bits and bobs but mainly...bijouxbyele!!

Some new bits and bobs!

2012-01-26T20:11:00.004Z

I'm a bit obsessed with onyx at the moment. It's so glossy and so easy to work with. Every colour looks beautiful with it.

Here I've combined it with freshwater button pearls and copper coated Greek ceramic washers.

These earrings are made with blown glass and a swarovski crystal. I love the swirls on the beads.

I'm a very lucky girl and spent the last 5 nights staying with one of my best friends in her lovely apartment in Versailles, more on that soon!

Perfect pink polymer

2012-01-15T23:15:00.003Z

le hibou hulule

2012-01-11T09:37:00.001Z

I am such a night-owl and always up too late! However there is something so satisfying about being up early enough to see a beautiful sun rise:

Such a change in 15 minutes and such a nice way to start the day!

Good morning!

2012-01-04T07:52:00.000Z

What makes you happy?

2011-12-31T08:07:00.000Z

in no particular order!

* holding hands with the one you love

* sending/receiving unexpected post to/from old friends

* laughing til you ache

* snow!!* beads too beautiful to use

* old photos

* realising I haven't forgotten all of my French!

* visits to ParisAiming to fill 2012 with as much of the above as possible!!!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-24T22:26:00.001Z

My craft space

2011-12-06T21:48:00.002Z

So this is my (messy) creative space (click on the photo to enlarge) :

It's where I do my sewing and make my jewellery and cards.

I recently bought some jewellery display stands and so thought that I'd see how some of my jewellery looks on them.

Everything looks super sparkly with the black background :)

Oooh pretty!

2011-11-23T21:22:00.005Z

Please have a peak at my new *Festive* section on my website or etsy!

I don't believe for one moment that you lot have finished all your xmas shopping yet so head on over to my site! ;)

Snowflake season!

2011-11-22T23:12:00.005Z

I thought I had better update my website with some wintery jewellery!

Have you started/finished your Christmas shopping yet? I'm actually quite organised this year... for once!

Here are some new items if you're stuck for ideas for anyone!

All of the above items of bling are now on my website along with my snowy earrings:

I'll be listing all of these (and maybe a few more...) on etsy tomorrow evening.

Night night :)

Catch up

2011-11-09T21:47:00.005Z

A morning view from my bedroom window to start this post.

I've been spending more time with polymer clay again recently and have been concentrating on snowflakes. The base is actually transparent clay - so hard to capture properly with a camera!

I have a whole collection of different sized discs and now just need to make some more jewellery.

I added an extra bit of sparkle and some ribbon to this disc. I think they'd look fab on a Christmas tree with twinkly white lights to pick up the sparkle! Hope you like!

New bracelet

2011-10-15T21:05:00.003+01:00

Super bright and chunky bracelet! I love these matt black stone beads mixed with shiny silver beads and bright fuchsia pink.

Quilt cushion

2011-10-10T21:02:00.003+01:00

I have finally finished the cushion cover that I started for my lovely friend Julia MONTHS ago. I made the front of the cushion over a couple of days (in between work) and 4 months later I have now sat down and finished the rest of it!!

I used this fab tutorial for help as I had no idea what I was doing (though I know my way around a sewing machine ok ish...)!!! I love the blog that this tutorial is on - so many pretty things!!

I am very tempted to buy a proper cutting board and cutter now!!

What to sew next???

October so far

2011-10-10T17:32:00.003+01:00

Crazy weather but that means lots of different skies to take photos of!

Some lovely chunky faceted Onyx beads mixed with gold and silver coated Greek ceramic pebbles. I LOVE these!! I had to keep the first pair of earrings for myself and then make a second pair for the website.

Sunset

2011-10-03T18:06:00.001+01:00

Hope everyone had as happy a weekend as I did :) x

Pearls

2011-09-18T22:56:00.004+01:00

I'm really enjoying making jewellery with pearls at the moment.

