Pipflinks!

Hello everyone!

Hmmmmmm, where have I been since the last blog post? Well, first I had flu and then I had a BIG project to design and make which kept me very quietly beading and writing for at least 4 solid weeks - I can't tell you any more about that just at the moment, but all will be revealed in about 3 months from now. In the meantime I have some other beading  news for you, in that not only has Preciosa Ornela published another new pattern from me on their website, I have also invented a new word. A pair of easy to make cufflinks using the Preciosa Pip™ beads - I give you Pipflinks!

You might remember that I made a pair of cufflinks as part of The Wedding Collection, but I went on to use those flowers in my Pipflower bracelet published by Bead & Button magazine, so I decided to turn the other double layered flower design into a pair of elegant cufflinks instead. I'm a big fan of cufflinks both for men and women and I've made lots of floral cufflinks in the past. Although they can look very smart on a man with the right sort of attire, I also think they make a lovely finishing touch to a woman's outfit. Imagine wearing quite an austere androgynous suit to the office five days a week ... as you reach across the boardroom table at the meeting, your jacket sleeve rises to reveal a flash of electric blue Pipflink! Of course if cufflinks are really not your thing, there's nothing stopping you turning these flowers into earrings, rings or whatever takes your fancy and you can download the FREE pattern here.

I hope you enjoy my latest pattern and as always, feel free to send me pictures of anything you make from this pattern or post them on my Facebook page or Preciosa's Facebook page - we'd love to see them. Another of my new Pip™ bead patterns will be published via Preciosa soon, but I'm afraid I can't guarantee you that a new word will be included as well next time!

See you next time!

Kerrie ♥

Charlotte Flowers!

Hello everyone!

Here I am again with another free party-themed bracelet pattern for you to download and enjoy. This time it is my Charlotte Flowers design which uses Charlottes and Rivolis from Preciosa Ornela to create a row of dazzling star-shaped blooms. You can download the pattern here.

When Preciosa first asked me to create a project for the holiday season, I had all sorts of beady ideas running through my mind; from baubles and brooches to tiaras and tree decorations. In the end though, I settled on an understated yet elegant bracelet that will quietly sparkle on your wrist like snow in the moonlight. I've captured luminous crystal AB Rivolis in nets of glittering silver Charlottes and then added radiant golden petals which appear to reflect the flash of the Rivolis.

As well as being added to the Preciosa project catalogue, this piece has also been used in one of their latest adverts which you can see here. The photo in the advert shows a nice close-up of the gorgeous clasp I used as the finishing touch for my party piece bracelet. It features a beautiful vintage floral brass button set into a sterling silver box clasp and is available from A Grain Of Sand.

I've just worked out that Charlotte Flowers is the seventeenth pattern I have published in 2014 and that's in addition to the patterns I sell via my website and the other forty or so projects that have previously been published (see the side bar for details). I hope my designs give you many happy hours of beading and I aim to bring you more of what you love in 2015.

See you next time!

Kerrie ♥

Hexagonal Lace Cuff!

Hello everyone!

I'm happy to tell you that it's free pattern time again! Make lots of six-sided components using a mixture of Preciosa Ornela seed beads, Farfalle™ and Twin™ beads and connect them all together to create this dramatic cuff style bracelet just in time for the party season. You can download the pattern here.

You might not recognise it, but this piece actually started out as Peas and Carrots bracelet which I made in August of last year. Bead and Button magazine wanted something a little more 'subtle' though and so I made another one using a combination of black, silver and half jet and half labrador beads to add a touch of elegance.

This is quite a wide statement piece which needs a secure closure to keep the two halves in place and to prevent the outer rows from furling. On the original bracelet I used a piece of ribbon zig-zagged through two loops to keep everything firmly in place, but for the new colourway I've added two beautiful jet Swarovski box clasps from A Grain Of Sand to create a reliable fastening with a nice streamlined finish.

Whether you choose neon brights or classic black and silver (or something entirely different!) I hope you have fun with the pattern. And feel free to share pictures of your finished piece with me, Preciosa or Bead & Button as we would all love to see your Hexagonal Lace Cuff.

See you next time!

Kerrie ♥

Kazuri Kritters!

Hello everyone!

Back in August I posted the news that I have become a design team member for Many Hands Marketplace - Kazuri West and I showed you my Samunnat Flowers which use the gorgeous 'Bindu' beads made by the inspirational ladies of Nepal. I mentioned that I also had a small collection of African Kazuri beads and I was hoping to show some pieces made with these before now (but you know how life can sometimes change our plans) but finally, here are my Kazuri Kritters! I always like a touch of whimsy in my life and so as soon as I spotted these little handmade animal shaped buttons I knew they would be a perfect fit for me. I've created a set of three brooches and I've used lots and lots of seed beads from Preciosa Ornela to give each animal their own special shady tree.

