Hookin'

I've been crocheting like a mad thing lately. I made this blanket for Janine at Cherished Trinkets as her baby boy is due very soon. Janine has got a lot going on. Not only is she about to become a mum and not only is she making her gorgeous jewellery but her and her fiancé have started a new business called Cherished Tea Party Hire. They've just launched their brand new website and it's well worth a look. I wish Janine and Kieran every success with their new venture.

Back to Janine's blanket of blue. It's crocheted in John Lewis 'Baby' Double Knit and it's acrylic.

I wanted to make the blanket in acrylic so that it could go in the washing machine. I like to block finished knitting and crochet because it brings the stitches to life. Some pieces can look like a crumpled dish rag when you cast off but blocking is a kind of magical witchcraft that opens up lace work and gives real stitch definition. I'd always been under the impression that you can't and shouldn't block acrylic projects but after Googling about I found this excellent blog post and gave steam blocking a bash. Sure enough, it worked like a dream and the baby blanket ended up with a beautiful drape and the stitches look lovely. The difference between wet blocking natural fibres and steam blocking acrylic is that the latter is permanent. After I steam blocked the blanket I washed it in the washing machine and sure enough, it held its shape perfectly.

I also crocheted Janine's blanket with a super duper new crochet hook. It's an Addi 'Swing' one. Addi make my favourite knitting needles and I knew I wouldn't be disappointed with one of their crochet hooks. It's ultra-comfy to use and I'll be buying more of them. I got it from my favourite online yarn shop, Stash Fine Yarns.

And now I am using the aforementioned Addi hook to make a cushion. This is one of those popular Ravelry patterns that you just have to have a go at and I am loving it! It's Attic 24's 'Blooming Flower Cushion' which is a free pattern and a wonderful project.

I'm making the cushion in Sirdar Ella which is a cotton blend with a shimmery spangle of silver running through it. I popped to Dunelm Mill at the weekend to grab a cushion pad for it. I've heard tell of this Dunelm place but we've only just got one in Cambridge and Saturday was my first visit there. It's one of those shops that you can't leave without buying something. The feather cushion pad I got is really high quality and cost £3.49. I reckon that's a bargain.

I'm off to carry on with my cushion now. Have a lovely night!

'Purple Passion' Bracelet by Janine Byrom

Isn't this bracelet just wonderful? It features a selection of my beads and was made by the very talented Janine of Cherished Trinkets. If you fancy treating yourself to this gorgeous bracelet it is available here.
Janine is known for her Alice In Wonderland jewellery and she has just started selling her handmade Alice charms so that other people can create Alice-themed jewellery too.
If you get a chance do go and have a browse around Janine's webshop or have a read of her blog.
Have you made jewellery with my beads? I send beads off to new homes all over the world but get to see very few photos of how they end up being used. If you have got some photographs of work featuring my lampwork please do email them to me. I'd love to have a look!

The Big Prize Draw

You know how I do my monthly prize draws? Well, I've been thinking about those and I decided that I'd try something a little different this year.

I've met some wonderful people through my website and the blogosphere. Some of them I've actually met face-to-face and others I 'speak' to via blogs and emails. When I was thinking about the giveaway I decided to see if any of these fab folk would like to join me in this prize draw thing and guess what? That's right, they did! Yeah!

So now I'm very pleased (and a tad excited) to present The Big Prize Draw. There are three - yes three - prizes up for grabs this month. That means that there will be three winners! And that's not a first, second and third prize. They're all pretty much the same value. Four talented people have donated prizes for the draw and there's also a chance to win some of my beads too.

Do you want to take a look at what you could win?

First off (and these prizes are listed in no particular order) we have some beautiful polymer clay beads made by the very clever Zuleykha. She has donated a set of four flowery focal beads ranging from 25-50mm diameter.

Aren't they pretty? To see more of Zuleykha's wonderful polymer clay work please visit her Etsy shop and click here to have a read of her blog.

Lyn from Florspace has donated three of her super-handy and very cute handmade MiniZ purses. There are two Everyday Cupcake ones and one Metro Dots one. These little purses are great for keeping all your odds and ends in. I have about five of them myself and I love them!

To see more of Lyn's amazing handcrafted bags and purses please head on over to her Etsy shop. Lyn has a blog too.

Next up is this exclusive Alice In Wonderland necklace by the lovely Janine Byrom of Cherished Trinkets. This gorgeous pendant features a classic illustration of Alice and the 'Drink Me' bottle. It's perfectly finished with a blue satin ribbon. The chain measures approximately 18 inches.

Janine has a whole range of Alice jewellery on her newly re-vamped and very swish website. Please click here to visit her online emporium and click here for her blog.

Senior Art Clay Silver Instructor Joy Funnell has donated a seven gram pack of Art Clay Silver. This wonderful stuff can be used to make fine silver beads, pendants, findings and much more.

Joy has lots more information about Art Clay Silver on her website and her online shop contains lots of Art Clay Silver products. She also blogs here.

And finally we have some lampwork bead dangles made by moi. There is a cupcake (naturally), a sweet little mushroom and a pretty scrollwork bead. These dangles are great for prettying up your mobile phone, camera or bag zipper pull.

So, that's the prizes. I've split them up into three lots and these are as follows :

Prize One

Zuleykha's four flower beads, my mushroom dangle and one of Lyn's cupcake MiniZs.

Prize Two

Janine's Alice necklace, one of Lyn's cupcake MiniZs and my scrollwork dangle.

Prize Three

Joy's pack of Art Clay Silver, my cupcake dangle and Lyn's dotty MiniZ.