I have worn this necklace, that I made last summer, so much. It's really delicate and the pearls are so beautiful. The little touches of gold warm up the colour of the necklace. I decided to make an identical one to go on the website/etsy.

The bracelet below is made with coin shaped fluorite beads, freshwater button pearls and silver coated Greek ceramic. I have used the combination of pearls/Greek ceramic before and I think they really bring out the colours of the fluorite.

Here's a little peak at how those fimo roses turned out...

I must get a better set up for taking photos!! The lighting is terrible!

I love the sky!

2011-09-13T20:59:00.003+01:00

The view I woke up to this morning:

Happy Birthday!

2011-09-11T22:54:00.003+01:00

Happy belated birthday to my lovely friend Nat!!

These beautiful green lampwork beads are more of Trudi Doherty's work, I'm such a fan!

Polymer clay continued...

2011-09-10T17:41:00.008+01:00

Now to see if a slice of this cane looks anything like the previous one I made on the right!!

Ce matin

2011-09-07T21:11:00.002+01:00

What to do??

2011-08-30T20:06:00.002+01:00

Hmmm polymer clay tonight I think!! :)

What have I been up to??

2011-08-25T14:39:00.004+01:00

A little trip to Cornwall...

and several commissions, which are always a challenge but enjoyable!

My love affair with turquoise

2011-05-18T11:48:00.003+01:00

is never ending!

I've had these beads in my stash for some time but they're too pretty not to be used. They were made my lampwork artist Angela Gensch who lives in Sydney (I love her beads!). Such a shame it's a cloudy day here because the photo just doesn't do these beads justice.

I've strung her beads with some hammered Hill Tribe silver discs (have a peek at google if you haven't heard of the Hill Tribe) and some freshwater button pearls.

I really love this bracelet and hope you do too!

Earrings

2011-05-14T15:26:00.002+01:00

I made a few pairs of earrings last night so thought I'd post some pics straight away.

The blue groovy beads (first pic) are made by the fabulous lampwork artist Trudi Doherty. She's super talented and a lovely lady too!

Let's mix it up!

2011-05-13T18:55:00.002+01:00

It's probably no surprise that I now have a huge stash of beads in all kinds of shapes, sizes and materials!

I've raided my stash to make some chunky and brightly coloured bracelets. I blame the warmer weather! I love delicate jewellery but I think the odd piece of over-the-top bright jewellery is a must (plus my wardrobe is full of 'safe' colours at the mo and could do with some cheering up!!).

I'm looking forward to mixing some of my polymer clay beads with some of the beads featured below (yes I have more!!) to make some necklaces.

I hope you approve!!

Twinkle twinkle

2011-05-02T23:48:00.004+01:00

Just a couple of things I have made recently :)

Sorry for the poor photos!!

Earrings part 1

2011-02-22T20:54:00.005Z

Here are a few pictures of the earrings that were added to my site today in addition to those I posted a few days ago. I hope you like them!

1. Super sparkly Rock Crystal earrings

2. Chunky Fluorite earrings

3. Dangly earrings featuring a small Smokey Quartz bead

4. A subtle pair of earrings made with tiny Labradorite beads

More earrings to come later in the week! All pieces are being added to etsy this week too :).

I hope everyone is having a good week - wednesday already tomorrow! Cant wait for the weekend!

Bracelet day!

2011-02-21T20:44:00.006Z

The new additions to my site today are all bracelets:

1. Yummy turquoise shell buttons

2. Teeny tiny rice pearls

3. A mix of Haematite and silver for something a bit different!

4. Super twinkly silver mixed with coin pearls

5. Last but not least: Faceted Citrine beads with gold
(I love Citrine!)

I hope everyone had a good weekend and that their week has started well!

Tomorrow I have lots of earrings that I'll be adding to the site!

Sneak preview

2011-02-21T12:01:00.005Z

The above earrings feature super pretty lampwork beads made by Trudi Doherty (I have a bit of a spendaholic problem when it comes to her beads!!)

