Haematite Honey

As we all know our GG can't get enough haematite so I made her a wee pair of earrings with these super haematite Vs. (I must get around to photographing and posting my other earrings made from the same Vs at some stage!) And I added a little plastic rice pearl bead to the centre and hung two like plastic pearls from the bottom to make them a little more fancy.

The Vs are free to spin around the centre headpin which wasn't what i had intended at the beginning but I like the way it changes the impression of the earrings - so you're really getting two styles for the price of one!

So there they are in all their glory - enjoy them now because (unsurprisingly) they no longer exist - yes, that's right Miss G has struck again and destroyed yet another present. This time I believe they smashed onto a tiled floor when she was away galavanting for the weekend - oh well, dont' worry little earrings - 'cause if you gotta go at least you may as well have a smashing time!!!

Love Hearts

So I have by-passed some Christmas presents and jumped right up to Valentine's Day (so what if it was over a month and a half ago?!) Here is a necklace I made for Spooners, these 'crimp-style' necklaces are so quick and easy and they can still look really effective. I got these fuzzy hearts in France last year and have posted earrings of the same type before.

I added 2 little flower spacers on either side of the centre heart just to make it stand out and left the rest of the necklace very simple. See... Very minimalistic... well, sort of!

Pretty and speedy. I heart them.

That Looks A Bit Fishy!

Ok first of all - 'blushing face' - apologies for being away so long. I have been experiencing a bit of a crafting drought at the minute but that still doesn't excuse the fact that I havent posted previous pieces - so sorry and here goes...

Very late to post Christmas pressies I know but I have only just sucked these pics off my camera (more to come) but here is the pres I made for my lovely Mama for Christmas.

The reason for the title refers to the name of the wire weave around the red glass beads - it's called Herringbone Weave! It doesnt take long (this necklace took me one evening watching a movie) and you can make the weave as large or as small as you like. So here's a close-up to get a better look at the wire.

I made 5 wire weaves around each side of the bead and I chose red beads as my Mummy has lots of red clothes and accessories. You can use Herringbone to make earrings, rings and bracelets so it's a very versatile technique and one I will definitely use again in the future. So just before I go, here's a pic of my lovely aforemention Mumo modelling said necklace. Love you Mum!

Got To Bag It Up

It really does seem to me that I am forever posting bag charms but I have only ever made 4 so I don't see how that could be the case?! Anywaysies. I made this for Katrin(sp?) to thank her for letting us stay in her house over the summer. We really did have a super time. Handsome Prince loved the house and said it reminded him of his family home (high praise indeed) and for me it was great to be back among familiar places and smells (the swimming pool, the cellar, etc). So now that I think about it, this in-no-way was a sufficient present to give - oh well, will have to do better next time!!

For this one I chose a summery-themed combo of pinks and greens, heart, flowers, stars - and rather randomly - a teapot. But I love the little teapot, so quaint and homely. But I think I definitely need to add more charms next time I make a bag charm, when it comes to presents - less is never more!!

Ladies In Lavender

Very unexpectedly a lovely lady called Mary gave me money and a beautiful card for my birthday. This is the second card she has given me and the first came at a very difficult time in my life so I wanted to make her a little present to say a giant thank-you for her thoughtfulness and her generosity on both occasions. I wasn't sure what to make her but I had recently purchased a bag of mixed findings and one was a brooch pin so I thought I would give it a go. I chose the colour purple as it is beautiful and regal (and coincidentally I found out afterwards it is also her favourite colour - bonus!). I had a bit of trouble trying to make it appropriately mature but also give it a little edge so I just used a collection of different beads and pearls and wrapped them randomly around each other and the pin until I found a way that displayed the most beads as prettily as possible.

(Apologies for the appalling photos - I took them in bad light, at too close a range and without using a tripod so almost all the pics are dark and fuzzy but I tried to use the best two I could find here!!) I like the random quality of the arrangment and it is truly unique as I have no definite pattern to follow so I wouldn't even know how to make it again if I wanted to!!!

Bags of Charm!

Sooo this bag chain was for Tante Lidi herself when we saw her over the summer (slap on my wrist for only posting these now!) and I tried to make it 'age-appropriate' so I didn't have any skull&crossbones hanging off the chain but on reflection I think it looks a tad sparse - mayhaps I should have added a couple more charms?! Oh well, Let's assess it for what it currently is...

I did have trouble trying to construct the charms (with hindsight I see all the things I would have done differently) but I really am quite proud of two particular charms that I 'fabricated' - or well - at the very least I 'embellished' them.

First up is the wee bunch of cherries charm:

Obviously being a boy, Handsome Prince had not the faintest idea what this was supposed to be but both my beautiful sisters recognised it for what is was/is. It was quite fiddly to work with but I really liked the result and cherries are fabulous (both in terms of eating and accessorising with!)

