Embellished Cuff

It was the last meeting of Thistle Quilters and we were all asked to wear a hand made accessory. I started my cuff quite a long time ago. It's loosely (very loosely!) based on a cuff I discovered in the Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine from summer 2009 in an article named A Passion for Scraps by Sarah Alford. It must have lingered in my memory as I managed to lay my hand on the right issue of the magazine as soon as I thought of making it. 

I have been clearing out my studio of all the stuff I never anticipate using again (only to make way for new supplies, you understand!) and all the samples I made for my City & Guilds Embroidery course back in the early nineties just had to go. However I found it hard to simply add them to the black bin liner of rejects so instead I thought about ways to re-use or as the term is nowadays up cycle them. And this is one of the results. The background fabric is entirely made of one of the samples. I added the black lace as well as the extensive beading. The clasp (see top picture) was an Etsy buy.

It's very wearable for me as once on, it doesn't move about on my wrist because I made it exactly to measure. So it doesn't get in the way when stitching! And it looks quite lovely too.

Beading class with Sabine Lippert

I spend today at a beading class in the Beadshop in Haddington, being taught how to make the Renaissance bracelet by the German beader Sabine Lippert ( http://www.trytobead.com). It was exhilarating but exhausting, mainly because I haven't been beading for about a year apart from the beading I do on my quilts.
I've learned all the techniques needed to finish the bracelet but don't hold your breath! It will be quite some time before I will be ready to show you the finished article.
I will add the necessary links when I'm back at the computer rather than the iPad. Too tired to do anything else. I'm giving a talk tomorrow night but after that normal service here will be resumed!

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I am the Winner

As I mentioned in a previous post I received some wonderful news this week which was even lovelier as it was so unexpected. Way back in October I had filled out a form in the Dumfries & Galloway Life magazine to win a piece of jewellery designed by Sheila Fleet, a Scottish artist who lives in Orkney. The mere fact that I did this means that I absolutely loved the jewellery as normally I don't often bother with such forms. However this had all slipped my mind completely in the intervening period. So I was completely taken aback when I received a phone call from  Andrea Thomson, the Commissioning Editor of the magazine, to let me know I was the winner. And today the  Flagstone pendant arrived from the sponsors of the competition Scottish Designer Jewellery.

As you can see in the above photograph (also my blip for today!) Sheila Fleet's jewellery is inspired by where she lives in Orkney. This is what she says in the leaflet enclosed in the box the pendant came in: "born from my love of the sensational natural rock shorelines that once linked Orkney and Caithness". I fell in love with this pendant as soon as I saw it pictured for the competition and seeing it in real life I love it even more! It speaks to me on a deep level and is also a symbol for me of my adopted homeland Scotland.

Of course a picture had to be taken of me wearing the necklace to send to both the magazine and  Scottish Designer Jewellery who sponsored the competition and provided the necklace and you can see it above. Poor John was tasked with this undertaking and he was very patient and took many pictures till I was sort of satisfied with the end result. As most of my regular blog readers know I far prefer to be behind the camera myself instead of in front of it!

I will treasure this beautiful necklace and look forward to wearing it!

Keeping an Eye on you

It's been quite a long time since I finished any beading and indeed I haven't done as much as I would like but just recently I have had a bit more time due to the arrival of broadband. So I picked up one of the beading kits by Laura McCabe, called Eye Spy and this is the finished result.

The eye is an antique prosthetic glass one, that Laura was able to obtain specially for her kits and it does indeed look frighteningly real. I love the slightly macabre look this gives the finished necklace but it's giving John the creeps so I will have to restrict wearing it to times when he's not with me. Like all Laura's kits the instructions were excellent and the necklace came together like a dream, giving me a taste for more.So hopefully it won't be long before you see the next item which also features an eye. Told you I really took to them!

My fishies are a'swimming

As you may remember I did a bead workshop with Huib Petersen in the Beadshop in Haddington a few weeks ago. I recently finished the bracelet started there and here it is, photographed on a suitably sealike fabric background.

A better view of what the bracelet in its entirety looks like, with 5 fishes and 2 starfishes as charms at the end. And by the way if you're wondering why you're getting 3 pictures of this bracelet, it's first of all to show you all the gorgeous details but also because I'm practising what I've learned in the book currently reviewed in the sidebar. The photograph at the top of this post is also my blip for today.

