New arrivals

Finally my order for tumbled gemstone beads, handmade lamp work beads, Silver Foil Beads, manufactured glass beads, Soapstone and wooden beads has arrived. This was probably my single most expensive purchase to date, since I began making jewellery, but things have really picked up for me that I thought I would buy in bulk rather than one strand at a time. I thought I could make what I wanted and then sell any excess beads, findings to other jewellery makers and hobbyists. That is exactly what is happening. I only sell at the markets that I attend but I am seriously thinking of upgrading my jewellery web site to something more professional looking and having a site to sell beads and findings designed for me. More on that later. At the moment these are just thought bubbles. My immediate priority is still to get my house in order after the cyclone. My application for assistance is in, I am now waiting for quotes from tradespeople and then my application can be assessed. I am learning patience so that is a good thing that has come out of all of this.

But that is not why you are reading my blog, I'm sure. You probably want to see some of big and beautiful tumbled gemstone beads and some of things I have made with them already. I have already sold some pieces I have made. Unfortunately I couldn't take photographs because I leant my camera to a friend to take on holiday with him but luckily another friend came to check out his house and he leant me his camera so I have some recent shots to show you. Isn't it wonderful how everything works out in the end.

These are pieces I have made using my new gemstones and glass beads. I'll post pieces individually so you can better look. As usual, I headed  down to the beach to take my shots. The weather is starting to clear and I certainly prefer shots in natural light to indoor shots. I hope you do to!!!

This is a piece I have sold already. One of my regular  customer’s is travelling to England to visit her sister, who    loves green, so she bought this piece. It looks really fabulous on and feels great to wear. Some people think that glass and the tumbled gemstones I am using at the moment are heavy but when they put the pieces on they mostly say that the weight feels good and is very comfortable. I guess people are so used to wearing the plastic costume jewellery that is sold in many retail outlets that they are not used to the weight of natural materials. Of course, there are natural materials that are light weight. My seed jewellery featured in a previous post is one examples of this.

 This piece is stunning, if I do say so myself. Made of tumbled Amethyst gemstones, some wrapped in Sterling Silver some not, Amethyst roundells and big purple silver foil glass discs this lariat certainly is an attention grabber. It is unique. Below you can see what it looks like on. A friend of mine, Julie, very generously modelled some of my pieces for. So thanks again Julie. Maybe next time you are over from Perth we can have a photo shoot on the beach, that is of course if it's not raining.

I had originally ordered Peridot Tumbled Gemstones but there were none available so this was my second choice, Yellow Onyx, and I am so pleased with it. This is a simple Sterling Silver Bracelet I made with these lovely, happy, sunny Gemstones. Despite being large stones it is quite an elegant piece and will go well with just about any outfit, casual to formal.

 Tumbled Moonstone and rose Quartz come together in this playful necklace. It makes me hungry when ever I look at it because it reminds me of Coconut Ice and that just happens to be one of my favourite confectioneries, home made of course. It feels good to wear and it finished with a silver toned toggle. I use 49 strand flexi-wire on my pieces. It offers strength and flexibility which are both important, for these bolder pieces especially.

 This is similar to the previous piece, a little longer and made with tumbled Moonstone and Aquamarine. The tumbled gemstones are separated by Tibetan Silver Beads and finished with a silver toned toggle. By the way, these toggles are all made of brass so won't rust like some of the silver plated iron toggles available on the market. Once those types of toggle start to rust, which doesn't take long, the piece is ruined so I use either solid Sterling Silver Toggles or Silver Toned Brass Toggles. I find them to be the best.

Below you can see Julie modelling this Necklace. It looks fabulous on and it's a great length.

 

 Tumble Citrine Gemstones wrapped in Sterling Silver and finished with a Sterling Silver Toggle. I really love this Bracelet. While it measures 8 inches it is for a smaller wrist. The tumbled Gemstones are large and so you need the extra length to around a smaller to average wrist.


Below you can see it being worn. Yes, that is Julie's wrist.