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...

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...