And next up the lily charm:

This one is a bit of a cheat because I had the flower charm but improvised a little stamen/stigma out of tiny multi-coloured seed beads. A few green tube beads for the stem and a little leaf completed this particular charm.

I followed up the flower theme with some metal petal (it's fun to rhyme!) and flower charms, a couple of chains and a few Swarovskis and it was good to go!!!

Winter Star

Even though I made this necklace in July I think it looks a lot more 'winter appropriate' than summer. I was a super-duper easy necklace I made for my second-cousin Charlotte who (very kindly) let Handsome Prince and I stay in her room when we visited Tante Lidi in the summer.

Just a wee token to say Thank-you!!

Blue pearl beads, opaque blue swarovski crystals, blue shell star and little metal stars - such a lovely blend of beads and blues - in fact, it's a very good remedy for 'the blues' - pearls, crystals and stars - they make my heart happy!

Birthday Girl

It was my lovely sister-in-law’s birthday in late September so when we were over in Germany for the wedding I brought her present over with us to save on postage costs! Part of the pres was (of course) a handcrafted necklace which she wore to the wedding (it really was a very successful marketing day for Gingerbelle Jewellery with all of my beautiful life models mingling among the masses!)
Her necklace had to be young and a little bit funky so I chose these iridescent pearls and clear cube beads to make it a little bit more age-appropriate. I have since made this particular necklace two more times for craft sales (one in my college – youth-themed and one for the craft day that Spoon (of House of Spoon see:http://houseofspoon.blogspot.com/) and I tutored at last Saturday!)

And just for her I added in a rather coolio catch (though I must admit it is a little bit odd to use at first because it works differently to regular catches) a little heart to match the heart at the end of the extension chain. (Never enough hearts!)

And finally here is the lovely lady herself sporting the item in question and doing a stellar job at inadvertently advertising and promoting Gingerbelle Jewellery (aka GBJ)!! Good on you girl!!

Le Coeur Bleu

And last but certainly not least – I made a necklace for the eldest St Andre as Rachel doesn’t have her ears pierced. I asked her what her favourite colour is and she said ‘all of them’ – in French obviously! Which didn’t really narrow it down but she did say she liked yellow and blue so imagine my delight when I spotted this gorgeous lampwork heart pendant in Abacus Beads?! I snapped it up and then used the yellowy-greeny-bluey tinge as a basis and located a few of the cube beads in various shades of blue and green and used little goldy-yellow round beads as accents!

The heart was rather heavy so I used two lengths of Tigertail to give the necklace extra support (which it definitely needed!) On the day of the wedding (when I was giving the girls their presents) Rachel was actually wearing a beautiful heart necklace so at least I know it is a style she likes and she put it on right away and wore it the whole day – so I was really chuffed!

GoldFish?? (ok ok, I know! -but GoldMammal didn't work so well!)

So Sonia (or SoSo)'s fave colour is yellow (jaune) just like me (moi aussi)!!! So I loved making a yellow pair. SoSo was the only St Andre to have her ears pierced over the summer (Amandine and Deborah only got theirs pierced last month) and she had one pair of long dangly earrings so I thought I would change it up a bit and give her these little round pair. [With hindsight I think she might have prefered a long pair but these ones are definitely my favourite of the three I made.]

I used wee dolphins to add a bit of charm [haha - see what I did there?] And the wee golden balls and yellow crystals give the lovely sunshine yellow that we love!!

Be There Or Be Square

Soo for Deborah I made these wee square cascade earrings. They are copies of 'Shiny Disco Balls' that I posted earlier but using square beads. It takes a bit of time to make this style but they always look really good on people, probably because there is so much going on and they are pretty from any angle. Her favourite colour is also purple so I chose pinks and purples for this pair.

They are fun and young and I think the wee boxes work just as well as the round beads...in fact I fancy a pair myself!!!!

Oui, c'est l'amour

When I was in France over the summer visiting my beloved 'Famille Francais' Handsome Prince's youngest female cousin Amandine admired my earrings (which were bought in the Claire's Accessories shop in Dublin airport on the way over!) they are tiny dangly silver hearts with love written in joint writing in the middle. I didn't even know Amandine could speak English never mind read it (but apparently it is now on their Primary School curriculum)! But she pointed at them, squeaking with delight and said, "love". Anyhoo Prince Charming and I were in Germany last month at Yan&Dan's wonderful wedding, and as Miss Amandine was also to be in attendance, he asked me to make jewellery pieces for all his little cousins for all the lovely gifts his uncle and aunty had given us while we were in France.

