Quick shop update

I had a few Droplets beads left over from making bracelets so I've strung them into four sets of nine and put them in the Lonelies section of my shop. Each mini set is only £4.00 and they'd be great in necklaces and bracelets.

I've restocked the shop with some more 'Acorn & Oak Leaf' necklaces and I've also reduced the price of the 'Cool' beads by 25%. Bargain!

'Beach' Droplets Bracelet

I finished off this custom order droplets bracelet yesterday morning. Soft grey, ivory, turquoise, sand, pale aqua and seafoam green. Very seaside.

Droplets bracelet ordering information can be found here.

'Eton Mess'

The rich reds and bright whites of this Droplets bracelet remind me of strawberries, raspberries, meringue and cream which is why I've named it 'Eton Mess'. The bracelet is priced at £28.00 and is available in my shop.

Talking of Eton Mess, I've been satisfying my pudding cravings (yep, still doing Slimming World) with a version of it. Somebody on Twitter named it 'Eaten Less' which is a great name for it. I stir fresh strawberries or raspberries into a bowl of fat free fromage frais or fat free natural yoghurt (sweetened with a little artificial sweetener) and if I have some in stock, I break up a meringue nest and add that to the mix too and ooooh, it's yum!

Have a super duper Friday night,

Been beady busy

I've been busy in the old shed-o-beads, although I couldn't manage a full day today as I've done something to my arm. I don't know what's wrong with it but my left arm is so painful. I can't lift it very high and I can't reach behind me. Hopefully it'll be better tomorrow.

Anyway, enough about my arm; I've got beadiness to show you! First up is the 'Triple Chocolate' bracelet at the top of this post. It's a rattly bracelet loaded with dark, milk and white chocolate coloured beads and it is full of shimmy and shine.The bracelet is priced at £35.00 and is available over in my bead shop.

Next is this green, white and ivory 'Blossom' Droplets bracelet which was inspired by the tree that I look out at whilst I do the washing up. The bracelet is £28.00 and is also for sale in the shop.

And finally some loose spotty beads.

These 'Blackcurrant & Vanilla' ones ...

... and these 'Aqua' ones are £18.50 per strand and can be found - yeah, you guessed it - in the shop.

Beadiness shared. Mission accomplished. That's all from me.

Enjoy your Saturday night!

I'm A Little Teapot

Well, I'm not personally, but these little trinkets definitely are. Sweet little beady teapots are now available in my shop.

Each teapot costs £6.50 and you can choose if you'd like your teapot as a charm with a lobster clasp for attaching to a bracelet or as a pendant with a bail ready for you to slip onto a chain.

I'll be adding more teapot colours and designs shortly. I'll keep you posted.

I've also been making Droplets bracelets, all featuring purple. The 'Berry & Amber' one above ...

... and this 'Groovy' one were custom orders ...

... but this 'Thistle' one made in shades of green and purple is available over in the shop.

Well, this post is all about the ... ellipsis, isn't it?

Right, that's blogging, Facebooking, Pinteresting and tweeting done. I just need to Flickr, compose a newsletter and ... make some beads.

I'm already exhausted and it's only midday!

I'll be back later to draw the winner of the bead giveaway.

Have a great afternoon!

More Blue

I am hooked on this colour palette at the moment. I don't know why I'm drawn to these colours right now but just stay with me and I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon. The 'Forget-Me-Not' beads above are turquoise encased in pale aqua, decorated with little blue flowers.

And then there's this 'Sea & Sand' Droplets bracelet which is made in turquoise, light blue, pale aqua, seafoam, ivory and light taupe. 

Both the beads and the bracelet are available in my shop as I type.

Have you entered my owl bead giveaway yet? I'll be drawing the winner tomorrow night.

That's all from me; just a quick post tonight.

Thanks for stopping by,

A parliament of owls

Yup, a 'parliament'. That is the collective noun for a group of owls. Personally, I prefer a 'wise' or a 'hoot' but there you go. I don't make the rules, which is probably a good thing.

Anyway, yes, owls. Look at them! Six of them. Half a dozen little chestnut-coloured wit-woos waiting for new homes.

At only 13mm tall they would be great for charms, dangles and pendants. Because they are handmade each one is ever-so-slightly different. They might have different sized beaks and ear tufts and varying levels of staring intensity, but I guarantee you that your owl will be downright lovely.

