One year on.

Yes faithful fans, it has indeed been one whole year since that fabulous first blog post of mine. Oh how things have changed, but in many ways not at all! I'm (slightly) bored at (roughly) the same time on the very same day. As the year went on, I feel my blog posts got a little meatier, but overall, I haven't blogged a whole bunch so sorry about that! 

I've had an interesting week. I was working in my old office Monday to Friday... Mad craic. Ish. Things got exciting towards the end of the week when mince pies and platters of fried stuff started to turn up in the canteen. And of course there was the day Santa and his helpers came to visit. Oh the excitement!!

He took time out of his very busy schedule just for us. What a dude.

So, other than a week full of work, I also FINALLY made it out for Thursday night pints with the awesome Sarah! So, there's me, expecting a few quiet ones by the fire. That's how it started off. But soon enough, the pints kept coming and the night just went nuts. It was fantastic! It was a night that involved a trip to the chipper... Nothing wrong with that at all I'd say! Many a lol was had.

Then came Friday. Myself and a gang did the 12 pubs of Christmas thang in town. I reused my naff jumper from last week, and once again it was a hit! We didn't quite hit 12 pubs. We sort of ran out of time, and we all wanted to get into the nightclub in town for free so we all skittered across the road and in the door just before 12. The place was nuts! And warm. I ditched my jumper in the cloakroom for the night, and let me tell you, that decision did not go down well. However, once again, much fun was had, EVERYONE was out, so it was a darn savage night!! 

I wasn't just out boozing this week I'll have you all know. I started the week quite well, as I made more jewellery! I'd had enough of bracelets so I switched to necklaces for an evening. I had some really chunky, sparkly beads and I wanted to use a coloured thread rather than wire or anything else... This is what happened then.

I stuck with the chain thing, but it was on a very different scale which I liked.

I also came across some beads which my wonderful buddy Dave gave me AGES ago. Don't know where he found them, but I loved them!!

Cool, right?

I thought the crescent moon one was really cool, but it took a bit of thinking to figure out what colour to put with it. I could have put green, but my green beads were completely the wrong shade. I could have chosen the bright yellows that I have, but then it would have looked like the Kerry colours around my neck. I wasn't up for that at all (nothing against Kerry though, because Kerry is the most awesome of all counties, but you guys already knew that...)! In the end I went for some clear beads tending towards a pink shade... I think it turned out so well, even wore it into work a few days later.

Too pretty for words, I know.

Not a whole lot else going on in this hip and happening place. I got a few lovely goodies for Christmas, and I gave a few too (I hope!). Gearing up to take on town yet again tomorrow night, and to see more long-lost buddies! The excitement. Isn't Christmas awesome?

Over and out.

Jingle Bell ROCKS

Right guys, I've been hounded by a certain someone *cough* Caoi *cough* to make lots of new stuff and to blog about it! It was a bit tough doing that when I was around 190 miles away from all my supplies... But now... NOW I'M HOME FOR CHRISTMAS! Arrived two days ago, and it almost feels like I've never been away. Almost. Except for the fact that our pest of a kitten has become bigger and bolder... She's too adorable to stay mad at for long though.

Benny in all her now-female glory (we thought "she" was a "he" for quite some time...)

So, now that I'm back in front of the fire with a belly full of home cooked dinners with my faithful mascot by my side, I'm flying back into making more shizzle than I can handle. I actually launched back into it after a MEGA nap on Saturday eve after my train home. Wrecked doesn't cover it. Final year is all sorts of tough, and I would say "half way there, woo!" but this has been the easy half. Very much so. Oh goodness. But now's not the time to be worrying about that! Now's the time to talk about beads!! So, Saturday night I decided I wanted to make something seriously, incredibly festive, and possibly a little gaudy. That's just my style. So, straight away the red and gold beads came out, and a section of chain because I decided this work of art DEFINITELY needed bits hanging off of it.

I know this pic is mostly arm and tree, but deal with it, right?

Yes, I wore my new piece of bling on Sunday to decorate the Christmas tree. The festive celebrations didn't start til I arrived home, which meant that I had to decorate the whole house. Not that I minded. If decorating Christmas trees is a chore it's the most awesome chore ever. 