Each piece is only 3 inches (8 cm) high but they took many hours to make as the 'leaves' are created with layer upon layer of small seed beads. And so as I was in full whimsical mode, I wrote each animal a little story as I beaded. Read on ...

Cheetah Tree

It's a searingly hot afternoon and Cheetah sits in the shade of his favourite tree. His belly is full from an earlier feast but still he hides in the long grass observing a herd of wildebeest - it's cheetah nature. He frowns as a lazy fly buzzes around him, flicks the tip of his handsome tail and yawns. Cheetah can see far, far into the shimmering distance and yet he doesn't notice a pair of Seeall birds nestled quietly in the foliage right above him. The birds watch Cheetah watching the wildebeest watching a dark shape in the shadow of the well known Cheetah Tree.

Zebra Tree

It's a bright African morning, the sky is cornflower blue with dazzling white clouds billowing on the horizon. Zebra stands under a Scarlet Blossom Tree contemplatively munching a fragrant red flower. His beautiful reverie is broken suddenly by an egret swooping down nearby. Zebra snorts, stamps a hoof and testily swishes his tail about his stripey muscular buttocks. And then he remembers the taste and the smell of those delicious rare ruby blooms that lay in abundance on the ground around him and he licks his lips in contented anticipation. All is right in Zebra's world again.

Giraffe Tree

It's just before sunset. A lone Pearlfruit Tree stands drenched in the heavy honey-dripping light making the fruit gleam like stars in the night sky. Giraffe stands under the tree with the weeping branches swaying and rustling around her slender elegant neck. She knows from experience that the enticing looking fruit are bitter to taste and will only dry her already parched and dusty throat even further - the real prize is the young fresh leaf buds that sprout high in the centre of the tree. She stretches upwards, effortlessly strips a twig and slowly closes her long dark lashes as she tastes the juicy sweetness.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my Kazuri Kritters and reading their stories and I hope you see what I see. Don't forget you can help support the work of Kazuri West by purchasing the beads, buttons and finished jewellery and if you would like to create your own mini safari, the animal buttons are available from this page.

See you next time!

Kerrie ♥

Pipflowers and Chexxagons!

Hello everyone!

I'm sorry for neglecting my poor blog recently and for leaving you all gasping for more beady news. I've spent the last couple of months away from home with very patchy internet access which made it almost impossible to keep my blog up to date. Don't worry though, I have been beading and also work that I prepared in previous months has been coming to fruition, so I have lots of things to tell you. The first piece of news is that I now have another FREE pattern available from Bead and Button magazine. This time it's the Pipflower bracelet from the Pip™ Collection which you can download here.

These little eight-petalled flowers are great fun to make and they work up really quickly so this dainty bracelet would make a nice gift - just in time for the holiday season! I chose these lovely bright vacuum coated Pip beads for my bracelet because I love the way they seem to flash and shine, alternating between hot pink and turquoise, but the Pips come in a huge range of different colours so you can easily change the look of the finished piece. You don't have to attach them with chain either, why not experiment and find other ways to connect them, or try sewing them on to finished beadwork.

The next thing to tell you is that there's also another brand new pattern available - this time in the sparkly new issue (issue 12) of Digital Beading Magazine. The Chexxagon necklace is also a component based design but this time it's a mixture of weaving and stringing using the new Chexx™ beads from www.yorkbeads.com  My necklace uses 23 little Chexxagons to create a long slinky necklace and I added the finishing touch of a gorgeous pearl clasp from A Grain Of Sand but you could easily make a shorter length necklace or bracelet or even a pair of earrings. I fell in love with the antique chrome Chexx beads, but as you can see from the advert on page 48 of Digital Beading Magazine, there are lots of stunning colours available - just imagine the Chexxagon necklace worked in those red Chexx beads for a Christmas party outfit!

The final piece of news for today is that Preciosa Ornela has used another of my pieces from the Pip™ Collection in one of their latest adverts - this time it is the little Pip Posy which features in a full page advert on page 6 of Digital Beading Magazine. Although you can't see them in this photo, these flowers have long green beaded stems which took me several days to make, so I'm afraid there isn't a pattern available for these BUT there will be a project in issue 13 of Digital Beading Magazine for something very similar, so stay tuned!

That's all for today but there will be more beady news just around the corner, so be sure to either check back regularly or sign up to the 'Follow by Email' option at the top of my blog.

See you next time!

Kerrie ♥

Tropical Twins!

Hello everyone!

It's new pattern time again and this time it's a design that I introduced to you exactly one year ago but you might not recognise it. I made the bright and bold Tropicana Cuff as part of my Preciosa Ornela neon collection using Preciosa neon Twin™ beads and seed beads and it was used as part of their advertising campaign last year.

