A wonderful team treasury with and autumnal feel.
There is something in the air

Halloween is coming and now is the time to get ready for a night of trick or treating!!!

FritNchips has some wonderful Murrini I love the pumpkins and bats!!

Or how about some wonderful beads from Beadsbycat

These wonderful and colourful skull beads are perfect to make into your own jewellery. 

or if you are in a hurry the finished article from MadelineBunnyan

Perfect little raven earrings.

But for me its all about bats and this one is perfect!!

Bat

Well the summer has left us, or missed us, I'm not sure which, but now the colours are changing in the trees and there is a distinct chill in the air. A time to start to pre-pair for winter and of course Christmas (Sorry I know its only October but we do have to think ahead)
Autumn Time

Flowerjasper

Puffafish

A tempting selection of Autumn tones for your winter wardrobe!!

Our members are all working away to create our selections of beads and jewellery ready for Christmas so remember if you want to give quality and buy handmade don't leave it to the last minute or you may be disappointed!! 

ARJewellery

July Giveaway Winner

A big thank you to Heather of Heather Kelly Glass

It's time to announce the lucky winners name for these stunning earrings and matching focal bead

Our random number generator picked out lucky number 8 and our July winner is Stephanie Gough with the 8th comment on our July giveaway post. Congratulations Stephanie.

On a side note, after being unsuccessful in numerous attempts over the course of July to contact our June winner I have redrawn and so congratulations also to Lisa Lodge of Pine Ridge Treasures.

Ladies and Gents,  if you are entering one of our giveaways by leaving a comment but are not logged in to a blogger or active google+ account please can you leave us information on how to get in touch. Either your email in the form myname at mydomain dot com or your twitter name in the form @mytwittername or alternatively if you are a member of Frit Happens Forum please leave us your forum name too.

Thanks, Jolene.

Meet the team part 10

Hearts galore from FHFteam, this post focuses (yup you have guessed it) on heart beads. My chosen trio of hearts on showcase today are all ready to wear too.....

Shahlaa of allthatsparklesbeads

My Wretched Heart Lampwork focal pendant on hand dyed silk ribbon

Yum! the colour and texture in this sculpted heart bead necklace are just delicious. This bead has been created by Shahlaa of All that Sparkles. Shahlaa also makes special fun bosom buddies sculptural beads which help to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.

Sue of BlueBoxStudio

Purple Haze - handmade lampwork glass heart necklace mounted

The colours in this super heart shaped pendant necklace speak to me, so pretty. This wonderful heart necklace has been created by Sue in her home studio in North Somerset. Alongside lampwork and jewellery design Sue is also a talented textile artist with a range of silk and velvet scarves in her Etsy shop.

Jeannie of Jeanniegems

My Blue Heart Handmade Glass Lampwork Pendant

Jeannie lives and works in the beautiful town of St.Ives in Cornwall. She stocks a large range of pretty jewellery all made with her own lampwork beads and very beautiful vessel/perfume bottle pendants. Jeannie also make a range of beads and jewellery made from recycled glass and offers a bespoke bead making service from your own special occasion celebratory champagne bottle.

I hope you enjoyed this quick introduction, click the pics to go to Etsy and see more from each of our teamies and also don't forget to stop by and check out our July Giveaway blog post.

Meet the team part 9

Glass is so versatile and beautiful and there are so many different skills to learn and challenges in using it as a medium. I am going to devote the my next few meet the team posts to FHfteamers who do beautimus things with silverglass.....capturing the shimmer and delicate beauty of silver rich glass is a skill that I admire greatly and don't think I shall ever be able to master

Diane of dilunah

Silver Trail - Silver Cored Big Hole Lampwork Bead

This little bead is one of my favourite team listings ever, so sweet and pretty and delicate with an enchanting shimmer. Diane's introduction to glass began with fusing which led to a qualification in 3D design though Lampwork is now her main passion. Diane also makes lovely findings for jewellery making, you can find these and fused pieces for sale on her personal website at www.dilunah.com

Pris of DancingwithGlass
 

Illuminations Heart : Handmade Lampwork focal

I have had the privilege of seeing Pris's skills grow and her style develop from quite on in her love affair with glass - Pris says it beautifully herself so here is a quote from her personal page on Etsy - Working with soft glass as I do gives me endless possibilities of colour, texture, depth and detail to use in my designs. I particularly love the iridescent qualities of silver glass, and the changeable nature of it.

