tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74179847189814256272023-11-16T22:45:44.480+04:00Jewellery JunkieJewellery JunkieNaviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-32589824723907647032013-10-27T12:00:00.000+04:002013-10-28T11:40:54.632+04:00October FestAutumn is apparently well under way in Northern Europe but here in Morocco the weather is warm and sunny for the most part with little sign of change. The trees are mostly palms or citrus fruit so no leave turning brown either. Life on a boat means that for the most part we stay almost continually in summer but I do miss the changing seasons, the bright new greens of Spring and the rich hues of Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-65448736565046503612013-10-21T12:04:00.002+04:002013-10-21T12:04:42.551+04:00Been AwhileSo it has been over six months since I posted anything here... and almost that long since I actually made anything beady. Been busy sailing and exploring but having ended up in Morocco for a few weeks I am determined to get my stash out and make something. Watch this space!!
I fully intend to attempt a few challenges to get the creative juices flowing again. I found this list of interesting Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-74384863866529144672013-04-20T00:30:00.000+04:002013-04-25T13:20:21.917+04:00UnBirthday Party Day!It seems so long ago that I was sitting on my boat making a very special piece of jewellery for a complete stranger... well only a month ago and not such a complete stranger, we'd been introduced and swapped emails so I knew her name, where she lives and most importantly what her birthday month is.
Jana lives in the Canaries, a place I hope to sail my boat to later this year and she was born in Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-14380717290833055742013-03-10T23:04:00.000+04:002013-03-11T20:38:43.649+04:00HBBH 3 ½ - Surprise Party!
Ok I haven't gone mad, there is a bit of unbirthday fun happening over at Marlene & Shelley's Swaps Blog. A sort of a bead swap party based on birth stones midway through another swap event they are organising! Marlene & Shelley paired up everyone who joined in. We firstly let each other know our birthday month and then in secret create some jewellery, based on the colour of the birth Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-60386168665477167452013-02-28T07:33:00.000+04:002013-03-13T11:17:46.700+04:00Turmi - A Beading Challenge
I love an inspiring challenge and when it results in something a little different from my usual jewellery choices it is doubly satisfying. The most recent Bead Soup Cafe challenge on Facebook really got the brain cells going as well as the creative juices. The colours in the photo taken in Turmi, Ethopia that Dini Bruinsma set for this one are amazing - lots of browns and orange tones with Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-68063847950668972352013-02-14T15:15:00.002+04:002013-02-14T15:26:16.803+04:00Silver Hamsa
Brass bonbon dish
It all started with a bonbon plate. A lovely brass hamsa shaped one with lots of detail that I found in a local craft shop O'de Rose. It's not just the engraved five fingered outline (hamsa means five in Arabic) but also the gentle cupped curve that I love. This plate begs to be picked up and held, despite the inevitable fingerprints the shiny metal finish acquires. The Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-74550108797132380762013-02-11T08:39:00.000+04:002013-02-11T08:39:30.257+04:00Feather with Love
I found this fascinating challenge on the Bead Soup Cafe's (BSC) face book page. The hostess posts an inspirational picture on BSC's main page,
along with a short blurb to get everyone inspired to create
something. This is the fourth in a round robin event for the Non-Blogger group, though bloggers can take part :-) Then on Feb 10th, Posting Day, everyone who has signed up posts a Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-47612956196141623862012-10-29T12:31:00.000+04:002012-10-29T12:31:07.532+04:00More Buttons Earlier this year I made a bracelet from buttons. Then a few weeks ago I came across a small bag of recyclable jewellery donated by a friend. In it there was a lovely MoP necklace in shades of blue. Each of the flat, square pieces of MoP had a central hole and the necklace was constructed using two threads weaving in and out, I loved it rescued it so it was wearable once more and was inspired, Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-28485236673531712752012-04-10T15:14:00.002+04:002012-04-19T07:11:04.294+04:00Inspiration from Buttons
Button Bracelet
Long time no post. In fact the well of jewellery inspiration has been pretty dry for most of this year until yesterday when I took a new friend on a visit to the so called Haberdashery Souk north of Dubai Creek in Deira. Tucked away by the door of one shop I found some small bags of buttons, 10 dirhams (less than £2) acquired a bag of each. An hour or so at my Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-24336639758705425632011-11-17T10:51:00.001+04:002012-04-10T15:16:33.206+04:00Helping Hand
The non-working threads stuck down
Don't you sometimes wish you had someone around to hold things whilst you use both hands to work on a tricky bit of jewellery?
