Twit Twoo!

I asked my Facebook friends to pick either owl, squirrel or bird but didn't tell them why. The overwhelming pick was OWL. One person did helpfully point out that owls are birds and I might be in trouble if I don't do something for Team Squirrel soon!

The plan was to make some Fimo charms with my owl stamp and incorporate them into a bracelet.
This did not work. I ended up cross, sweary, with Fimo all over my fingers, producing a wonky lump that looked like something my fourteen year old self would have made in her bedroom -  rubbish!

The Fimo was just too squishy for what I wanted to do and I found myself thinking that I wished it was more like the PMC3 I had used to make my flower pendant.

I had some Art Clay silver left over from the hedgehog postcard so I decided to have a little go with that. I added some fire proof stones to make sparkly eyes for my little night friend.

I have decided after making this one that you get definitely get less cracking and a better finish with PMC3 but despite some flaws I am pretty happy with it. But I think it is worth paying the extra for PMC3.

It needs more polishing and tidying up and then I will take more photos of it in natural light. Photographing shiny stuff is hard!

Twit Twoo!

wet clay stones added to eyes

ready for firing

post firing

with some rough polishing, more finishing to be done! 

**Update- now finished! 

I sanded and burnished some areas to create more contrast (that doesn't show as well as I would like on my crappy iPhone photos), I polished with a silver impregnated polishing cloth.  I added a jump ring and chain, and we are good to go!

This shows the contrast best but not as much as I would like. It also shows I need to hoover. 

The finished article

Planets and stars shamballa

So after a morning at a space themed baby class, I spent my evening creating this.

The beads are from Hobbycraft and are semi precious stones from Botswana.  Other than that I know nothing of their composition but I do like that they are all swirly and look a bit like gaseous planets. I added sparkly starry shamballa beads for extra interest.  I used much thinner thread this time and I like the neatness of it and the way the shiny thread compliments the beads.

I really like this piece and I will wear it loads!

Graduation gift

My little girl finished nursery today.  She has been there over 3 years.  They had a "graduation ceremony for them with tiny little caps and gowns, it was very cute!

I decided to use my new Shamballa skills to make her key worker a gift.

What do you think?

I am quite proud of this one. I used silver grey cord and pink and lilac beads (colours chosen by my daughter).  The girl I made it for loved it and cried! A sad but happy few days as my little girl transitions into a grown up school girl very soon. :)

Postcard to the Hedgehog

I like hedgehogs very much. So much so that I am a Hedgehog Champion and encourage you to be one too!

My love of the little spiky creatures is so well known that a colleague once randomly presented me with a book of hedgehog related poetry. Unfortunately, it didn't have my favourite one which is by A F Harrold. His poem always reminds me of someone close to my heart so it is only fitting that it was the inspiration for my latest pendant. 

I am really happy with how it turned out, though there are a few technical aspects I need to work on improving. 

It is a rolled piece of Art Clay Silver (I didn't like working with it as much a PMC3, but it is a bit cheaper) cut with a rectangular cutter and stamped with a little hedgehog stamp (This was a bugger to find, most hedgehog stamps are very very twee, cutesy and, bizarrely, Christmas themed) and part of a larger flower stamp.

I could have made the pine cone charm myself I suppose but it would have been very time consuming and fiddly.  It was easier to get a sterling silver one from eBay.   

I now have some stamps of different creatures, owls, squirrels, birds and the like. I was thinking of doing something similar to this but with a squirrel and an acorn.  I am going to use the owl ones to make some earrings. 

I am really happy with how it looks on too but I won't scare you with a selfie :) 

Spooky Shamballa

I decided to have a bit more of a go at the Shamballa technique today but the only beads I had with large enough holes were some I bought for Halloween.

So here are my spooky Shamballa bracelets

Cheery rainbow skulls

Black skulls and red beads.  I think this is my favourite so far. 

I have also been commissioned by my four year old to make a bracelet for her nursery key worker as a goodbye present. She has picked some beads and she will "help" to make it when they arrive. She insisted she wanted sparkly stones not skulls!

Today has been very productive, I have got my next pendant ready for firing, when it isn't so warm, I would melt holding a blowtorch in this heat!

July Project - Shamballa bracelet

My July pack was smaller and less exciting than the June pack, for one thing it didn't have a blow torch!

I got several lengths of cord, some precision glue, 5 shamballa beads and some instructions to make a shamballa bracelet.

Shamballa bracelets first appeared as an aid to the meditation of Tibetan Buddhist monks, with a similar purpose to rosary beads. Traditionally they were made of hemp and wooden beads. In the 1990's a company used the idea to make a blingy version to appeal to spiritual types with far too much cash and this has become the style known as Shamballa.

The one I have made is a bit blingy but any kind of bracelet made with this knotting technique counts as a Shamballa bracelet.

The instructions that arrived with the kit were a bit confusing.  

Luckily I found this lovely Brummie lady  who explained it all so much better with her sailing analogy. I took some photos as I worked but watch the video in the link if you want a good tutorial. 

You start with a straight central strand

You use a longer strand to make knots on the central strand

Add a bead and keep knotting

All beads on

Once you have finished knotting you seal it with the glue.

You get a third strand and using the same knotting technique make a sliding clasp

I decided to add a couple of little beads to the ends for interest.  Hmmm, wonder if I have any :)

Finished bracelet

Modelled by me! 

Of course I did mess it up a bit! I decided the ends were too long and trimmed them and then realised why they were long, so you got get the bracelet on! I manage to fix it though by shortening the clasp. I am eager to try out some more complex designs now and think it is a little tight of Cooksons to only send three small strands when 10m of the stuff is £1.25 on their website. I suspect I would have been using up more beads well into the night :) I will be trying out some more designs over the weekend, I like this technique, it is very effective and can be adapted loads of ways. 

My July Project is here!

We have been away on a lovely, lovely holiday.  It was restful and fun.  We saw good friends, ate nice food,  read good books*.  We spent time swimming, playing, exploring and I even got some me time in the onsite spa with a wonderful massage and relax in the pool.  It was back to earth with a bump but now happily, project 2 has arrived. :)

I am hoping this will be more straight forward and have ordered extra materials just in case.  I will be spending July's crafting time on project 2 and another more complex version of the June project with a few added extras.

Ahh crafting time, there's a novel concept. Dare I risk getting the clay out during the baby's "nap" tomorrow?  We will see what tomorrow brings.


*One of my dearest friends has always wanted to be a published author.  She had been working on a novel for a while. After some encouragement and support from those who love her best, she has self published the book and it is great!  I am not just saying that because she is my mate, I would tell her if it was rubbish and she knows it. If you click here you can get a copy from Amazon, a well spent fiver in my opinion.
Well done Sara, really proud of you!