HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

A very Merry Christmas to all my readers old and new and the very best of wishes for a Peaceful, Harmonious and Inspired New Year. 

I will be trying out new things and hopefully blogging more in the weeks to come, I have ideas for paintings and learning new techniques with my clay and jewellery.

This clematis Cirrhosa 'Freckles'blooms almost all year round but tends to ramble all over our garden I am always cutting it back and its so easy to propagate, the picture was taken one January. 

 ~Jackie~

WELCOMETO THE 2nd ANNUAL BEAD HOARDERS BLOG HOP!

I am just a little late posting the things I have made from my stash, as everything has been crazy round here with the exhibition and Lara's first book published, so here goes.

First up I have been learning Kumhimo, I started it in bed when I had to take bed rest for a couple of hours in the afternoons a couple of months ago with ruptured ligaments in one of my knees, I decided to learn something new and started Kumihimo.

A friend of mine is allergic to metals so I thought Kumihimo would be great to solve that problem. But when it came to finishing pieces I hated the ends you can buy so decided to make my own, you can see the result below. I used some lovely smooth pebbles of Prehnite I bought years ago but hadn't used just hoarded!

I thought I would like to make a necklace with beads so designed this one with seed beads, the pearls I have been hoarding as I can't seem to find any nice lavender pearls these days  so have been saving them for something, anyway I used some of them in this necklace.

Now for something completely different I had some pink Tourmaline pencils, no idea why I bought them years ago but they were so sweet so I just kept them, truth be told I had no idea what I wanted to do with them, Looking through for things to make for this blog hop I decided some gorgeous white stick pearls might be the very thing to go with my Tourmaline, finished off with a sterling silver chain so here is my last offering, hope you like it.

 ~Jackie~

Here is the list for the blog hop, Thank you Lori Anderson for making this possible

