A Girl's Best Friend

Well, yes, diamonds are great but, if you ask me, dogs are better....

Here are a few of the pups tearing around Folksy at the moment.....

1.  Bad Hair Day (Hidden Cottage Cards) £2.50
    www.folksy.com/items/99658
2.  Custom Pet Portrait (Life's Big Canvas) £20
    www.folksy.com/items/47682
3.  Dog Plant Pot Holder (Dog Plant UK) £20
    www.folksy.com/items/72967
4.  Dog's Collar (Very Vintage Designs) £6
    www.folksy.com/items/49149
5.  Howlee Berry Sock Dog (Hotdog and Me) £8
    www.folksy.com/items/82254
6.  Merry Kissmas (Forever Foxed) £2
    www.folksy.com/items/68465
7.  Multidogs (Marmaline) £6.50
    www.folksy.com/items/40808
8.  Puppy Dog Card (Tiger Buttery) £2.50
    www.folksy.com/items/54073

Snap them up before the dash off after the squirrels....

Gothic Chainmaille Pendant

I'm still playing with chainmaille, and I have to say that I'm having a wail of a time with it... I've found that, as a technique, it lends itself rather nicely to some of the darker pieces that I have floating around in my head (as well as the other prettier ones), as well as appealing to that ever present historical theme. 

As always this can be found in all the usual places such as Folksy, Coriandr, Dawanda etc.

More Chain Maille - but in Purple

Have been busy with chain maille again.... it seems to be my thing of the moment!  These two pieces have just gone into my Folksy shop and will shortly appear in the others too...

These pieces are, again, silver plate rings, with contemporary and vintage glass beads in shades of purple.

Hope that you like them....

www.folksy.com/shops/MysticDNA

Chain Maille Revisited

Finally managed to get some (slightly) better photos of the chain maille bracelet and earrings done and have posted the items for sale on Folksy.

Why the maps you may ask... if you look closely they're of regions of the Byzantine Empire at its height.  I had the book to hand and couldn't help myself!

Byzantine Chainmaille Stuff

I've found myself being inspired by bygone eras again.... I just can't help myself..... 

Recently I've seen quite a lot of chainmaille jewellery around, usually made from silver jump rings in a huge variety of fantastic patterns - some traditional, but many contemporary.  After some searching and the reading of many different tutorials, it occurred to me that some of these designs could be replicated using beaded loops - I thought it would make a interesting twist on the theme, however, it didn't occur to me that this method of construction would be extremely time consuming.... so this horrid torrential and gale force day inspired me to dig out my stash of silver plated jump rings and have a so.

I have to say that I was more than pleasantly surprised by the results.  During the time that I've had available over the course of the day, I have managed to complete two pairs of earrings and a bracelet and a half.  I would have loved to have got the lot into my shops this evening, but I didn't think on to take some decent photos while it was still light and there's no way to get a useable photo in the house.... still I tried and here are a few of the photos of the completed bracelet so that you can see the results and the truth of the terrible photos!!!  Should you like these they will soon appear in my shops on Folksy, Etsy, DaWanda and Coriandr.

Rainy Days Ahead!

It's been a soggy, misty old day and, I suspect, there are plenty more to come.  Here is a fabulous batch of rain and storm and mist inspired pieces that are currently available on Folksy.  Enjoy with a cosy blacket and a warm glass of mulled wine!!

1. Blue Bubbles in Puddles Bracelet (www.folksy.com/items/69578), MysticDNA, £10.00
2. Weight of Water Earrings (www.folksy.com/items/50517), Firebird Jewellery, £21.00
3. Fenland River (www.folksy.com/items/38143), Richard in Cam, £12.00
4. Cyclone Storm Lampwork Bracelet (www.folksy.com/items/37148), Eden, £89.00
5. Eye of the Storm Focal Bead (www.folksy.com/items/56356), DragonGlass, £8.00
6. High Storm Marble (www.folksy.com/items/31529), SteamPunk Glass, £11.00
7. Rainy Day Rabbit Print (www.folksy.com/items/32669), Floating Rabbit's Gallery, £7.50
8. Rainy Day Print (www.folksy.com/items/40773), Marmalime, £6.50
9. Double Cloud Pin (www.folksy.com/items/44091), Lost at Sea, £24.00
10. Raindrop Notebook (www.folksy.com/items/74873), Cherry Drop Stationery, £1.00
11. Evening Storm (www.folksy.com/items/51604), Hilltop Paintings, £12.00
12. Summer Thunder Earrings (www.folksy.com/items/51972), Aeris Designs, £26.00

New Tudor Inspired Pieces

My fondness for all things old and ancient, on occasion, if I am lucky, can lead to inspiration for new pieces of jewellery. Now has been one of those times. I found myself inspired by Tudor timber beamed buildings with their fabulous black timbers and whitewashed walls. Coincidently, I was asked to do a piece for a function in lime green and black and decided that these colour would lend themselves nicely to this Tudor inspired design. These pieces are made using faithfil ol' herringbone stitch and when finished, will be simple circular necklaces, or collars, that will sit comfortably on the collar bone.  As the deadline for the commission is very short (it has to be done and gone by Thursday and only found out about it yesterday) both pieces are ongoing.

For those with a love of numbers, I casually calculated that each piece, once completed, would have used approximately 5,000 seed beads and 30 meters of thread!