A very eclectic mix

I finally found some time to do something with the red wire wrapped fabric beads which I made a while ago. In the summer, I bought this really gorgeous vintage necklace with deep red sparkly aurora borealis crystal beads, quite possibly Swarovski beads. And when I had finished the fabric beads, I realised that they would go very well with those crystal beads. I didn't want to take the necklace apart though, so instead I decided to add to it. Fabric beads, ceramic beads, vintage shimmery glass beads, a religious medal. A very eclectic mix, I know, weird and wonderful but quite pleasing to my eyes. The wire wrapped fabric beads were a given of course, and the ceramic organic looking beads I added because they kind of represented nature. The flat white glass oval beads I added just because I like them, how the white coating has flaked off in places, how they shimmer so delicately. And the solid silver medal of the Madonna I added because it is such a beautiful piece and I didn't want it lingering in the drawer any longer -

All this is thanks to Sandy Babb's totally awesome Embellished Fabric Bead tutorial, which you can find HERE.

Wishing you all a lovely afternoon/evening/morning, wherever you are. Toodlepip xxx

A little time spent crafting

At the moment, I find it really difficult to get any crafting done. There is so much on my to-do craft list, but..... lol, time just flies and I seem to lose days all the time. Hah, make that weeks. How can it possible be December already?
Anyhoo, I had not taken part in the Tag Tuesday challenge for a couple of weeks, so this week I was really determined to make a tag. The theme was Let's Dance! and ballet sprang to mind straight away. I adore classical ballet, and one of the most beautiful and memorable performances I have watched was Nureyev dancing in Romeo and Juliet. Gosh, that must have been in the 70s. So thats what I went with for this week's tag -

I also spent some time making something else. Something not involving paper or tags, lol. 

You see, a little while ago, I was looking through all the wonderful things which were popping up on my Etsy homepage, and amongst other lovely stuff there were some really interesting looking ceramic beads. Unusual free shapes and glorious colours, and I thought they would match the fabric beads,which I made a while ago, perfectly. Couldn't resist them, I ordered them, and a few days ago they arrived. And yes, when I put them together with my fabric beads, I thought they were a match made in heaven, lol. 

I gathered a whole lot of beads and chains and bits and pieces together to make myself a necklace. Such fun! In the end though, I changed course, discarded most of the stash, and went for a much lighter and airier look -

I want to make more! :-)

Well, I had better get on with my chores, otherwise I will never find the time to do more crafting.

Toodlepip xxx

The promised treat

Before I show you what I received in the mail yesterday, I'll quickly show you a few more fabric beads I made. I took apart a scarf I had bought at a recent boot fair and used snippets of the brocade and velvet with a little bit of lace on base beads made with a cotton/linen mix cut from a hole-y French tea towel -

I love making these!

Now for the treat I promised you in yesterday's post. Better make yourself a coffee or cup of tea, there are lots of photos. The package which arrived yesterday came all the way from Australia ( at record speed, I hasten to add ), and that can only mean one thing - it was from Suzy!!!

I know you are all familiar with Suzy and her beautiful work, so you can understand that I was super excited. I had known it was on its way, but I didn't expect it that quickly. What did it contain? Nothing less than a one of a kind Suziqu's Threadworks exclusive fabric book! It arrived wrapped in the most beautiful velvet fabric -

 I really don't need to say anything else, do I, just sit back and enjoy the beautiful nature inspired pages -

I keep picking it up and studying the pages, there is just soooo much to see and admire.

I have a little bit more to show you, that will have to wait until tomorrow though. For now I wish you all a very happy day and thank you for visiting. Toodlepip xxx

Following a tutorial

Usually, I am pretty useless at following written instructions, even with pics. I am much better having somebody sitting right opposite me and showing me how to do it. BUT, Sandy from QUILL COTTAGE has the knack of making really logical, beautifully presented and easy to follow tutorials that even somebody like me can follow. Remember the wrist cuff tutorial she made ages ago, which I managed to follow and produce these -

Well, a few months ago, she made another tutorial, this time for WIRE WRAPPED FABRIC BEADS and they looked so gorgeous, I really wanted to make some myself. It has taken me a while ( a looooong while, lol ) to get round to it, but I finally started on them last night and made the basic beads. I used some scraps of a lovely 100 year old hand loomed French linen. They dried out nicely overnight, so this morning I got together a few tiny scraps of lace and scrim and a few odd beads I had in my odd-beads tub and dug out some jewellery wire. 

I had so much fun! There were a few mutterings as well. Trying to hold everything together whilst starting the wire wrapping takes some practice, lol, and getting fiddly little seed beads on there wasn't easy either. But I was loving it! Using up the tiniest bits of fabric and lace this way is such a very satisfying thing to do. And here are the results, nothing spectacular, but I am happy with them for a first try -

A huge thank you goes to Sandy for her fabulous inspiring tutorial.

I must say that I also got a huge amount of inspiration from Suzy, as she also made some amazing fabric beads and showed them on her beautiful blog. You have probably seen them already, but just in case you haven't been there yet, HERE is the link. The beads are at the bottom of the post.

And while we are talking about Suzy, this wonderful artist has just started filling the shelves in her Etsy shop again ( long overdue ), and oh my, the offerings there are just so delicious! You can find her shop HERE.

Thats all for now, I have to get some orders ready for posting tomorrow ( yep, on a Sunday, the only good thing to have come out of the privatisation of the post offices, the local post office is open 4 hours on a Sunday ).

Wishing you all a terrific weekend! Toodlepip xxx