Lori Anderson	PrettyThings  (Hostess)
Audrey Belanger	Toki No Hourosha
Jenny Kyrlach	Wonder and Whimsy
Kathy Lindemer	Bay Moon Design
Lori Schneider	Bead Addict
Dee Elgie	Cherry Obsidia
Dolores Raml	CraftyD's Creations
Rebecca Ednie	Eclectic Endeavors
Lili Krist	http://emjestudio.blogspot.com/
Marybeth Rich	http://forestofjewels.blogspot.com/
Hannah Rosner	Good River Valley
Nicole Prince	http://healingbeading.blogspot.com/
Deana Hager	http://justdeesarts.blogspot.com/
Jackie Ryan	http://kydojewellery.blogspot.co.uk/
Elsie Deliz-Fonseca	http://ladelizchica.blogspot.com/
Mowse Doyle	http://mowsemadethis.blogspot.com/
Evelyn Shelby	http://raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com
Lisa Johnson	http://spudandmrsbutters.blogspot.com/
Terri Gauthier	http://terrisbloomingideas.blogspot.com/
Patti Pruhs	http://threebeadsandastring.blogspot.com
Shai Williams	Shaiha's Ramblings
Andrea Glick	Zenith Jade
K Hutchinson	https://jumbledhutch.wordpress.com
Marci Brooks	That Nothing Be Wasted
Jo-Ann Woolverton	It's a Beadiful Creation
Jasvanti Patel	Jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com
Laurie Vyselaar	Lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com
Lisa Knappenberger	LIRaysaDesigns.blogspot.com
Mary Lindell	marylindell.com
Niky Sayers	Silver Nik Nats
Sandra McGriff	skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com
Patricia Handschuh	thecolorofdreams.blogspot.com
Erin Prais-Hintz	treasures-found.blogspot.com
Maria Rosa Sharrow	willowstreetshops.blogspot.com
Kathleen Breeding	www.99bobotw.blogspot.com
Monique Urquhart	A Half-Baked Notion
Jackie Locantore	www.artfire.com/ext/shop/blog/MorningStar
Sheryl Stephens	The Babbling Beader
Becky Pancake	Becky Pancake Bead Designs
Mona Arnott	Bijoux Gems of Joy
Michelle Escano	Cabby Craft
Denise McCabe	Cabewoman
Carolyn Lawson	www.carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com
Sheila Prose	www.catswithbeads.blogspot.com
Kim Dworak	www.cianciblue.blogspot.com
Iveth Caruso	www.CreativeAtelier.net/blog
Deborah Apodaca	www.deborahapodacadesigns.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth Bunn	www.elizabethbeads.blogspot.com
Janine Lucas	www.esfera.me/travel/blog/travel-stories
Kari Asbury	Hippie Chick Design
Inge von Roos	Inge's Blog
Divya N	www.jewelsofsayuri.com
Debbie Rasmussen	www.kepirasmussen.blogspot.com
KJ	www.kjsbeadaciousbeads.blogspot.com/
Klaudete Koon	www.klaudetekoon.blogspot.com
Ghislaine Kruse-van Erp	www.kruseartllc.com
Ginger Bishop	www.lilmummylikes.blogspot.com
Kelly Schermerhorn	www.meanderingwithkelly.blogspot.com
Mischelle Andrade	www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
Sue Kelly	Mid-Life Greater Expectations
Rachel Mallis	Mint Monarch
Susan McClelland	www.mistheword12.com
Mary K McGraw	MK's Creative Musings
Tania Spivey	Moobie Grace Designs
Stephanie Perry	Mustard Seed by Stephanie Perry
Mitzie Crider	www.NeedfulLuxuries.Blogspot.com
Nicole Rennell	Www.nicolerennell.com/blog
Nicole Valentine	www.nvalentine.blogspot.com
Karen Mitchell	www.overthemoon-design.com
Tammy Adams	www.paisleylizard.com/blog/
Patty Miller	www.pattymillerbeads.blogspot.com
Blanca Medina	MediBeads
Stephanie Haussler	www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com
Roxanne Mendoza	www.roxidesigns.blogspot.com
Claire Fabian	www.saraccino.blogspot.com
Bridget Torres	www.shears58.net
Donetta Farrington	www.simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com
Lee Koopman	www.stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Deb Fortin	www.studiok24.blogspot.ca
Susan Walls	Www.susansartcircus.com/blog
Cece Cormier	The Beading Yogini
Heather Otto	www.thecrafthopper.com
Lizzie Clarke	www.theneedtobead.blogspot.co.uk
Elizabeth Hodges	www.thewhisperingseas.blogspot.com
Fay Wolfenden	www.torchfairy.blogspot.com
Kelly Hosford Patterson	www.TravelingSideShow.blogspot.com
Nan Smith	Nanmade Jewelry
Jayne Capps	wwww.mamasgototdoodle.blogspot.com

Robin Kae Reed                                          http://www.willowdragon.blogspot.com/
Melissa Trudinger                                      https://beadrecipes.wordpress.com/
Regina Wood                                                  Gina's Designs

BOOK SIGNING AT THE PORTLAND GALLERY!

I have been so very busy I have not had a moment to update my blog which is so annoying.
Lara is at the Portland Street Gallery doing a book signing from 6 - 10pm Friday evening 5th December.
Some of the new Organic collection of jewellery is there as well and I have been persuaded to exhibit a new painting at this Christmas exhibition, very unusual for me it is a large acrylic, the inspiration was a beautiful dawn coming up over the sea the colours were gorgeous so I have tried to capture that. No pictures of it I am afraid as yet.

I have been really busy tidying up the garden and sweeping up the many leaves from the Magnolias and roses, the pond was full of them this morning so fished out as many as I was able which was rather lot, we only did it at the weekend but I think the last of the leaves are down now as there have been some very high winds the last couple of days. 

My Kuhimo braiding is coming along well and I now have several necklaces a bit different to the usual things you see I think, I tried the braid with beads but really didn't like it, not my thing, I do like pearls with it though as long as there are not too many, I am using hand dyed silk which is shaded and its gorgeous so I really braid for the colours I have also started useing some Egyptian cotton threads again hand dyed in wonderful colours. I want to learn to use Shibori ribbon too, so lots of things to try out this winter. I may even get some needle felting done.

~Jackie~

ORIENTAL INSPIRATION!

Perhaps this is a slight deviation from my organic trend in this necklace or maybe its not really.