I ended up covering the tree with red, gold and silver baubles. Mostly because they were the ones that came out of the attic, but it does look rather delightful so that's a win-win-win situation right there. 

Amazeballs, right? Thought so. Ha, accidental pun right there!

So, Sunday, obviously enough, didn't feature any making and do-ing at all. Instead I sprinkled the house with Christmas cheer (wearing a Santa hat, because there's no other way to do that sort of thing), and then I had a visit from the most amazing and incredible Jess! I'm actually so gutted, I bought some deadly penny farthing charms in Dublin a week or so back, and I was planning on making wee Jess a savage Christmas present featuring a teeny tiny bike, but I've had to put that plan on the back burner cos I left the charms in Dublin. Argh. Anyway, to ease the pain of that, we ate lots of yummy food and we started our Christmas session of HP. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone is so much better when my gal and I quote along with it I'll have you all know. The only word is wow, I mean it! 

Started back to work today too. Life's all go these days. Bet you're all mega jealous. Not. Anyway, I decided to unwind after a long day in the office with some music and sparkly things. I decided I wanted to make a little something for my long suffering mother for under the tree as the rest of my family and I have all gone in together to get her a big present. She's not a red & gold gaudy jewellery lady though. She loves blues and greens, they're colours I always look for when trying to find things to suit her. Anyway, I still liked the dangly sort of thing I was doing with the chains hanging off my bracelet on Saturday, so this is what I came up with. 

It's still got a bit of bling to it, but I think it's a little more subtle. Not a lot. But a little.

I was really in the zone at this point. I was well into my playlist (still grooving and shaking to The Airborne Toxic Event), and I was in no mood for wrapping up for the night. I had a bracelet that I'd been promising to fix for her for a LONG time, actually one I bought her yonks ago. So I did that. Then I decided that my sparkle-tastic bracelet from Saturday needed a sister, a twin, to guide her through the party season.

Extreme close-up...

They look super with my knuckle-duster even if I do say so myself...

And then there were two!

Oh goodness, I almost forgot to tell y'all about my class pub crawl last week. We were told (and rightly so) that Christmas wear was essential. DISASTER, I didn't have a naff Christmas jumper! My options were splash out on a geansaí and not drink for the night, or come up with a plan and have a hum-dinger of a night. I think you can already guess which option I chose. Trotted down the road from college to the €2 shop and got myself loads of those red velvet bows and some super glittery, gold snow flake decorations. I rooted out an old jumper of my mothers from the good auld 80's and I swiftly got to work. I totally won the best jumper prize... A high five from the coolest guy in the class. Enough said about that already. Want to take a peek?

I was beyond chuffed with it, it must be said.

The pub crawl was a big, fat success anyway. We all had the craic and the lolz I do believe and some much needed boogying was done. Oh, and I got complemented on my Spanish accent which always gets a big thumbs up in my books!

Right. So. Last story, I swear! I bought something. An accessory. For my bike. On a different visit to the €2 store. Several of you have heard about this purchase A LOT already, but for those of you who haven't...

No. You're eyes aren't deceiving you. I bought a bike horn for my bike. I don't think I've been so excited about something so silly in quite some time (although many of you may argue that fact). Bottom line, I'm dying to come across a careless pedestrian or a dismissive driver or something. Fact is EVERYONE will be able to hear me! 

Hasta luego bbz...

Posting in a Winter wetland

November eh? Not loving the weather... Wet. And still too warm. Not cool. Also it's been 5 gigantic months since my last post, and I am oh so ashamed. Life has been NUTS over the last few months... I was up to my eyeballs in exams (sat a total of 18 this year, like a boss) and being honest, things are still mega hectic. Haven't found my humble abode for the year yet, though not through lack of trying, and final year is just as busy and frantic as everyone says... Why didn't I believe them!?!? And by "them" I mean all my amazing buds who've been nothing but fantastic this past year.

The worst part about all of this homeless thing is that ALL of my jewellery making bits are all the way down home in Kerry. I haven't felt the cool sensation of my pliers in months, and I miss it (the jewellery, not so much the pliers...) SO MUCH! I've been feeling like I've left y'all down enough lately though, and I still have a few pics that I haven't blogged about yet, and I know ye all miss me, so here we goooooooo!

