Nuts about Knots...

Those of you that have been following this blog for a while will know that I love to add new techniques to my jewellery making repertoire and that sometimes my addictive personality runs riot - heck that's how THEA too was conceived. If you've been following me on Facebook of late, you probably also know that my latest passion is Macrame - Macrame bracelets to be precise!

I know it's not new (far from it in fact) but for some reason it's something I've never really got around to trying even though it's been on my to do list forever. Then a couple of weeks ago I spotted this Tutorial for a macrame bracelet stack by Sherri Stokey who, if you don't already know, makes the most divine and intricate micro macrame jewellery you could imagine. I love bracelet stacks but again, I don't think I've ever made any so I decided to knuckle down and get cracking starting with some single bracelets...

This was my first attempt and I was pretty pleased - the tension wasn't perfect but nothing too obvious. One of the things I really like about this style of bracelet is that gorgeous buttons can be used up front and centre to create great focal points. This one is pewter from the wonderful Mamacita beadworks and I've teamed it with lampwork beads Pure Glass Beads.

Well, I had much fun making this one I went straight on to another one...

This time I used one of my own bronze buttons as the closure in a lovely summery concoction of classic turquoise and Ivory with gorgeous lampwork beads by one of my favourite glass artists Rachel Bishop of Puffafish. This one was much more even and by the time I'd finished it I was well and truly hooked.

There is something very relaxing and therapeutic about sitting threading beads and tying knots. I can't watch TV without having something to do with my hands (I only ever half watch anyway) and macrame is just ideal.

So, time to try some stacker sets then. One of my other design passions is colour and at this point I realised that this would give me endless opportunities to explore and play with colour palettes and of course, I got even more excited. 

When I started thinking about stacks I wasn't sure what beads I was going to use but they needed to be cost effective and fairly light...three of these with lampwork beads though lovely, would be both costly and pretty weighty. Then I opened the box of Greek ceramic discs I use as accents in a lot of my jewellery and voila! problem solved. These little pretties come in lots of gorgeous colours and I was amazed at what a perfect match many of them were with my cotton and hemp cords.

This was my first set...

I just love this colour scheme...the softness of the eau de nil and ivory tones are lifted by the saturated but slightly muted orange to produce a perfect summer palette. Again I used my own bronze buttons in three different styles to ring the changes.

Now, I don't know how many colour permutations there are in the first picture of this post but I'm pretty sure I'm going to find out, and I have more cord and beads on order! I can't stop making these and everywhere I go now I'm noticing trios of colour combinations.

Any interesting buttons will work well like these mother of pearl stars I just happened to have in my bead box.

Brights, bolds, earthy, pastel, naturals...oh the list is endless! So anyone who is expecting a gift from me in the near future, you know what you're getting - you just don't know what colour it will be.

I'm still making some individual bracelets as well and this next one has actually been worked around a Vintaj brass hoop. The beautiful lampwork tube focal is by Magdalena Ruiz.

And the last one for today was designed around this fab and funky button by Julie Fountain of Lush Lampwork. Julie makes gorgeous feature buttons as (as well as beads) and of course I have a few more designated to future macrame projects.

So I hope you enjoyed that little peek at what's been going on on my bead table, dining table and lap at of late and I'm sure I'll have lots more to show you soon.

Lesley

Shop Update Tomorrow...

Oh my, it's been another mad, mad week with constant rushing around and trying to keep to many balls in  the air - always dangerous for a klutz like me!

I haven't had much of a chance to post this week but just wanted to give you a heads up on a THEA too shop update happening tomorrow evening (Monday 11th June). Lots of new goodies going into the shop along with some restocking of some old favourites.

I'm hoping the week ahead is going to be a little less hectic and I'll get to do a proper, interesting post! I'm really looking forward to next weekend too when I'm away visiting old friends that I don't get to see too often. Being away from home means I just have to ignore the 'to do' list and chill out for a while - sheer bliss!

I hope you all have a great week ahead.

