Bluebells & Pebbles

A few days ago I went for a walk in nearby woods, and there was a beautiful carpet of bluebells, as far as the eye could see. I also heard my first cuckoo of the year! I came home and just had to make a set of 'Bluebell' beads in bluebell colours.

I haven't made any of my pebble beads for ages, but they are one of my favourite sets to make, so I made 'Lyme'.

Finally 'Caribbean', a set of turquoise beads, some etched and some shiny.

I hope you like them!

My aim is to try and get more torch time than I've been managing. Time will tell whether I can make that a reality, but these extra bank holidays have been splendid!

In Full Bloom

Now I don't know about you, but I'm missing a bit of colour in the garden. Those who know me will vouch for my impatience. My answer was to create my own spring colours and trap them inside glass!

This set is aptly called 'In Full Bloom' and I hope they put some colour into your day too.

Have a great week!

Maasai Necklace

I wanted to show you this gorgeous necklace that Nia Clement has made using a set of my lampwork beads and lots of Bali sterling silver.

Of course, the last time I saw these beads they didn't look nearly this good! Nia has a way of designing jewellery that shows beads off to their very best. I think the name Nia has given this piece is perfect.



This necklace has reminded me that I should explore the techniques I used in these beads again. I'm buzzing with ideas at the moment, and am looking forward to getting an opportunity to light my torch.

I love to see how people use my beads, so if you want to share any of your creations with me I will show them off here for you!

You can see more of Nia's work at Gemwaith Nia Jewellery.

Stellar Beads

I made my first beads of 2011! This set, in different shades of blue, is called Stellar, and quite possibly represents too many hours spent gazing up at the stars lately!

These may be my first beads for 2011, but definitely won't be my last. I hope you like them.




With Valentines Day just a few weeks away I felt compelled to make a heart. This one is hand-shaped and ideal for someone who likes to hint at romance without the addition of girly pink!


I have been fortunate to have been featured in a number of Etsy treasuries lately, and here are some of them. My beads are in excellent company, so I encourage you to click the pictures below to visit the treasuries for yourself.


See if you can spot my beads.


This treasury, 'For the Long Journey' was curate by Lynn Davy, who, as Nemeton, designs and makes the most incredible creations, using all kinds of beads, from weeny seed beads to lampwork beads. Lynn cleverly created this treasury by searching on one of the words in the title of the previous item. Ingenious!

'Pink Smoke' was curated by Alison of Ami Designs. This treasury features some gorgeous items in subtle pink tones.
The very talented George curated 'Dreaming of Caribbean Seas'. There are some fabulous blue-green tones and sea-themes going on here. Do pop along and have a mooch around George's fabulous range of handmade jewellery findings.

That's all for now. Enjoy the weekend!

Split peas and Lentils!

All this icy weather has promted lots of soup-eating. I'm sure this culinary delight inspired at least one set of beads! In glorious split-pea and lentil colours, here is Daal;

I made this next set when there were still a few golden coloured leaves on the trees. Looking outside today, they've all since dropped. This is Turning Leaves;

Moving to warmer climes, these beads are called Cherokee;

Here is Rivulet;

And finally, night sky inspired Bootes;

Stay warm!

New Beads

I think I picked up a bug this week, as I've been feeling a bit bleurgh. I did manage to make some simple beads sets though, and here they are;

I hope you're managing to keep one step ahead of the bugs that are doing the rounds at the moment.

Have a great week!

Reflecting on Glass

So... glass...

Clever isn't it!

I mean, it's solid, watertight and strong and yet it can be completely transparent.

But not always.

It can be liquid, and bendy and fragile and opaque.

It can be ice-cold, or furnace hot.

It can be rounded and smooth, or razor sharp.

It can start off clear and end up red. Or yellow. Or orange. Or.... well, I think you get the picture.

It magnifies, and in doing so allows us to see into the far reaches of the solar system.

In short, it's pretty amazing stuff, and I just like to reflect (see what I did there?) on this now and again.

So anyway, I took some of this ice-cold hot liquid solid stuff, and made some beads! Here they are;

On Golden Pond;

Over the Rainbow;

Forgotten Garden;



Coral Blush;


A Touch of Magic;


Nevada;

I hope you like them!

Have a great week.