I'm totally out of my groove, can't even remember how to write awesome posts like I used to... So, back in July I decided to continue with my making-jewellery-for-my-lovely-ladies quest, and it's fair to say that the lovely Jess is rarely off that list! I'm fairly sure she ended up getting this particular bracelet around the time that we went to see Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows pt 2 (in 3-D, obviously) twice in one week... What a week that was! Oh, and by the way, my HP obsession has eased into a lifelong love affair. Just thought ye should know.

Anyway, Jess deserved something pretty. I always think of birds and animals, and the great outdoors in general when I think of her, and I had this lovely wee bird house trinket that I decided would go great on a few bracelets to make her wrists sparkle.

Pinks and purples always remind me of Jess, they're so her colours! Along with turquoise, obviously... Duh.

I decided to thread a few bracelets through, to bulk up the dainty beads so that they could stand up to this awesome birdhouse. I didn't want it to feel too heavy or solid though so I made sure I changed up the bracelet in terms of size, colour, and texture of the beads I used...

The finished product - Tah dah!

The soundtrack to my last few months has changed quite a bit... I had a real Kimbra and Gotye moment around August, as the rest of the world did I'm fairly sure. Tune-sters so they are! Lately though I've been grooving to my favourites playlist on YouTube which currently consists very heavily of Lana Del Rey and The Airborne Toxic Event, among others... Oh, and all my shows are back on, but because of my exams I fell way behind so several marathons have taken place in recent weeks. Oh HIMYM, well done on coming back with a vengeance! Oh, and I haven't mentioned what is set to be one of the most exciting events in recent history... The Darkness reunion tour! I know very few others see what I see when I look at those hairy, tattooed men, but let me tell you guys, it's pure, undiluted awesome. I'm beyond excited, and it's only two weeks away! BAM (said the lady apparently...).

Now, I didn't just make one wee bracelet for Jess back in July. I also made stuff for the fantastic Gordonka. Thing is though, she hasn't been given said stuff yet. I'm not sure how she'll react to it, but I might as well just debut it here, I'm sure she won't mind, especially if she likes what she sees! If she doesn't she can always leave the country or something...

Red. This is the Gordonka colour in my mind. Although, she recently rocked a pair of mustard yellow tights so I may have to change my mind a little on that front. But yeah, RED. It suits her colouring fantastically. But red alone can be overwhelming, I always feel the need to break it up a little. So I did, months and months ago when I made her a wee bracelet...

Unfortunately, this is now an ex-bracelet.

I've been promising to replace this bracelet for quite sometime, and I fully plan to. Sometime. Soon? Maybe before I hit the big 2-3 and can almost say I'm in my mid-twenties... EEEEEKKKKKK! Frightening stuff. Back to the issue at hand though, I decided red was definitely going to play a part again, but I felt that I should move away from bracelets cos I make tonnes of them, and not a whole bunch of anything else.

So I made some earrings!

Now, because of the nylon I used, when they're not hanging, they scrunch up a little, and look funny. Bodes well, right? I wasn't able to get a great shot of them hanging, tried to use my computer screen as the background, which made sense at the time, but didn't yield my finest picture...

But at least it gives you guys a better idea of the shape of them. Eh? Yeah? Huh?

So, she hasn't got them yet, but I hope she'll like them when she does! There's something very classic about her look and I felt the pearls would reflect that, and at the same time the punchy effect of the scarlet hue isn't lost. 

I think I'm all blogged out. I thought I'd have more in me after so long, but I've got a million and one things to do today, including picking up my auld bike from the shop. Was on my way to the bike shop yesterday to get my brakes sorted, and I was literally about 30 seconds away when I heard a big "HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS"... I guess it was better to get a puncture on the way to the shop rather than on the way home. But seriously? Come on lady luck, throw a little my way! 

Happy Sunday.

Later.

Hello, hello - hola! I'm at a place called Vertigo...

Just to state, for the record, that this blog post is dedicated to my colleague, the lovely, Niamh Pigott. What a sap. :-)

Anyway, I've been busy making since my last post. I've gone overboard really, making jewellery in the evenings, when I've got other things to be doing, so from now on, I may be a little quieter on the blogging scene. Although, my posts are few and far between, so maybe just expect as many posts as you usually do! I'm a busy woman I'll have ye know.