Lesley

Art Bead Earring Swap

Welcome to the Art Bead Earring Swap hosted by Diand Ptaszynski of  Suburban Girl Studio. A while back, Diana put all the participants for this swap into groups of three with the aim that we each made a pair of earrings for our two team mates, in my case Jan Onipenco of Molten Mayhem and Tania Spivey of Moobie Grace Designs. To give these ladies a starting point I suggested 'gardens' as a theme for the earrings they were making me and boy, have they cultivated some beauties...

First up are these gorgeous creations from Jan...

Jan has made the most divine lilac and teal swirled lampwork beads which she's set on silver headpins with silver caps and tiny green accent beads.

These are suspended from beautifully coiled copper tendrils and oh so pretty resin and brass flower heads, all on silver wires. I love the soft purples and greens of these earrings and they remind me of a passion vine that  sits just outside my patio window in the summer  - perfect!

Then we have the earrings Tania made for me...

Sadly, despite being posted in plenty of time the postal service has let us down and these have not yet arrived. Fortunately Tania took some photos herself which she has been able to send me but I know she is very disappointed that the surprise may have been spoilt for me. Well all I can say is having seen these pictures I'm very excited and the fact that I know they're coming won't diminish that in the least! So here they are...

Aren't they stunning...? Tania made the Polymer Clay drops herself along with the copper headpins and silver ear wires.

The drops are accented to perfection by clusters of the prettiest little shell and glass bead dangles. I love the combination of the vibrant colours and the soft peachy pink tones of the shells.

I can't wait for these to arrive and I know they're going to be even better in the flesh. Jan and Tania - thank you very much for my earrings both sets are bloomin' marvellous!

Thank you very much for stopping by - you can see the earrings I created for Jan and Tania here:

Jan Onipenco    http://moltenmayhem.typepad.com/
Tania Spivey http://www.moobiegracedesigns.blogspot.com/

And you can see what all the other participants designed by hopping through the blogs below - have fun and I'll see you there.

Diana Ptaszynski     http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

Jan Onipenco    http://moltenmayhem.typepad.com/

Patti Vanderbloemen        http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com/

Mary Harding   http://www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com

Diane Hawkey    http://dianehawkey.blogspot.com/

Lesley Watt        http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com  You are here

Jenny Davies Reazor      http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Melinda Orr      http://www.orrtec.blogspot.com

Cilla Watkins      http://www.tellyourgirlfriends.com

Stephanie Haussler       http://www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com

Sally Russick     http://www.thestudiosublime.com

Susan Kennedy       http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Amy Freeland  http://www.copperdiem.blogspot.com/

Marla James     http://marlasmudmoments.blogspot.com/

Pam Sears http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Tania Spivey http://www.moobiegracedesigns.blogspot.com/

Kathleen Lange Klick http://www.modernnaturestudio.blogspot.com/

Lori Bowring Michaud  http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com/

Erin Prais-Hintz  http://www.treasures-found.blogspot.com/

Gail Barnett http://www.atlastanewyearsresolution.blogspot.com/

Linda Landig  http://www.lindasbeadblog.com/

Sharleen Newland http://www.shaterraclaystudio.blogspot.com/

Dee Elgie  http://cherryobsidia.blogspot.co.uk/

Mary Shannon Hicks  http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com/

Lisa Johnson  http://whimsyswonders.blogspot.com/

Shelby Foxwell  http://sundownbeaddesigns.blogspot.com/

Keri Lee Sereika  http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com/

Cheryl Brown    www.dragonflybeads.ca

Linda Younkman http://www.lindysdesigns.blogspot.com/

Kari Asbury http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com/

Fay Wolfenden http://www.torchfairy.blogspot.com/

Lesley

Challenge of Literature - Reveal and Blog Hop

Welcome to the Challenge of Literature blog hop hosted by Erin Prais-Hintz. Erin challenged participants to create an accessory which draws inspiration from a favourite literary work which is great for me as books are a passion of mine. I thought it might be difficult to choose something at first but after a quick scan of my book shelves one book jumped out at me as being perfect for this task - "Wide Sargasso Sea' by Jean Rhys.

