Silvergems's Blog

New beads listed in my Etsy shop!

silvergems89 — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:03:03 +0000

Hi everyone, it’s been a little while since i last posted here, i was very busy with work! But now i’ve had some time for myself and have listed a whole batch of new beads on my etsy shop!

I’d be very grateful if you could go and check them out here!

They include these:

I hope you like them

Gemma

Craft Pimp Blog Ring Week 5

silvergems89 — Fri, 20 May 2011 20:26:43 +0000

This week it is my great pleasure to introduce you to the wonderful Jolene of Kitzbitz Art Glass!

Jolene not only makes beautiful lampwork beads and supplies she also makes fabulous polymer clay beads! And as if that wasn’t time consuming enough she’s also the big chief boss lady at CraftPimp! (she’s also one of the nicest people you could possibly ever wish to meet )

I’ll stop waffling now and show you some eye candy

I’ve been a fan of Jolene’s lampwork ever since i started lampworking myself but when i think of her beads these are always the first ones that come to mind and are absolutely my favourite!

The same applies to these polymer clay beads, they’re so vibrant and fun!

And to round it all off a wonderfully artful shot of some of Jolene’s absolutely perfect lampwork twistie canes! I wish mine were all that neat and straight!

I think i have only just scraped the surface of Jolene’s talent so please go find out more about her and her work on her Blog, Website, Facebook page, Twitter and Flickr photostream. You can find Jolene’s beads for sale on her Etsy shop and her lampworking supplies are available here.

I’m sad to say I only have one more craft pimp member to introduce you to before this blog ring ends but i have certainly enjoyed taking part and hopefully i will have the chance to take part in another in the future!

I might actually blog about what i have been up to soon

Gemma

Craft Pimp Blog Ring Week 4

silvergems89 — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:49:28 +0000

I know you’re all probably thinking, “what happened to week 3?” well week 3 was my turn and i would like to say thank you to all those who wrote such lovely things about little ‘ole me

So let’s get on with the show shall we? This week its the turn of Hazel Brend of HazelB Handweaver!

Hazel hand weaves some of the most beautiful scarves and shawls i have ever seen! I have no idea about the process’ of weaving which i think makes them even more amazing because i can’t even imagine how it might be done!

I’m going to stop rambling and show you some of these amazing scarves because they really speak for themselves (and much better than i could ever say!).

I can just imagine someone wearing this gorgeous silk shawl to the theatre over a little black dress!

I think this one is most likely my favourite ( i say that because its really hard to choose just one out of all the beauties!) but this one stands out to me most because pink is my favourite colour and the textures in this scarf just make me want to stroke it!

And finally a picture of one of Hazel’s looms, looks all very complicated to me!

You can read more about Hazel on her Blog, and find more of her work on her website, Flickr and Etsy shop.

I hope you are all enjoying meeting these lovely members of the CraftPimp forum because i certainly am enjoying writing about them!

As always i hope you will join me again next week when i will be having a peek into the world of another craft pimp member!

Gemma

Craft Pimp Blog Ring Week 2

silvergems89 — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:25:05 +0000

It’s week 2 of the blog ring and time for me to introduce you to yet another lovely member of the craft pimp community. So I introduce to you Ruthie aka Ruth Duck!

Ruth makes some absolutely amazing and stunning bead pieces so let’s have a look at some shall we!

I love this pink ruffle necklace! Not only is pink my favourite colour but the feeling of movement in this piece is just something else!

And then we have this absolutely stunning beaded bead that i just know would be so tactile, i want to reach through the screen and touch it!

Finally we have a piece that is just completely mind blowing to me! I am absolutely useless with little tiny seed beads so i was already pretty much in awe at what Ruth does and then i came across this bead embroidered scarab pendant and i had to pick my jaw up from the floor! I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of time and effort that goes into a piece like this but i would say it is definitely worth it because the outcome is just amazing!

You can read more about Ruth on her blog and see more of her work on her Flickr photostream.

I hope you will join me again next week when i will take a closer look at another of the wonderful craft pimp members!

Gemma

Craft Pimp Blog Ring week 1

silvergems89 — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 18:58:46 +0000

I’m a member on a new web forum called Craft Pimp which has been created as somewhere members can showcase their work and talents and also meet other crafters to share ideas, network and generally chit chat! It was decided we would start a blog ring to further showcase the talents of the members, and for the first post of this blog ring i would like to introduce you to Nicola of Smitten Kitten.

Nicola describes herself as a keen crafter and devoted hobbyist who is passionate about making clean cut simple stylish jewellery. And i would have to say i think she does exactly that!

This dragonfly pendant is one of my favourite of her pieces, it’s so simple and elegant and the colours are just matched perfectly!