Since my last post I completed the green/brown necklace that I showed you a preview of. Want to see? Who am I kidding... Of course you do.

Unfortunately laying it down on the kitchen table doesn't really show it off very well, but I've got a (non-existent) style of picture taking, I might as well stick with it!

After finishing off that necklace, I wanted to create something completely different. Lighter colours, and something other than the heavy, full-on statement piece that the necklace was. So, I pulled apart an old earring, as one does, and used it as the center-piece for a wraparound bracelet. Something about this bracelet makes me think of rosary beads, not sure why, but that wasn't my intention. I love these crushed pearly beads that I picked up in Dublin months ago, but I felt I wanted to break up the piece with a splash of something... Orange just took my fancy that day!

I'm having a bit of a lust moment with gold things this summer too. I'm just throwing that out there. It may become apparent as you read on anyway...

I promised my lovely friend Kate that I would make her some jewellery. I promised her this months ago. I had the beads that I knew I wanted to use. I just wasn't sure. I had a bit of a brain block or something I think. But then I just came across a piece, as it turns out, of an earring, that I decided could act as the pendant of a delicately beaded necklace. It is with my deepest regret that I tell you upfront that the true colour of the beads didn't really come up in the picture. They were a really sparkly, pretty green colour, but they appear quite washed out here. Still, you'll get the idea of it I hope. 

The center piece is quite pretty and suits both the vibe I was going for, and the wearer herself. 

After this, I took a few days away from the bead game. It's stressful stuff I'll have you know. Plus it was the weekend, and I had decided to dedicate myself to Harry Potter. I'm the newest of new fans of the series, but I've become so invested in the lives of the characters that I just can't help myself anymore! I'm beyond excited about the final installment, The Deathly Hallows Pt 2 in 3D this weekend... The Ron-Hermione kiss! It's going to be fantastic, I just know it.

I went to Penneys (or Primark as some of you still call it) at the weekend too. Mostly just to buy clothes and bits for work, but how often can anyone go into Penneys and not buy at least one thing they don't really need? I did have an alterior motive when I waltzed in there last Saturday. I knew that the place would be absolutely teeming with big bracelets and necklaces full of lovely shiny charms that I could use for my jewellery making! I restrained myself and only bought two pieces, a charm bracelet with lots of lovely beads and hefalumps on it, and a really gorgeous necklace with an aviary kind of theme to it. I loved the idea of it, but the long dangly necklace thing doesn't really suit me. 

Now I've made a few bits for particular people, so obviously I can't be posting pictures of them just yet, surprise and anticipation are part of what make presents so exciting! But, I can tell you about the other things I've made...

One charm I salvaged from the hefty birdy necklace was a small gold owl. I'm having a bit of an owl moment right now if I'm being honest. I love the look of them, plus, again, Hedwig anyone? She's like the ultimate owl!  But in my books, any will do, so long as I can wear it. So, maybe not Hedwig. Anyway, I'm rambling, and no one wants that happening. I knew I didn't want a delicate, flimsy necklace for my owl, oh no. I wanted something tough and chunky to balance out the pretty gold shine. I received some incredible, angular wooden beads from a friend last Christmas, and I decided it was time to put them to good use. Once I had all the materials in front of me... 

... I had to come up with an idea for how I wanted to lay them out...

... And after that it was pure magic on my part bbz...

I like the angular beads with the diamond pattern of the chest of the owl...

From there I decided to go back to what I know... Bracelets. I used the general layout that I've used several times before, blocking a few colours along the length of the piece, but I included a charm, just for the lols. 

My gold hefalump on the cats-paw oak... Like that'd ever happen in nature. Ha!

I love the yellow beads I used for this bracelet... I'm struggling to remember where I bought them, but I have to try... I definitely need to invest in some more of these! I'm thinking I might hit a nearby town this weekend, in Kerry, to see what pretty bits I can find. And, obviously, I'm hitting Penneys again. 

My last piece that I'm showing you tonight is another necklace. Now, this is a longer piece, that once again I wouldn't go for myself, but I think the colour is rich and warming, and it's nice and sparkly which I love.