How To Enter

All you have to do to enter the draw is leave a comment on this post.

Usually I take email entries too but from now on all draw entries have to be made by blog comment. This will make it easier to keep track of and it will make the drawing of the winners simpler too. Over time my prize draws have become so popular that the poor Lego Tombola can't take any more! The winners will be picked by a random number generator instead. Each comment will be assigned a number (number one being the first comment posted) and I will use random.org to choose the three winners.

If you normally enter my giveaways by email, please don't let the blog commenting put you off. It's really simple and you don't need a Blogger account to comment. Just leave your name in your comment and check back at the end of the month to see if you've won!

The draw is open to anyone anywhere in the world but it's only one entry per person please.

I will draw the three winners on the evening of February 28th.

I'd like to say huge massive 'thank yous' to Zuleykha, Lyn, Janine and Joy for being so generous with their prizes. Please take a moment to visit their websites and blogs and add yourself as followers so you can keep up with all their goings-on!

I'm hoping to do more of these Big Prize Draws so please bookmark or follow my blog for news of when they will take place. If you're at all interested in donating a prize for upcoming giveaways please send me an email.

Best of luck for the draw!

'Oceans Heart' by Janine Byrom

I just got an email from Janine over at Cherished Trinkets and attached was a photo of this super necklace that she's made with one of my heart beads. Vintage prettiness!

If you're a fan of vintage-style jewellery or Alice In Wonderland-themed wearables then do make sure you head on over to Janine's Etsy shop and have a browse.

Charming

The lovely Janine of Cherished Trinkets has just started a group on Flickr specifically for posting photographs of charm bracelets. I make next-to-no jewellery these days so I sorted through my jewellery box and fished out a couple of my old creations to clean, photograph and add to the Cherished Charm Bracelets group pool.

I made this black one about three years ago. I was going for an outer space kind of feel and it contains some lampwork glass nuggets that I made along with onyx, sterling silver stars and oodles - like gazillions - of Swarovski crystals. It's a bit weighty but it is so nice to wear and it makes the most wonderful rattly noise.

Artist Interview : Janine Byrom

Janine Byrom is a jewellery designer from Manchester. Her eyecatching designs have a vintage feel about them and she always includes such pretty and unusual items in her work. Janine sells her jewellery in her Cherished Trinkets Etsy shop.

How long have you been creating jewellery?
Since 2005. I had such a horrible year that year and I had a lot of time off work to deal with the consequences. During that time I spotted a simple charm bracelet on a website and thought "Hmmm I wonder if I can do that?" so I had a go and found I couldn't but it didn't stop me having other attempts until I could. From then on I was addicted!

What are your favourite materials to work with?
I have so many! I don't think you can beat sterling silver really. It's so versatile and people seem to always go back to silver. I also like to age sterling silver to create a vintage effect. Saying that, I am really fond of materials such as brass, ribbon and pearls!

What inspires your work?
I get inspiration from so many things - it could be a picture in a magazine, a celebrity on TV or my Nana's jewellery box. You just have to look a bit harder sometimes!

What five words would you use to describe your jewellery?
Girly, Unique, Fun, Bold, and of course Cherished!

Do you sketch your jewellery ideas on paper or do you design them in your head?
I can honestly say I have never sketched a design, sometimes I will start out not knowing how the piece will go and it just 'comes together'. Other times an idea 'pops' into my head and won't go until I've made it. This can be annoying at 4 o'clock in the morning! When designing charm bracelets and bits with lots of lovelies on, sometimes laying the pieces out first in their chosen design helps to picture how the finished jewellery will look.

Where do you make jewellery? A workroom? The kitchen table? The sofa?
Living in a small apartment makes it quite hard to have a nice big work space so I organise my materials in boxes and tend to get them out and work at the table. Sometimes I will work on a project whilst sat on the sofa with a beading tray on my knee. If I'm comfy I work better!

While working is your workspace neat and tidy ..... or a little bit messy?
My bead trays are all organised in colour schemes and tend to be tidy. I try to have a good tidy out about once a month as this way I get to see exactly what I have to work with.

What jewellery project are you working on right now?
I'm working on a pair of brass and carnelian earrings. I've made one but I get bored doing the same thing so I'll go back to them. I'll probably make the other one today actually.

If you could design a piece of jewellery for a celebrity, who would that be and why?
It would have had to be the beautiful and classic Audrey Hepburn. How wonderful it would have been to see her in some Alice in Wonderland jewels!

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Thanks for your answers, Janine. I reckon one of your Alice charm bracelets would have looked amazing on Audrey!

Make sure you head on over to Cherished Trinkets and see what delights Janine currently has for sale. Janine also blogs and she has a wonderful website too!

~ If you would like to be a featured artist here on my blog, please send me an email.~

Janine Byrom's Seashell Necklace

Isn't this beautiful? This 'She Sells Sea Shells' necklace was made by Janine Byrom of Cherished Trinkets and when I saw it on her Flickr photostream last night I was gobsmacked! Janine has used a set of my glass Seashells along with some of my Wiggle beads to create this summery necklace. Don't the beads work well together? I think they look fabulous with the gold. You can read more about Janine's gorgeous necklace on her blog.

I always love to see what my customers do with my lampwork. My beads leave me and go off on their travels and I'm always left wondering what they get up to. If you've got photos of jewellery made with my beads please email them to me - I'd love to see!

Right. The skip's just been delivered so I'm off up into the Temple Of Doom loft. Who knows what I'll discover?! Wish me luck .....