North Warwickshire Open Arts Trail!

Come join us for a fun weekend of art, cake and craft!

Full details of the artists and venues here:

http://www.openartstrail.org/

Crystal bead ball

The Every Project Project!

Book: Make Your Own Jewellery by Christa Nölling

Project:  Crystal Ball Pendant

What I made:

How does it shape up to the picture in the book?  It's actually very accurate!  A complete (eventual) success!

About making this project:
I can't say that I particularly enjoyed this project - however I really enjoyed the outcome, and I think it's certainly one of those that the second time you make it will be more fun.
Why didn't I enjoy it so much?  Well the instructions in the book were really pretty bad.  It seemed that some parts had been left out (although it didn't seem to be saving any room in text in doing so) and some parts were confusingly vague.
All in all it ended up taking me around five hours just to complete this - simply because I had to undo things so many times, and spend so long staring at diagrams trying to work out where the thread was supposed to be coming from.
The problem with the diagrams is that there are two threads - "left" and "right" but the diagrams show the patterns without differentiating the thread colours.  It's strange to say - the diagrams are quite clear about what you're supposed to have, it's just that where your threads end up isn't necessarily in a position that allows you to work out where they're supposed to go to achieve that.
The text is far worse, however and without the diagrams you wouldn't even be able to make a start.  One example is where step 3 tells you to repeat step 2 four more times.  This is entirely not what you should do!  It actually turned out that you were supposed to put the thread through a different number of beads, a different bead to the one mentioned in step 2 (the "first bead") and thread a different number of beads onto your thread (shown in a separate box over the page).
I only progressed with what I was supposed to do when I dismissed the written instructions entirely and figured out how I could make the thread go in a pattern as shown in the picture.  This was where the next problem arose!
Once you have done your first few steps, you end up with a flower-shaped half dome.  Five rings around the centre ring.  To complete the ball you have to make another five rings "outside" these rings.
Whatever way I'd made the half dome, my left and right threads were in no position to do this.  I, again, followed the instructions and ended up with a confusing and tangled situation.  I studied the diagrams, re-read the instructions and even, at one point, undid the entire thing save the centre circle and tried to follow the written instructions carefully to make sure my threads were ending up where they were supposed to be.
Nope.
At this point I got super frustrated and looked up an internet tutorial video.  With a few basic instructions and the video to see how it was being done (the first half dome used both threads as opposed to one, like the book had instructed, and so they ended up in the right place for the second half) I actually finished the ball fairly quickly.
This is what makes me think a second attempt would be more fun, and far faster.  I can see how you work the pattern now!  It's still fiddly to a certain extent, and although I appreciate the book for having given me the idea for this project, I'd say if you want to make one, look up a video instead!
It will be interesting to complete some other projects out of this book and see if the instructions are any clearer!

Candle Holder

The Every Project Project!

Book: Celebrate Christmas

Project: Beaded Candle Holder

What I made:

How does it shape up to the picture in the book?   Not too badly - mine is probably a little wonkier!

About making this project:

A word of warning!  You should always wear goggles or safety glasses when working with wire - but with this one it is an absolute must.  The wire will get everywhere, and the last place you want it is in your eyes!

The instructions in this were nicely clear, although there seemed to be an error about the lengths of wire you should use.  The imperial and metric measurements were different lengths!  I just went with the longer measurement to make sure I had enough wire.

Some things I learned when making this one:
I used crackle beads to get an interesting effect when the lantern was lit - however, due to the way crackle beads are made, I lost a lot of them when I was pulling the wires tight.  (They split apart where the colours are fused)  It did work in the end, but  I ended up with a couple of gaps on the base - so I'd probably go with normal single colour glass beads next time and alternate them if I want multi-colour effects.

Don't use cheap wire.  It's really temping since this project uses a lot of it.  I got some off ebay - and the old saying is true - you get what you pay for.  I got what was labelled as "special for jewellert".  :/ It was too springy and wouldn't hold it's shape, and my first attempt at the holder failed after several hours frustrating fiddling!
I then bought some proper artist wire   My next attempt was still fiddly, but a lot easier than the first one!

This project will take a good few hours to do.  The book describes it as easy - I wouldn't say so.  It's simple - the design is easy to understand and you know what you are supposed to do.  It's not easy!  It's very fiddly!

Oh, and don't be tempted to snip the long wire that you are curling shorter to try and make it more manageable.  I did that without thinking about the fact that as you build up the holder, you have to slide the beads along that wire, and I ran out of room and had to remove a couple of coils worth of beads to make room.

I imagine if I did it again, I could make a neater job (I have some more beads to do it, but just haven't had the time nor the space to leave everything out recently!) and I've got a couple of ideas of how to modify the structure to hold it more securely.  Whether that works or not... well if I ever get around to making another one, I'll let you know! ;)

New Year, new challenges!

Happy New Year!