Again, it looks a little anemic in this picture, but the diamante bits at the end are a golden-orangy colour, and the beads are a slightly browner version of the same colour... LOVE.

Well, I think that's me sorted for another evening I think. I've sort of spoiled you this time, but as I said, I've been busy! Maybe, if you guys are lucky, I'll fit some more jewellery making into this weekend, and I'll have enough ammo to blog a little again next week. For now though, I must say toodles.

TIL: to write with a broken pencil is pointless...

True Blonde

I got my hair done at the weekend... I was feeling a little bored of the auld brunette thang, so I've got a bit of blonde in my hair now! And I'm loving the new series of True Blood that started last week... Sookie is mine!!!!

I've not been doing a whole lot of jewellery making of late. I'm not quite sure why. Work just has me a little exhausted, which is quite annoying but that's a whole other discussion, and it has nothing to do with beads! I've been having a real Incubus moment lately too, they've a new album out next week which I'm MEGA EXCITED about... Guess that's what's getting me going these days!

I've started making a necklace, it's a work in progress, I want it to be a striking, heavy multi-strand kinda job, but at the moment there's just two chains done.

I'm thinking of keeping the colour palate in the greens and browns arena...

The trouble with some of the stuff I make is that I tend to make for myself. I use bits and colours that I really adore, and that means I end up wanting to keep the jewellery a lot of the time, and that's not a whole lot of good to me when I want to sell some stuff at a huge profit! I think I just don't have enough supplies... I reckon that if I start to buy my lovely bits in bulk I can make something that I really like, and then duplicate it... I think that's the way to go. I hope. Cos it's the only plan I've got!

So last night I was in the mood for a session with my pliers. I decided to use some shining beads that I purchased a few weekends ago on a trip to Cork. My friend Maura brought me to a terrific shop called Vibes and Scribes, and they had a lovely collection of sparkly bits and pieces, along with gorgeous wools, and more books than my head could handle! 

I started off with a silvery metal tassel that I got in a big bag of broken bits from Kate way back in February for my birthday. I decided that I wanted a rich colour like red to go with it. I also wanted the tassel to be the focus, so I made it the right size to be able to slip on and off my hand without needing a clasp. 

Good, huh??

There. Used some of the first lot of beads I got in Cork. But I couldn't not use the other ones! They'd feel ever so left out. So I rummaged through my bags of bits, found some really cool bronze coloured beads with a sort of Aztec pattern on them, and I incorporated them into another wee bracelet.

I'm not sure which I prefer. 

Here's a small close up, just to try to show off the pretty beads I was using!!

Close-up, modeled on our cats-paw oak table... Cute, huh? 

I feel like I'm at a bit of a loss for words this evening. The rain and work of the day has kinda zapped my energy. I got Cosmo (August issue) yesterday, kind of just because it had a cool aqua-blue nail varnish free with it... That's about the only thing pepping me up right now! I've lots to do as regards housework at the moment, along with trying to come up with new and exciting things for us to have for dinner!

My new nails with my new bracelets. 

I feel like a very boring blogger after this! I haven't written in almost a month and this is possibly one of my skimpiest posts to date! I will say now, I have decided to dedicate this entry to my wee little scarf model Radley who sadly didn't survive the being-silly-and-eating-plastic incident. The house seems really quiet without her. She was one of the good ones...

I'm going to stop blogging now, before this becomes a cat-astrophe! 

Back to basics

It's been a very long time since my last blog post, and for that, I'm sorry! It was a hectic few months with exams and such, but all of that is in the past now! At least until the results come out next week... Oye.

I've been unpacking all my belongings from Dublin for the last two weeks. Turns out I have a lot of stuff. And I've hoarded SO much over the years. What was I thinking? I've been holding on to utter rubbish! No more of that sentimental fluff, minimalism all the way... For the most part. I still want my room to feel a little cosy. Shouldn't be too hard. It's fricking tiny! But despite how brutal I'm being at the moment, one of the things I still refuse to throw away is old jewellery... It's the best! I dismantled many pieces this evening, both stuff I'd bought, and stuff I'd made yonks ago that was, quite frankly, awful.