Soooooo (after that very long intro!) here are the earrings I made for Amandine who just got her ears pierced last month. Her favourite colour is (purple) so that was the signature colour of the beads and I knew I wanted to make something simple (not too fancy) and yet not too childish either. But either way it definitely had to feature something to do with 'love' and when I saw these little charms online I purchased them instantly with her in mind.

In the end I think the style of these are slightly old for her but she adored them and immediately shouted 'love!' in her beautiful little french accent as soon as she saw them, so I'm thrilled that she likes them.

How Much Is That Doggy In The Window...Woof Woof??!!

So in honour of the beloved (and unbelievably naughty!) Amber I wanted to make a piece to commemorate her incorporation into the family. Now, obviously for anyone even remotely familiar with Gil's pill-ish pup, they will know that there is NO WAY ON EARTH that I could make something for the little scamp herself as she would undoubtedly have it broken, destroyed, decimated and, no doubt, swallowed within 2 micro-seconds of receiving it (which is such a shame because it would be such an innovative business direction to branch out into doggy jewellery...hmm...I wonder...) Anyway as I couldn't make something for Ambino herself I made something 'Amber-themed' for GG.

This wee charm bracelet contains every single dog-ish charm i could find in shops and online!! (They are: a food bowl with 'Spot' on it, a doghouse, a pink bone, a wee heart with 'I love my dog' on it, a puppy, a silver bone, 'woof', a 3-D doghouse and a bone with 'Number 1 dog' on it). I think this is the first time I've used one of my toggle clasps which are better suited to bracelets than necklaces I think... (oh I've just remembered Copper Heart - my first entry uses a toggle clasp!) and I think they really add to the overall look of the piece as bracelets are viewed from all sides there is no definitive 'front' and 'back'. My favourite charms are the heart, puppy and silver bone, especially the wee bone - I even get the urge to bite it!!

Again - apologies for the photo, I can't currently crop any images.

So GG (true to form) had this charm bracelet all of one day before she broke it - typical! So it has been patched up and past back with a warning not to use this chain to bungie-jump, tow her car, climb a tree with - or whatever, it is only a very soft metal chain so I am reiterating the warning - go gentle GG, now I know where The Ginger Whirlwind aka Amber gets it from!!! Enjoy you two!

Hey Peeps

Apologies for the lack of posts but my work computer has been changed and it is preventing me from editing my photos so I can't post them at the minute. Am still waiting for a resolution but in the meantime I will search through and see if I have any 'ready-to-go' pics that I can post here just as they are... hopefully I'll get this sorted out sometime this week. Love to all. Stay Sparkly!

All The Better To See You With My Dear

So for Mama I made a glasses chain so that she wouldn't lose her specs as she goes about her daily biz. Very simple concept and incredibly easy to make. All I had to do was choose the colour (red) which suits wee Mum's red trainers and add a few silver rose beads and hey presto!

I added a couple of dangly details (the wee Made With Love tag) and two butterfly wings hanging back to back to give a bit of texture and add another dimension to the piece (that sounds very space-y - adding "another dimension!").

Anyway it's a hit with me as it's speedy to make, pretty and practical!

Beautiful!

Fuzzy Hearts

I heart these wee earrings. They are the first pair of stud-back earring I've made and I will definitely be making more. My hook-back earrings all tend to be very long but I like the stubby and sturdy look to this pair. I got the wee hearts in a craft shop in France and couldn't wait to get them home to try out some Valentines inspired pieces!!


I simply added a bicone spacer bead, a mini pearl bead and a little faceted red bead - easy as pie (oh...pie...yummy!!!!). Made in a matter of minutes (certainly less than 5) and ready to wear - perfecto!

Just Peachy!!!

[Please ignore the un-ironed pillowcase in the background - I had a small problem with my jewellery busts]
So this piece is for my Mama, it had to be classy (like her) but not too sophisticated that she wouldn't have any occasion to wear it. It had to be simple but pretty. And it had to be casual but special. Much like Muma herself. Sooo I choose these utterly delicious peachy pearls when I was in La France pour mes vacances, which are perfecto for Mumito as she wears lovely peachy-pinky shirts to her new fabulous work!!!

In between the front pearls I added a little sparkly rondelles (I ADORE them!!) and I think they just lift the whole necklace. The sparkles come from Germany – now let me quantify that statement with news that Muma will probably not find too pleasant so I apologise but just keep in mind “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” – Muma – confession – I found these beads – on the street – as part of a silver, gold and sparkly necklace. I deliberated about using them – normally I loath anything second-hand (I can’t abide owning copied DVDs, not thrilled with second-hand books either – except the really old ones! They are fabulous!) Anyway I just love the sparkles, plus they would be pretty pricey to purchase so the fact that I got them gratuis is even better – so apologies but that’s where they come from. Even so they do a stellar job in highlighting the pearls and adding a little je ne sais quoi to the overall effect.

