Wordless Wednesday: Red Nose Day earrings

Carnelian beads and sterling silver earwires.  Only £5 on Folksy, with a donation of £3 to Comic Relief for every pair sold.

Wordless Wednesday: Red Nose Day earrings

Carnelian beads and sterling silver earwires.  Only £5 on Folksy, with a donation of £3 to Comic Relief for every pair sold.

Double knotting a necklace

If you want to knot a beaded necklace with semi precious stones, but the holes in the stones are quite large, what's the solution?

I'd got these lovely S-shaped 'slab' beads in dyed turquoise agate (that's an agate dyed a turquoise colour, not huge turquoise beads, BTW!) and was keen to use them.  My favourite thing to make is always a knotted necklace. However, a single knot in the beading thread would just disappear into the rather large bead hole. Thicker beading cord might have been an option, but I wanted to use 6mm howlite beads with a smaller drill hole in between the large slabs - any larger round beads and the slabs might spin or pivot when worn and that's always annoying - so I was a bit stuck.


 I have some pearls which are double knotted, but the knots lie side by side, adding to the length of the necklace.  It looks great with those organic freeform pearls, but wouldn't have been right for this more structured design.

My solution was double knotting.  First, doing a normal single knot close to the bead.  I always use knotting tweezers, as this gets the knot exactly where I want it...



Next, I knotted over the knot I'd just made.  It took a little practice to get the result neat.  The best way seems to be to position the tweezers so that they are at the cross over point in the first knot, and very gently roll the second knot into place, not pulling as tightly as you would for a normal single knot.  Then the second knot was more inclined to sit neatly with a little overlap ...





 I liked the results.  There is still some movement between the bead hole and the double knot around the dyed turquoise agate stones, which adds to the fluidity of the necklace.  A big necklace that it too rigid can be uncomfortable to wear, in my humble opinion.  Also, there is very little pivoting of the larger stone, as the little howlite bead is very securely in place.  And because the knots look like little spacer beads, there's another shade of blue in the design. 

What do you think?

The finished design is in my Etsy shop.

Double knotting a necklace

If you want to knot a beaded necklace with semi precious stones, but the holes in the stones are quite large, what's the solution?

I'd got these lovely S-shaped 'slab' beads in dyed turquoise agate (that's an agate dyed a turquoise colour, not huge turquoise beads, BTW!) and was keen to use them.  My favourite thing to make is always a knotted necklace. However, a single knot in the beading thread would just disappear into the rather large bead hole. Thicker beading cord might have been an option, but I wanted to use 6mm howlite beads with a smaller drill hole in between the large slabs - any larger round beads and the slabs might spin or pivot when worn and that's always annoying - so I was a bit stuck.


 I have some pearls which are double knotted, but the knots lie side by side, adding to the length of the necklace.  It looks great with those organic freeform pearls, but wouldn't have been right for this more structured design.

My solution was double knotting.  First, doing a normal single knot close to the bead.  I always use knotting tweezers, as this gets the knot exactly where I want it...



Next, I knotted over the knot I'd just made.  It took a little practice to get the result neat.  The best way seems to be to position the tweezers so that they are at the cross over point in the first knot, and very gently roll the second knot into place, not pulling as tightly as you would for a normal single knot.  Then the second knot was more inclined to sit neatly with a little overlap ...





 I liked the results.  There is still some movement between the bead hole and the double knot around the dyed turquoise agate stones, which adds to the fluidity of the necklace.  A big necklace that it too rigid can be uncomfortable to wear, in my humble opinion.  Also, there is very little pivoting of the larger stone, as the little howlite bead is very securely in place.  And because the knots look like little spacer beads, there's another shade of blue in the design. 

What do you think?

The finished design is in my Etsy shop.

Folksy Friday: Watch the birdy!

A selection of birds today, as the real things have been loud and lively around us this week as the weather gets a little warmer... Click on any of the pictures to go directly to the shops.





1. This one is called 'Pretty Bird' you can see why by alissha lissha designs
2. Rae Welch has a range of these beautiful paper bird sculptures in her shop
3. Quite a funky bird from tuttTutt






4. My own birds in the skies earrings
5. This bird looks very happy in the grass by Chrissys for Cards
6. Classy bird buttons by Amanda Mercer

Folksy Friday: Watch the birdy!

A selection of birds today, as the real things have been loud and lively around us this week as the weather gets a little warmer... Click on any of the pictures to go directly to the shops.





1. This one is called 'Pretty Bird' you can see why by alissha lissha designs
2. Rae Welch has a range of these beautiful paper bird sculptures in her shop
3. Quite a funky bird from tuttTutt






4. My own birds in the skies earrings
5. This bird looks very happy in the grass by Chrissys for Cards
6. Classy bird buttons by Amanda Mercer

BESTeam weekly feature: LoveElycia on Etsy

LoveElycia on Etsy, based in Hamilton, Ontario,  Canada, is the perfect place to shop if you need a post Christmas disguise.  Perhaps you're popping into town to return an unwanted gift to the store and don't want any friends and relatives to recognise you.  A simple moustache headband is just the ticket then. 



