Back to nature ...

I had a flash of inspiration last week and saw a finished piece of beadwork dangling tantalizingly before my mind's eye. It was black, it was shiny, it was unusual and it wasn't flowers! I spent the best part of three days trying to turn that vision into reality, but right now it seems it's not meant to be. I haven't given up on the idea though and so I have put the poor sad thing to one side until I am ready to try again. In the meantime, I went back to what I know and created another flower pin. This one uses all cylinder beads rather than the mix of seeds and cylinders that I used for the daisies and I chose hex-cut Delicas in purple iris to create a deliciously dark flower which I have called Nightflower.

Another recent creation that I forgot to show you last week is Bluebell Wood necklace which is a bit different to my usual style of work. I created my bluebell earrings back in July and always meant to make a necklace to match but it didn't quite work out that way. If you know beads and beadwork, you will understand that sometimes the beads 'talk' to you and these little bluebells didn't want to be hung on a silver chain or attached to a beaded rope. They wanted to be wild and free, pretty, but a little bit rustic and so I searched for some wood to incorporate to make them feel at home and mixed it with some coloured leather and sterling silver. What do you think? I rather like it :0)

Fifteen Flowers ...

My recent work on a new range of floral earrings meant I needed to make much smaller flowers than normal. I find it quite a challenge to get in lots of detailed shaping and still keep the flowers dainty enough to be wearable. Last weeks bluebells were made using size 11 cylinder beads and each bluebell is only 1½cm high. This lead me to want to make not necessarily even smaller flowers but to be able to get more detail in - hence I have splashed out on some delicious new size 15 seed beads in a range of gorgeous colours. As you can see, pinks and greens are the predominant colours I have gone for and these tiny little beads look as though they will be perfect for my future experiments with all things floral. Looks like I will finally have to give in and wear those glasses I have been avoiding for months though!

On the subject of bluebells, it's expired now, but I managed to create another Etsy treasury this week 'She sells bluebells' - which of course I do! I am not comfortable including my own work in treasuries and so I searched for other artist's work with 'bluebell' in the title and look what beautiful items I came up with!

Late bluebells ...

The bluebells here in England this year put on a real show and my favourite area of woodland was covered by a scented carpet of them. I had never really thought about beading them before, but when I bent to look closely at them, I was fascinated by how delicate each little individual flower that goes towards making up the total impact is. I went against the country code and picked a couple of stems (in the name of art you understand!) and kept them in a small vase in my studio so that I could follow them as closely as possible. Of course the real bluebells have all gone now, but finally, after nearly two weeks of trial and error, I have some little beaded bluebell earrings to show you.

I chose a semi-matte cylinder bead in a cobalt blue with an AB finish,which seemed quite close to the colour and feel of a real bluebell and added three of them to each earring to create a cluster. Once again, I have used long sterling silver earwires so that you get a lot of movement when you are wearing them, just like my 'Swingin' Poppies' and I've also added to the series by creating some 'Swingin' Daisies' too.

All three pairs of earrings are for sale in my Etsy store.

A colourful weekend.

Typically, it's a gloriously sunny day here today - because of course YESTERDAY was Bank Holiday Monday! To be honest, it wasn't really that bad, it rained in the morning but the sun did come out in the afternoon - but in true British spirit we made the most of the three day weekend and got out and about even in the rain. I'm so glad we did too, because everywhere is looking beautiful at the moment - everyone's gardens are brimming over with blossom, the fields are a patchwork of green and acid yellow from the oil seed rape and the woods are filled with bluebells, anemone and celandine and yes - I want to bead them all!

I took a few pictures to show you, although they are not as bright as they could be because of the weather - this first one for example was taken in the rain - but just look how bright the yellow of the rape is against the oak tree in the middle and the dull sky!

This field was on one side of the lane and the woodland with a carpet of bluebells was on the other side. The air was filled with the beautiful scent of the bluebells and the peppery smell of the rape flower. Again, the picture is not as bright as it could be as it was raining when I took this - it doesn't do the bluebells justice but you can see what a gorgeous bright green the young leaves on the trees are.

Also our ornamental cherry tree 'Kanzan' is in full bloom at the bottom of our garden and I'm so pleased that the rain hasn't been too heavy so the blossom is still looking beautiful - it's an absolute delight for just 1 week out of 52 and it's so sad when it doesn't have the chance to shine!

So now it's back to work and I'm off out into the garden to find a shady spot to finish my dragon ready to send off to Bead & Button for their October issue - hardly seems like work does it!