I love these lattice beads, they make such pretty shadows!

And finally some more turquoise earrings!

I have lots more items that will be put on my website and etsy this week :)

*Huge thank you again to Julia for the photos!!!*

Flowers

2011-02-15T23:52:00.008Z

It was my birthday last week and I was spoilt rotten! I'm a lucky girl!

View from my window no.3

2011-02-14T20:16:00.004Z

june 21st 2009

It's hard to express just how much I miss this view, watching the sunset from my window seat.

View from my window no.2

2011-02-11T17:29:00.005Z

october 19th 2008

Parisian rooftops

View from my window no.1

2011-02-09T22:52:00.006Z

feb 1st 2011

I love you to the moon and back...

2011-01-19T19:20:00.008Z

perfect pic from weheartit.com

Let it snow!!

2010-12-02T16:02:00.005Z

Woke up to over 6 inches of snow!

Joyeux Anniversaire!

2010-11-22T18:55:00.004Z

This week is the 3rd anniversary of the start of bijouxbyele!!

To say a big thank you to everyone for all their support I am offering a 15% discount on all jewellery ordered between 20h00 Monday 22nd November 2010 and 20h00 Monday 29th November 2010.

All orders will be gift wrapped for free (p&p will be standard rate with no discount).

If you are tempted by the offer then just send a quick email to bijouxbyele@gmail.com letting me know what has caught your eye and I will sort out the discount!

Here's a small (!) selection of what I have made over the last few years!! If you click on the image then you'll get a better view :)

A big thank you to everyone!!

Update!

2010-11-21T22:11:00.004Z

Here's what I've been up to!

My website will be updated tomorrow with the above sparkly bits and pieces and more!

* special thanks to the lovely Julia who photographed all the sparkles! *

a glimpse of things to come

2010-10-07T23:20:00.004+01:00

had a very quick beady session tonight - I was clearly in a blue mood!

phwoar!!

2010-10-06T22:53:00.002+01:00

Amazing what some super sparkly nail polish can do to a girl's mood!! :)

Please excuse my super wrinkly ancient looking skin!! The cooler weather makes it look even worse!

Oops!

2010-10-04T18:59:00.004+01:00

So I've remembered (just about) that I have a website and also a blog of sorts...

An example of the last batch of polymer clay beads I made are photographed below. I'm really not sure how I feel about them. They're not finished yet. I haven't finished shaping them or smoothing the surfaces. They still need a hole through the middle and to be cooked and sanded and possibly varnished! I'm just not sure about the colours or flowers! Maybe they're just too big. Once they have been cooked and finished the white around the edges of the flowers won't be as pronounced as in theory it is translucent clay.

If anyone has any feedback I'd be really grateful!

I haven't made any delicate jewellery for such a long time but came up with these a week or so ago. They're a mix of dark and light amethyst, fresh water pearl, swarovski crystal, white moonstone and glass.

I really like how the light shines on the faceted amethyst bead right at the bottom.

I've mentioned before that I had bought some fab material and I thought I'd show you a couple of samples. So pretty! I'm thinking small make-up bags or maybe a coin purse. I just need to choose some plain coloured fabric to complement the patterns and get on with it!

I wore metallic navy nails all last winter so I thought I'd try it with a pattern this time. They make me think of Blue Willow plates!

More ramblings soon... maybe!

Not great at keeping up to date!!

2010-08-11T21:40:00.008+01:00

The title says it all but here goes...

I received lots of pretty craft supplies in the post this morning so I'm all happy today!

I've been spending lots of time on polymer clay recently. Received a fab order of Fimo supplies this morning:

This is a flower cane I made a few days ago which turned out a little squished!! I had written a huge post on how to make polymer clay beads but I suddenly realised that looking at colourful pictures of them is more fun than reading a dense paragraph on making them!!