For this year I've decided to concentrate on a challenge, which I know will take more than the year to complete.

The Everything Challenge!

I have plenty of crafting books and a few magazines which I've collected over the years.  There are loads of great projects inside them which I want to try - but I only ever do the same few or don't make time for them.  So I'm going to try to make everything in each of them at least once.

Some of them I don't have the materials for, and I'm not likely to get access to them in the near future, but that doesn't mean I won't be seeking them out at some point.  I'm not going to go through any books in order - just hop around here and there - but each time I'll tick off the project I've done and take a picture of my progress.  I'm also not expecting myself to get things perfect, or 100% accurate (for example, if a necklace uses green beads and I used blue ones, it still counts as being made, since it's the style and technique I'm going for, rather than an exact copy).

So... time to make a mess!  Where are my beads?

Birthstones: December - Turquoise

December’s stone is Turquoise.  The name is thought to come from the French “pierre turquoise” (tourques in old French) possibly because the Persian (Iranian) material was imported to Europe via Turkey.

Turquoise can be sky blue to green in colour.  The bluer Turquoise can fade to green if exposed to excessive sunlight.

Turquoise is the ultimate good luck stone!  It wards off bad luck, and if the stone cracks the story goes that the stone took the blow that was destined for you.

There is a tale from the Apache that if you go to the end of the rainbow after a thunderstorm, you will find turquoise, and if you then use that turquoise on your weapons, you will always have true aim.

The Navajo used turquoise when praying for rain, and the Aztecs believed turquoise were the tears of the sky goddess. 

The blue colour is associated with the sky in many traditions.

Overall the stone is said to bring protection and luck, promote friendship and stop you falling from a horse! J

Buyer beware:  turquoise is one of the most “copied” gemstones; to get a genuine piece for jewellery making could be quite difficult.  There are a lot of imitations; typically man made or using the stone howlite which has been dyed to look like turquoise.  These will give you the “look” but if you want the real deal, you may have to do some searching.  Always carefully read seller descriptions and buyer reviews before you purchase.

Tutorial - Caged Marble Magic

Wow another year almost over!  It's time for the shiny lights and celebrations to cheer up the midwinter gloom.  Magic and fun are in the air!

Here's a tutorial which you can use to make a beautiful gift for a loved one... or yourself.

You will need:

Coloured craft wire  (You will need a sturdy wire for this - I used 0.9mm thickness.)
A marble
A cord, ribbon or chain to hang the pendant from.

Tools:

Wire cutters
Round nose pliers
Flat nose pliers

Step 1:  Choose your marble and craft wire!  I picked a blue wire to go with the blue part of the swirl inside my marble.

Step 2:  Cut approximately 30cm of craft wire.  (This is for a standard sized marble, if your marble is bigger than normal, you may need a longer length!)

Step 3:  Make a loop at one end of the wire.  This is going to be the loop you hang your pendant from, so make sure it is large enough to pass your cord, chain or ribbon through.

Step 4:  Using your flat nose pliers, hold the loop flat and continue to roll the wire into a flat spiral.

Step 4:  Make a loop at the opposite end of the wire and following steps 3 and 4 again, roll another spiral.  It should go the opposite way to your first spiral, to make the wire into an "S" shape.

Continue to roll the wire from both ends until you have two even spirals that meet in the middle.





 Step 5:  Fold your wire in half so that the spirals sit one on top of the other.

Step 6:  Using your round nose pliers, carefully pull the first loop you made so it is sitting up at 90 degrees to the rest of the spiral.

Step 7:  Now begin to gently separate out your spiral, pulling the twists up into a cage shape - you may find it easier to do this with your fingers or pliers. 

Step 8: Gently ease the marble into the middle of the cage.

Step 9:  Gently pull the spirals up to encase the marble.  This will take a little bit of fiddling, but you'll get there!

Your marble is all ready to hang on a cord!

Birthstones: November - Topaz

The birthstone of November, Topaz takes its name from the Sanskrit word “tapas” meaning fire.  It can be colourless, blue, green, sherry-yellow, port red, and very rarely, pink.

The yellow colour is the one that represents the birthstone.

Due to its fiery colour, it has been likened to the sun, and has been associated with sun gods in a few traditions - however the powers attributed to it are also said to be connected to the phases of the moon – being strongest at the full moon.

It is said to promote courage, drive away sadness and strengthen intellect.  It was believed that in the presence of poisoned food or drink, it would lose its colour, warning the owner of the danger.

There is some confusion to where the gem has cropped up in legend – as other yellow gems and peridot were sometimes also referred to as “topaz”.

Some say that the sun god Ra gave it its colour.

Blue topaz is often colourless topaz that has been treated to give it its blue hue; although it does occur as blue naturally, most natural blue stones will be much paler.

It’s another expensive stone, so glass or the secondary birthstone of citrine will be a more affordable representation in your jewellery making!