach Huts!

A Little Bit of Sunshine!

I was going to put up individual listings for each of the four colours, but thought that it might be better to do one listing and let people choose their colour when they order.  I would love some feedback on this.  Which way would you rather see?  Individual Listings or to choose your colour as you order?

Thanks so much!  Hope the start to your week is as good as mine as been!

Pippa

This Made My Day!

Wisdom Bracetet, a photo by THEAjewellery on Flickr.

I am sure that most of you are already fans of the Lovely Lesley of Thea Jewellery's work. If you aren't already, then you must check out her work. She creates some of the most beautiful pieces of Jewellery. Her designs are stunning. 

So browsing through her Flickr posts the other day, I was thrilled to see this bracelet featuring one of my Wise Little Owl Beads. I squealed! I was a little excited, it's true!

It is a new experience for me, seeing one of my beads in someone else's creation. And I feel so amazed by it. It is at times like this that I wish I was a little better at expressing myself, and how wonderful seeing this bracelet made me feel.

It is up in Lesley's Etsy Shop now, if you would like the link, here it is : Wisdom Bracelet

So Thank You Lesley! You have made my day!

Please check out Lesley's blog also at The Gossiping Goddess.

A Little Ice and Randomness to End The Day!

I actually made some Jewellery today!  Couldn't resist making something to include one of the Jade Elephants. So quickly made some more jade textured beads for this sweet little bracelet.

Iced Jade Bracelet

Then I started looking through my stash of  "At Somepoint In The Future I Might Do Something With These Beads"!!  So a little bit of Randomness to finish the day!

Random Bracelet

Thats All Folks!!