Here is another flower in the making which needs some more transparent Fimo around it and some squishing to finish it off! (it doesn't have a handle it's just posing on top of a box of sewing pics...). Once this is done I shall actually get on and make some beads!!

I had a trip to Ikea last week and I now have a dedicated craft table, meaning that I can leave my sewing machine up alllll the time and I can have my laptop going and Fimo all on the go at once - *sigh* :).

I ordered some fabric online for the first time this week. The order arrived today and the fabric is fantastic and just as pretty as pictured! I've been bookmarking sewing patterns from the Burda website for ages and I've now picked out my next projects which I'll show you soon I hope!

To finish up this disorganised post here are some frivolous nail polish pics!!

Nail polish and Fimo just do not mix well together so this is the first time in weeks that I have used any. I was naughty and ordered a new Konad pattern plate. Please excuse my hands/toes, they're not pretty but I try to make up for it with pretty nails!

Something new!

2010-07-20T19:22:00.006+01:00

This week so far I've been making studs. I have made lots of pairs of simple pearl studs in different colours and sizes before but these are my first studs of any other kind!

I think sticking to my favourite colour helped!!

What do you think?

Turquoise

Blue Paua Shell

Sky Blue Topaz

Blue Zircon

Green Agate

Sorry for the terrible photos... all of the earrings are nice bright and shiny Sterling Silver and not tarnished as the photos seem to show!!

Fab week!

2010-07-18T21:21:00.007+01:00

I've had a great week and weekend seeing friends.

I've had my lovely lovely French 'sister' (really close friend) staying this weekend which has been lovely. WOW my spoken french is rusty!!! Though we spend most of our time speaking our own language which I guess must be a bit strange to anyone who hears!!

Yesterday afternoon I met up with three of my best friends. We chose cupcakes from a fab shop nearby and then ate them with tea in my garden at home whilst chatting and laughing lots!

I went and saw the new Shrek in 3D last night which was fun!!

I've also been totally spoilt, look how beautiful these are:

I LOVE flowers, they really do make me happy. Naughty but very lovely friends!!! I really am a very lucky girl.

The flowers have given me lots of ideas for more polymer clay beads!!! Anyone who knows me well knows that I just can not draw - stickmen are pretty much the extent of my drawing talent!! Anyway in an effort to be more organised with ideas I got out some colouring pencils and made a few sketches, trying to think what colour combinations would work for some new polymer clay flowers.

I've mixed lots of colours now and hopefully tomorrow I shall make some flowers!!

Here is a mix of some old and some new ones:

It's a process of trial and error for me, I never have any idea whether something is going to turn out ok until it's finished!!!

Sooo lastly for today... I was really naughty and bought myself some chocolates yesterday. They are Geranium and Orange truffles from Montezumas and are AMAZING... *sigh*

I'm signing off now to go and bake a cake to take into work!! Finally getting round to making it about a week after first mentioning it!!! It will be a Nigella chocolate cake, I'm thinking chestnut puree + cream in the middle with chocolate ganache on top (as intended!)... we shall see!!!

Pining for Paris

2010-07-03T22:53:00.009+01:00

This is my first proper summer in the UK following 3 summers in Paris, so I guess it's inevitable!

No bijoux tonight... just a few memories!

Bonne nuit!

Slacker... moi?!

2010-07-03T12:41:00.009+01:00

Yes that is what I am!! Anyway here are a few quick pics... I WILL get my act together!!! (maybe!)

Leopard print from last weekend!

A very quick necklace made to go with a new top! The photo doesn't show the top very well but it's so pretty!

And finally... flowers for friday!!

I have lots of ideas buzzing around at the moment... I just need to put them into action! :)

Greens and blues!

2010-06-22T20:00:00.012+01:00

After a mammoth cupcake baking session last night, involving cocoa, bright food colouring in several colours and lots of sparkly pink decorations, my blog entry took a back seat!

Turquoise is my favourite colour so naturally a huge amount of the beads I buy are of a similar colour!!