This pendant is another of my favourites, it’s so gentle and feminine, which is not really my usual style but this piece really appeals to me!

Nicola’s talent doesn’t stop with jewellery though, she also made these fun and funky ribbon brooches!

You can find more of Nicola’s work on her website Smitten Kitten, her Flickr photostream and also on her Blog.

Join me next week when i will visit the wonderful crafting world of another Craft Pimp member

Gemma

Apologies

silvergems89 — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:50:08 +0000

Oh dear, my blog has been very very neglected! I apologise for not posting in such a looooooong time! Lots of things have been happening here to keep me away though! I have a new job working as a Nursery Assistant and also training for my NVQ alongside working means my bead making time is very sporadic and usually short! I do have some news though, i now have a shop on etsy.com where you can buy my beads which can be found here and i hope to be adding more stock over the coming weeks! I am also a proud member of the Frit Happens! team on etsy, you can find work by our other wonderful members by putting FHFTeam 2011 in the search bar.

I think that’s about all for now so i will leave you with some pictures of what i have been making recently and the promise that i am going to try and update this blog more regularly!

I also hope 2011 is being kind to everyone out there so far!

Gemma

Flame Off 2010

silvergems89 — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 09:56:51 +0000

Yesterday i went to my first Flame Off event, and it was absolutely fantastic! It was great to meet so many other glass enthusiasts and put names to many lovely faces! Not to mention all the glassy goodies that were on offer, i did plenty of shopping naturally

Special shouts go out to the organisers Tuffnell Glass, all the people who organised the GBUK bead competition and display, all the artists who did demonstrations, they were brilliant! and last but not least all the lovely people who made my day so enjoyable!

Now i cant wait until next year!

oooops

silvergems89 — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:19:11 +0000

Oh dear, i’ve neglected this blog for the past few weeks, its seems like everything has been happening at once, i was ill with a virus for 2 weeks and then got a gum infection to top it off! But now im finally back at work they have decided they cant afford to have me work full time anymore, so have had my hours reduced to only 3 days a week, so now im on the hunt for a new job!

Some interesting things have happened while i’ve been away from here though, I spent a wonderful day at Tuffnell’s glass where i met some fantastic people and got to play with lovely new glass (and of course spend lots of money!) where I also joined GBUK! I also donated a bracelet for an auction a local university group are holding to raise money to help them get a stand at this years new designers event, so please head over to the auction HERE to have a look at the many gorgeous lots and hopefully you might be able to help!

And of course i have been making a few bits and bobs on the torch! Here’s some pictures!

These are the little collection of big hole beads i’ve made so far.

And these are some i made with some silver ivory stringer i made!

Anyway im really hoping to get back and start updating this blog more regularly now!

Hoping your all keeping well

Gemma

Progress update

silvergems89 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:07:25 +0000

The spare room has succesfully been emptied and my bench got put up yesterday Its not quite finished yet though, have to go and get some bits an bobs tonight to finish securing it and something to help support the extraction unit, all being well everything should be up and ready tonight, collecting some gas tomorrow hopefully and then i shall be able to have my first play! Im so excited, i’ll be dipping my mandrels tonight ready!

In the mean time i’d like to draw peoples attention to a special charity auction being run by Mel Poxon of Kookie Designs to raise money for the people suffering in the aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake. All the lots have been donated by very lovely, generous artists, and include lampwork, jewellery and more. So please pop over and have a look and place a bid if you can, Here: http://kookiedesigns.web.officelive.com/collectivecharity.aspx

Thats all for now, updates, probably with pictures once the set up is finished and i’ve made something!

Gemma

Sunshine Award =D

silvergems89 — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:08:45 +0000

I am very pleased to have recieved a sunshine award from the lovely June of Beaujolaisbeads, im so new to this blogging thing and it was a wonderful surprise

Heres to hoping i can figure this out!

The rules for accepting the Sunshine award are:

1) Put the logo on your blog or within your post

2) Pass the award onto 12 bloggers

3) Link the nominees within your post ~

4) Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5) Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

My sunshine award winners are:

1) Heather of Bumpy Beads

2) Sam of AuroraBeadz

3) Helen of LaLa Lampwork Beads

4) Emma of The Little Bead Shop

5) Keiara of ByKeiara

6) Marcy of StudioMarcy

7) Josephine of JosephineWadman

8) Shelley of GoodMonkey

9) Julie of LushLampwork

10) Janey of LemonKitten

11) Kate of SublimeBeads

12) Jo of JoBaileyDesigns

Phew, now to go comment and tell them all the good news!

Im going to be doing more work on here this week to hopefully get everything up and running smoothly, look out for updates and hopefully some piccies soon!

Gemma