And finally a very close-up view of one angel fish and two star fish. Love the look of this bracelet but probably won't wear it all that much as I simply can't bear any dangly bits on my arms when I'm working. In a way what I enjoy most about this beadweaving is solving the puzzle of how it's done. The first fish, done during class, took up most of the day but the next one was already done in less than 2 hours and most of the rest only required an hour or so.

I have 2 more of Huib's kits to work on but at the moment I'm beading a project from a magazine which I'll show you once it's done. I only allow myself an hour's beading a day after I've finished my textile work in the studio so progress is slow but steady.

Beading with Huib Petersen

I spend a lovely day today at a beading class at the Bead Shop in Haddington. Huib Petersen was our tutor. He now lives in the US but was born and raised in The Netherlands so we exchanged some Dutch and discovered that we went to school not far from each other and had much the same experiences in our native country that probably led to both us leaving it eventually! He was a great tutor and we had a wonderful time working on our fish bracelets. Below a detail of Huib's bracelet in which you can see one of the fish in detail. Five of them make up the bracelet together with 2 starfish charms. I finished one fish and one starfish but know that I love the finished product so much that there is no doubt I'll finish it before too much longer. At that time I'll show you the pics of mine!

Huib brought a marvelous selection of his own work with him for us to see, oh and ah over and of course (those of you who know me well can already guess!) buy the kits for. I simply had to have 2 more kits for future beading enjoyment. They are stunning and Huib was kind enough to walk me through the trickier bits during class so fingers crossed, I should be able to make them under my own steam! If you fancy trying out these kits for yourself, all you have to do is go to Huib's website where they are for sale!

Finally Huib mentioned a very unfortunate experience he had with copyright issues (I recognized it only too well!) and when I got back and checked out the blogs I try and read regularly (even with my despicable dial-up) I came across this post by Leah Day. I was already aware of the issues mentioned in the post and share her opinion about the whole issue. I just hope that one day some sort of settlement will be reached as I love using commercial fabric in my quilts but am becoming increasingly wary of doing so! And even if this get settled in the US, this won't necessarily apply in the U.K. As Leah said: WTF (and no, I won't enlighten you about what this means if you don't know so already!!). There must be some kind of middle way somewhere but so far it seems to remain untrodden.

And to conclude I asked Huib for permission to photograph his fabulous work and was given it, hence you're enjoying these pictures.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit necklace

Have I really deserted you for 3 days?! Usually I'm aiming to post here at least every other day and at worst every other two days, but my good intentions came to nothing this week. Truth is there wasn't much to say. I was busily working away in the studio, putting the finishing touches on the next Journal Quilt (due next week) as well as adding a sleeve on a very large quilt. I'll be quite relieved to have that one finished as it should have happened before this year started so I'm lagging behind my own schedule. It was bothering my creative soul so in the end it was easier to just get on with it so that I can forget it.

As light relief I love to make jewellery using beadweaving. After all I do have the mother of all bead stashes so why not put it to good use even when I'm not sewing them onto quilts. This was an actual kit I bought from Laura McCabe when she was here in Scotland last September. The pattern was published in the April/May 2010 issue of the Beadwork magazine and it's so much easier to just buy the kit than go around online hunting for all the requirements. Laura's inspiration for this necklace is the jack-in-the-pulpit flower that signifies the arrival of spring in the woods that surround her home.

I'm often asked why I don't design my own jewellery but if I do that the beading immediately becomes work instead of leisure. This way I can just sit and follow instructions while enjoying the process. I have designed wire beading while I worked as a Design Team member for Alpha Stamps but I'm leaving beadweaving designs to the experts and Laura is my most favourite expert. Her instructions are crystal clear, she uses only the best materials and her designs are beautiful. And to top all that she's a really lovely person.

Tibetan Bangle Bracelet

Despite all the festivities I did manage to finish my latest jewellery project. It's amazing how much you can get done in just half an hour of beading every day. For once, I made this Tibetan Bangle bracelet from a kit produced by someone other than Laura McCabe (although I remain a committed groupie!). This bracelet is designed by Cynthia Rutledge and I had been putting off starting it as the many pages of instructions held me back. But the end result beckoned and so I began. And once I did I discovered that although there were indeed a lot of instructions they were very clear and by simply following them each step of the way the bracelet came together beautifully. It's picture on the arm of my mannequin above

and here laying flat in warmer light which gives a better idea of the true colours. Now I just have to find a suitable occasion to wear it as it's much too cumbersome to stitch with. In fact I hardly wear anything around my arms or around my nect when I'm working, it's simply too much hassle. But when I'm out and about I do try and remember to display some of these wonderful pieces of jewellery.

