You may be thinking I am a little late, but I’m not. My reveal date got pushed back a bit, which was entirely fine as I’m always accepting of more time.

So… today is the day! Yay!

If you don’t remember what I was working with, see this post.

I decided to use the Amazonite focal, Aquamarine rounds, Rose Quartz tubes, silver spacers and of course, the gorgeous clasp that was in my soup.

I added another Rose Quartz focal, some peachy Pink Biwa Pearls, chain, Pink waxed linen thread and Sterling Silver (used to be clasp) bail, from my own stash.

And voila!

I have always loved pale blue, pink and grey/silver together. It is such a calming and soothing colour combination. I was also really excited to use up that Silver spiral piece. It was half of a clasp, I don’t know what happened to the other half. HA! So, I just riveted it together and made a bail! I really like it.

I had a lot of fun working with this soup! I have to thank Andra again for sending me such lovely things to work with and of course, Mrs. Lori Anderson for putting this whole thing together. It is a huge undertaking organising this many people, I’m sure. She is amazing!

Now, be sure to stop by Lori’s blog for the full list of participants and show your support for all of the amazingly talented crafty folk taking part!

Thanks to you as well for stopping by to check out my reveal!

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April 27th, 2013 | 43 Comments »

I can now reveal what was in my previous teaser post!

Here are the beads that I sent to my partner, Andra.

(click to enlarge)

I sent her sort of a tropical mix. Included are denim blue glass pearls, grey freshwater pearls, some crushed velvet ribbon, some of my deep blue patinaed chain and coordinating clasp, lampwork glass rondelles, swarovski crystals, gold tierracast charms of various sea creatures and some gorgeous handmade ceramic shell pendants from Yvi at easyfindings.

I really hope that Andra is inspired by this mix and I can’t wait to see what she creates with them!

In return, Andra sent me this bead soup!

(click to enlarge)

A colourful, Spring mix!

I’ll admit, at the moment I am stumped with what to make, but I will think of something. I just need some time to play with them. This 4 day weekend coming up should be just that time!

Thank you so much to Andra for the beads and of course, to Lori, for organizing ALL OF THIS.

I will be back on April 13 to reveal what I have made. Stay tuned!

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March 26th, 2013 | 5 Comments »

Hello friends!

I am taking part in another wonderful Bead Soup Blog Party! Don’t know what I’m talking about? I’ve done it once before.

My reveal date is not until April 13, but I am posting a “teaser pic” for my partner. Speaking of, my partner is a sweet, sweet lady named Andra from Bucharest. She makes lovely things and I can’t wait to see how she uses her soup.

And now, the soup.

I hope that is blurry enough to not give everything away. ;P

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February 19th, 2013 | 3 Comments »

I am so thrilled to be taking part in the Challenge of Colour Blog Hop, hosted by Erin of Tesoritrovati

We were asked to select our favourite palette from a list of two for our inspiration. The amazing palettes were created by the amazing Brandi of BrandiGirlBlog. The pictures she worked with to make the palettes are from the Earth as Art exhibit from the United States Geological Service taken from the Landsat 7 satellite.

When I heard NASA, colour and art in the same sentence, I was in.

The palette I chose is called Desert Patterns.

Seen through the “eyes” of a satellite sensor, ribbons of Saharan sand dunes seem to glow in sunset colors. These patterned stripes are part of Erg Chech, a desolate sand sea in southwestern Algeria, Africa, where the prevailing winds create an endlessly shifting collage of large, linear sand dunes. The term “erg” is derived from an Arabic word for a field of sand dunes.

I was immediately drawn to the colours, they are right up my alley. But, I was also actually very inspired by the photo itself. By the textures and ripples in the sand dunes.

I really wanted to create something with layers and dimension. And of course, colour! I also wanted to suggest movement in the piece. I didn’t want it to be too literal, just implied.

To do this, I went with some fold-forming and patinas.

I fold-formed some Copper first to create some layers and crevices for texture and dimension. I also cut my focal into a sort of wave shape, to suggest movement.

Then I went to town with my patinas to add in all of my wonderful colours.

And I continued with colour in the necklace strap. Here there are handmade glass beads in that amazing rust orange colour, my own patinaed beads and chain in the lovely mustard ochre, some stained wood to represent that wonderful tomato red and some simple faceted glass beads in turquoise.

This project was so enjoyable for me. My sincere thanks to Erin and Brandi for all their hard work on this!

For a full list of all participants, please follow this link.

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November 30th, 2012 | 42 Comments »

Hi friends!

It’s that time again!
My one big sale of the year and my last sale before the holidays! This is the largest discount that I offer and I only offer it once a year, during Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.
It’s the very best time to shop before the holidays.

I know that funds are tight for everyone lately, so I’ve decided to run this sale until the end of November.
Please also take note of holiday shipping deadlines. I can only guarantee delivery by Christmas if you order before these deadlines.

Christmas Shipping Deadlines
To Ireland and Great Britain: order by Dec. 19
To Europe: order by Dec. 18
To USA, Canada and rest of the world: order by Dec. 7

Happy Holidays!!

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November 26th, 2012 | No Comments »

The new Lovely Clusters Fall/Winter 2012-13 Catalogue is out! and it’s gorgeous!

I am thrilled to have several of my pieces featured and even a small collection that I curated myself. It is chock full of beautiful handmade items and some wonderful guest curations.

Check it out! You won’t be sorry.

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September 28th, 2012 | No Comments »