I've been watching episodes of The Office end-to-end... I secretly wish my office was like that, but it really isn't. At all. To scare away the boredom, I decided to make myself a super simple bracelet, something dainty and understated that I can still wear when typing at a computer all day! Seeing as it's Summer (according to the calendar), I decided to go for a nice bright yellow.

I'm back to using my trusty bead board for modelling stuff, my desk has been dismantled in recent weeks.

So, that was me sorted anyway. This brightened up my day no end. Which was awesome, because my day was pretty dull! Turns out I miss the auld engineering job I had for the last few summers. If nothing else, I kind of had my own office... Although it was referred to as The Creche. Now I'm back to hopping desks on a daily basis. It's cool though. Keeps things fresh. Also means that I get to sit opposite loads of different people, and maybe take a few ideas with me!

One of the ladies in my office is turning 60 tomorrow. She's one of the super nice ones, always makes a fuss of everyone. She even bought me stuff and decorated my desk for my 21st. So I figured the least I could do is to make her a present that hopefully won't break before I finish this job again in September. That would be embarrassing. So far I've only heard of one piece of jewellery I made biting the dust. And I'm sure Gordonka wasn't being as careful with it as she was leading me to believe... Quite the little imp so she is! Replacing that red number from a few months ago is definitely top of my to-do list this summer anyway.

Back to the birthday present though. This lady tends to wear really bright colours, and she always coordinates her jewellery to her outfit. Again, I'm trying to make pieces simple so I can keep colours strong. 

www.blogger.com is being a bit of a pain this evening and keeps rotating this image. Truth is, I'm a little too tired and disinterested to be bothered figuring out how to make it not do this. 

Apologies.

Right. So, I'd made two pieces and I was feeling good. I get a bit lost in all the pretty colours after a while, and time sort of flies by, but at some point this evening, not quite sure when, I decided to fulfill a promise I made to one of my friends at work that I'd make her something. I asked her what colours she liked, because as you well know, I have a list. Must take a picture of it sometime, but not tonight Josephine. Anyway, she said I was to surprise her. Initially I put aside some sea-blue and turquoise beads, but I think I'll save those for another day. Instead, I stuck to rounded shiny beads. With the exception of my earlier lemon creation, I'm feeling the tendency to steer clear of seed-beads. Instead I'm opting for chunkier, and again, stronger colour palettes. Based on what she tends to wear on a daily basis I came up with another multi-strand bracelet (I'm really feeling the bracelets this week, I hope you'll forgive me. I've got earring plans in the works, I swear, and I've already found myself an ear model.) that I think will work quite well with her other wrist-wear. 

Wahey. This website has redeemed itself. 

I hope I'm not boring everyone with this post. I'm trying to ease myself back in to the jewellery game. I know I'm kind of playing it safe, but I find, when looking through the pieces I wear most, that simple is best. I used to love fancy, sparkly stuff, but now I find I prefer to wear classic, unadorned things. Less patterns, more colour blocking. But, for my last piece this evening, I decided to go nuts. Sort of. I had these beads, they're a bit mad looking, and I found they were far too heavy to thread onto the standard nylon that I tend to use, plus the clasps were getting lost in them! So, I salvaged a hoop of wire from an old item, and bundled them on to that. Despite the mad, fussy colours, I think I might wear it. For one of those days when I'm feeling a little wild. Which, in Kerry, should be any day now. 

Unfortunately the colours haven't come up as vividly as they could have... I might try to take a fresh picture in day light one of these days. If those grey clouds ever clear...

This has been about the extent of my creativity of late. Although, there is one exception. All my Facebook buds will have seen this already, but I'll throw it up just in case any strangers happen to stumble across this some day. I got a canvas as part of a watercolour set (I think!) yonks ago. I painted lots of girlie swirls and patterns on it a few years ago, and the 'rents liked it so they hung it up in my room while I was away at college. I was looking at it when I came home, and my new, simpler tastes, required something a little different. So I channeled Mr. Rothko himself, and threw a load of slightly shimmery acrylics down... 

Don't forget about Prize Bonds... The risk-free money investment! Stay frosty guys. 

I'm pulling the wool over my eyes... Hmmm, so toasty!