The beautiful old Chinese pendant was the inspiration, I have been wanting to use it for quite a while, I love the colours green and lavender its so fresh! I believe it is Jade and depicts two fish with a water lily and lily pads, or should I say Lotus flower anyway it is lovely and unusual. The beads I chose are smooth amethyst a bit organic and its finished with a hand dyed silk ribbon of exactly the right colour there is a little sterling silver S clasp under the ribbon so you don't need to undo the ribbon to fasten it! 

It is not easy to get a sharp close up picture of the focal but I have put one up anyway. 

I am offering it here to my blog readers first then it will go on the web site and Facebook next week.

Thank you your comments are really appreciated
~Jackie~

LARA'S NEW BOOK !

I am so excited and very proud of my daughter Lara, she has just published her first book  Danger in the Darkness. It is a fantasy novel set in another world and the characters are not human as you would expect, ( that is unless you know my daughter ) . Lara has also done all the art work in the book including both the front and back cover, as she is an artist and I enjoyed proof reading the book for her and look forward to doing the same for the next book which she is getting ready to write.

Lara has created a new web site for the book  http://gryphiesaga.co.uk/  if you would like to take a look, I know there are some of you on my blog list that have also written books, below is a picture of the front cover of Lara's book.

~Jackie~

RED CINNEBAR NECKLACE

Carrying on the chunky organic feel to my new collection of autumn/winter necklaces, I am enjoying it so much! Even though I have been doing some Kumihimo braidingwhich is fun!

I came across some faceted white quartz which I felt was interesting enough for a red white and black theme. I had been wanting to use a red faux cinnabar butterfly focal bead but until I found the lovely white quartz gemstone nothing seemed right. I chose vintage brass and gold plated beads as a rich contrast and I had previously hammered some bronze which I wanted to use, I decided to use ebony wood beads, a hand rolled Polymer bead and some of my Fair Trade Ugandan paper beads carried through the red theme! The vintage brass chain has hand dyed silk threaded through it which gives an interesting finish and brings it all together. 

I bought the hand dyed silk thread from Lorraine of Colour compliments on Etsy, she also hand dyes perle cotton among other wonderful items. Well worth a look!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/colourcomplements?ref=shopsection_shophome_leftnav

Like the last two necklaces in my autumn collection this necklace is a long graceful one which would look gorgeous and give a lift to darker colours any time. Offered here first just email me if its your sort of thing and you would like to add to your collection.

ALBERTINE A UNIQUE RABBIT!

Do you like surprises? Let me tell you about the sweet surprise I had just a couple of weeks ago., from a long time friend of mine, we go back to the days when we both started out with soft sculpture art, making collectable animals in mohair and alpaca etc. We had so much fun although we didn't live close to one another but kept in touch by phone each week, sharing our inspiration and family lives what the children were up to etc, good times and  bad you probably know the kind of thing!

My friend still makes soft sculpture animals although I gave it up when I injured my wrist some years back and I go and check her web site whenever she puts up new work. One day a little rabbit named Albertine appeared on the web site, she was so sweet and exactly the colour of the beautiful rose she was named for, time passed and Albertine was still there I couldn't believe it, nor could my friend!

Then a couple of weeks ago a box arrived in the post for me, well I had no idea what it could be, I couldn't have been more surprised when I opened the box and sitting in the pretty blue tissue was Albertine....!!!! Of course I phoned my friend right away and thanked her for such a lovely gift, I thought you might like to see Albertine, isn't she adorable!
My friend is Amanda Ferguson and her web site is 
http://www.honeypotbears.com

 ~Jackie~

MORE ORGANIC INSPIRATION !

I simply had to make another of these organic necklaces I enjoyed making the first one so much!

This time I got out a strand of huge Garnet faceted rounds, much too heavy to wear as a necklace on their own so I picked three of them and decided to embellish them with some Polymer leaves in old gold to add some interest, I then picked out some Fair Trade Ugandan paper beads made once again by the ladies, in three sizes in lovely soft warm colours, I added some interesting tree seed beads and four huge bronze/gold baroque coin pearls keeping with the warm gold theme and a couple of my green and gold Polymer leaves for contrst. Then I hammered some bronze to make the shapes so I could add a double strand of leather for round the neck.

I have had great fun designing these necklaces so far and making them up and I would like to offer this one here as well before it goes to The Portland Gallery so if it is your kind of thing or you are looking for something a bit different shoot me an email!

~Jackie~

ORGANIC INSPIRATION!