Diamond in the Rough

I had an truely awful day yesterday as I left my handbag behind after my Artist's Way class at the Botanical Garden in Edinburgh. It happened because I was carrying two bags, had picked up the one with the books in it and had already got out my keys from my handbag. Then I glanced out of the window and could see a traffic warden standing by my car. So I rushed out, made it with about 1 minute to spare before my time was up and was actually congratulating myself. Then some 10 minutes on (on the Queensferry Road) I wanted to apply some lipbalm and discovered I had left my handbag behind. Total panic ensued, I did a U-turn on the Queensferry Road (which with hindsight was a stupid thing to do although I'm really quite proud I did achieve it!) and returned to the Garden which had closed by then. Some staff were still leaving and they went inside to have a look but found no sign of my bag.

It appeared that one of my classmates had tried to catch me up, hadn't managed that and handed my bag to the reception who locked it in the safe but had already left by the time I came back so no-one knew where it was. Anyway, I then drove home encouraging my VW Fox to just keep going please, as I had no phone or any money on me. It did! This morning (need I add after a sleepless night) I phoned the Botanics who knew all about it by then (I had left numerous messages on all their various phones and my tutor had spoken to them too). John decided I wasn't fit to drive and kindly went and picked it up for me. I literally clasped the bag to my heart on his return.

I do regularly leave stuff behind, such as mobiles, cardigans, books etc. (too much arty thinking going on!) but this was a first for handbags and made me realize that carrying my life in one bag is perhaps not such a great thing to do! MUST DO BETTER!!!

Anyway the adrenaline rush wore off, headache took over and I gifted myself a fun day beading. When I finished the Treasure necklace (see this earlier post) the colours reminded me of this unfinished bracelet, that I had bought from Laura McCabe whose design and kit it is, when she was here last year. I did about half of it shortly after but what with my exhibition earlier this year had left it sitting undone. It's not difficult and uses actual metal nuts in it's construction. I had a multitude of things I should have been doing but beading restored my blood pressure to it's usual low level and restored both my mood and my mojo!

Looking back over the past events I was most surprised to discover that I worried most about not having my camera (despite having another one!), as opposed to credit cards, money, mobile phone and diary. That must mean photography is getting ever closer to my heart!!

On a positive note, my tutor, fellow student and Botanics staff had all been so kind, it almost made me cry with gratitude. What a day.

And to top it all, on my drive back yesterday, BBC Radio 2 told me that it would be a very bad week for Virgos. They're telling me!!! Great synchronicity nevertheless.

Treasure Necklace

I finised the Treasure necklace yesterday. It was designed by and started in a class by Laura McCabe. It seemed like I had been working on it forever, just one hour each evening, but in fact it has only been a little over 2 months since Laura was present in the Beadshop Haddington. The individual boxes of the necklace actually open and you could put little treasures inside, hence the name! You can see the necklace in detail on the picture above but for my blip today I choose the photograph seen below as I think it was a better one, photographically speaking.

And by the way, no that isn't me as some people thought the last time I used my mannequin to picture a piece of jewellery. Wish that it was, such gorgeous smooth skin! Which is plastic!

Stargazer Bracelet

I've finally finished my first beading project started in the 3 classes given by Laura McCabe back in early September (see this earlier blogpost), and about time too. I'm sure I finished my pieces last year a lot earlier but I've been fiendishly stitching, painting and playing in my studio and only allowed myself to bead in the evenings.

This bracelet really sparkles and despite what you might think looking at the picture hardly weighs anything which makes it great to wear! I also bought it in the silver and blue colourway (oh yes, I was oh so bad!) and can't decide whether to complete that first while I still remember how it's done or whether to complete one of the other 2 projects started in class! Will show you pictures of all that just as soon as I've got another kit finished.

Laura McCabe

Today was the last day Laura was teaching in Haddington and yet again we had a wonderful day and most of us have already booked up for next year.