By now, you've probably guessed that this week's BESTeam feature is a shop that is a little bit quirky in a fun and funky way.  LoveElycia, or ♥elycia, provides fun headbands for fun people and a selection of vintage clothes and prints as well.

The prints all come with a story attached to the character.  I like Derby, here, who loves to crochet but can't commit to a full Afghan. 

Just recognise myself there - short attention span, low boredom threshold, love to make cute things!

Here's my pick from the vintage section - Frills and Lines - I think you need to supply the skates yourself!

Elycia trained as an engineer, but is now pursuing her dream of making cute things full time.  I think she's getting close there - a popular shop, a great fun blog and lots of new ideas - watch this space!


You can keep up with Elycia from these links:


http://www.etsy.com/shop/LoveElycia


http://www.loveelycia.com
(some super cute cat pics here for those like me who enjoy blogs with added animals)


http://www.twitter.com/loveelycia


http://www.facebook.com/loveelycia

BESTeam weekly feature: LoveElycia on Etsy

LoveElycia on Etsy, based in Hamilton, Ontario,  Canada, is the perfect place to shop if you need a post Christmas disguise.  Perhaps you're popping into town to return an unwanted gift to the store and don't want any friends and relatives to recognise you.  A simple moustache headband is just the ticket then. 



By now, you've probably guessed that this week's BESTeam feature is a shop that is a little bit quirky in a fun and funky way.  LoveElycia, or ♥elycia, provides fun headbands for fun people and a selection of vintage clothes and prints as well.

The prints all come with a story attached to the character.  I like Derby, here, who loves to crochet but can't commit to a full Afghan. 

Just recognise myself there - short attention span, low boredom threshold, love to make cute things!

Here's my pick from the vintage section - Frills and Lines - I think you need to supply the skates yourself!

Elycia trained as an engineer, but is now pursuing her dream of making cute things full time.  I think she's getting close there - a popular shop, a great fun blog and lots of new ideas - watch this space!


You can keep up with Elycia from these links:


http://www.etsy.com/shop/LoveElycia


http://www.loveelycia.com
(some super cute cat pics here for those like me who enjoy blogs with added animals)


http://www.twitter.com/loveelycia


http://www.facebook.com/loveelycia

Folksy Friday: Cheerful flowers

After a bit of a stressful week of hospital visiting away from home, I was searching round for some flowers that would last longer than a week, and found these beautiful creations on Folksy.  So when mum is out of hospital, maybe one or more of these or similar will be greeting her on her return.  Or perhaps the wonderful husband will treat me?!

Click on any of the images to visit these lovely shops.

Folksy Friday: Cheerful flowers

After a bit of a stressful week of hospital visiting away from home, I was searching round for some flowers that would last longer than a week, and found these beautiful creations on Folksy.  So when mum is out of hospital, maybe one or more of these or similar will be greeting her on her return.  Or perhaps the wonderful husband will treat me?!

Click on any of the images to visit these lovely shops.

Dreamy Wednesday: Pretty things

Some lovely new listings were spotted on Dreamaid this week.
Here's a selection.

I love this doll by Mollys knitted.  In fact, her whole selection is beautiful - perfect toys if you're looking for something traditional, with no hard parts and for a real girly little girl.

These heart charm earrings with purple dragon vein and banded agate by Piggyimp Arts would make a great present.  You know how I love natural semi precious gemstones, and purple is one of Pantone's key colours for 2010 fall.

Very colourful, hand-embroided bag by blueshed crafts.  It's as beautiful inside as it is out - check out the listing to see why.

And lastly, for the person that you thought had everything, and is extremely difficult to buy for, why not try the Bacon and Egg Scarf by The Happy Crocheter?  Truly unique, I think.  Also check out her cheeseburger scarf (yes, you read that right!) and some beautiful cloche hats.

Don't forget to watch out for news of Dreamaid's new sales brochure on their blog and facebook pages.

Dreamy Wednesday: Pretty things

Some lovely new listings were spotted on Dreamaid this week.
Here's a selection.

I love this doll by Mollys knitted.  In fact, her whole selection is beautiful - perfect toys if you're looking for something traditional, with no hard parts and for a real girly little girl.

These heart charm earrings with purple dragon vein and banded agate by Piggyimp Arts would make a great present.  You know how I love natural semi precious gemstones, and purple is one of Pantone's key colours for 2010 fall.

Very colourful, hand-embroided bag by blueshed crafts.  It's as beautiful inside as it is out - check out the listing to see why.

And lastly, for the person that you thought had everything, and is extremely difficult to buy for, why not try the Bacon and Egg Scarf by The Happy Crocheter?  Truly unique, I think.  Also check out her cheeseburger scarf (yes, you read that right!) and some beautiful cloche hats.

Don't forget to watch out for news of Dreamaid's new sales brochure on their blog and facebook pages.