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Tuesday 19 April 2011

Pick of the week - Hello Gorgeous!

This one-off blown lampworked glass dragon has been designed to sit in the top of your wine bottle.
Dragon oil lamp for wine bottle - Aincient Ivy by flyingbead

Hand etched sterling silver lentil beads with the words from I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside
Etched Silver beads by DiSandland

This is a stunning set of florals. They are made on a transparent Teal base, white & blue florals rest upon a varigated vine then they are encased in clear.
Handmade White & Blue Floral Lampwork Glass Beads by Fluidglassartbeads

This is a beautiful set of 5 beads, which are a little surplus from my degree show work
Forget-Me-Not, Set of 5 Lampwork Beads by HelenJewellery

This beautiful silver cored lampwork bead has greens and shimmery silver and purple/blue trails.
Icy Lakes by Dilunah

Jaw droppingly beautiful and inspirational things from FHFteam 2011
Hope you like, Jolene x

Thursday 14 April 2011

Pick of the week - Aqua Springtime

sleek pillow shaped Lampwork Beads made using Pale Ivory Opaque and deep sea blues and greens
Royalty by lemonkitten

The encased florals were made with a turquoise base deeply encased in clear and covered with striped green vines and big pink blooms
Floating Roses by MyPrecious

A pair of turquoise and green Lampwork beads with my Cherry Blossom design, suitable for earrings.
Two Cherry Blossom Beads by PrincessPeggy01

Which came first the chicken or the egg? This piece started out and a copper weaving exercise and initially I thought it would be a spiders web.
Blue Bird handmade lampwork and copper necklace.

8 really pretty and shamelessly girly beads made by me, Rachel B, in my home studio in Cornwall.
Chintzy Lampwork Beads by Puffafish


Beautiful spring picks from FHFteam 2011
Enjoy, Jolene x

Wednesday 6 April 2011

April Monthy Blog Topic - Lampwork and ???

Time for another monthly blog topic for the FHFteam blog!
This month's question is

Which jewellery materials do you think pair best with artisan lampwork?

Here's what the team members had to say:

By GaysieMay


GaysieMay: Now this is a tricky one.  I do love to see bright and shiny silver all tumbled and glistening, but then again oxidised and blackened looks good too.  Then there is copper, now copper that has been patinated just sings against certain lampwork beads...

... no I really can't decide!  I just love jewellery and I just love lampwork beads. 


Helbels: Personally I love sterling silver, but I have also seen some beautiful bracelets with slim slices of mother of pearl, and some lovely work with seed beeds too.


Chameleon Designs:  Personally I love lampwork with Silver, both sterling and fine / metal clay. I have seen some gorgeous work done with lampwork and textiles, silk ribbons or leather thongs but there is just something about silver for me.

HelenPetersBeads: Silver works well with most beads as it's 'white' so will naturally go with any colour combination of beads so it's my go to metal. But for particular colours of beads, mainly the blues and greens copper works well, and some of the rosy tones of glass would look great with the rosy copper; then there's brass, all those nimobium (or however it's spelt) coloured jumprings which you can use to make short sections of chain maile to colour co-ordinate with your beads. Then we get onto the dyed leather and other textiles. There's so much to choose from and so many different ways to use them that what started out as a simple answer has turned awfully complicated.
TwirlyBeads: I love sterling silver too.....it just seems to go so well with lampwork beads.  Colour co-ordinated leather looks good, along with silvered ceramic washers for a cheaper alternative.  I like swarovski's for a bit of sparkle and I also like adding semi-precious stones too. 

NemeaDesigns: Only the best will do for lampwork beads. That will be silver and vermeil (gold if I could afford it) and lots and lots and lots of Swarovski Elements (as we must call them now!)

MadCatGlass: Silver and copper both have their own beautiful look, depending on the colour of beads they're teamed with, I think Smiley

I do adore fibre with glass though ... it just adds so much more interest on a textural ( is that a word ?) level.


JosephineWadman: Pearls, semi precious stones, Swarovski's and sterling and Hilltribe silver are my favourites.

VeeBeads: I love finding semi precious stones that match, sometimes it's a real challenge! Silver, copper, swarovski, seed beads and pearls are my favourites, and I have Diane's lovely silk ribbons which I'm tending to hoard, I don't want to cut them up! But they do look stunning with l ampwork 




Grin 


By jowalker68

Sunday 3 April 2011

Pick of the week - Sage and Mint

Four crinkle chiffon ribbons- one in each colourway - Ivory - a plain dyed ivory ribbon, Seaweed - sea greens with a little olive and gold , Estuary - pale sand tones with a little olive green and gold and Woodland - muted greens/oilve and brown.
handmade silk chiffon ribbons - Organics Collection by SowZere

Nigella is a set of 6 handmade lampwork round beads in shades of green and ivory.
Nigella Lampwork Bead Set by Helbels

With a shiny, sparkly surface, this dish is a myriad of shades of green - think ferns, willow, sage - pea pod?
Crunchy Textured Dish by DawnTurnerDesigns

Here is an ancient looking poppet bead
Noya Focal Bead by MadCatGlass

The round beads are a swirly mixture of teals and white encased with crystal clear glass
SWIRLING WAVES by FinishingTouchJewels

Shades of sage and mint! Yummy.....FHFteam 2011
Enjoy, Jolene x

Design Idea - Woodland Whimsy

Spring sunshine, budding flowers, and new growth. Some folk say the fairies are hard at work creating Spring, and I'm certainly not going to contradict them (and not just because those people tend to have a oddly glazed look in their eyes) - Spring often does seem a time of magic, and so this week's design idea lets loose with woodland whimsy.



Some clasps are just too spectacular to remain on the back of your neck, and Disandland's sterling silver toggle definitely belongs in that class; the beautiful, dreamy etching wouldn't be out of place in a fairy tale.  We'll be bringing it round to the front for this week's necklace; position the clasp halfway down one of the necklace's sides for an off-centre look that will draw the eye.


At the front of the necklace, evenly space Helbels' colourful and delicate raised-floral beads , making sure the focal clasp is placed between two bead. Play around with the spacing so that this front piece is asymmetrical, but also well-balanced. Either use wire-wrapped links of accent beads to complete the necklace, or thread onto some cord.


It wouldn't be a complete set without the ubiquitous big-hole bracelet, would it? This pretty mini-set of beads by Beaujolais Beads will pick up the purple tones in some of the the necklace beads, whilst the raised florals continue the theme.






Since we're talking woodland whimsy, try an asymmetrical pair of earrings with these two adorable owl beads by Finishing Touch Jewels; there's no rule that says earring beads have to be the same, and the individuality of each owl bead will add a touch of personality to your earrings.





And for a final touch, add this cute mushroom by Shineon2 to a keychain; but be careful - it looks the sort of 'shroom that houses a tiny gnome (they live in mushrooms, don't ya know...or is that Smurfs?)


Thanks for looking!
Hazel