Blue for you?

Last weekend my focus was to host a challenge in my Facebook Group for members to explore the new Pantone Colour for 2020 - Classic Blue. This also fit nicely with Erin's topic for We're All Ears this month.

There were some beautiful entries - jewellery, scarves, textile wraps, lampwork beads. We all came to the conclusion that Classic Blue was a lot more workable with than we had anticipated.

The first thing I did was to see what Helen Backhouse could come up with for me and these I thought were fabulous - deep rich classic blue with terracotta. Warm and mediterranean, full of texture.

This pair has shells in polymer clay, with copper, jasper and lapis lazuli - both the faceted drops and the larger, matte beads.

The second pair, ceramic shells with glossy, sky-meets-sea lampwork by Karin Hruza, wrapped in copper with vintage coral.

So are you a blue fan? Judging by the fashion magazines, you'll be seeing plenty of it this year. Both these pairs are now available in my Etsy shop. See you again in a couple of weeks. Take care!


                                                                         Lindsay x

                                                                   My Etsy shop
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Oh, I do like to be beside the Seaside

Thoughts are turning to seaside holidays so we set a challenge in The Very Nice Group for all our members; make something in a seaside theme. We have beaders, knitters, glass artists, metalsmiths, textile artists, painters and other crafters in the group, so I'm hoping for some exciting entries. Amongst mine are these two pairs of earrings; very different in style and colours.

The first pair are dark and tentacly (is that even a word?) - they remind me of a crab or lobster claw. Greek copper beads with a great patina are nested together with rustic biwa pearls wired inside. 

My second pair are colourful as a saucy seaside postcard; asymmetrical, with beautifully detailed bronze starfish and shell by Lesley Watt, a lampwork shell by Rita Bennett, lampwork bead by Jo Wadman, soft  pink freshwater pearls, and rustic Czech glass. Both ends of the seaside spectrum - the colour at the end of the pier, or moody windswept Welsh coastline. You choose!


Pop over to our group and view the challenge entries - on Sunday 7th July. Should be good!

                                                          See you in two weeks

                                                                    Lindsay x
                                                                                                                      
                                                                
                                                                  My Etsy shop

                                                               My Facebook page

Sand Between Your Toes

It's the time of year when minds turn to booking your summer holiday - if you are as late in doing so as  I am!

Thinking of beaches and rockpools, clear azure seas, hazy mountains in the distance; a cool glass of wine in a beach bar in the evening, watching the red sun slowly go down behind those mountains. Bliss. I can almost feel warm sand between my toes.

This week I've even foregone my normal dark wood photo background for this whitewash wood/white sand one. I must say, it was a lot trickier to get the right exposure on a light background. 

My friend Helen Backhouse recently took a trip to London to meet up with some friends over from New Zealand. The guy is an absolute expert on shells and always brings her some new ones with which to make moulds for her polymer clay pieces. In their honour she has come up with some wonderful new matte sorbet colours, as shown in these two pairs. Soft lilacs and blue/greens.

This pair are so full of texture I thought I'd add some more! The little lampwork beads with tiny shells and sand particles on I've had for years but are from Mayahoney. I've tied them with lilac waxed irish linen cord and seed beads. 

 My second pair have larger smoother whirly shells wrapped with bronze wire to chunky amethyst cubes and amazonite rondelles, perfectly echoing the colours Helen has used for the shells.

I hope these put you in holiday mood! I've a few shell pairs now in my Etsy shop.

 

See you again in two weeks

 

Lindsay xx

 

My Etsy shop

 

My Facebook page

In Praise of the Humble Seed Bead

The humble seed bead. A staple of every jewellery maker, but are they always given the credit they deserve? I'm not a beadweaver, and thoroughly admire the patience of those who are, but I do like to use them judiciously in my designs. They're marvellous for adding texture, picking up colours and creating an echo. This week I'm looking at a few ways I've been using them lately.

The first pair feature dramatic lampwork shells by Joanne Joyce. I've been buying beads from Joanne for almost 10 years now; she lives not too far from me in Lancashire. I love the colours in the frit she used, and the seed beads on black irish waxed linen cord were perfect to highlight them. The textured ceramics are by HappyFallout .

Next - simple matte black seed beads emphasise the black in these fabulous leopardskin  jasper beads. This is a pair I made to complement a bracelet - so not too complex.
     






     And the last - like peas in a pod - wired down some rustic, organic leaves by Helen Backhouse.

                                           How do you use yours? Experiment a little!

                  See you again in two weeks, and I hope the weather is treating you gently.  
                                                                    Lindsay x

                                                                My Etsy shop
                                                            My Facebook page

Short but not so sweet.

                                                              Happy 2018 everyone!

