Felt Beads and Wire... It Works!

I have new toys! Needle and wet felted beads :-)

Few weeks ago Felt Artisan Eve Marshall gave me a couple of red wet felted beads and said "see if you can make something with it".

I mainly work with gemstone beads, rocks, pearls and wire. So this was a completely new medium and I will be honest that initially I thought yeah lets try something but not sure if this will be my thing. Don't get me wrong, they were gorgeous beads but I don't work with fabric type stuff. Wool doesn't like me and yarn hates me. Why would felt be any different?

Anyway... I brought the lovely deep red wet felted beads home. They were round so I hammered them into discs and made a pair of earrings. And I was surprised at how nice they looked! So cool that they are mine now! I have been wearing them a lot. Lightweight and pretty, and of course RED!

Eve also gave me a lovely purple and blue bead. As a thank you present for being such a good friend I made a little flower brooch for her with the bead in the middle. Eve said she liked it a lot! And some people who saw Eve wearing it at the Oakham Castle Craft show said it was very pretty. I was pleased that she liked it. But that was really it...

No it wasn't! While at the Oakham Castle show Eve made a lovely needle bead for me. And that's where the idea of making a new range of Flower brooches with a felt heart was born. This yellow spotted beauty is the first one I have made and it is listed in my online shop. I made this brooch with Silver plated and pink coloured copper wire and it looks a bit good even if I say so myself...

So I placed an order for more beads which arrived yesterday! I had basically said to Eve surprise me and she has! Pleasantly! I really like the felt beads in the picture above and am really looking forward to putting out a whole new range of wire brooches with felt beads. Watch this space!

Comments

Bead Hoarders Blog Hop Reveal

So its time to reveal what I have been hoarding. Well this does not even touch the surface of things I have stashed away but its a start! Let me begin by introducing fellow Stamford Artisans Guild member DL Designs of Rutland . Diz makes the most amazing jewellery, charms and lanyards in different types of cords and threads and I admire her work a lot. So about two years ago I bought a handmade hemp macramé cording knot necklace from DL Designs. And then I promptly put it in safe keeping because I wanted to make something special with it. And I have been hoarding it all this time. I also had a beautiful Labradorite Cabochon cut and polished in house in our Lapidary workshop . This beautiful stone has a magnificent Labradorescence and I have had it on my board for almost 6 months! Because of the angle its been cut at it needed a special wrap on it for the colours to be seen in full glory. I have wrapped it a couple of times and then taken the wire off because the Labradorescence w...

It's not just a hobby!

It is our Livelihood, it is our Business, it is what helps to pay the bills! Yes, this one's going to be a bit of a rant! One of my artisan friends recently mentioned her experience at a (fairly large) Christmas craft market where a lady spent a lot of time looking at her work and then said "Hmmm Nice Hobby" and walked off. And then I saw this on facebook "Well you must have a lot of time - you obviously don't work!" on a page called Kirsty Elson Designs - another crafter. Probably not spoken by the same person but it's this attitude from a lot of people that really gets to me sometimes! It's not just a hobby! In my case it is a part time business, but its a part time business that keeps my dogs fed and pays my monthly utility bills! And occasionally allows me to go to the pub and have a drink with my friends. I work hard for it and I earn it!... AND pay my taxes on what I earn! [UPDATE 01 October 2014: It is now my full time job! So al...

UK Inspiration Challenge... "Walk On..."

I came across ArtisanWhimsy on Facebook through MyBeadTherpay ’s Page (I follow Heidi’s work with a passion because she has inspired me to try so many new things and its great to see how wonderfully her work has progressed in the 2 odd years we've been talking bling with each other!) And right there on the front page of the forum was this little banner which took me to a page which said: “Can you create a piece of jewellery or a jewellery component inspired by where the UK Blog team live?” The choices were Dorset / Edinburgh / Bath / The Isle of Wight / Liverpool / Southampton and this is what the description said about Liverpool : image courtesy Wikipedia “ Liverpool is world-famous as the home of The Beatles, but is also well known for football, the Scouse (now there's a term for you non-Brits to look up!) sense of humour and of course, the shipping port and the River Mersey” The description and for various other reasons Liverpool it had t...

Busy Week-end

I had a really busy Week-end in terms of events. Sadly not a lot of sales to show for it. The Help For Heroes Military Tattoo was badly affected by the weather unfortunately. It really felt more January than June especially in the strong wind. It was an outdoor event and the Gazebos we set up did not feel secure at all. And as it was so cold a lot of people did not turn up even though the organisers had sold lots of tickets. So the group of Crafters who had set up stalls spent the afternoon chatting with each other and listening to the music played by the RAF band. That was pleasant... and hot food from Tuk Tuk Foods was very welcome too! That was lovely as always! I would like to thank the Organisers of the event for inviting us to be there and I hope they raised a lot of money for this very noble charity, despite low attendance. On Father's Day I was at Sacrewell Farm near Peterborough for a Day of Demonstration and Sales. I took one of our Rock Tumblers to show the tumblin...

3 Gorgeous Copper Leaf Sculptures

3 Gorgeous Copper Leaf Sculptures : I have added 3 gorgeous copper leaf sculptures to my online shop this week.

Jewellery By Shalini

Search This Blog