If you fancy rehoming one (or more) of my owls, they are £9.00 each and are available over in my bead shop.

Thank you to everyone who has liked my Facebook page so far. I'm still finding my way about the place over there. It's a whole new language but I think I'm muddling through okay.

I've added a Droplets Bracelet ordering page to my bead shop, should you want to purchase a bracelet similar to the one I blogged yesterday.

Hasn't it been a gorgeous day? I know, right? A Bank Holiday Monday and sunshine? What is this witchcraft?! Chris and I had our first barbecue of the year earlier and we even got the patio table and chairs out for the occasion.

I hope you've had a lovely day and that it's been sunshining in your part of the world too.

See you later,

Droplets Bracelet

I've just made this summery Droplets bracelet for a customer. She wanted lime greens, oranges and aquas to match the fabric of a dress that she is making.

The beads did a spot of sunbathing after their clean and wash. Isn't morning sunshine through coloured glass one of the prettiest things in the world?

The beads are strung on three strands of clear elastic beading cord. I just had to try it on and I didn't want to take it off. The bracelet is so light and gently rattly and it catches the light beautifully. I'm definitely going to have to make one of these for me.

If you'd like me to make one of these Droplets Bracelet for you too then please click here for ordering details. All you need to do is tell me what colours you'd like your bracelet to be. These bracelets cost £25.00 each and postage within the UK is free. Postage elsewhere is £3.50.

Thank you to everyone who emailed or commented about the owl bead on my blog and via Twitter. There will be more so stay tuned ...

Now, to do some houseworking! My dad is visiting this afternoon and I must clean the windows. Sunshine through coloured glass might be all kinds of lovely but sunshine through double glazed windows covered in rain marks, dust and cat nose smears? Not so much.

Have a wonderful Sunday and if you're lucky enough to be having a barbecue, have a burger for me.

'Springtime' Droplets

I've just stocked my Folksy shop with two of these strands of 'Springtime' Droplet beads.

They are made in pretty pinks and fresh greens and they remind me of the beautiful apple and cherry blossom that is all over the place at the moment.

In other news, my new website is coming along nicely. It's all a bit swanky and posh and I can't wait to show it to you. Might just be ready this weekend ...

Have a lovely evening,

'Berry' Droplets

More Droplet beads, this time in an array of purples. There are forty-eight here; more than enough for a bracelet.

These are over in my Folksy shop right now.

Droplets

Years ago, I wrote a tutorial that showed you how to make petal beads. The other day I was asked by a Twitter person if I could make them some petal-ish beads. I was sat retraining my hands and brain to make them and as I did so I fell in love with the third stage in the petal-making process; a tiny spacer with a droplet of glass attached to it.

So yesterday I decided to make a whole set of these Droplet beads.

And I did.

And I love them.

But that's not always a good thing. It always seems to be that whenever I fall in love with a bead idea, nobody else does. But I love these SO much I am going to make a set of them for me in reds and purples and I'm going to string them on sturdy jewellery elastic. No silver, no other beads - just these - and they will be a bracelet.

They feel amazing; so very tactile and very lightweight to wear. And they catch the light beautifully. Oh, and the droplets are firmly attached. I tested this by dropping the prototypes onto the patio and they held firm. Obviously, don't go around throwing glass beads onto hard surfaces (because they are glass) but know that these are durable and the droplets will not ping off. You can see from the close up above that they are secure.

Each droplet base bead is 6mm diameter and the droplets themselves are the same so they're only about 12-13mm across.

This 'Mermaid' set of Droplet beads is over in my Folksy shop priced at £21.00 for the strand of forty beads. I'm thinking I'll need about fifty for a full bracelet. In my head, I've made these in an array of colours; I've imagined them in pinks and greens, reds and oranges, clear and white, forest greens ...

But yeah, like I say, not everyone likes what I like. But if you do, and you'd like a stretch bracelet made of these in your choice of colour, please send me an email. Price per bracelet would be £25.00 with free delivery to the UK and £3.50 postage anywhere else.

There are also some etched beads for sale in the Folksy shop and I've reduced the price of a couple of last week's sets too, so do pootle on over for a look-see.

I'm working on my new website today so I'll have hurty computer eyes and high stress levels by the dinner time.

I hope it's as nice wherever you are as it is here. The actual sun is actually sunshining!

Have a super duper Saturday,