Jamaican-Me-Crazy!!!!

I'm back!!!! I have been away for a while on my holidays...2 blissful weeks in Negril, Jamaica. To anyone who has not been, I could not recommend it enough if you want a relaxing holiday in a stunningly beautiful setting.

Instead of jewellery (cos I haven't made any!!), I thought I would post some of my favourite pictures from my hols...sorry to bore you!!!

YS Falls

My crazy husband after cliff diving from a 55 ft cliff
...but isn't the colour of the water amazing?!?!?!

The first time I have seen a real croc... I was convinced it was a
fake until the tour guide splashed it with water and it closed its mouth!!!!

Another first for me, this time the first time I saw a dolphin

Sunset at Rick's Cafe, Negril

Well, if you have reached this far down, congratulations on not falling asleep!!!

The colours and sights of Jamaica have really inspired me and I can't wait to get back to the jewellery table and create so watch this space!!!

Where's the sun gone?

After
'Retro Restyle'
Lampwork glass, Bali silver, Sterling silver
and Karen Hill Tribe Silver

Hmmm, we were having such beautiful weather and now it has gone, we are back to grey skies here in not so sunny Surrey!!!

What have I been up to this week? Well, I was at a hen weekend on Friday and Saturday in Oxford and I had a fab time with a really great group of girls. Friday night I had way too much Champagne and acted a little drunk (to say the least) and we had a naked butler who had a lovely behind (don't worry, his apron covered the front!!!). Saturday day, we were supposed to be punting and pedaloing to a really lovely pub. If you have never heard of punting before, it is like a long narrow rowing boat, everyone sits in the middle and one person stands on the end with a really long pole and is meant to use that to push off!! It was a nightmare and very funny to watch. Luckily I was in the pedalo and and saw the funny side of it as I watched the other two boats going the wrong way down the river and unable to control their boats. 35 minutes later we had gone no where and we decided to give up on the punting and we all had pedalos. We had 2 miles to go and one of the pedalos started leaking (the boat yard just gave them a bucket!!!!!!) and another one would not steer. Out of the 4 pedalos, only 2 made it to the pub, the other two were abandoned along the river... I really don't blame them!!! When we were mooring up at the pub, I managed to eat a fly and started choking and a man sitting outside the pub asked me if I was the entertainment...bleeding cheek!!!!

This week I restyled one of my own bracelet. The picture below is what it looked like before (it was one of my first pieces using lampwork!!) and the picture at the top of this post is what it looks like now... 100 times better I think and I love wearing it, it is now one of my fav pieces that I wear!

Before

Here comes the sun!!!

Beach Ball Earrings
Sterling Silver and hollow glass

Wow, what a lovely week we have had, summer is certainly on it's way!!! I haven't worn a jacket all week.

Orange Crush
Sterling Silver & Hand Blown Furnace Glass

Haven't been up to too much this week. I went to the gym last night...pause for a round of applause!!... and it was soooo hot. Got my car back this morning from getting the body work fixed just as I was starting to like the courtesy car!!!!

Rock Candy Earrings
Sterling Silver & Hand Blown Furnace Glass

I have an embarrassing story to tell...the day we booked our holiday, my phone rang at 6 p.m. with an unknown number. My hubby normally rings me at this time and if he is ringing from his office phone, it comes up unknown. As we had just booked to go to Jamaica, I answered the phone, 'yeah man' said in a very bad Jamaican accent...imagine my embarrassment when I realised that it was not my husband but a recruitment agency!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't apologise enough but luckily she saw the funny side of it and said I had made her day!!!

Prefect Earrings
Sterling Silver & Hand Blown Furnace Glass

I have been making some pieces which suit the current weather. The earrings have been made using bright pieces of glass ready for the summer!!!

Peony Necklace
Lampwork by Angie Finn, Ruby Fuschite, Sterling Silver & Swarovski

Own up, who stole April?!?!?!

Space Cowboy Bracelet
Lampwork by UK artist Caroline Hannon
team with sterling & fine silver

Blimey, I have just realised that I haven't posted since early March, where has the time gone?

Well, what have I been up to? Hmmm, since my last post, I have had a birthday, played in the snow, played in the sun (hasn't the weather been freaky these last few months?!?), booked a holiday (we fly to Jamaica next month for 2 lovely long weeks...yippee!!!), lost a stone (in weight, not a gemstone!!!) and had a prang in my car (well, someone hit me and drove off...thanks whoever you are!!!!!).

