On my recent trip to the US, good friend, shopping guide and wonderful host, +Helen Bradley , took me bead shopping whilst in Cotati. At our first stop, she threw down the gauntlet - a jewellery making challenge. She picked up a bead that she knew I would never have bought and that is totally out of my comfort zone. OK, a peace symbol is definitely not my style and even the colour is out of my comfort zone. But....... CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! Teaming it with a leather lace band is a pretty hip look and so on-trend at the moment, but that's been done before and it seemed like a cop out to go down that road - this is a challenge after all! However, I did think it would make a great bracelet so I pulled out lots of green beads to see what I liked and this is the selection I made. I love the handpainted square and round beads in the bottom row: the flowers are the pefect motif for a peace bracelet. And a couple of hearts won't be out of place either. I started off by cutting a 45cm (17 ...

Hugs and Kisses abound on Valentine's Day! And this darling little bracelet says it all - XOXO - how adorable! On my recent trip to California I came across a number of great bead shops but one of the best shops I visited was Legendary Beads . Their selection of beads and jewellery supplies is excellent and I found lots of goodies to bring home with me. But it wasn't until I was at the cash register finalising my purchases that I saw the fabulous little XOXO bracelet kit. It was very smart placement to have it at the counter - like lollies at the checkout in the supermarket! The display was so cute that I couldn't resist bringing one home with me. You only need some basic jewellery making skills to put it together but it didn't come with any instructions so here's a few photos that should be helpful. The wirework XOXO is already preformed for you so you don't need any wireworking skills at all. Firstly, you'll need to tape the end of the mouse tail. Cut the ...

If you follow my blog, you would have heard me mention CHA and the Designer Showcase before. But have you ever wondered what a Designer Showcase actually is? Well, it's anything that the Designer wants it to be. In the past, I've always displayed my work so that Showcase visitors could get a feel for my style and what it is that I do. But this year, I decided to take a different approach. You see, CHA provided us with a gallery-style pedestal instead of a table, so I created a very minimalist display. And unlike past years where I've had lots of my designs on display, this year I had just ONE finished piece. But, that piece is the hero of my display. I hope it will all make sense by the time you reach the end of the post. In the meantime, follow the pics to see how my Showcase took shape. Let's start with the props for the display. I wanted three round, white boxes which nested inside each other. But having left it until just two days before jetting out to the US to put...