Written in the 60's, Rhys's book in effect creates a back story to the 19th century classic novel Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) by giving a voice to Bertha, the mad woman and wife that Rochester keeps locked away in the attic at his home at Thornfield. I studied Jane Eyre at school and can't say I was ever a fan of this genre of writing but then, 7 or 8 years ago I started studying humanities with the Open University and Wide Sargasso Sea was part of my course - and I loved it! Not only that, it made me go back and re-read Jane Eyre with a completely fresh eye.

Set in post colonial Jamaica, Wide Sargasso Sea deals with themes of oppression, slavery and entrapment and the complexity of identity, drawing parallels between racial and gender enslavement.  You can read a plot synopsis here. The novel draws its title from the Sargasso Sea, a vast area of the northern Atlantic Ocean that is legendary as a place where ships are becalmed or ensnared in tracts of floating seaweed and is a metaphor for the way the protagonists become trapped in their own worlds.

The reason I chose this book as inspiration is because of the intense imagery that Rhys creates with her writing. Themes of madness, oppression and dangerous passions pervade the novel and the setting itself becomes a metaphor - a hot, lush, overgrown tropical island with a palpable and growing tension between the classes of inhabitants and individuals within their relationships.

The particular imagery that inspired me for this piece is that of the garden at Coulibri, the family estate of Antoinette (Bertha in Jany Eyre). There is a sense of intense and voluptuous tropical beauty but one of excess that assaults the senses with its colours, perfumes and tangled growth that's going over into wildness and decay:

"Our garden was large and beautiful as that garden in the bible - the tree of life grew there. But it had gone wild. The paths were overgrown and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell. Underneath the tree ferns, tall as forest trees, the light was green. Orchids flourished out of reach or for some reason not to be touched"

So, whilst I had some reservations about using a reference to  'death and decay' in a jewellery design...I decided I could work around this without being entirely literal and so here is my creation - a necklace which I've called 'Coulibri Revisited'.

Up front and centre on this necklace are three huge, glossy ceramic buttons that I think create that big, blousy feel of tropical flowers. I had only intended to use one of these with other beads but as I shuffled things around they just kept coming back together so I took it as a sign. The stamens have been made by knotting thin leather cords through the button holes.

I've tempered the reference to death and decay by adding the lovely ceramic leaves - the yellow colour  suggesting they are perhaps on the turn and hanging as if about to fall, without being too sinister!

At another point in the book the house at Coulibri is burnt down during an attack by the island's slaves and I've oxidised two bronze flowers to try and give the effect of charred remains.

The necklace is fabricated on a curling wire yoke or bib to represent tangled roots and vines and I've continued this theme by stretching the cord ends up and around the leather cords.

I have to admit this is not finished and doesn't have a clasp yet. I'm also not sure whether it needs anything more added...whilst the imagery I've used is of excess and the overblown I'm kind of thinking enough is enough here - or does it need more of a 'tangle...?

Ceramic flower buttons by Poppy Valou

Ceramic leaves by Marla's Mud

Bronze flowers byTHEA too

So, I hope you enjoyed my interpretation...I would have liked to have gone into more detail about the book but it's just not practical when you have so many other blogs to hop of and investigate but, I would thoroughly recommend it as a good read. 

You can get to the other participants blogs using the links below.

Lesley

Erin Prais-Hintz

Rebecca Anderson

Rose Binoya

Lori Bowring Michaud

Shannon Chomanszuk

Marlene Cupo

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Kim Dworak

Beth Emery

Therese Frank

Amy Freeland

K Hutchinson

Jennifer Justman

Susan Kennedy

Linda Landig

Lisa Lodge

Lisa Lowe

Kirsi Luostarinen

Beth McCord

Melissa Meman

Sharon Misuraco

Tracey Nanstad

Melinda Orr

Kashmira Patel

Alice Peterson

Sally Russick

Niky Sayers

Pam Sears

Amy Severino

Tracy Stillman

Emma Todd

Melissa Trudinger

Lesley Watt

Shai Williams

New This Week...