Jennie of RaspberryRings

Ornate Pink Barrell

Jennie make spectacular large focal beads and mini paperweights and bracelet pops and was the featured Artist of the Month over on the forum in June. Jennie has also written a super tutorial for her distinctive swirl beads which you can find on Etsy here

I hope you enjoyed this quick introduction, click the pics to go to Etsy and see more from each of our teamies and also don't forget to stop by and check out our July Giveaway blog post.

Monthly Giveaway July

It's time for another monthly giveaway, we're got another stunning prize up for grabs sponsored by one of our talented team members...

Heather of Heather Kelly Glass

Heather is offering this gorgeous focal bead and matching stud earrings for one of our lucky blog commenters in July.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is leave a comment on this post anytime before the end of July (and don't forget to make sure you're following the FHFTeam blog so that I can contact you too!)  The winner will be randomly drawn, and announced on the 1st of August

Good luck!

June Giveaway Winner

Time to annonce the winner of our June Giveaway sponsored by Sue of BlueBoxStudio

The lucky winner drawn at ramdom from last months blog comp comments is Kathleen Hooper, congratulations Kathleen, this elegant sea glass necklace is yours courtesy of Sue.

Watch this space for news of July's giveaway........ and in the mean time why not check out some of the teams work for sale on Etsy

Lynn's Lampies - Bricks and Ladders

Lynn’s Lampies

A regular spot from team member Lynn Davy, a self-confessed bead addict whose unusual designs often feature lampwork beads. In this series she shares some of her secrets and shows you how to use FHFteam’s handmade beads and components in your own creations!

July 2012

Bricks and Ladders

Buildings are somewhat on my mind at the moment as we’ll be moving house over the summer… this month’s tutorial will show you a neat way to combine ladder and brick stitches into a sturdy foundation on which to build a cuff bracelet.

I struggled for a long time to find a use for ‘double delica’ beads because they have such huge holes that ‘normal’ sized cylinder beads just disappear up inside them when you try to combine the different sizes. But they are brilliant for making ladder-stitched strips because they work up so quickly!

Ladder stitch is also a good way to use bugle beads, although they are narrower than double delicas so you need more of them to make a bracelet length. They do give a lovely texture though…

A ladder more than two beads wide is a bit prone to gaping between its ‘rungs’. You can widen it by simply adding fringe (and with holes that size, you can add a LOT of fringe if you want to!) or by stitching along the edges with brickstitch. 

Brickstitch feels a bit weird to begin with because you don’t actually stitch through any beads of the previous row, you go under the threads instead; but it’s very simple really. It’s a versatile way to make lots of different shapes (the little hearts on this tassel are made with brickstitch)…

… or to bead around a larger bead, as in the pendant for this set. (The cuff is made with a ladder-stitch base and brickstitch edging, too.)

And once you’ve beaded around a bead, you can add loops and fringes to make flowers…

Brickstitch does have a weakness, though: the thread ‘bridges’ between the beads are exposed along the edge of the beadwork. Exposed thread is prone to catching and fraying, especially in a bracelet, which gets a lot of wear and tear, so it needs protecting. A great excuse to add more beads!

You can add a simple one-bead ‘picot’ edging (as we did when we made those beaded spacer beads) between each pair of ‘rungs’. Or you can make a more elaborate, formal edging.

Or else you can go mad with lots of beaded fringe. No prizes for guessing which one I’d choose!

This month’s project makes use of those little orphan lampies that so many of us have languishing unloved in our stash boxes, just waiting for someone to pick them out and give them a good home. And if you don’t have any orphans, search through the FHFteam’s shops and you’ll find plenty to adopt!