She had a day off in between teaching yesterday and I thought it was a real shame she never got to see much of Scotland's beauty so I took her to Rosslyn Chapel as well as Melrose Abbey. We had a hugely enjoyable day (even the weather proved willing!) and as well as seeing a lot we also indulged in a day long arty chat!

I'm sorry I haven't been on the blog as much as I usually am and I promise you some pictures of our day out in due course as well as photographs of the graveyard of St. Mary's Church in Haddington, a real treasure trove of beautiful grave monuments. That's all to come in the next few days! In the meantime a portrait of Laura and some of her beading kits behind her. The pile is substantially reduced since she started teaching on Wednesday and yes, quite a few are now here at home with me!

Beading with Laura McCabe

Today was the first day of the two I will be spending in Haddington, doing beading classes with the well-known US beader Laura McCabe. Laura has been coming to Scotland to teach for the last 3 years and has build up a dedicated following. These beading groupies of whom I'm one, come to these 2 or 3 teaching days not just to bead but also to catch up with all Laura's news and kits (oh dear, those kits, temptation personified!!)as well as with each other.

It's no exaggeration to say they are the highlight of the year for me. I don't have to worry about teaching myself, I can just sit there and bead to my heart's content. We made a start with the Stargazer bracelet, of which the above is one of 8 components. I've got about 3 done today and will finish the project at home during the coming days, as tomorrow we're doing the next class!

Dragonfly Necklace

You might remember that I used to work for the Alpha Stamps Design Team. I finished around May last year as I needed to concentrate on other things such as my upcoming exhibition. But one of my projects has finally been published on the Alpha Stamps website so I can reveal it here as well.

It features a cloisonne bead to which I added a dragonfly and then proceeded to make an entire necklace around it as you can see below. It proved to be one of my favourite projects out of all the ones I produced for Alpha Stamps. I wish I could say I wear it regularly but the truth is that it would interfere too much when I'm using the sewing machine or stitching. As a result it's displayed almost permanently on my mannequin, and it suits her well!

And finally. And by the way if you're not in the U.K. this is always the last news item on one of our commercial tv channels. After all the war, crime, credit crunch and other dismal news items the presenter announces: And finally, and the next item is meant to cheer us all back up again. In all honesty the contrast between that and the rest of the news makes me feel more depressed than ever!!

That's not the idea here. My "And finally" is meant to remind you yet again about the changed starting date for my colour - quilt - collage exhibition. It will now open on the 23rd April. Spread the word!!

Georgian Jewels Necklace

The second of the beading projects started in Laura McCabe's class in the Bead Shop, Haddington, has now been finished too. I know I shouldn't be beading (just looking at my to-do list would tell me that!) but seem to be unable to stop myself.

As a reward for a full day's quilting I give myself at least an hour's beading in the evening and who can blame me as the results are so gorgeous. I love the way Laura's projects are broken down into separate elements and then at the end it all comes together and there is that beautiful necklace we all admired so much in her class. Her instructions are so clear that even without her presence it's easy to proceed with what was started in the class and I do find beading ever so morish, just like a box of chocolates or a piece of fair-isle knitting. You want to do a bit more all the time. I'm already eyeing up another of her kits that I bought during the classes!

Eiffel Tower Bracelet

Despite all my good resolution to concentrate on quilting I simply had to finish the Eiffel Tower Bracelet I begun last week in Laura McCabe's beading class. And I'm ever so happy with the finished result!

The Bead Shop Haddington has already booked Laura to give us some more wonderful beading workshops next year and guess what, I've signed up! Only a year to wait but by that time my exhibition will be done and dusted and I should then have seas, nay, oceans of time to spend beading. And I'll also have saved up the necessary funds, not only for the classes but for Laura's fantastic kits too!

And here's another confession, I'm also hard at work (evenings only, though) on the necklace we started in the other beading class. What a naughtly girl! On the plus side 4 Journal Quilts have been finished, and they are not even for my exhibition but for a competition. Hence no pictures yet, they will have to wait till next year as well!

Beading class and Exhibition

Today it was time for a bit of rest and relaxation after two strenuous days of beading. Laura McCabe's classes were fantastic, as ever. This is the third year she has been teaching for The Bead Shop, Haddington and it was as enjoyable as ever.

You can see what I've done in the workshop above and it will be a while yet before I'll be wearing either the Eiffel Tower bracelet or the Georgian Jewels necklace but a start has been made and because I love the designs and also the way they are made, I know I will finish. The only uncertainty is when!

