Bad weekend= good crafting!

So, far from our lovely plans for the weekend which were to inclu

de a trip to the zoo I ended up spending far too much of it at the emergency doctors and the rest confined to bed with a vicious chest infection. The real kicker was I knew on Friday that I was getting one so went to my own GP. The nurse who saw me could not hear anything on it so told me it was viral. 24 hours later I was diagnosed with a"nasty and loud" chest infection! I wish I could have a note put on my file saying I know when I am getting one! Would save a lot of fuss! STILL it is the first one I have had since I stopped smoking (nearly 24 months ago!) as opposed to the 3/4 I would get each year, and my peak flow mid attack was 350, when I smoked I would be lucky to get 300 on my best days!

Anyway being confined to bed is boring so I have been occupying myself with some crafts. The ones I worked on yesterday are for a swap and have not yet been sent, so you will have to wait patiently =)

This evening though I worked on some quick projects. First are for another swap which has not even been created yet! It is called the Sweat Shoppe Swap, and has regular rounds. The idea is to make between 3 & 9 items, on multiples of three, so you can make 1, 2or 3 sets of three items, 1 set of six and a three (or just six) or nine items. Pictures of these are posted before the sign ups close, and we then send our top picks to the wonderful organiser who matches us up with as many of our picks as possible, and then fills the gaps from things not on our pick list. However many items you send are how many you will get back. It is great fun and this will be my third round of it (or fourth if you include the Christmas ornament round). First round I sent sock monkeys, second we flannels I sewed up from a rainbow fabric, handmade soap and a home made candle for six of them, and three bracelets of dyed turquoise skulls and acrylic square beads, also in rainbow colours. This time I decided to make bracelets, they are fairly simple but I believe rather effective. I made three sets of three. Each set has hematite and a different semi precious stone. Ok I have talked too much here are some pictures.

What a Gem (set a: amethyst and hematite.)

What a gem (set b, adventirine l[I think] and hematite)

What a gem (set c, hematite and citrine)

I also made a couple of small, quick and easy things for me. Two pairs of earrings, the first ones were so easy but I loved the beads and did not want to over complicate them. Made from glass bead, silver coloured wire and sterling silver ear hooks:

The second pair were slightly more complicated but still awfully easy. I need to look up some earrings and get inspiration as I always just tend to string the beads on, there must be more I can do! Made from brass colour wire and charm and a glass bead, which is an even deeper blue in real life.

Lastly a simple strung bracelet using glass bicones (the diamond shaped one's) amethyst rounds, and according to the picture 3 glass rounds, which look exactly like the amethyst in real life, but the flash shows to be fake!!

Winter wonderland

Necklace

Some winter inspired jewellery

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Sunshine swap

The latest swap I did was a "Send a box of sunshine" swap. Just what I needed in this dismal weather!!! The point was to send a box of sunshine coloured things. I used both yellow and orange - as they both remind me of sunshine!

Firstly some soaps. These are lemon scented, orange on bottom, yellow on top - and each contain a few yellow coloured heart shaped beads for added interest. I added olive oil into the melt and pour base for these - so hopefully they will be lovely and moisturising :)

(Sorry for the shocking photo - I was desperately trying to get the box packed while I took them - and didn't realise that they would blend into the background so much!

Some candles (about tea light sized) I am pretty sure these are Jasmine scented - but I can't remember 100% - yes I know that is awful!

Then some jewellery - similar to styles I have made in the past - but with slight differences. First, the necklace - using dagger beads, silver seperators and using crimp beads to keep them in position whilst showing of the funky crimped wire! The dagger beads are a transparent yellow colour - this photo doesnt show the colour well!


Earrings - the same as I made myself for my cousin's birthday party - but using the yellow dagger beads - this picture is pretty spot on colourwise.

And lastly a bracelet - made using Citrine chips.

The parcel is currently on its way to America - I really hope my partner likes what I have sent!

purple and silver and red oh my!

These are two sets of jewellery I made for my cousins 30th birthday present and a necklace/earrings I made for me to wear to her party! Get mine out of the way first. The necklace was made with purple glass seed beads, purple glass dagger beads and some amethyst

 Next is the first set I made for my cousin. At the last minute I redid the necklace with smaller silver colouredcomponents but forgot to take an updated picture! The necklace is amethyst chips, red glass beads and silver coloured bead dividers. The bracelet uses delica beads and is done using the peyote stitch. The earrings are red glass and amethyst.

 

The last set is made from amethyst (she is also a purple freak!) And Garnets which are her birth stone.


 

Hope you have enjoyed. Will have another update later today hopefully!