After a lovely relaxing week on the Norfolk coast, I have lots of wrapped bracelets to show, such as this Heather bracelet, made using some beautiful lavender amethyst and oxidised copper wire.  Check out the Bracelets page for the ones I've listed so far, and there's also a new Tree of Life pendant up on the Pendants page.

I love making wrapped bracelets - it's my favourite way to showcase beautiful beads whilst incorporating my favourite material.  And in spite of the similar design, each one is different, thanks to the endless variety of beads available (and in my bead boxes!).  I also like to use different - often hand-forged - clasps to make each bracelet individual.  I love to wear bracelets - they're the best jewellery to wear if you want to sneak an admiring glance at your new acquisition every now and then! ;D

Yes, I have (another) blog, Confessions of a Wireworker - check it out at http://louisegoodchild.blogspot.com/ - and I seem to have spent so much time recently setting that up and updating my Etsy shop, that I haven't had time to do much of what it's really all about - making jewellery!  After making myself a lampwork and chain maille necklace to match the Chrysophylax bracelet, I had a bit of a forced hiatus from creating.  But I'm back now!  This weekend's creation is another (I know, please don't yawn) Picture Pendant inspired by the warm weather and dreams of lazy summer days, listening to the bees and sipping something long and cool.  Likely to remain a very distant dream, but at least I can immortalise a tiny part of it in miniature with the aid of some wire and a few seed beads.

I'm not abandoning this blog completely - the new one is intended to be primarily dedicated to wireworking (the clue's in the title) and I'll still update both as often as I can.  I believe it will be easier to 'follow' my other blog in the traditional way.  Please visit me at both! :)

I had some absolutely stunning beads by the hugely talented Isabelle Anderson (http://www.flameandglass.com/)  for Christmas, and I finally worked out what to do with them this week - mix them up with some chain maille.  I made the copper rings, added some shiny magatama beads and interspersed sections of 'shaggy loops' (classy name, isn't it?) chain maille with the beautiful lampwork beads.  This Chrysophylax bracelet was the result, and there's a matching necklace in the works.  I was so pleased with it, I made a similar one with some gorgeous beads by Beverley Edge (http://www.pegasuslampwork.co.uk/), added a twisted hand-forged clasp and promptly added it the Bracelets page. 

I think these beads demonstrate the chasm between handcrafted artisan beads, and mass-produced glass.  I'm not a snob about materials, and I use both in my designs, but when looking to make a one-of-a-kind designer piece made with glass, lampwork is my material of choice.  It is expensive for a reason - there is a huge amount of work and skill behind every shiny (or etched!) bead.  Here's to all those talented lampworkers out there - keep 'em coming! :D

I had a couple of days off last week and had a play with my favourite medium - yep, good old wire.  I made a freeform ivy copper bangle and several more Picture Pendants - which you can see for sale in the Pendants section.  I also made a necklace from a selection of beads (yes, you read it right - beads, not wire!) which just screamed to be married together, and was able to finally post the pictures of the ornament I made for my Mum & Dad's 30th wedding anniversary and the 9 carat gold earrings commissioned for my Mum's present (sorry, yet more wire...)  I was quite pleased with the way my first wire bird had turned out, and it may not look like it, but that ornament took hours to make!

I also made my favourite pendant so far - it was one of those all-too-rare occasions when the image I had in my head before embarking on the project, was exactly what I ended up with.  I would say if only it always happened like that, but sometimes it's actually nice to end up with something unexpected.  Whatever the outcome, here's to more adventures with wire! :D

Yes, it really is - and we've just made the most of it by eating our lunch outside (wearing our coats, but hey, we were still outside!).  To convince myself that Spring is on its way, I've made a little wildflower picture pendant for my lovely Mum in my favourite colour combo of green, purple and white.  I've also completed a seedbeading project by Aster Sadler (www.astersadler.etsy.com)  from Beads & Beyond magazine - it's such a lovely design, it prompted me to have a go (and I had to learn new stitches and all!) - the result is my Nightshade necklace, which I'm wearing right now.  I have to say, her instructions were very clear and easy to follow, which is most important for the seed-bead-challenged like me. :)

Speaking of talented designers, do check out Beth Wilson's website, www.starpixie.co.uk - I love her wirework, in particular the leaves (naturally!), and she's just made the most beautiful silver circlet.  I also aspire to take photographs like hers, although it's not likely to happen any time soon.  I am planning to make myself a light box, and fiddle with my camera settings until I can take something at least a bit better - at the moment, I'm pretty much stuck unless I have bright daylight, and that's a rare enough thing at this time of year!

