A Midnight Garden themed giveaway!

I have some exciting news!  In conjunction with The Bead Shop (Manchester) I am running an easy to enter contest to win a fabulous hand picked selection of beads and it is open to international entrants!  All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning this stunning prize, is answer two simple questions and leave a comment on this entry of my blog, along with your name and a valid email address (or some way for me to contact you) to enable me to contact the lucky winner to arrange delivery of the prize.  If you have been following my blog you will know that for some time now I have been working on what I call my 'Midnight Garden' collection - using a very limited colour palette of beads I have been creating a themed body of work with a fairy tale feel to it.  I have a mental image of a secret walled garden bathed in the light of the full moon at midnight, all overgrown with twisting vines and leaves, full of night blooming flowers and mystical creatures, where magical things happen if you are fortunate enough to witness them.  One of the key pieces (shown below) is called 'Gateway to the Garden' and it represents an ancient arched entrance to the garden with an old gnarled tree curving round the door and lots of leaves and long grasses growing up the wall.  I have worked around a piece of labradorite and if you look very closely through the archway I am convinced that you can see the fairies dancing in the moonlight within the garden.

I was thrilled when The Bead Shop (Manchester) first contacted me to discuss the possibility of us doing some work together and we decided to start by doing something a little different.  I have carefully filled my shopping cart with the beads that I would love to incorporate in my Midnight Garden (shown below) but instead of them being delivered to me, we will be giving these beads away to one lucky winner to enable them to create their own imaginative piece.  The prize includes a delicious mix of Miyuki Delicas and Duracoat seed beads in midnight greys and silvers, lots of shadowy grey Swarovski crystal pearls, some super sparkly Swarovski crystals including an incredibly twinkly star pendant and a selection of whimsical charms that fit in perfectly with my theme.  It would be lovely if the winner decided to show me what they make with this wonderful selection of beads, but there is absolutely no pressure to do this!

So how do you enter this exciting giveaway?  It's very simple - leave the correct answers to both of the following questions as a comment on this blog entry along with your name and a valid email address (or some way for me to contact you):

1. In what year was The Bead Shop (Manchester) established?
2. How many different beading patterns do I sell directly from my website?

The closing date is the 18th of December and after that date I will put all correct answers into a hat and the lucky winner will be notified by me and then contacted by The Bead Shop (Manchester) to arrange delivery of the prize.

Make sure you tell your friends about this fun giveaway so that they can be in with a chance of winning this Midnight Garden themed prize.  Good luck everyone!

Kerrie  ♥
  

It's official ...

... I teach beadwork!  This has been a long time coming, but I finally have my first workshop under my belt with several more in the pipeline.  My first class was held at The Bead Shop (Nottingham) Ltd. and it will definitely be a day to remember as we woke up on the morning of the workshop to be greeted by this scene;

We didn't feel that it was safe to drive, but fortunately the buses were still running and so I made it to the workshop on time, and so did the staff at the bead shop and my four lovely eager students.  Although it was a full day workshop, we knew that it wouldn't be possible to complete the Double Daisy project in class, but everyone got stuck in, choosing their colours and juggling peyote stitch, ladder stitch and brick stitch until little petals began to appear.  Keeping my first workshop small with only four students, meant that I could spend lots of time sitting with each student individually, checking that they were on track and also chatting about their favourite bead stitches and admiring some of the beautiful beadwork that they had brought with them.  As well as a lovely spacious (and warm!) workshop area, the bead shop also provided plenty of tea and biscuits which all made for a really enjoyable day before we all had to wrap up and head off home in the snow!

This project was designed exclusively for The Bead Shop (Nottingham) Ltd. but now that the workshop has finished, you can buy the comprehensive 18 page tutorial via my website and make your own Double Daisy!  The instructions cover how to make the finished daisy and include some ideas on ways to use it; you might like to turn yours into a pin/brooch, create a loop of beads at the back to turn it into a pendant or sew it onto finished beadwork or ribbon (as in the picture below) to make a glamorous choker or wrist corsage!

Whatever you decide, have fun and don't forget to send me a picture!  The pdf of the instructions is available for purchase here and will be delivered by email.

Growth and change ...

It's funny how things change.  I remember back in around 2004, I hadn't been beading for very long and believe it or not, I didn't really know where to buy beads.  I used to buy packs of Mill Hill beads from a large DIY store, and as these were really only meant to embellish embroidery projects, they came in tiny packs and it worked out very expensive if you wanted to make a large beaded project.  Then I heard about a new family-run on-line bead shop that was opening and an open day that they were going to hold at the owner's house.  I went to that first event and had a wonderful time rummaging through the tubes of beads and asking quite simple questions, like the difference between a seed bead and a cylinder bead, and what pliers I would need to create wrapped loops.  That bead shop was Beads Direct and although the company has now changed hands, I have been buying beads from them ever since they first opened.  I have always received excellent, fast and friendly service, with the beads usually arriving the day after ordering them and all beautifully packaged.

