Tuesday 29 July 2014

Last Shop Update of Summer

Well here we are at the end of July already - I can't believe where the time has gone!

So far it's been a pretty good summer here in the UK but I must admit I haven't seen that much of it as yet as I've had my head down working hard on making beads to take to Bead Fest Philadelphia with me. It's only 3 weeks away now and the excitement is now mixed with a little panic and trepidation!

Amidst all this however I just wanted to take a  moment to let you know that I will be having a small shop  update tomorrow evening (30 July 2014) at 7pm GMT (UK time). This will be the last update of the summer and I will be closing both my shops for 2-3 weeks on August 16th.


Many people have asked whether the items I've been making for Bead Fest will be available in the shop and my plan is to list any remaining items as soon as I can in September. I will also resume production in September so if there is anything in particular you want but don't see just drop me a line via Etsy at that time and I'll see what I can do.

If you are going to Bead Fest do come and say hello - you'll find me at the 'Suburban Girl LLC' booth #471A. Otherwise don't forget to check here and on my facebook page for pictures and posts from Bead fest and in the meantime I hope the rest of the summer (or whatever season you're in) is wonderful for you.

Take care.

Lesley

 

Thursday 3 July 2014

AJE Component of the Month - June reveal

This months challenge components have been supplied by Linda who has very recently started working with clay and lovely pieces they were too...


I chose this pair of blue stoneware rose charms thinking that I would probably make a pair of earrings. However, they're quite large charms and I felt that to avoid making them too heavy my design would have to be quite simple - nothing wrong with that of course but it wouldn't make for the most interesting post for this challenge. So I decided instead to work with just one piece and create a necklace instead.


One of the things I liked about these pieces is the natural colour and texture of the stoneware. It's been quite warm here in the UK over the last couple of weeks and I'm one of those people who, as soon as the weather warms up breaks out the loose, natural linen clothes and Linda's charms are a perfect complement to that look. I also like to keep my jewellery quite streamlined and easy to wear in summer - nothing too fussy or heavy.

So the piece I made is a long beaded necklace that slips straight over the head and has the charm as the focal of a layered pendant section.


The necklace is strung on waxed linen with stone coloured farfalle beads, dark blue Czech glass saucer beads with a picasso finish and tiny brass spacers all from Smitten Beads. I've also used the brass spacers in the loops which attach the necklace to a lovely stone coloured lampwork hoop from Outwest.


The rose charm is suspended from the hoop along with two of my own bronzclay leaves on brass chain and finished with little blue Czech glass drops. I love the cool feel of this piece and it somehow seems quite calming.


I did try to work both charms into the necklace but couldn't get it to balance satisfactorily so I went with my default 'less is more' approach and I'm happy with the result.


You can see what the rest of the AJE team and our guests did with their challenge components using the links  below.

Thanks for joining us.

Lesley


AJE Members