At last I can share

Two blog updates in one week.  Incredible, isn't it?  I'll make this one short.

I've been dying to share this with people for a couple of weeks but I couldn't as it's something I made as a gift for a friend.  I have no idea whether she is even aware that I have a blog but I couldn't take the chance that she might read it and spoil the surprise.

I went to visit her last night and handed over her gift and birthday card so now I can show you what I made for her.

I went to visit Bedazzled Beads shop in Blackridge a while ago and saw a lovely set of graduated onyx beads.  As soon as I saw them I thought of my friend's birthday as I know she likes onyx.  When I got home I teamed them up with some 8mm black Swarovski pearls, black and clear Swarovski crystals in different sizes and some silver plated chain.  My friend seemed pleased with it when she opened the box last night so I'm relieved.  I should make something in a similar style for myself as I really liked this once it was made.

Creativity part 3

So, on mother's day my older daughter and I went to Perth for the Scottish Bead Fair.  I had started making a necklace the day before using some lovely dagger beads I bought from Etsy seller BejeweledArts , some Tazanite Swarovski crystals and some silver twisted connectors and I was hoping to find something I could use to finish it off.  It needed a little something but I had no idea what.  I thought about some more Swarovski crystals but I was running out and didn't have enough big ones to finish it.

We went round all the stalls looking for 8mm tanzanite Swarovski crystals but no-one had them.  So we went round them all again so that I could take out my half finished necklace and compare it against any beads that looked likely matches.  The prices of some of the semi-precious beads were downright scary but we kept going.  Eventually I found a stall that had some strings of semi-precious chips at prices less inclined to induce heart failure and, at last, I found just the thing to finish off the necklace.

It's taken me until today to actually find the time to sit down and do it.  I've been sifting through the chips since Sunday trying to find the ones with the best shape, size and colour but also with the hole punched at the best angle to string them.  I modelled it for my husband before taking photos to list it on Etsy and he thinks I should keep it for myself.  We'll see. For now it's listed but I may change my mind.