The necklace below is made from turquoise beads and freshwater pearls. I wanted to break up the colour a little bit but making a dainty necklace was not what I wanted to do with these fab chunky turquoise beads! The necklace is quite heavy due to the size of the beads but I like it that way!!

Onto something a little more delicate! The beads used for these earrings are made from glass. The shape and colour of them caught my eye. I wanted the focus to be on the beads so I just made some very simple earrings with sterling silver.

I made the necklace below a while ago but I had such difficulties taking a photo that I haven't put it on my site yet! I have had to settle for a half decent photo instead! These are Swarovski crystal beads which have been verrry carefully glued onto plated silver beading wire. I love using this beading wire. It is thick enough to hold a shape but very light to wear. The wire is coated in a layer of nylon which prevents tarnishing (very clever!). The necklace is very delicate and subtle and the beads catch the light in a very pretty way. I have used sky blue and colourless crystals. The colourless crytals have an 'AB' coating (Aurora Borealis) which means they have an oil-like sheen to them and their colour varies depending on the light.

That's all for tonight! I think the next entry will be about polymer clay beads :o).

J'ai un peu le cafard aujourd'hui...

2010-06-20T16:20:00.009+01:00

I've got the cockroach a bit today, or in other words I'm feeling a bit blue...

...buuut a few days ago my brother's lovely girlfriend (who has become one of my very best friends) gave me some beautiful flowers!!! THANK YOU!! These are cheering me up lots!

This eiffel tower wasn't posing in a beautiful Parisian apartment as it was during it's last photo shoot, but I don't think it's done too bad a job, taking the surroundings into consideration of course!

So... a few new things to share! The necklace below is made from Black Onyx, each bead being just over 2cm in length. The Black Onyx is mixed with tiny Sterling silver beads and Greek ceramic discs. The Black Onyx has a really glossy surface which I love. I also really like the way that natural stone retains it's coldness (but maybe that's just me!).

These are my latest Lampwork earrings. I LOVE these beads!!! I think the swirled colours make them look like little galaxies.

Extra sparkly nails to start off this week!! Zebra print anyone??

I've been a busy bee - more jewellery tomorrow...

*note to boys* I don't think you can go wrong with flowers!!! such an easy way to win brownie points ;o)

where to begin?

2010-06-19T14:48:00.004+01:00

I'm hoping that starting this blog might help me get into better habits with updating my website!

I never stop making things, not always jewellery but more often than not!

So here we go, a little glimpse of what's going on in my crazy crafty world!!

I've started making beads again using polymer clay. The possibilities are endless. The thing that hold me back are time and patience and imagination!!!

My love affair with semi-precious stones is continuing! I have to seriously limit my browsing time when it comes to choosing new stones to buy to make jewellery from. The black and white beads below are Black Sardonyx. I think they're fab teamed up with silver.

I've been experimenting with different shaped pearls too. The pearls below are coin shaped. I really like the 'flaws' in their shapes and the way they sit when worn.

My other addiction bead wise are lampwork beads. Put very simply (i.e. in terms I understand and with some help from wiki!!) lampworking is the melting of glass (in rod form), which is then wound around a steel mandrel to form a bead. There are sooo many amazing lampwork artists. Receiving lampwork orders in the post is like getting a little parcel full of treasure!! I have a nice little collection of lampwork beads now because I always struggle to think of designs that really do them justice!

If you've ever received a card from me then it's preeeetty likely that it was handmade. I love laying out all sorts of coloured and sparkly paper on my bedroom floor and picking a selection to use on each card. They are definitely not great works of art but it makes me happy making them!!

To end my first post (eeek!)... my most frivolous hobby... painting my nails!!! My nail varnish never lasts more than a day (if that) but I still like to spend silly amounts of time messing around with different colours and patterns. The leopard print was made using a 'Konad' disc.

As you can see I clearly have too much free time on my hands!!! :o)