Well the weather that took me of to the beach has continued all week which means that I haven't got much done. It's not that I've been spending all my time sunbathing - I'm just less productive in hot weather. I'm prefer my work environment to be on the cooler side even in winter so when the thermometer hits 82º I tend to slow down a bit.

I did get a few things made so I thought I'd share them with you here.

I love the gorgeous shapes and colours of the lampwork beads in this bracelet. They're from Julie at Outwest, one of my favourite Etsy shops for earthy, rustic or organic glass. I wanted to do something a bit different so I wired them together to form a focal section and then added some cotton strung Czech glass and Greek ceramic beads. The addition of a hand forged bronze toggle allows one of the lampwork beads to function as the clasp. The bracelet is finished with one of my bronze sunflower charms and a couple of tiny lampies from Pinocean.

This necklace is so simple, bright and bold which makes it a perfect summer go anywhere piece. The gorgeous floral ceramic pillow beads are by Golem Studio and the lovely etched turquoise lampwork beads are by the Kaz Baildon. Greek ceramic beads add accents and they're all strung on some funky 'tangerine tango' leather. I can just see this with a white shirt or Tee...

And finally, today I made this pretty necklace featuring one of Marsha Neal's signature porcelain butterfly pendants in a lovely soft etched green glaze. I've added a couple of my own bronze flower links and some very pretty orange Czech glass and Impression Jasper beads. The necklace is finished with a decorative Vintaj ladder chain and brass clasp. I'm pleased with how this came out - I've had the pendant for a while and was just waiting for the right inspiration.

I'm hoping for some more bead time over the weekend - looks like the good weather is here to stay for a while so it will be early morning creating before it gets too hot. Hope you all have a great one too.

Lesley

All work and no play...

Is not a sensible concept when the sun comes out and you have this on your doorstep...

Actually, it's about 7 miles from my doorstep but when you're born and bred in a town like I was that's nothing for the chance to get some sand between you toes. These pictures where taken today at Mudeford Spit which forms part of the boundary to Christchurch's natural harbour on the south coast of England.

The whole place is just beautiful with areas set aside as  nature reserves and SSSI's (sites of special scientific interest). To get to the spit I had to walk down this lovely sun dappled track...

Past the wildfowl reserves....

With a view across the harbour to Christchurch Priory.

The spit is dominated by pretty and colourful beach huts in a mix of ice cream shades and brighter tones - such an inspiring colour palette don't you think?

These huts face into the harbour whilst others look out over the sand dunes and the Solent towards the Isle of White...rather hazy but you can just see it.

I think beach huts like these must be a very British tradition, Victorian in origin I think - I don't recall seeing them anywhere else on my travels but I may be wrong. It must be said that Mudeford beach huts do stand out above the common or garden variety.

I'm really feeling the one below and think it would make me an ideal summer studio...beach outside the window, bar and restaurant a few flip-flopped feet away and all the facilities you need close by - perfect. I even did a little online research on the idea when I got back - sharp intake of breath. Beach huts here rent out at around £950/$1499 PER WEEK in high season, or you can just buy one for just £145,000/$228,000!!!

Oh well, maybe when I'm rich and famous...but I can still pop along for a visit whenever the mood takes me so that'll do me for now.

Hope the sun is shining in your world.

Lesley

Bronze component sale...20% off

Well I've been just a little bit profligate with my bead spending this week - so many lovely things being created by so many talented artists what's a girl to do...

Anyway, to make sure I eat for the rest of the week, I've decided to have a little flash sale in my components shop. Just enter coupon code SPREE20 and 20% will automatically be deducted from your bill at checkout. The sale will run until 8am GMT on monday 21st May 2012, which gives everyone a full weekends shopping wherever they are.

I hope you're all having a great weekend and that you'll pay THEA too a visit! I'll show you some of the things I've been buying in my next post.

Lesley