Happy Friday: Mostly chainmaille

Hi everyone,

The week's seem to fly by, don't they?  Now that it's getting towards Spring, we have been taking advantage of some sunny but cold days to get out and about and do some swimming.  That's Lucca swimming, not me or Phil!

This was great fun and Lucca got a good workout for his dodgy elbow. Then one of those swans that you can just see in the background decided to swim over to remind us whose territory it was!  

Amazing what you see when you're dog pulls you to every available river.  From the distance, we did wonder out loud whether this was a toy helicopter!  We all thought it was a bit showy to have it on the lawn, but I suppose if you've got one, it's a challenge to find parking spaces big enough.  Not a problem I think I will ever have. The chickens seemed to be quite happy with it there. 

Jewellery wise, still mostly chainmaille. How long can this obsession last? Some of these bracelets are quite heavy - it's amazing how the weight of the rings builds up.

I love that this one looks a bit like knitting.

The weave here is held in place with faux brown leather cord. 

This one is my favourite, with a rainbow of faux pearls.

Which do you like best?

Here's the link to see what others have been creating this week at Planet Penny .http://planetpenny.co.uk

Alison x

Handmade Monday - more of those tassel necklaces

Happy New Year blog followers. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year break.  Here's a quick pic of Lucca the dog enjoying the beach at Broad Haven on Christmas Day, when it was bright and windy.   

I kept crafting all the way through the break, and I'm still a bit obsessed with making dangles for the interchangeable chain necklaces. Because I always want my jewellery to have a touch of the ancient world about it - I like things to look like they could have literally been dug out of the ground! - I always love to use pearls, glass pearls in this case. 

That one is a bit Cleopatra, don't you think?

Five pearls in a row.

A lovely textured ring charm.

And some chainmaille with green Quartz beads. 

Would love to know which you like best?

One of my New Year resolutions is to do more tutorials on this blog, so please make sure you nag me if they don't appear, won't you?

Here's a link to Handmade Harbour where you can see what other crafty people have been making this week. http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk

Alison x

Handmade Monday Long Necklaces

Apologies for the gap in blogging. I've been busy, both with crafting and with other less fun stuff including poorly relatives. I always find crafting relaxing, though, so even if I'm a bit stressed, the Blue Forest Jewellery production line is never quiet - in fact, it often gets more efficient!  There is so much jewellery in our house now, I have to look through my photos before I make something just to check I haven't done the same thing before!

One thing I really love is a long, tassel necklace.  So I've made a lot, but it always seems wasteful to be using so much chain. I've tried to solve that now by using a large textured ring on a long chain and adding the bar of a toggle clasp to the dangle so as to make that bit interchangeable.  I made a long version of the chain, and then an even longer one so I've got a choice to suit whatever neckline I'm wearing.

It took a while to convert all the ones I'd already made...

And some of them are not quite tassels either...

And a slightly different toggle clasp used on some of them...

Anything that saves room in my clutter is a good thing, IMHO. This one is my favourite...

And it's nearly Christmas.  How are your preparations going?  I haven't done as much as I should, probably because I've been messing around with necklaces!!

Here's a link to see what other crafty folk have been making this week. http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk

Happy Christmas in case I don't get chance to blog again before.

Alison 

Handmade Monday: More poppies and Autumn colour

As it gets closer to remembrance day, I keep getting new ideas for poppy jewellery.  This week it's chain maille again.  The little poppies that make up the links take a while to do, so getting seven together for the length of the bracelet and earrings was quite a challenge.  In a way, it's a good job it was quiet in the shop this week, despite me listing a few new bag charms.

Apart from that, we've had this stunning Autumn weather, with the colours so fabulous and the sun shining on them like the middle of the summer. The park looked amazing the other day.

 Christmas themes are starting to creep in to my makes:

Isn't he cool?  I added the little daisies because the contrast between his size and theirs just seemed right!

and the stars always remind me of singing children's carols at school.

I've been working on my website too.  All will be revealed soon...

Here's the link to see what others have been making this week.

