On a roll!

Here is what I have made today - a bit of simple chainmaille. It started out with a ring in teal & amethyst ......

And then grew into a bracelet !

I have had the cat fasten for ages but can't decide whether it goes with the bracelet or not?? That's the trouble with using coloured rings!

Re-Launch !

Where has all the time gone? This blog has been very sadly neglected over the past few months. Sorry blog!

I have been busy completing a year long course on dyslexia - which was very interesting but very time consuming. I also sadly lost my lovely dad in April and so haven't really been in the mood for anything creative. But it's now the school holidays, I have some time & so now is a good a time as any to get going again.

I've been really enjoying taking photos recently too so I might put a few on here to start with:

A couple taken at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park - one man-made & one natural sculpture (a yew tree).

I've also played a bit with Art Clay Silver & made a few small pieces, including this leaf pendant.

I also got round (at long last) making myself a sterling silver bracelet with laboradorite, iolite & moonstone - the photo doesn't do the stones justice as they really flash with gorgeous blue colours.

Despite my lack of beading, I have still managed to sell a few things via my Folksy Shop

http://www.folksy.com/shops/IzzyWizzyBeads but need to add some more to it.

So watch this space (hopefully!!)

Finger Knitting

Thanks to a wonderful tutorial on Folksy (by Lucy Jackson), I am now hooked on finger knitting! It's so easy and literally impossible to put down once you start (because it's wrapped round your fingers!!)

Here is my first scarf - made with one 50g ball of chunky Rowan wool. Because it's only thin, it can wrap several times around & feels lovely & snuggly!

Oh my Goodness, where has the time gone?!

I haven't posted anything for months! (oh, the shame!) But to be honest, I've not done much crafting at all, due to the workload on my distance learning course. So here is a bit of a catch up! I made some more photo tile cufflinks for a colleague and also a photo tile keyring for a friend (sorry no pics). I've sold a couple more items off Folksy (in spite of my totally rubbish photos on there!!) & I must get myself together & add some more bits & bobs.

I ventured into the scary world of sewing by making this sock monkey from a little pair of my sons socks.

I amazed myself by managing to sew in a straight line, so when he outgrew his favourite pyjamas I decided to try & make something out of them. He was quite determined with what he wanted me to make & my brief was "like a cushion, not girlie, with a wobbly mouth and legs".

Here's what evolved..... Mr PJ and his sidekick Mini PJ!!

Today I even managed a bit of very basic beading. I used a mix of greens & browns to make two "multi wearable" necklace/bracelets (I really must think up a better name!).

They are basically just beads threaded onto knotted leather thong that can be worn as a necklace, choker or wrapped several times round the wrist as a bracelet. The photo is rubbish but you get the idea! Very simple, but I just like the colours together.

Just a little something

I haven't done too much crafting lately but I have made this ring for Chloe. It uses the same sieve blank as the Vintage Ring I made for myself, but the request was for purples & pinks.

Hope she likes it !

A bit of an Arty Challenge

During various crafty discussions, the idea of turning other images into tiles popped up and Misty/Hells mentioned she'd like one of her daughters first 'proper' drawings on a tile. The original photo is on her blog here :- http://hells-littlegeckos.blogspot.com/

So, with a bit of fiddling, I photo-shopped the image and enhanced the lines a little to get this image:

Then it was a question of cropping this and doing more Photo Shop trickery to try and turn it into an image that would look good on a tile.

I turned it into a simple black & white line drawing, shrunk it right down and then added blended chalks in pinky/purple to give it a bit of a coloured background.

Here's how it ended up (although it still needs another coat of glaze and a hanging bail).

The photo is not brilliant as it's so hard to see pale colours as the glaze is so reflective - it does look better in real life, I promise!

Another Group & more Ideas!

Well I still can't believe I sold one of my tiles on Folksy!! I only put it up that morning too! Here's hoping the buyer still likes it when it arrives. I've added two more tiles today.

Here's the next batch of tiles :- (the hardest thing is getting a decent photo as they are so shiny!)

The top ones are made from a fabby peachy/pinky paper that has little bits of glitter on it, some black,red & gold flowery paper and....drum roll....you can see - I have tried out a new idea, using mulberry paper.

The one in the top group is finished, the bottom group just need one more coat of glaze but I am rather pleased with the effect.