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.

Swingin' Poppies ...

Things are still pretty hectic around here but I have managed to do a little bit of beadwork at last! First is my new range of earrings featuring ultra long sterling silver kidney earwires. The earwires themselves are nearly 5cms long and so once the flowers are added the earring is approximately 7cms from tip to tip. First in the range is Swingin' Poppies featuring a cute pair of little handwoven poppies in dramatic red and black.

I have a pair of these myself and although I wouldn't normally wear such long earrings, I have to say that as the wires are so thin and barely noticeable, you just get the effect of little flowers dancing round your neck - it feels great and very summery! I know they are not very clear, but here's a picture of me wearing my Swingin' Poppies.

I also made myself a pair of earrings to match a new blouse I bought for my holiday. I just happened to have some cylinder beads in almost exactly the same shade of green as the blouse and then I found some tiny freshwater pearls that seemed to complement the dots in the blouse perfectly. They are made using a combination of brick stitch and netting and hang from sterling silver Creole hoops.