Have a great week,
Alison x

Handmade Monday: Poppy

If the clocks have gone back, then it must be close to Poppy Day and a really special one this year. I love poppies, but I did struggle to convert my chain maille flower into a poppy, as I couldn't find the right colour in 6mm beads and had to use rondel crystals instead which meant adjusting the weave a bit. Are all us crafters a little bit perfectionist?  I must have undone this a good few times, but I think I'm happy with it now!

A short post this week, but do hop along to http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk  to find out what other crafty people are doing this weekend.

Alison 

Handmade Monday: lovely beads and lovely customers

Since I last blogged, we've had the pleasure of my nephew's wedding at which my homemade jewellery was admired. You might remember a slightly anxious post about whether I should whip up a fascinator or not. In the end, I made one but didn't wear it. Good choice, I think, and I did notice some of the ladies were removing theirs as the day wore on!

Last weekend I had a visit from a regular customer to my Folksy shop. It's always great to know people like your jewellery enough to come back for more, and this particular lady shares my love of bronzite. A while ago, she bought a little delicate bracelet with drizzled glass beads in deep blue, gold and red, combined with bronze swirls as connectors round each bead. 

It took quite a lot of time and effort to make those connector links, so when the lady came back asking if I could make a matching necklace long enough to wear as a double strand, I was kind of glad that the nights are drawing in,and there are stacks of TV programmes we watch which you can still follow whilst shaping wire! I have to admit to having sore hands from gripping the pliers,and I won't be rushing to recreate this one in a five strand version, but I'm quite pleased with the result. 

This time I added other glass beads with different combinations of the same colours.  The effect is a bit Venetian, I think, don't you?  It's been delivered now and hopefully being enjoyed.  We had a lovely sunny Autumn day today, perfect to see these colours at their best.  

Visit http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk to see what other crafters have been up to this week,  

Alison

Handmade Monday: Wedding jewellery

This week I've mainly been making some jewellery for me to wear to a family wedding.  I can't reveal the pictures as it's a family secret until next weekend, but I'll just say that my dress is bottle green and the statement necklace involves deep green and purple glass bead chain maille flowers, there's a lapel brooch, a bracelet and some tiny bead earrings. 

I started, and then stopped, making a fascinator, as my OH said it looked like a helicopter propeller, and I have to say, he is always an honest and very good critic and I could see the resemblance myself as soon as he said it.  So no fascinator, or hat, or tiara - just bare hair! The other pieces do meet his approval, but I'm not sure whether I should wear all of them together.  Hopefully, I won't be looking back on the photos in a few years time and wondering what on earth I was thinking!

I thought I'd show you my other wedding pieces in the meantime.  These always sell well in my shops, and it's lovely to have something, in some cases personalised, to celebrate your special day. 

This one has all the elements I think you need for the special day and the marriage afterwards - luck, love, a posh dress, the right shoes, and the key to your beloved's heart.  Have I missed anything?

There are some couples who, dare I say it, need a bit more luck (!), so this one has a four-leafed clover and a guardian angel too. 

This one is personalised with a rustic style stamped charm, and has a traditional pearl for the wedding - and a bird, as the person receiving this one has a particular love of them. I hope they had a lovely day on Friday.

This one was intended for wedding favours, or bridesmaid's gifts with their initials.

I was once the bride, but a long time ago now, and before I made jewellery myself.  I would probably choose pearls if I was a bride now, and this necklace is my favourite piece of wedding jewellery.

It's a metre long, with luscious vintage faux cream pearls and rock crystal cubes.  It would be great for a twenties, flapper style wedding.  The camera doesn't really do it justice.

This one was bought by a lady for her daughter's wedding.  It was lovely and delicate with the coin and potato pearls, and I think a surprise gift.

Which do you like best?  What is your favourite wedding jewellery?  When have you successfully pulled off the fascinator/big hat/no hat/tiara/discreet hair comb look?!  Share with us.

Have a great crafting week.  Here's a link to see what others have been making.

See you soon,
Alison x