I found myself in this situation when working on piece of bead weaving. Having created a seed bead loop to attach the threads to a pendant I needed to keep the tension on the loop whilst working on the bead weaving for one sideNaviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-29143570165188691322011-11-17T10:37:00.001+04:002011-11-17T10:49:53.892+04:00Handmade Thursday
Green Glass Band
This weeks bracelet is one that has been sitting on my workbench for a while. I finished stitching the bead band last month in just a couple of days but then how to complete it? I had ideas of ornamenting the band with fringes and beaded flowers but after adding just two flowers decided I didn't want to cover up these lovely square glass beads and unpicked my additions. Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-5439804695991721512011-11-16T16:16:00.001+04:002011-11-16T16:34:07.240+04:00Seasonal Challenge
This months MJ Challenge is to produce a piece of jewellery based around the main theme of Christmas, or
one of the other themes or projects in Issue 32 of the magazine. So either a unique creation, or a piece based on one of
the featured projects could be entered.
I decide to mix and match basing my entry on the cross-weave technique project (MJ page 69) but using Christmassy shiney red Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-69502938676589312522011-10-27T14:00:00.000+04:002011-10-27T14:00:07.100+04:00Handmade Thursday
I love earrings but have always shied away from making my own hooks until recently when I bought a book* offering a myriad of wire earring ideas. I own a beautiful pair of sterling silver earrings that I bought in Sweden several years ago that consist of a single wire bent in half with a loop at one end from which dangles a tiny silver ball. Inspired by them and guided by the book here are myNaviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com2Dubai - United Arab Emirates25.2644444 55.311666724.8049429 54.6799527 25.723945899999997 55.943380700000006tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-11678044942551493182011-10-27T06:52:00.000+04:002011-11-16T16:34:54.095+04:00Bracelet Inspiration
Pink craft wire coils made on a size 2 knitting needle,
blue glass beads and "silver" daisy spacers,
all threaded on memory wire with a simple clasp
Reversible bracelet in right angle weave using creamy glass pearls,
green crystal rondals and gold seed beads,
overstitched with crosses in god seed beads
Ready made caged beads joined with twisted wire jump rings
to createNaviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-54900789036514760912011-06-03T09:14:00.001+04:002011-06-03T09:16:37.674+04:00A Small Disaster AvertedIt's been a while since I made any earrings at all but recently when working on an as yet unfinished silver clay project I had a scrap of rolled out clay left. Having impressed it with a swirly texture I hand cut two tiny squares and pierced each piece of damp clay close to one corner.
Once dry the result was a bit of a disaster. Sadly I realised that the texture was somewhat marred by my Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-59427376314556374612011-06-02T16:37:00.002+04:002011-06-02T16:43:40.113+04:00Handmade Thursday...Fish Bubbles!
Making necklaces is always enjoyable but sometime when a quirky idea comes together its really fun. Today's efforts started out as a set of symmetrically strung blue and white oval beads with a rhodium plated fish as the focal point. It all looked rather boring until inspiration struck. The stripy, moulded ovals reminded me of bubbles.....
.......a hour or so of rearranging and Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-69967396852051994572011-05-26T14:38:00.000+04:002011-05-26T14:38:24.201+04:00Handmade Thursday...
..or any other day in my case but as Thursday is the last day before the weekend here in Dubai and a day when not much happens in my otherwise busy schedule I usually get more time to be creative. So when I stumbled across White Lily's blog and her Handmade Thursdays I couldn't resist sharing it with you nor posting something from me!