Tutorial: Orphanage Bracelet

You will need: ‘double delica’ (size 8 cylinder) beads and size 8 seed beads for the base, plus half a dozen small ‘orphan’ lampwork beads, a few 4mm crystal bicones, 30-ish ‘accent’ beads anywhere between 6 and 10 mm in diameter, a teaspoon of ‘bead soup’ with seed beads in sizes 11 and 8, a couple of jump rings and a clasp.

You will also need a beading needle, pliers, scissors, and thread – a tough ‘braided’ thread such as Fireline or PowerPro is recommended for this one because you’re using crystals and relatively heavy beads for the embellishment. (If any fringe beads look wobbly, go through them again once or twice more to stiffen their resolve.)

Thread your needle with no more than two arms’ length of thread and pick up four double delicas. Go through the first two of them again.

Pull the thread snug so you have two pairs sitting side by side. These are the first two ‘rungs’ of your ladder.

Pick up another two double delicas and go through the previous ‘rung’ again.

Then go through the pair you just added.

Pick up another two and do the same again. (Ladder stitch is really, really simple!) Keep going until the strip will fit your wrist. Then add another four or five pairs because it shrinks a bit when you add the edging. But don’t worry, it’s very easy to add more to the ends if you find it’s got a bit short…

Now for the brickstitch edging. Go through the last-but-one rung of your ladder so you’re exiting the second bead from the end of the strip (sorry, this photo is upside down for some reason).

Pick up two size 8 seed beads and pass your needle under the thread that connects the second and third rungs.

Then go up through the second of the seed beads you just added.

Pick up one more seed bead and go under the thread that connects the third and fourth rungs.

And back up through the bead you just added.

Carry on adding one seed bead to each thread bridge all along the strip. At the far end, double back on yourself so you’re coming out of the second cylinder bead from the end on the other side.

Flip the strip over and work back along the other edge.

Now you’re ready to add the embellishment – the fun part! It’s just simple fringing and I’m sure you already know how to do that, but here’s a quick run-through again…

Exit the first size 8 along the edge. Pick up a size 11 seed, an accent bead, another size 11.

Go back through the accent bead and first size 11 and carry on down through the size 8 bead you came out of.

Go up through the next size 8 and add another fringe with a size 8 bead in place of the accent. Continue to alternate size 8’s and accents. When you add a lampwork orphan, start the fringe with a size 11 and then a size 8 seed bead, then string the orphan, a crystal bicone and a size 11. Go back down through everything except the last size 11.

Keep going all the way along both edges of the base strip, mixing and matching however you like. If you have an accent bead with a transverse hole, add seed beads before and after it, and if it’s wide (like this leaf) spread it over two edge beads.

When the fringe is complete, add a loop of seed beads to the end of the cylinder bead rows; go through it plenty of times to make it strong, then weave the thread into the beadwork, knot and trim it.

Add a loop to the other end in the same way, then use pliers and jump rings to connect the clasp to the loop.

Wear and Enjoy!

Happy beading,

Lynn

Meet the team part 8

Today I want to show you some stunning lampwork beads created by  FHFteam members that caught my eye today..........

Rita of Avalon Designs

Handmade Lampwork Goddess Yemaya

Rita lives in market town in Somerset and has been working with glass and creating her beautiful ocean style focals for about 4 years now and has has been creating and selling her ceramic work for more than 20.  I have chosen this beautiful lady to show you today but you will also find toppers and jewellery in Rita's wonderful Etsy store.

Jane of Jane Hamill

Lampwork bead, "Sooleawa", art glass bead

This beautiful hand shaped organic focal bead is totally luscious. Jane describes her working style wonderfully in her Etsy profile -  Being spontaneous creatively is important to me. I rely heavily on my natural instinct and a piece is complete only when it feels "right". 

Sandy of flowerjasper

Jacobs Ladder, A silver core lampwork bead

I think this pretty BHB is absolutely gorgeous. Sandy writes - I love working with glass and I hope a little bit of me shines through ;-)

I hope you enjoyed this quick introduction, click the pics to go to Etsy and see more from each of our teamies and also don't forget to stop by and check out our June Giveaway blog post.