Beads Direct has expanded a great deal since those early days and I have grown too, so it was a lovely surprise when Claire, the marketing manager, contacted me to see if I would be interested in doing some work together, which of course I am more than happy to do.  I think just about every one of my published projects, over the years, has used at least some beads from Beads Direct and you can see their great range of seed and cylinder beads here.  Be sure to check out the other goodies they have to offer though as well, such as crystals, pearls, semi-precious stones and a great selection of clasps.  There's lots to look at on their website too, like a collection of 'how to' videos and they also have their own blog - Claire recently asked me some questions about how I came to start working with beads and you can read my answers here.  We are discussing the details at the moment, but one of my projects will soon be available from the Beads Direct website, so keep your eye on their website and blog for details!

Crazy Daisies!

Not much exciting new beadwork to show you this week I'm afraid, just a little pair of earrings I've made as a present to myself to match a new top. They really are as bright and colourful as the picture shows and I call them my Crazy Daisies! The centre is a hot pink Miracle Bead and the petals use a sparkling shade of lilac lined cylinder beads.

I also wanted to tell you about the new issue of Bead magazine that is out this week. This is the third anniversary issue and there is an interesting 'Where are they now?' article which looks back at some of the artists that have been featured since the magazine started. It's fascinating to read what having their profile in this internationally available magazine meant to the various designers and how their work has evolved since that time. My profile originally appeared in issue 12 of the magazine and was quite a bold move for me. Here is what I said in my profile update - click on the picture to enlarge it (used with kind permission of Ashdown).

My mistletoe earrings are also shown in the 'coming next issue' section of the magazine and although I have shown them in this blog before, I've added a refresher picture below. That reminds me, there will be no new blog entry for the next 2 to 3 weeks, but if you click on the links under 'Blog Archive' there are 63 previous posts - feel free to make yourself at home and have a look back through my beading history. I hope to have some pretty new pictures to share with you before too long ♥

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)

Daisy Days ...

I've been busy experimenting with my latest flower design and I'm really enjoying seeing what different effects can be achieved by making a few small alterations to the pattern or just by changing the colours.

I must admit that although I love the finished look of beadwork, sometimes I do get a little bored when making intricate pieces as they can be quite monotonous. Some days that's a good thing and can create a lovely meditative state, but other days I have to be disciplined and make myself sit down and finish something rather than moving on to the next idea. Although these flowers take a couple of days each to complete, I'm finding them really fun to make and they hold my interest as there are several different stages to them and they use at least five different stitches. I think they have lots of potential to either just be a fun bright fantasy flower or to look like a variety of realistic flowers such as Gerberas or Shasta daisies, depending on what colours are used - next on my list is a Michaelmas Daisy!

Sunshine on a rainy day ...

Following on from my 'Hello Yellow!' blog entry, I've finally made myself a piece of yellow jewellery to wear. I wanted to make something really bright and cheerful to make up for the wet weather we are having here in central England right now - so what better than a sunflower?

Jean Power's new blog 'Colour Challenge' really got me thinking about why I haven't used many yellow beads in my work so far and so I bit the bullet and chose the brightest of yellow cylinder beads to experiment with. I also used a lovely shade of shiny brown beads for the centre and bright green beads for the stem and leaves. This is quite a departure from my early work which was often in muted shades of pinks and purples with dark greens, but hey - if nature can do it, why can't I? I'm really pleased with the way this has turned out and although it's only three inches high, I managed to squeeze in forty-eight little petals and broke three needles in the process! I've made two of these so far, one is for sale in my Etsy shop and the other one is for me - it makes me smile every time I look at it and I'm hoping it will spread a little happiness when I wear it out and about.

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.

Sun, sea and .... flowers!

Well I had another lovely Bank Holiday weekend and this time I spent it down on Romney Marsh which is where I grew up and where my parents still live. The weather was perfect and as you can see from the photo below, the sea was a gorgeous turquoise colour instead of the usual shade of murky brown! We had a lovely walk along the coast and spend most of the weekend outdoors, just as well we made the most of it as it's hardly stopped raining since we got home!

For the last couple of days I have been experimenting with beading lots of tiny flowers - most of them are less than 2cm(3/4 of an inch) across and are quite fiddly to make. I've used seed beads for some, cylinder beads for others and varied the shapes, sizes and colours. A few have crystal middles, some have silver bead middles, others have tiny rice pearl centres and some are still a 'work in progress' as you can see from the photo. They are very simple flowers but I have several projects in mind for these so I am spending time on them now to get the 'look' right for what I have planned.

I've also turned two silver flowers into a pair of earrings today for a birthday present. These are made with silver-lined Delicas and have a sterling silver frosted bead centre which I have had for ages and have only just got round to using. I've made the earwires too, although I'm not great at wirework (more practice needed I think!) I think the simplicity of these long sterling wires adds to the whole overall effect of 'purity' that I was trying to achieve - I like them ... I think I might even make a pair for myself!