Beachy wearables and new Strike excitement

There's a definite change in the light. I noticed it on Saturday; the morning sun had a mellow glow to it, rather than the bright peak-of-summer glare. I do so love the end of the summer and that gradual slide into autumn in late September.

I made a batch of beachy beads on Sunday and yesterday I spent a few hours turning them into jewellery.

The resulting 'Seaside' bracelet is very similar to the 'Seashore' one that's in my shop but this time I've used antique copper baeds and findings instead of sterling silver.

I also made a long necklace with some of the beads.

I used pearly ivory-coloured seed beads and oval sterling silver spacers for this 'Beach' necklace.

It measures thirty-three inches long and could also double up as a wrap bracelet.

Both the necklace and bracelet can be found in my shop.

I'm off down to the shed now where and I will lose myself in beads and the new Strike book.

The first thing I did this morning was download the audiobook of The Ink Black Heart and devour chapter one. I was like a child on Christmas morning! It's so good to have a new Cormoran and Robin story.

Even more bracelets

Cutting down on my Instagram usage is doing wonders for my beadmaking. It's been ages since I've been eager to get into the shed in the mornings but this past week I've really enjoyed myself in there, planning out bracelets in my head and then making them a reality.

'Petal Pink'

'Dragonfly'

I've just put these two in my shop. I've also put a second 'Seashore' bracelet in there too.

On the walk to my foodbank shift this morning I listened to a YouTube video by Julia Bausenhardt. Julia is an illustrator who quit social media and her reasons for doing so really resonated with me, especially as far as Instagram is concerned. Click here to watch the video but if you prefer reading words, Julia has also written about turning her back on social media on her blog.

I'm off to continue working on a crochet doily now. It's been far too hot for working on the two crochet blankets I've got on the go and I finished knitting a pair of socks last week and making those was hard work in the heatwave. I've not made a doily for a couple of months but Draiguna released a new pattern called 'Sunvale' and it's so pretty I just couldn't resist crocheting it.

This'll be another one for my ever-growing doily stack but I don't care because I get so much pleasure and satisfaction from making them. Making stuff for the fun of it is fun.

Yes, more bracelets

Oh, I am enjoying myself making all these bracelets. Bracelets are my favourite item of jewellery to make and wear. I think it's because you can see and admire a bracelet when you're wearing it. You can't do that with earrings, can you?

After I turned the grey beads into a bracelet the other day, these orange and blue 'Summertime' ones that had been sat with them in the beads-for-sale bowl looked forlorn so I made them into this bright and cheery one.

The spotty beads and orange spacers are strung with green-blue seed beads and a few antique copper rounds.

The bracelet fastens with a copper-plated pewter button that features a pretty flower design. 

I had quite a bit of silvered ivory stringer left over from the 'Seashore' bracelet beads the other day so I used some of it to make some beads for this 'Strata' bracelet.

The streakiness of dark ivory glass has always reminded me of golden syrup stirred through Ambroisa rice pudding. I've wrapped a band of silvered ivory around the middle of each ivory bead for a geological, strata-like effect.

I've kept this bracelet mighty simple, just adding some plain sterling silver rounds between the beads.

Both of these bracelets can be found in my shop.

I said on Sunday that I wanted to add a jewellery repair service page to my wesbite and this afternoon I did just that. If you've got an item of jewellery that needs mending do have a look here for further information and maybe I'll be able to help you.

New bracelet, old bracelet

I've had a set of grey beads languishing in my beads-for-sale bowl for a few weeks now and for some reason I woke up and decided that I wanted to make them into a bracelet, so that is what I did.

I put the lampwork beads with some Czech crystal rondelles in a beautiful misty blue-grey colour, and some ever so pretty pale grey Swarovski glass pearls which have a very subtle shimmer.

The resulting bracelet reminds me of stormy skies so I've named this one 'Cumulonimbus' which is the proper term for a thundercloud.

The bracelet is in my shop as I type.

You know that sunflower-inspired bracelet I made the other day? Well, the charm on it reminded me of a bracelet that I've had in my jewellery box for twenty-five years but that I never wear. It was a gift from my mum and she brought it back for me from a holiday in France. Mum, Dad and my two sisters went camping there and I stayed at home because I was nearly twenty and I hated the idea of camping (I still do and I intend to avoid it forever) plus we'd not long had our cat Buster (bless his stripy heart; I still miss him and think of him every day) so I stayed at home to look after him and the house. I can recall all this very well because it was 1997 and Princess Diana died on the day everyone was coming back from France.

Anyway, the bracelet. It's a very simple metal one made up of sunflower-shaped links. I don't know what the metal is but it's definitely not silver and it's quite heavy. It's got a tiny little bit of blue-green tarnish in a couple of places.

After I fished the bracelet out the other day I replaced its flimsy jump rings with sturdy stainless steel ones and I gave it a new clasp too. Maybe I'll get a bit of wear out of it now I know it's not going to fall apart.
 

I do enjoy a bit of jewellery renovation. I've repaired and renovated quite a few bits of jewellery for other people over the years and the pieces have never been expensive or lavish. So often the jewellery pieces we love are from our youth, or were gifts from people who are no longer here. They might not be worth a lot money-wise but they are priceless nonetheless. I've often considered offering a jewellery repair service. Maybe I should sort a page out for the website? Yes, I'm going to add it to my to do list.

Speaking of sunflowers, I'll leave you with this photo of my 'micro' sunflowers.

The plants just keep blooming and one of my three currently has nine flowers open on it. Joyful!

In a bracelet groove

My sunflowers are out! I normally plant about a dozen bog standard, tall sunflowers but this year I went for a couple of the smaller, bushier ones that have multiple flowers and I'm pleased I did, what with the lack of rain and all. Sunflowers are thirsty buggers so now me is thanking past me for not doing the big tall sunflower thing.

I adore sunflowers. I'm sure I've droned on about them on the blog before but honestly, they are just things of wonder. I can look at them for ages. The bees and other insects like them too.

I've never rendered a sunflower in glass because I know I would never in a million years be happy with it, so I've not bothered. However, I decided to use the sunflower colour scheme to create this simple spacer bead bracelet.

The bracelet is finished off with a little sunflower charm.

I've also made a seaside-inspired bracelet this week.

This one is made up of ivory, turquoise and pale aquamarine beads, with just a touch of silvered ivory here and there. Some beads are shiny and some are tumble-etched.

I threw in a few aquamarine Czech crystal rondelles for a bit of sparkle and the bracelet is finished with two seashell charms.

Both of these bracelets are in my shop as I type.

I'm still a bit sporadic with the beadmaking at the moment because of the heat. It's looking like next week's weather will allow me to work mornings in the shed. If I can get more than two bracelets' worth of beads made I'll give you advance notice of when they'll be for sale. That will be either here on my blog or via my mailing list.

I've come to an Instagram compromise with myself and at the suggestion of a couple of followers there I'm going to post-and-run. Basically, it'll just be a photo along with whatever name I've given the beads or piece of jewellery. Any mildly-interesting stuff I have to say about the thing in the photo will be posted here, away from the Instagram madness. Also, you get other assorted waffle here. Lucky you, eh?