Despite spending a year working solely in grey beads, I am a big fan of these particular neon beads as they have such a lovely soft matte finish to them, but I know they are not to everyone's tastes. Bead and Button magazine wanted to publish this design as part of my year long run of projects with them but they weren't so sure about the neon colours and so I made another bracelet in different colours. For this one I chose a variety of purple Twin beads and seed beads for the flowers but I gave them a few touches of gold to give them an exotic tropical appearance and nestled them between olive green leaves to complete the lush rain forest look.

The project has now been renamed 'Tropical Twins' and you can find it on page 64 of the new October 2014 issue of Bead & Button magazine.

I hope you have fun with my latest pattern, whether you go for sunshine brights, jewel tones or even moonlight greys. The flowers and leaves are quick and easy to work up and the whole piece is interchangeable so you can make as many leaves, flowers and buds as you wish and thread them in any order you choose.

See you next time!

Kerrie ♥

The Pip™ Collection!

Hello everyone!

I'm finally able to show you the collection I was busy working on back in March using Preciosa Ornela's brand new bead shape - the Pip™ pressed bead. And so it is time for another big reveal of finished pieces, an advert, a free pattern and even a video!

Once again, Preciosa asked a number of designers to create pieces using this exciting new bead shape and you can see the full gallery of available bead colours and finishes and all of our completed work here. Just like the Pellet™ and the Thorn™ this new 5x7 mm bead had this previously hard-core seed beader scratching her head and wondering what to do with them at first. Of course I knew that a company like Preciosa wouldn't introduce a new bead shape if it hadn't already been tested and found to have great potential - and I soon unlocked that potential and fell in love with the Pips. As is my way, I decided to start off simple and so I used the Pip beads to make a Kumihimo bracelet. I discovered that these beads actually work so well with braiding that I went on to make another 7 of these bracelets in different colours and designs. Preciosa seemed to like the Kumihimo idea too as they used one of my bracelets in their latest advert.

They also asked me to write the tutorial for the Kumihimo bracelet! This threw me into a slight panic as I only learnt the basics of this ancient Japanese art last year but I got on with it and you can now download the free pattern for a basic single coloured braid here. Preciosa also decided to create a video using my instructions and I think this really helps you to understand how to create the simple but effective bracelets shown below - I wish I had been able to watch a video like this when I was learning how to braid!

When I was all Kumihimo'd out I started experimenting with how easy it would be to use this petal shaped bead to make beaded flowers and I am happy to give the Pip bead a big tick on this front too. Just six beads connected into a circle gives you a simple flower which you can use alone or to decorate other finished beadwork. I scattered brilliant blue Pip flowers on a silver netted base to create my next piece.

After that I tried out an eight-petalled flower using some gorgeous vacuum coated Pips and again, this worked well with the help of some matching aqua seed beads and a glass pearl. I made five little flowers and connected them with short lengths of chain to create this little bracelet.

As it was all bracelets so far, I decided to try a ring next and so I mixed the Pips with some Solo beads to make a densely clustered flower on a metal sieve base.

I find these sieve findings really useful in certain situations and so I used another one to create a brooch. This time I attached the silver Pip beads to the sieve to form the flower and then I used four of the deep blue Pips to make a little butterfly which is visiting the flower. This is my favourite of all the pieces as Mum was very very fond of blue butterflies and every time I see one it makes me think of her and smile, so this piece is for her.

And finally I rounded off my beady experiments by making a little sculptural Pip Posy tied with green organza ribbon. After all, it wouldn't be me if there wasn't a little ribbon involved somewhere - now would it?

I hope you enjoy looking at the results of my Pip bead research and that you might feel inspired to try some experiments of your own. And don't forget that if you would like to make the Kumihimo bracelet, you can download the free instructions here and watch the video here. The tutorials for a couple of the designs shown above will also be published in future issues of magazines, so be sure to complete the 'Follow by Email' box at the top of my blog if you want to be kept informed of all new designs and patterns.

See you next time!

Kerrie ♥

Flamenco Pellets!

Hello everyone!

In complete contrast to last week's elegantly refined Charlotte flowers, this week I am here to bring you news of a bright bold and bouncy design in the shape of Flamenco Pellets! This is the fifth design from my Thorn™ and Pellet™ bead collection to be published and you can find links to where the instructions for the other designs are if you scroll through my recent blog posts. Flamenco Pellets is on page 46 of the August 2014 issue of Bead & Button magazine and I am really happy with the layout of this project as I think the picture of the Flamenco dancer captures the spirit of this piece perfectly.

