All posts tagged: handmade jewelry

‘I like’ Friday

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Here are some things I am liking this fine Friday – I have been using smoked paprika a lot in recipes lately and I love to put it on fries, especially with an egg. Yums! Zines and handmade books  are the subject of a new Creative Bug class which has totally made me want to make a zine or two.  I have been making sketchbooks lately and the zine format is very appealing. The book I am now reading is Harmless Like You by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan and I am enjoying it so far.  I started a couple of books which I gave up on, but I think this one is a winner. Neocolor II crayons are my art supply of the moment.  I used water soluble crayons in art collage about a hundred years ago but I have not revisited them until very recently.  I have a handful of colours and I love to use them with a little water or gesso to spread them around. Handmade jewels used to be something I made all …

Taking Photos of Jewelry

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I have just added some new jewels to my little CatsEatDogs store on Etsy and as I was messing about in my garden taking photos while the boys ran around with Nerf guns, I thought I would share a bit of the process on here, with you all. I like having my photography studio outside, which of course means I don’t have a studio (maybe one day, when I grow up) so I take photos in the natural light provided in the outside department of my house. We have had the giant cable reel for ages and it is always being used as part of a base or some other adventure.  I scrubbed the top and gave it a brush and I like to use it for photos. By the afternoon the garden has some soft shade so I can get photos without the glaring sun and it’s harsh light, shadows and reflections. Amongst the Swingball game, the sweet peas on their circle of found bricks, the tomato plants and the raised beds, there I …

Genesis Moment for CatsEatDogs Jewellery (that’s me!)

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The Genesis Moment idea is the brainchild of the wonderful Rachael at The Bowerbird Girl blog. What was my ‘Genesis Moment’, the moment of ‘aha, that is what I want to do when I grow up’ for me? How has that developed into what I do now, what I am known for? That is the question and a tricky one I think, I am still not really sure what I want to do when I grow up. Do I have an answer, well yes, thanks for asking, I do. I have been making jewellery for a good many years, mainly for myself and now I sell it too. Only recently have I found my ‘what I do’, the ‘What are you known for’ part of the Genesis Moment. To be honest, I used to make jewels which I knew would be popular but they really weren’t my style, but someone had asked, so I obliged. These pieces are never your best work are they, kind of someone else’s idea really. A few years ago, I …

Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal 2014

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Remember I wrote about the Bead Soup Blog Party a while back?  Well, I mixed up my soup, added a few ingredients and off I went to create some jewels! This is the second year I have taken part in the ‘Pretty Things’ Bead Soup Blog Party and it is always so much fun. From the initial partnering up to the excitement of receiving my bead soup in the mail, to the making of the final pieces.  Here is what I made last year, I have to say I am still a little in love with that butterfly ring. I knew I wanted to make a ring this year and I also wanted to use linen thread in the main piece.  One of the coconut buttons begged me to be a ring and who was I to argue?   The salmon hue of the linen complements the heart focal perfectly I think. Thanks to Cassi of Beads: Rolling Downhill blog for my lovely Soup, I can’t wait to go and see what she did with …

CatsEatDogs New Wrap Bracelet

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I love to make jewelry and I love to wear it, so that works out!  This bracelet is for my Etsy shop, so I haven’t worn it, but I might well make another for me. This little number can be wrapped around your wrist or your ankle and even worn as a necklace. Yay, what choice! I used lots of wooden beads as they are my latest love. Among them, I added shell heishi and trade beads in pink and aqua. I piled all of my current bracelets onto a painted branch and I think they look super cool!  I enjoy colour and mixing colours and then making jewelry with the ensuing mix.  Here they are sitting in my mint patch, so maybe they smell nice now too!

New necklaces at CatsEatDogs

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I have been busy making new jewelry this week, once I started making these necklaces which can be worn short or long, I couldn’t stop!  I still have lots of ideas for more.  They are so easy to wear and go with almost everything. I have listed the necklaces in the pictures in my Etsy shop and each photo is a link to the item if you fancy popping over and visiting my shop. These necklaces like to be worn alone or together at different lengths, the knots slide to adjust the length. I have used acrylic faceted beads which are lightweight with just the right amount of sparkle and lots of wooden beads including some lovely vintage wood (the last photo).  I think the vintage is my favourite! What are you wearing this summer?  I love to pile on the bracelets and necklaces but not together, usually a pile of necklaces or an arm of bracelets! Happy weekend.

Is it Spring yet? Here are some new bracelets.

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I have listed these two bracelets in my Etsy shop today, I am happy with the photos and I love the bracelets!  These might be hard to part with, I mean how good they look together.  If you fancy a gander at my Etsy shop, click on either bracelet and you will travel by magic Etsy carpet over there! They are made with linen thread which holds together glass, lucite, shell and wood beads in an array of pinks then in a lovely array of blues. I wanted to go for an early Spring/Summer look, short sleeves will mean time to show off those bracelets and these bracelets are versatile little beauties as they can also be worn as necklaces.  Hurrah! Pop over to my Etsy shop where new jewels will be arriving on a regular basis.  I am working on a necklace at the moment which uses similar blues to the bracelet here.  As soon as it is finished, I will share! Happy weekend!  I will be back later with Six Word Saturday, when …

Nests as pendants

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I haven’t made a birdy nest for a while and I was happy to get making the little cute pies again. These new nests hang on ball chain which gives a nice casual look with a pretty little nest and eggs inside it. People often associate the nests with how many children they have (or how many they wish for). The eggs in the nests are pearls, glass or semi precious stones. One of my favourites here is the nest with the rose quartz eggs.

Catseatdogs new bracelet. Testing testing.

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I got these gorgeous organic shaped oval rings a while ago and it has taken a few attempts and a misguided bracelet or two to decide on this style. I love this wrap with the ring incorporated although my intention was for the wrap to be long enough to wrap the wrist five times instead of three. Need to recalculate the amount of starting thread!  Of course this is the reason I make things, test them, adjust and try again. This bracelet has been declared a success by me, so I will be making more, and they will wrap five times, unless I get it wrong again….! What do you think?  A little different for my usual wraps, but a worthy diversion which I like.