Handmade books

I think like most creative people I'm interested in all kinds of arts and crafts, I've done so many different things in the past, and I'm sure I'll try many more! I've recently found a renewed pleasure in painting (just for the sheer enjoyment of it, I don't think I'm particularly good!), as well as trying various paper crafts and scrapbooking.


I've had an interest in making handmade books for a while - I've made plenty of little matchbooks, but have finally moved on to something a little more complex (as usual it takes me forever to pluck up courage to just do it!). This book is the third one I've bound, as a gift for my mum on her birthday :)



I've used white linen thread using a chain stitch to bind the pages to the covers.
I added some bead work while stitching, and then some hand-sawn flower motifs in brass, and finally some silver shade Swarovski crystals. The covers are black book cloth, and I've used some green Victorian-patterned paper inside. This was fun! :D

Busy Busy!

We are busy with alterations and decorating at our house at the moment, which is why unfortunately I've not had much time to create much just lately! The air seems to be constantly full of dust too, it's a nightmare trying to keep everywhere clean. Still, it will all be worth it in the end!




These are just a couple of the pieces I did coming up to Valentine's Day - a cluster set with ruby Swarovski crystals and garnets, and a commissioned sterling silver heart necklace with rose quartz and crystals.

Stud Earrings

Yay - my first pair of stud earrings! I quite like to wear stud earrings myself, especially for everyday (and with long hair much safer of course!). These are nice and lightweight too.

Sawn by hand from sterling silver sheet, then I added some light amethyst Swarovski crystal cabs for a delicate colour and some sparkle. I'm quite pleased with these!

This pendant is similar to one I made before in copper - here it is in sterling silver, with a beautiful Swarovsi crystal cabochon surrounded by a serrated bezel.

Mermaid's Tears

Quick little pair of earrings here - these gorgeous turquoise-blue apatite briolettes caught my eye, maybe a bit too early for such a summery colour but I kept coming back to them when deciding which stones to use!

I love the wrapped jump rings at the top, they are just over a centimetre in diameter and remind me of little daisies. I've added a freshwater pearl in between, along with tiny freshwater seed pearls at the bottom of the coiled tear drop frames. I'm really enjoying wrapping again! :)

Indigo Dawn

A cluster necklace with a difference - I've coiled some sterling wire round a pretty petal-shaped soldered frame, and added the most gorgeous green amethyst, or prasiolite, briolette in a delicate blue-green.

The clustered beads include faceted aquamarine and iolite rondelles, with Swarovski bicones in montana blue - this is one of my favourite crystal colours at the moment, I have lots of colour schemes with them in mind!

Sunshine Award

I had a lovely surprise yesterday from Vicki White who has passed on a Sunshine Award to me! The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blog world - I feel very honoured! :)

The rules for accepting the Sunshine award

~ Put the logo on your blog or within your post

~ Pass the award onto 12 bloggers ~

~ Link the nominees within your post ~

~ Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

~ Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

My Award Winners:

Alibongo's Anecdotes

Beads by Laura

Coburg Crafts

Crafted Gems

Daisychain Jewellery

Gemheaven

Gemwaith Nia

KS Jewellery

Kerrie Slade

Kiamyka

Marika's Jewellery

The Crimson Moon

Verdigris Earrings

Some more wire earrings - this time fan-shaped, I must be drawn to this shape for some reason as I seem to do so many pieces along this theme :)

A little touch of mixed metals again here, with sterling silver and tiny gold-filled barrel beads. The briolettes at the bottom are a lovely golden beer quartz with a very pretty sparkle, and I've picked out some little polished tourmaline beads in mossy and blue-green shades.

Winter Skies

Well the snow has finally disappeared from our part of the UK, and the temperatures are definitely milder! It made for a very pretty and festive Christmas and New Year though - I hope everyone had a good break! :)

My first job after the holidays was to give the workroom a bit of a spring clean after all the frenzied productivity coming up to Christmas. I often start projects and then lose interest or get distracted by something else - I found these long teardrop frames in one of my storage boxes and decided to finally finish them!

I've coiled round the frames and added a swirl of fine silver and some tiny sterling beads. We had a little hint of sunshine this morning with the palest blue sky, which inspired the soft colour combination. I've used scapolite beads in a diamond shape which have a beautiful cut and subtle pale gold colour with lots of sparkle, tiny mystic blue briolettes and black diamond Swarovski crystals.

These should be up in my Etsy shop soon!

And the winner is....

Thank you for all the lovely comments and entries for my first blog giveaway!

After putting all the names in a hat I'm pleased to announce the winner picked was Alison from Beadangles Jewellery - congratulations! A pair of wire-wrapped snowflake earrings will be winging their way to you just in time for Christmas :)

No more mince pies!!

Or sherry for that matter... we started early here and I'm going right off mince pies already! But, the tree is up, and we're getting ready for the festive season - I've been really busy creating for the shops, all sorts of requests for different things so I've been having lots of fun getting everyone's stock together for the Christmas shoppers!

My website is looking tired and jaded I've decided, so that is getting spruced up again in the New Year with a fresh new look. Lots to do!



This is a necklace and earrings set I've done, wire-wrapped with sterling beads and tiny seed beads - this scalloped edge I've done before but the seed beads add a pretty touch and give them a really lacy feel. The drops are red coral, and the clustered beads are gorgeous faceted garnet in a rich red shade.



I've also had a lovely suprise this week and received an award from the incredibly talented Kerrie Slade - thank you!!

If you want to play the game the rules are as follows;

* Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 bloggy friends.

* Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & name of the blog from whom he/she has received the award.

* Each Superior Scribbler must display the award on his/her blog and link to this post which explains the award.

*Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List - that way, we'll be able to keep up to date on everyone who receives the award.

* Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.


I am passing this award on to these blogs! :)


Kiamyka - Then and Now

Gemwaith Nia

Alibongo's Anecdotes

Lagaz Designs

A Metalsmith's Journey