And my Sweeto has worn it ever since I gave it to her (I must say I'm very flattered!), she even wears it in bed and in the shower - but I have noticed this is not reacting too well with the wire in the Tigertail so it may have to be restrung but I dont mind - I'm just delighted she loves it enough to wear it - which is what this whole blog is about!!!

Hello Laura!!!!!

This is just a wee quick message to say "Hello, top o' the morning to ya and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!" To the beautiful Miss Laura B all the way over in Oz!!!! I am delighted to hear that you got engaged - good on you girl!!!! And also so pleased to hear that you are following my blog - unfortunately I can't seem to get onto your blog at all?! So please email me an invite to it and I'll send one to you so you can comment whenever you wish! Also - awesome work on trying out the peg earrings, so simple and so funky! Keep it up and get a pic of you wearing them on your blog so that when I finally get on it I can see your handiwork!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves!

So the Pill is back from Germania and what better way to celebrate the reunion of the schwestern than with jewellery?! So in celebration of my lovely sisses I made them each a pair of earrings that reflect parts of their personalities! Hooray for personalisation of jewellery!!

So for Spooners obviously the earrings had to include a spoon!! I found the delight-inducing spoon charm in Belfast and snapped it up immediately! Also Junio is known for her love of stars and as is engraved into her graduation watch - she is our star - so I blinged out the earrings with as many stars as I could find (my fave is the wee tiny one!) Plus the blue star just fitted perfectly with the blue theme to match her eyes (typical blue eyed blondie!) - I just realised that almost everything I make for June is blue...hmm...according to Mum's rhyme it really ought to be maroon!!

The blue shard(?) also matches the one on her sailor necklace (I just love intertextuality!) and then on the other earring I made a heart out of blue wire and hung a wee colander off it to signify Spooners' love for cookery (and for Super D?!) I was torn between using a wee teapot charm (as J loves her tea!) but in the end I went with the colander as it is way cuter and more unique (much like the girl herself!) More stars and the wee clothes peg is rather topical as she has just invented a craft that requires pegs to string up letters to welcome guests and also she has a certain small (yeah right!) love of clothes - making and wearing!! So all in all, this is a rather true portrait of June through the medium of jewellery!

Now as for GG I did follow mum's wee mantra of 'Green Gill' - especially true because GG, a true redhead, knows how to rock a good green! So I took inspiration from her internal elf-nicity and went for a foresty, leafy look! So I used the leaf charm and a lovely green leaf shaped bead I bought in Germany (to remind her of fun times!). I made the green chain that the leaf charm hangs from by bending green wire, easy-peasy and it looks groovy too! I also made the green wire spiral spring which, in my opinion, combines architecturiness and whimsy - much like the Pill!

To show Gilzo's engineeriness I included a 'ruler' charm and following in the stationery theme, the wee 'pencil' charm signifies her superb artistic skills in painting and sketching! And finally I added two green safety pins (which I bought in France - these earring components are so well travelled - European-tastic!) to add a little (s)punk to the piece, making them just a little edgy and alternative - just like G!

Is there a better way to express love than through jewellery - I think not!

Cuff Round The Ear... ops! I mean... Wrist!!

I was out shopping when I spotted a groovy wrist cuff in Castlecourt around Easter and I bought it to bring home and try my hand at replicating it, on my first go I used second-hand beads as I wasn't sure how it was going to work out (this one would definitely be at the difficult end of the jewellery making scale) so the beads are a little bit crazy multi-coloured but it's kind of fun!
(If I make it again I think I will use mini pearl beads to make it a little classier!)

I didn't have any measurements for this so I just laid wire along the bought bracelet to gauge the length of each piece - the bought one is much stronger than mine and bounces back into shape a lot more easily (mine tends to take on the shape of the last way in which it was bent) and despite all my attempts at measurements (which are reknowned for being poor at the best of times!) this one is a little too big for my wrist but it does make a nice mid-forearm-near-elbow cuff!

The plaiting was pretty hard and all the lengths are tapered (in the bought one) so I just attached them all at an angle to make them fit!! As mine is a little on the generous side space-wise whenever I wear it I use ribbons to hold it together, Handsome Prince says I should attach lobster claw clasps to hold it together but I think that will take away from the overall effect, after all this type of cuff isn't really supposed to have a fastening, just cling to your wrist and then spring back to shape after you take it off and I think (in my humble opinion) that the ribbons are sweet and add a whole other dimension (if slightly out of theme) to the whole ensemble!