My latest blog posts have been mostly about making stuff for other people, but this one is mostly about ME ME ME! I've deviated away from beaded produce in the last number of weeks, they require time and patience and good lighting. Instead, due to recent unfortunate incidents including illness and accidents of the cycling variety, I've been sitting in bed doing a lot of crocheting. Now, my crochet skills are poor at best. I'm not sure if it's even real crocheting that I'm doing! My mother reckons it's more like knitting using a crochet hook and my finger, but the stuff stays together, and that's what's important!

So, my latest crocheting buzz began with a gift for one of my favourite people ever. I had been promising a lovely homemade hat for quite sometime and due to my lack of expertise in the area, it was taking ages and it looked rubbish. I was stuck in bed though, and I decided that due to the continuing cold spell in some countries that I had to power through and complete my project.

No image of the completed head-heating apparatus available, a picture will be posted when I finally get to see it modeled. 

Now, I've covered my "Gifts for Others" part to the blog, have to tell y'all about the woolly wonder I made for myself! It all started when I went out to buy black wool for the hat, and I was moseying around the lovely wools and fluffy things. There it was. The most beautiful skein of wool I had ever laid eyes on. It faded from browns to beiges to whites and to greens. Plus, there were sparkles running all the way through it. I knew I had to have it. And it didn't break the bank! €5.50 ain't half bad in my estimation! 

There it sat on my bedroom floor for the best part of six months. I looked at it from time to time, less looked, more gazed at its glittery glory. I couldn't for the life of me decide what I wanted to make with it! Disaster! I knew I wanted to make something that I couldn't screw up, and based on the level of difficulty of my hat-project, I decided a nice simple scarf was the way to go.

Once I started, I became obsessed. The fading of the colours into each other just allowed to monitor how speedily the whole thing was going! "Oh, I got from white all the way through beige and on to brown today... Boom". Then my period of imposed laziness was over, and my poor scarf fell by the wayside. Only briefly though! On a whim I decided Kerry was where I had to be this weekend, and with the help of my trusty elf-cat Radley (aka Little Orphan Annie) and with a bit of Quantum of Solace era Bond on d'telly, I finished it! 

My little elf insisted that she should model it first... It is stripy, like her, after all... 

I knew from the start that I wanted to tassel the ends as I think it makes for a cosier looking scarf, so gauging how much wool I'd need left over to finish it was fun, but I managed to do a pretty good job! Poor Radley got tired from all the work she was doing, so she didn't get to see the finished product. Shame, she worked her paws right down to the pads!

I had to model it, but my face wasn't very camera worthy at this time of night... 

Pretty awesome scarf, huh? It shall be debuted on the train tomorrow, just wait til the Iaranrod Eireann boys take a look at it. I'll be sorry I paid for a ticket I'd say!

My inspiration, and the source of my materials... 

Right, had best be off, I'm on the lamb...

Let me present to you...

So, I've neglected this ole blog of mine in a serious way in previous weeks. This is partly due to the fact that I'm so busy with my silly full-time college course! How annoying I hear you say. Bah humbug.


Anyway, moving away from the angry stressed out student side of myself, I'm going to show off a few presents I've "crafted" lately... I haven't even looked at what photos I'm going to attach to this yet, I have a horrible sinking fear that I've only made two things since my last blog post, and that this will be a very skimpy entry. I like a bit of meat on my posts! 


Just a bit of background to what's been keeping me company while I bead... My flatmate has got me into the US Office in such a serious way. The episodes are great, super short so I may get to use them as wee study breaks come exam time, and they're perfectly cringy.


Right, back to jewellery. 

So the middle section of this bracelet is actually a bit off a keyring. It was a big clunky one that I could never actually put keys onto or take them off of as it's quite heavy duty. I decided that it was strong enough to hold the string I used for the bracelet, and I decided that the ring should be slightly off centre as I've got a bit of a thing against symmetrical jewellery. Haven't a clue why!

Here's how it looks with the last bracelet from my previous post. I based them around similar colour schemes so I think they go together relatively well...

Yes, I sometimes keep my beads in a big Butlers Chocolates box... What of it?