I am very fortunate in that I get to spend several weeks a year in Spain and so the Spanish culture, weather, flora and just the general way of life often influences my work. When I was working with Preciosa Ornela's Pellet beads, the brilliant opaque red instantly caught my eye and as I am a big fan of pairing black and red I began experimenting with red Pellets and black seed beads. Soon circles and ruffles began to appear which reminded me of the Flamenco dancers I had seen in Spain and so I came up with the idea of creating a fearless bracelet and earring set with a lot of movement in it. I imagined a passionate dancer proudly wearing these pieces and shaking them as she raises her arms, tosses her head, stamps her feet and twirls her frilly skirt. Are you with me? Can you see that? Can you hear it?

Of course you could change the mood completely and make this set in cool aqua or smooth butterscotch or even marbled lavender as the Pellet beads come in such a great range of colours and finishes. But whatever you decide, I hope you have fun with my latest pattern and that you enjoy wearing the finished piece - even if you don't stamp your feet and twirl your skirt.

There's another new and completely different pattern just around the corner. So ... see you next time!

Kerrie ♥

Time for a little Floral Elegance ...

Hello everyone!

Well only two days after my last blog entry - here I am again with news of a new pattern that has just become available. This time it is another pair of earrings from the Preciosa Ornela 'Charlotte Collection' which I have named 'Floral Elegance' and you can find the instructions for these in the latest issue (issue 10) of Digital Beading Magazine. Each flower has extra long petals which flare out at the tips to reveal the glittering fire polished stamens and yet because they are made from tiny size 13 Charlottes, they are as light as a feather to wear. I suspended my flowers from long gold ear-wires so that the flowers would delicately dance and sway about my neck and as these beautiful beads have a cut side, it means that the light bounces off the flat surface giving the flowers a gorgeous sparkle.

I hope you enjoy creating your own Floral Elegance and don't forget that we would love to see what you make from this pattern, so please feel free to send me a picture or to share your pictures on the Preciosa Facebook page or the Digital Beading Magazine Facebook page. Digital Beading Magazine is always on the look out for photos to share on their 'Show it off' reader creations section too, so why not make a pair of these (or even adapt the pattern to your own tastes) and send in a photo of your work?

See you again soon with details of another new pattern!

Kerrie ♥

 

Blogs and adverts!

Hello everyone!

There are two new patterns just around the corner which I will let you know about very soon, but in the meantime this is just a quick post to tell you about a couple of other things. Firstly, my second post on Bead & Button magazine's 'Bead Buzz Blog' has now been published and this one is the start of a series of articles I intend to write on inspiration. It's something that gets talked about a lot and we all have our own ideas, but I thought it might be fun if I show you some things that get my creative cogs whirring and this month I started with one of my favourite idea igniters - clasps.

The second piece of news that I almost forgot to tell you is that three of my pieces from the Preciosa Ornela 'Charlotte Collection' have now been featured in magazine adverts. The Rose Window Rivoli earrings are in the latest issue of Digital Beading Magazine, the blue flower is in the current issue of Making Jewellery and you can see the three golden flowers in the new issue of Beadstyle magazine. It always surprises me to open a magazine and see a full page advert of my work, especially this time around as these pieces are all made with size 13 Charlottes and therefore not very big in reality. I'm really happy with the way these came out and the photography really makes them POP with every little bead being visible - so thank you Preciosa Ornela!

So that's it for now but I'll be back very soon with news of those two new patterns!

See you next time!

Kerrie ♥

Modern Antiques!

Hello everyone!

I have two pieces of news today - the first is that as mentioned in my last post, I have now joined the Bead and Button blogging team and you can read my first post here where I talk about two-holed beads. I'll be posting a new piece every month on a variety of subjects, so be sure to follow the Bead Buzz Blog and if there is anything you'd particularly like to see me cover, just let me know!

The second piece of news is that I have a new FREE pattern available to download from the Bead and Button website. 'Modern Antiques' is a simple little right-angle weave pattern but what makes it special is the beads! These 10 mm beads are known by a variety of names including English-cuts, rough-cuts and Antique-cuts (owing to their slightly roughened edges which mimic the look of antique beads) and they come in a wide range of the most beautiful finishes.

These beads are not shy and really want to be seen, so I kept the design very simple to let the beads shine and then I finished each one off with a gorgeous statement clasp. The bracelets are so quick and easy to make that you can have one on your wrist within a couple of hours and the bright colours are perfect for summer wear. As you can see - I made a whole handful! If you want to make your very own 'Modern Antique' simply click on this link and then either sign in or register to download the pattern.

All the beads and clasps I have used are available from A Grain Of Sand and they have put together some great bead and clasp suggestions which you can browse through on this page of their website. The bead finishes have irresistible names like 'Halo Heavens', 'Iced Raspberry' and 'Decadent Aluminum' and I really can't decide which is my favourite - although that 'Iced Blueberry' at the top of the collage is really catching my eye!

That's it for now but I will be back with more beady news soon!

See you next time!

Kerrie ♥