Gaia (Earth in Greek) Bracelet
Lampwork by UK Artist Sue Mose teamed with fine silver

I have also commissioned someone to design me a lovely new website so watch this space!!! The lovely lady doing it for me has just started a new web design business with the most fabulous name which makes me break in to a smile every time I say it but I won't give it away in case it is a secret!!!

I have hardly made any jewellery since my last post. The first bracelet is made with lampwork beads by Caroline Hannon. I love this bracelet and wanted to keep it for myself however when I first made it, the design was slightly different and it was too big so I had to change the design and now it is just a tad too small for my wrist!!!!!

Gaia (Earth in Greek) Earring
Lampwork by UK Artist Sue Mose teamed with fine silver

I normally try and remove the shadows in my pictures but I thought I would see how they look by leaving them in, what do you think?

Oh, just remembered something else that happened in April, my sister ran her first London Marathon in 4.42 hrs which is fantastic especially considering she had a bad injury which took her out of training for over a month before the big day!!! It was also her 40th birthday (although she doesn't look or act it) on the same day and I want to publicly say a big WELL DONE, I am so proud of you!!!

Stormy Sunday!

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a lovely weekend. It is a bit wet here in Surrey and I hear there is going to be a great storm tonight. I might be on my own with this but I love a good old storm but only if I am in doors wrapped up warm and can hear the rain splashing against the windows!!!! If I am out in it, that is a different matter, I hate having wet clothes and wet hair!!!Here are some more pieces that I have been creating over the last few weeks. The pictures seem a bit pale...I just received my new light tent and lights and think I am still getting the hang of it which is annoying cos I thought as soon as I used it, my piccies would come out perfect LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you can see, I have been busy making earrings. The first pair are made with gorgeous deep purple amethyst stones on Sterling Silver hoops.
I have loads of Sterling Silver wire so I thought I would do some hand shaping with swirls and hearts.

The pair above are made with Ruby Fuschite which has real rubies embedded in the stone!!! I love this colour combo, fab for the summer!!!


This bracelet is made using one of my favourite gemstones, Ocean Jasper. In real life it is a very dainty looking piece.

Pinch, Punch, 1st of the month!

Where did February go? I think I must have blinked and missed it!!! The weather has been lovely recently, very Spring like except last night...I thought we were in the middle of a hurricane at about 3 a.m. this morning, I could hear things being blown all over the place!!!

What have I been up to this last month? Well, my mojo has returned with a lovely tan and my head and note pad is brimming with ideas for new creations!!! I have been busy creating over the last few weeks and have finally got around to photographing some of them!!

I also went to a bead fair in Kempton Park in February and bought some Gorgeous (with a capital G!!) lampwork from a lady I hadn't heard of before, her name is Joanne Rohrer. The necklace, earrings and purple bracelet are made with her beads but I still have a couple of sets left and one has the most AMAZING aqua discs!!!!

It is Mother's Day tomorrow and I haven't made my lovely mum any jewellery as she now has so much, there isn't enough days in the year to wear it all...well, that is a slight exaggeration!!!

To all you Mummy's out there, I hope you have a lovely Mother's Day and you are spoilt rotten just as you should be!

Lovely day for a bike ride!!!

What a nice day it was today! I decided to get on my bike (which is very unusual for me!!) and cycled in to town. Thing was, I forgot that I had my bike and bought quite a lot of stuff that was heavy!! Luckily (or not for my purse!!!) there is a great bike shop in my town and so I bought and had fitted a basket! When I rang my hubby and told him he nearly wet himself with laughter and called me a granny!!! It is not a wicker basket but a rather stylish black wire affair (it should be made of gold for what it cost!!!!). I have never had a basket on any bike I have owned and it is really weird riding with it cos it makes the bike REALLY heavy and I was wobbling all over the place!!!! I think now I have got the basket, I will get out on my bike more! Lets see how long that idea lasts for!!!!

Mojo is still sunning it somewhere but I did manage to make a new bracelet. It is amazonite, rock crystal and sterling silver. It is actually a bracelet that I took apart and made in to something different. The original design had Blue Chalcedony in it however it went discoloured and a yellowish colour which looked awful :o(

I did a children's jewellery making party last Sunday and some of the children thought it would be helpful to put all the beads together (bless!!) so I have approx 50,000 small beads to sort through before the next party in less than 4 weeks time...ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend :o)