I always get so inspired when I do Lori's Bead Soup Blog Party and this year was no exception. But for the autumn I decided to do something completely different, for me that is! If you follow my blog you will know exactly what I mean when you see the pictures. 

Some years ago I was tempted to buy some strands of very large gemstone beads, I don't make chunky jewellery and the beads were very heavy so they got put away and more or less forgotten.

Sorting out my boxes recently I came across them, as the inspiration for now is something organic looking I got out this wonderful strand of large Labradorite gemstone beads. I decided to use just six of the beads. I have been buying wood and tree seed beads to expand the organic theme so I picked out wood beads using some of my favourite extra large Ugandan Fair Trade paper beads ( these are made by women who have suffered hardship and brutality ) to add a bit of colour, not much weight added there!  The vintage brass beads I think worked well. It is beaded on a double strand of fine leather. I added the vintage copper chain and a copper bead, it fastens with a copper S hook. I do have more photos, it is going down to The Portland Gallery as the owner fell in love with it but if you love it and want it just email me as I wanted to offer it here first.

Thank you for reading my blog
~Jackie~

BRACELET IN AQUA

I haven't posted in a little while as  I have been working on some new collections which I will be putting up at some stage and telling you a bit about, meanwhile I have this pretty bracelet on the web site www.kydojewellery.com . 

Aqua is such a lovely cool colour, it makes me think of the sea.  The lampwork and pearls really look lovely together with just a scattering of Swarovski crystals, I love this colour and wear it a lot. Enjoy!

~Jackie

PEARLS - PEARLS - PEARLS BLOG HOP

Today is the day, I have been looking forward to this blog hop organised by Michelle Buettner  http://www.MiShelDesigns.blogspot.com   or if you prefer you can access the hop here this is the direct link to the InLinkz page 
http://new.inlinkz.com/luwpview.php?id=418179

 I hope anyone coming to visit my blog will take a look at all the wonderful pearl creations everyone has been making for the reveal. 

You can see my new bracelet in silver pink pearls with lamp work beads, and three necklaces below! The first necklace is white pearls with Rose Quartz and Rhodonite cubes pretty for summer don't you think! The second necklace is white Keshi and Stick Pearls with Tourmaline finished with a silver chain. The third necklace is gorgeous Peach Pearls, with peach lampwork that I bought specially from Earthshine beads at Etsy as I thought it was so pretty and went so well with these pearls I added two little Czech glass leaves and some more lampwork rondelles in a light green from my stash. So there you have it I hope you enjoyed taking a look! And maybe visit me again sometime.  All four items  are available at present I just havn't had time to put them on the web site yet!

~Jackie~ 

FRIDAY GIVEAWAY AND THE WINNER IS, DAWN WILLIAMS!

Hi Dawn you have won the ribbon and bead necklace. I am not on Google + so can't seem to find any way to contact you, can you please get in touch with me and send your full name and address, thank you.

That is the end of the giveaways for the time being. I will be back with a post on Sunday 29th   for the Pearls - Pearls - Pearls Blog Hop that Michelle Buettner of http://misheldesigns.blogspot.co.uk  is hosting looks like it will be a fun time!

~Jackie~

WEDNESDAY GIVEAWAY IS IT YOUR LUCKY DAY!

Today the winner of the Labradorite and bronze pendant is Amber Dawn if you want to use it as a pendant and a pin you can attach a brooch finding and turn it into a brooch, doing double duty your choice! 

~Jackie~

WINNER OF MONDAYS GIVEAWAY!

And the winner of the first draw for the earrings is Veralynne Malone!
Please get in touch with me Varalynne.

The second draw will be Wednesday so keep a look out come back to my blog it could be your name that was picked out with the random generator. Best of luck.

~Jackie~

BEAD SOUP GIVEAWAYS!

I am really late with my giveaways this time but I am still doing them, there are three and the first one is to be drawn tomorrow, Monday 23rd - Second one will be drawn Wednesday - The third one on Friday. I am putting pictures of all of them below in order starting with Monday's giveaway so you can see, then if you want to opt out you can just email me or leave me a comment. Ok first up is...................

  

These were all made from my Bead Soup this year and the descriptions can be found below in my original post on the reveal. Good luck!

~Jackie~