Just time for a quick update, as it's Sunday evening and I suppose I'd better at least start thinking about what we're going to have for dinner!  I've had the usual busy day, but I did manage to make time for a barbed wire commission.  Otherwise this week, I'm still Picture Pendant obsessed - I was happy with the look of this ocean-themed one, but it's a bit wobbly so it's probably going to end up in my own collection (shame!) and my latest is Hedgerow, which I've added to the Pendants page.  I have lots more ideas (no more than rough sketches at the moment) and I've begun work on a special item that I can't reveal until later.

I also had an item in my Etsy shop included in my first Treasury this week, which was something new for me!  And that's about it for the moment - have a great week, everyone! :)

Yes, I'm currently having fun drawing with wire in my new series of Picture Pendants.  The love affair with wire is ongoing, and I've found new inspiration from the chance memory of the little 3D gardens I used to make as a child, from moss, twigs, mirrors etc.  I suddenly thought 'why not try that with wire?' and off I went.  I'm particularly fond of the whole underwater theme, hence attempt number one, which you can see here, but the idea of miniature wire paintings has huge scope, so hopefully I won't run out of ideas any time soon!  You can see the two latest creations for sale on the Pendants page.  As ever, my work has an organic feel to it - I'm not comfortable with geometric patterns at all.

In other news, I celebrated 30,000 views on my Flickr album this weekend - I was going to organise a giveaway to celebrate, but I left it a little late, so I will get my butt into gear and sort something out for the next milestone!  I love Flickr, it's a great way to enjoy the creative talent of all the other lovely people on there, it's a wonderful source of inspiration and can also be quite humbling, when you realize just how far you have to go!  So to all my Flickr buddies - thank you for being so awe-inspiring! :D

Yes, I have finally got round to updating my blog, and my poor neglected Etsy shop, which you can see here.  It seems to have taken me the whole wretched weekend to take photos, edit them, resize them (and what a palaver that one is, too!), upload them and then write lots of blurb about them.  I shall be going back to work for a rest tomorrow!

I don't seem to have produced too much recently, although I did force myself to use up some of the lovely focals and orphan lampwork beads in my (ever-increasing) stash, such as this lovely tree bead by Karen Baildon - I'm a real sucker for trees and leaves!  So there are lots of new pendants available, including this Amazon wire pendant, as well as a necklace made with leaves (of course!), flowers and beads, all made from wire.  I also made myself some tree earrings to go with the New Year pendant.

I did manage to tidy my desk (again - when will I ever learn?) and it's quite inspirational having lots of space to create in again - a bit like a blank sheet of paper waiting for the words to fill it.  Now I just need to find the time to enjoy it - remind me again, where did the weekend go? :O

Yep, we're halfway through January, and I'm still having loads of fun with the reels of coloured wire my lovely hubby bought me for Christmas (a whole boxful - yay!).  Although I don't get as much time as I'd like to indulge my creativity, it's definitely a welcome antidote to the everyday depressingness of the new austere era we're apparently entering - there's nothing remotely austere about shiny glass, shimmering wire and sparkling crystals ...
 
So, in a bid to banish the January blues, I've been dreaming of Spring with my Sea Spray pendant, and Flowering Vine necklace, which I based on a pattern from a lovely book by Melody MacDuffee.  I also posted pics of some of the Christmas pressies I made, including this peridot Tree of Life for my sister.  I do love my wire, but it's meant the end of my grown-for-Christmas fingernails already - I do envy people who manage to work with wire and still have fingernails!  Ah well, pretty nails or pretty jewellery - there's no contest, really!  ;)

Happy New Year to you - I wish you all health, happiness and prosperity in the year to come, and all those that follow.  And if you are susceptible to the January doldrums, don't despair, there's lots of sparkly goodness on here to bring you cheer.  And hopefully the sparkliness will continue to come, as I beat down my own January doldrums with a pair of jewellery pliers and a few nice hefty reels of wire!

Happy 2011, everyone!  Keep sparkling!  ;D