I made that bracelet ages ago, but for myself. I think it's possibly too personal a piece to expect someone else to love it. All creative criticism is always welcome by the way! I've been thinking lately about my plans for the summer, and about focusing a little more on making and potentially selling some stuff once the sunny weather comes back. I'm kind of excited... Hopefully I'll come across some nice new stuff to work with, or at the very least a few ideas, when I go on my holliers to Sweden this summer. 

Now, onto presents. As I've said to a few of my lady friends already, I have a little list above where I work with a few of my girls names, and the colours I immediately think of when I think of them. I find it much easier to come up with an idea when I have a colour to base it around. I bought beads to make something for myself recently. I found some lovely big, round animal print beads, and I found some smaller slightly sparkly neutral coloured beads to go with them. Watch out for that necklace cos I for one already know I'll be in love with it!

So, Jess turned 22 recently (BOOM!) so I sat about making a few bits for her. There's still at least one in the making, but I've already given this one to her, and she seemed happy enough with it!

I discovered magnetic clasps in time for this creation... YAY!

Let it just be known, I love birthday month. It's not only Jess's, but it's mine too, and a few of my most lovely ladies gave me bags of old unused or broken jewellery for my big day. Can I hear a whoop? Not only do I get beads that I fall in love with, and would have maybe never picked out, but I also get ideas from the different styles and designs of the stuff that's given to me. Bonus. Anyway, getting back to it, it wasn't just mine and Jess's birthday month. It was also Julie's birthday month, so I paid her a visit this weekend. And I could hardly go to visit herself (and the lovely Hazel) empty handed, so I threw together a little something. 

I instantly thought of green when I thought of Julie, and although it's not very visible in this picture, those larger beads are such a lovely emerald that they were just perfect. I added a few of my sparkly neutral beads to lighten the whole thing up, and I added a hanging bead onto the clasp section, just for fun. 

Now, it's way past my bedtime, and I've still got some internet pages to be refreshing... I just can't bear to pull myself away from all the gorgeous Oscars dresses that are popping up tonight... Gotta love Oscar night, plus, how great is it that Oscar night is always during my birthday month?! Bam.

A très bientôt...

I'll be Bach...

I've been doing lots of little bits of bead organizing over the last few weekends, stripping old bits of jewellery for parts etc so I haven't made a whole lot of stuff hence my silence on the blogging front. But I'm back! I've mostly been making for others lately, I figure there's nothing like a wee little bit of jewellery to brighten up ones week!

I've been listening to new music lately, some nice chill out stuff like a bit of Bat for Lashes care of my friend Jess, some of my cheesy pop like Nicki Minaj, and nice classics like Fred Astaire and Tony Bennett. Gotta love the oldies.

Anyway, back to business, bracelets!

My gorgeous buddy who made sure I will go to the ball this year got this one...

I've made a list of peoples names, and colours I think of based on what they wear, their colouring etc. I just thought RED when I tried to figure out what to make for Katie. The beads actually look slightly purple in the picture, but in reality they're quite a gutsy crimson. 

I actually made a necklace for Jess a few weeks ago, but as I hadn't given the gift I decided to keep the pics under wraps. They're not great pics either, I will have to invest in a camera rather than using the rubbish one on my phone, but for now they'll do!

The necklace is quite long, but just right for the wearer. The heavy white bead is from a FairTrade bracelet I shortened for her!

All this jewellery making is really chilling me out and just seems to make third year a little less awful. Despite the sore neck aspect, just sitting over a box of beads for a few hours is making me look forward to the weekends. I must actually go to a bead shop this week, I've got a few projects in mind for the next few weeks. 

I was in Penneys on Friday night, loitering while waiting for a lift to a houseparty. A heavy charm bracelet with a brassy gold chain crunched up with elastic caught my eye. I loved the colour scheme of the beads attached, but I felt it was far too clunky for my personal tastes. Unfortunately I ripped it to pieces before I thought to take a Before picture, but I might as well show off the results so far!

This one's another gift, hopefully she won't see it before it's given to her!

The last two have a few of the coral/rose coloured beads from the original bracelet. I'm really loving these sort of neutral colours at the moment, and I felt the wooden beads I already had fitted the colour scheme well.

I'd best be off, there's a room that needs to be tidied, some clothes that need washing and a hell of a lot of study to be doing! Let me know what you think of course...  :-)

Live long and prosper??