Today has been no exception in the extending chain of Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-1321542909848305612011-05-26T13:15:00.001+04:002011-05-30T07:43:05.556+04:00Cache-Cache ChallengeThe lovely scene to the left is a painting from 1873 by Berthe Morisot, the first of the female impressionist painters. Entitled Cache-Cache (Hide and Seek) it also sets the theme for this months Art Bead Scene challenge.
I loved the colour palette (see below) derived from the picture. And having just made my first silver clay bead from an oddment of clay I'd rolled out, thought I would try Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-750144956695214592011-05-16T13:27:00.000+04:002011-05-16T13:27:29.127+04:00Necklace Blues
Looking Across Weymouth Harbour
Its been a while since my last post, I've been on hols in the UK then seemed to dive into all sorts on my return except jewellery making. Anyway while sitting in Weymouth Harbour one afternoon during Easter week I strung four strands of beads on some nylon I found in the bottom of my boat bead stash judging from the reel it was probably fishing line. Yes, I have Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-35788645941015787012011-05-12T11:34:00.000+04:002011-05-14T00:40:52.787+04:00Very Chuffed........to find that my entry in the Make Jewellery Issue 25 challenge was the winning one!
I was inspired by the pearls and chain set that was part of the Match Point designs on p27 of the magazine, a gold chain and creamy pearl concoction. I didn’t have quite the same ingredients in my stash but I did have some lovely soft mauve glass pearls and a length of antique-silver chain that I hadNaviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-32523479880335748692011-04-04T07:57:00.004+04:002011-04-04T08:15:14.974+04:00Silver Clay Delight Part IIWell I finished my four week Art Clay course and, though I say it myself, am extremely pleased with the results. Here are my final three pieces:
Twig Brooch with with blue stones
Initial Pendant with a pearl
Snake Ring (apologies for the fuzzy picture)
The Twig is the one I'm proudest of even though it is not something I would wear. It caused me heartache when it broke not once butNaviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-74109725552288898262011-03-24T18:06:00.003+04:002011-03-30T14:22:54.814+04:00Challenging ChallengesHaving enjoyed the Spring Is Sprung challenge set by Linda Jones at the WireWorkers Guild last month I've decided to enter a few more. Making something to meet a brief set by someone else exercises the greater grey matter not only in choosing colours, materials etc to match the requirement but also ensuring that the more technical side of bringing it all together works. Thinking of the layout of Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-77301399196326350632011-03-06T16:51:00.000+04:002011-03-08T08:04:30.843+04:00Silver Clay Delight
Silver Daisy - my first ever piece in silver clay
Back in January I met a lovely lady, Lisle Skirker, at an Arte market in Dubai Festival City shopping centre. Desperate for a fix of jewellery making (my beads and equipment were still in transit from Bahrain to Dubai) and wanting to learn a new skill I signed up for her Art Clay evening workshop. Three hours later I had myself a new silver Naviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-63147372075097415882011-02-18T09:17:00.000+04:002011-02-18T09:17:45.431+04:00A Good Idea But...Sometimes what seems a good idea doesn't exactly translate into a wearable item. It happened to me this week. Inspired by some pretty pale blue crackle beads and a desire to make something chunky I spent an afternoon constructing an intricate 3D piece (picture left). The end result looked great on my worktable where it curved beatifully on the flat surface but oh dear, round the neck it failed toNaviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417984718981425627.post-74036021162238614822011-02-03T13:12:00.000+04:002011-02-03T13:31:51.062+04:00New Year, New NecklacesA belated Happy New Year to all!
I've been away in the UK renewing my passport as since my last post we've relocated to Dubai and with less than 6 months to run on said passport they wouldn't issue my residency. Anyway I'm back, completed the unpacking as well as finding time to make some necklaces.
This black and white one (left) was inspired by something pretty I spotted in Bentalls, KingstonNaviguesserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983353741802584370noreply@blogger.com0