Bead Soup Blog Party - What Maddy sent me!

I have been paired with Maddison Langford for this year's Bead Soup party, and I had no idea what she would send me in the way of soupy ingredients. She posted this teaser to give me a clue:

It certainly looked interesting!

Anyway, it came a couple of days ago, and I've finally had a chance to photograph it.

It was all nicely packaged up with a cute bird card - thank you Maddy!

What immediately struck me was this combination of colours, not one I've worked with before...

It would of course be perfectly acceptable to split the colours and work them into different pieces, but a lot of the fun of this challenge is trying something new, so I will have a go!

There are lots of lovely stones in muted oranges, crackly clear and shades of blue:

but these are my favourites (I don't know what they are, but they're beauties!)

Hmm, can see a pair of earrings already.... this is going to be fun!

Lesley

P.S. Maddy has just edited my photo to include labels for all the stones (thanks Maddy!) - here it is:

Latest additions to my Etsy shop

Well, in addition to the new teardrop earrings I showed you here, I have been steadily adding some new designs to my shop. 

It had been a while since I made any bracelets or necklaces, so I spent a couple of days focusing on these: 

Orange flower necklace

                                             

                     flower charm by Menagerie Studio

Black & Green Knot Necklace

Millefiori bracelet

Orange knotted leather bracelet

Then of course there were more earrings too:

Green agate earrings

Royal blue enamel earrings

including two pairs with gorgeous handmade ceramic beads by Bo Hulley :

Turquoise honey earrings

Blue polka dot earrings

And finally, a bit of fun: I'm not Irish, so I don't celebrate St. Patrick's day, but I just couldn't resist these beads!

Shamrock earrings

x

The dreaded UFO, or: What's hiding in your drawers?

We all have them, don't we???

The dreaded UFO, or Unfinished Object (in my case Objects...)

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to finish a project before going on to the next one. 

The problem, however, if you want to call it that, lies stashed in some mini sets of drawers that I keep near my work-table. They are a great idea - somewhere to tidy away projects I'm working on till I get time to finish them - except that it's been a case of 'out of sight, out of mind'.

A recent exploration of said drawers revealed quite a lot of UFOs. And some beads I'd forgotten about too :)

So I'm on a mission to finish some of them. I started with this, begun a couple of months ago. It only actually took a couple of hours:

One down, just another drawer-load to go...

So, is it just me? 

Valentine's Day Offer: 25% Jewellery Discount in my Etsy shop

Happy Valentine's day!

How many of us pretend we aren't that bothered, but actually get quite emotional when we find we have a card? No? It's just me then ;)

Anyway, onto the reason for today's post - a special offer in my Etsy jewellery shop. 

If there's something you've had your eye on, well, today it's got a discount of 25% off. 

Click the picture to go to my Etsy shop

All you have to do is apply the code KISS25 when you get to the checkout page and the discount will be applied automatically. Easy.

Minimum spend $25 or about £15.


And, if there are any non-romantics out there, Feb 14th is special in another way. It marks the halfway point of this month. The snowdrops are out, the daffodils are pushing up, and spring can't be far away :)

New Year's Resolutions, and it's only December 29th :)

So Christmas is over for this year. It was lovely spending time with family and getting the house decorated for the festivities...

Pressie-wise we were quite restrained this year, but I was lucky enough to receive these:

Venus Beadery, Etsy

They are wire-wrapped amber, and absolutely stunning. I'd like to learn how to wire-wrap like this in 2013, but don't know if I have the patience!

However, I do know what I shall be trying, very very hard, to do next year. It all starts here:

I know from chatting to other jewellery makers that this is quite a common sight... 

Certainly I frequently end up like this, with beads and various projects scattered arranged everywhere, until I am literally working on the very edge of the table. Not helpful!

So I used the upcoming festivities as an excuse to spend quality time sorting it all out.

Much better!

The thing is, since doing this (on Christmas Eve!), I've been far more productive (well yes, I know it's the holidays too ;)

I've made lots of earrings, which I'll be listing shortly...

 


And some bracelets too...

So my New Year's Resolution? A nice tidy table at all times. I'm sticking to it so far ;-o

What are your Resolutions for 2013?

1000 Facebook Giveaway

1000 Facebook Fan Giveaway

As a 'Thank you' to my facebook fans, I'm having a little giveaway.

First prize will be your choice of 2 items from my Giveaway Album

There will also be a runner-up who will choose 1 item from the album.

It's easy to enter! All you have to do is -

1. 'Like' my page on FB (if you don't already :) Phoebe dreams jewellery

2. Leave a comment here or message me on FB to say you'd like to enter

And that's it!

You have until noon on Sunday 8th July to enter. 

The winners' names will be pulled out of a hat later that day, so you will need to keep a look out on my FB page!

Good luck everyone!

New and coming soon!

I've been working on some new ideas recently, inspired by some beautiful handmade lampwork beads I've had for a while, and some new art tiles I found on Etsy.


This was the bracelet I made using an adorable burnt wood tile from J-Lynn Jewels:


Rose Garden Bracelet

I enjoyed matching beads, gemstones and metals with the pretty colours in the heart. It's funny how you start off with an idea in your head, but, as you start putting it together the design sort of takes off by itself. You end up with something a little bit unexpected, but even more pleasing, as it's a bit of a surprise!




I've also just completed some earrings using fabulous handmade lampwork beads by UK artist Shirley Giles from Fyrebirds. They are greenish in shade with an amazing depth and intensity. I think the lovely handmade sterling silver earring wires from Etsy artist Tracy Smith at Cinnamon Jewellery complement them perfectly:

I love the quality and uniqueness of these handmade beads and findings. 


I am also working on some earrings using handmade copper wires from Cinnamon Jewellery, and a project involving these J-Lynn tiles, once I can decide whether to use them separately or all together!

All I need is more hours in the day...!

Silent Sunday: Tangerine Tango

Some of the lovely things I've found this week over on Etsy. 

Click the links to be taken to the shops :)

Carnelian necklace from Elephant Beads

Red dichroic glass pendant from bluedaisyglass

Felted scarf with tassels from FrouFrouFelt

Silver ring with red roses by Miss Viola Designs

Small fallen copper oak leaf necklace from Enchanted Leaves

Red dandelion card with dragonfly by Lilly's Night Garden

New today

This necklace is new in my shop today. Pretty freshwater pearls with a soft coppery sheen and a cute fairy charm.

Go to Etsy

I also have these art nouveau style fairy earrings, also with pearls:

Go to Etsy