Going to a workshop yourself is a really good way to remind yourself as a teacher that it can be an exhausting business absorbing a new technique in a workshop environment. Everything is new and it's a lot more stressful being a student than teaching

.

However at the moment I'm not teaching and the reason why I'm not, can now be found in the sidebar of this blog, on the right. The dates for my exhibition are known and I've also given it an official title. The fact that there are still 205 days to go, puts my mind at rest at the moment although I know only too well how fast these will pass. The good thing about the dates is that the Loch Lomond Quilt Show next year also falls within this time frame (that exhibition takes place from the 18th - 21st May), so if you happen to be travelling to Scotland for that, it would not be too far to take mine in too! I'm exhibiting in Loch Lomond as well for my sins, so it's probably fair to say that I will be very busy next Spring.

I've promised myself a complete rest and overhaul of my studio once it's all behind me, but for now nose to the grindstone will be the order of the day.

White Rose Bracelet

If you subscribe to the Alpha Stamps newsletter you will have seen this bracelet featured on its most recent one this past Sunday. I made it quite some time ago as a member of the Alpha Stamps Design Team, and unusually for me I actually wear this one quite a lot.

I love the copper findings, the colour combination of blue and yellow but my favourite is the white rose bead used in the centre. The copper bee connectors are so beautiful as is the large swallow charm.

In fact I love all the elements I used here and they are all available from Alpha Stamps: Blue/Gold Glass Flower Beads, Large Glass Trumpet Flowers, Bright Czech Glass Beads, Sunflower Charms, Vintage Patina Filigree Teardrops, a Brass Dragonfly Charm, a White Bone Flower (wrapped in a Violet Filigree Flower) and a Patinaed Brass Sparrow

Silver and Blue Charm Bracelet

Time to show you another project I made with the wonderful goodies enclosed in our last Alphastamps Design Team member kit. When I saw the yummy silver charms I immediately thought: charm bracelet. This kit was our Xmas kit for this year and as I've always thought that silver and blue is a much more beautiful colour combination for that event than the green and red that seem to dominate Christmas nowadays, I decided to use it for this bracelet.

First of all I made the pendant (available from Alphastamps), by glueing in an image from Alphastamps Mega Cap Madonnas collage sheet. This was covered by a transparency from Alphastamps 2" Borders sheet followed by a watch crystal.

I supplied the clasp myself as well as the 3 different silver chains I used for the bracelet and the silver jump rings and head + eye pins, but all other charms, beads, leaves and pearls are available from Alphastamps too. I think you can see how it was put together quite clearly in the picture. It was just a matter of putting beads on head or eye pins and using jumprings to attach everything to the various chains. The chain with the pendant was made slightly larger than the other chain, so that the pendant hands nicely from the wrist.

Red, Green and Blue bracelet

It seems like ages since I last blogged so I was really taken aback to find it has only been 3 days. I supppose it seems so much longer because they were 3 very busy days as I was writing an article and going backwards and forewards between my studio and the computer, armed with my camera as step by step photography was required. Everything also had to be checked and double checked and although I did this religiously I know that one or two things always tend to slip through the net as eventually you become totally oblivious to your own mistakes.

Still, I've done the best I can and it is now all ready to be mailed tomorrow and for the time being I can put it out of my head and get back to my studio. I have also suddenly noticed (I was too preoccupied before) that we have entered autumn properly now. Not only is it October but it's cold enough to light our multi-fuel stove! I've hardly been outside either so that is the first item on the agenda tomorrow.

I have managed to finish my items from our Alphastamps kit which is all about Christmas. Really, I can't bring myself to show these to you yet, as I get a bit grumpy about all the Xmas stuff in the shops already but with the kit came a wealth of beads and one of my projects was this bracelet. It's quite close fitting and that means I can wear it when stitching for once as everything dangly tends to get in my way and usually I take off all jewellery while in my studio. This bracelet will be the exception. I love the magnetic leaf closure clasp (from Alphastamps) and also the divider in the middle, as well as all the sparkling beads. All ingredients for this bracelet are from Alphastamps, apart from the silver seed beads and the beading wire + crimps.

As it's very sparkly indeed it proved extremely hard to photograph well but I did my best and for that reason I'm showing you multiple pics!