The trees have gone and the decorations are down for another year. As exciting as it is to put them up with Christmas to look forward to, I'm never sorry to take them down again, tidy up and get back to some semblance of normality!

I don't know what it is, but maybe the overabundance of décor has made me yearn for some simple, clean lines. I'm also conscious that my earrings can sometimes get too long and complex for some people, and there are occasions when even the most boho of us need a pair that's short but still stylish.

My earrings this week feature heavily oxidised silver shells by Helen Backhouse - for such small shells, they have an incredible amount of detail and a beautiful curve. To complement them, I raided my stash of  ocean jasper - one of my favourite stones, because it has so  many different shades in. The first pair has distinct pink and grey tones, the second green and honey. It's fun picking through.  And the gloss offsets the grungy shells nicely.

                              Add some killer earwires, and you have plenty of style in a small package.

Short, but not-so-sweet!

 

See you in two weeks

 

Lindsay

                                                                     My Etsy shop

                                                                 My Facebook page

Aegean Sands

This time next week I'll be on my hols in Greece. It's one of our favourite destinations; the Greek people are lovely, it's laid back and relaxed, very family friendly, there's great food for non meat eaters and, of course, it's beautiful and packed with history. What's not to like?

Thinking about at least some time relaxing on the beach with the Aegean lapping on the sand, or walking for miles collecting shells and stones, is my cue for this week's earrings. Brought up at the seaside, I'm a sucker for shells of any kind and have been admiring the work of Greetje Boor of Gloa Glass for some time. In her last show I couldn't resist a couple of pairs - just look at the intricate detail on them - and on both sides too.

The first pair are soft translucent sea green - I paired them simply with creamy rustic pearls and tiny Picasso beads that echo the striped detail in the lampwork.

 

The second pair I glammed up a little with gold ceramic shells from Petra Carpreau, glossy garnet and gold swarowskis. I like the symmetry of these.

 

 

 

 

 

Perfect holiday wear, for day or night. And if its summer where you are, I hope you all have super holidays coming up too - tell us where you are off to?

 

See you in a couple of weeks

 

 

Lindsay xx

 

My Etsy shop

 

My Facebook page

A Postcard from Greece

Yesterday we paid the balance for our holiday this summer. When I ask him indoors around February each year

'where do you fancy going this summer?'

his reply is invariably monosyllabic.
                                                                    'Greece'.

Then we check with our elder grandson Connor (who's been coming with us on this one since he was two, and isn't about to be left behind just yet, even at almost fourteen). Equally monosyllabic. Well, almost. At least he says please.

                                                                    'Greece please'

                  Although last year this was all we saw of him most days, till he surfaced for food!

 

Inevitably once we are booked my thoughts turn to sun, sand, long beach walks to tiny neighbouring villages, collecting stones and shells along the way. Cool glasses of wine and meze in the evening  at beach tavernas, watching spectacular suns go down behind craggy mountains.  And greek music. I was brought up in a northern seaside fishing port so I'm never happier than when I can smell and hear the sea. And the Greek people are so warm and friendly - ask Janine, who has chosen to live there! One day we will get near enough to visit her.

Today's earrings are all about the sea. Like Janine, I've been trying to use some of my stash and I had these lovely soft pink ceramic shells from Teresa (Bo) Hulley - she's on  a hiatus at the moment, having moved home and packed away her kiln for a while. We all miss her like mad.

The colours in the ocean jasper beads on top are just wonderful - storm grey, creamy white and pink, with tiny crevices. I like to juxtapose crusty with shiny and mix up the shapes, so those grey criffles from Kimberly Rogers are perfect, along with the gleaming biwa stick pearls. Blackened copper earwires from Mrs Haslam complete nicely.

 

 

 

 

So tell me your favourite holiday destination. Beach or city? Adventure or a rest?

 

See you in two weeks

 

Lindsay x

                                                             
                                                                     My etsy shop

                                                                 My facebook page

Last Look Back

Fall is here on Long Island. The leaves are falling and the nip in the air is feeling more like
winter is at the back door. Our neighborhood is coming alive with bright mums and pumpkins
everywhere.

I drove down to the beach yesterday to take in the beauty of the ocean. I go down there as much as I can.
It is beautiful at anytime of the year . It was very windy yesterday as I walked along the shore.

I will make a few more trips down before it gets too cold, to take one last look back at the summer that is now the past.

I love designing with nature in mind. So much inspiration. And for me the ocean is my place to refresh and relax, and let my creative juices flow.

These earrings are earthy, primitive and rustic. I found the shells on one of my treasure hunts.

I wrapped the simple copper hoops in sand colored sari silk and added rustic African turquoise,  copper paddle charms and  gorgeous apatite gemstones.

When you take your last look back at summer, what inspired you?
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