VeeBeads!

New Toy!

2011-06-02T02:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't had time to do much in the way of bead making lately, and anyway my muse seems to have taken a little time off! I did get some nice shots with my new camera though, so I thought I would share them with you - who knows, maybe they'll inspire you?!

My website has launched!

2011-05-22T04:13:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, it's been a while again hasn't it? I do find I forget to post, which is very bad of me, I'll try and get back into the habit :-D
So, what news? Well, the most exciting news is that veebeads.net has gone live! I'm currently selling jewellery that I have made using my own lampwork beads, and, even more exciting perhaps, veebeads.net is now the UK home of Val Cox frit! I sell the Ample Sample size, and I also have some stock of the brand new sampler sets, and Vals wonderful Frit Secrets book, signed by the author. Have a peek!
I've also started a new group on Flickr, We Love Val Cox frit! is open for anyone to join, hopefully there will be lots of gorgeous fritty beads added soon :-)
Here's a few of the beads I have been working on lately, I know you love the eye candy!

Hard work and a pressie for me!

2011-03-03T05:40:00.000-08:00

It has been quite a challenging time recently, work has bee really stressful, and ther is more stress to come! I am also in the middle of creating my new website, watch this space for news on the launch date, I'm hoping to have something very exciting to share with you!
Why is it that listings take so long? And getting descent photos at this time of year is nigh on impossible, then you have to crop and edit and compress etc, nobody told me it would be such hard work! I've hardly made anything over the last couple of weeks!

Anyway, I did find a little time, and this necklace was partly planned, so I finished it with a new bead I made a couple of weekends ago. I made it to sell, honest I did! But when I saw it finished on the bust, well, I decided I couldn't bear to part with it! So here's a little present, just for me!

Doesn't time fly?....

2011-02-04T06:43:00.000-08:00

I am shocked and dismayed at how long it has been since I posted here, so I hope to make it up to you by treating you to some new eye candy!
After a difficult end to 2010, and even with an uncertain future ahead, I have found the time and inspiration to make a few new things.
The weather here isn't really conducive to taking great photos, so it will be a while before you see these items popping up in my Etsy store....... just think of this as a sneak preview of things to come!!

Phoenix Collar

2010-06-02T08:50:00.001-07:00

Well, with my bonus from work, I invested in some "kit", including some of the delica palette boxes from Spellbound Beads. I'd had an idea for this necklace jotted down in my notebook for a while, and I'd made the lampwork bead a while back too. I wrapped the bead in copper wire and finally decidede to use it!
I designed the whole necklace from start to finish, and I made a note of how I did it, as I have another focal in lovely meditteranean colours that I want to use in a similar necklace!

By the end of day 2, this is how it was shaping up:

You can just about see the original idea scribbled on the page!

And after three days solid, here is the finished article:

I'm rather pleased with how it turned out, and I already know how I'm going to evolve the design with other added "elements". Watch this space!

A Lava-ly time!

2010-03-21T09:41:00.001-07:00

I have been making quite a few beads lately, and have re-visited an old friend in the lava beads. I enjoy making them, there is no need for them to all be the same size or pattern, they are just organic pebbles really! The first neclace here is the second one I made actually. I made the clasp from heavy gaugue copper wire which has been hammered and wrapped (and prompted a custom order for sterling ones, yay!). There are some swarovski bicones and some snakeskin jasper beads in here too, and the spacers between the round beads are new for me as well, round flat peyote stitch. The necklace is a whopping 85cm from clasp to clasp, plus the pendant is an extra 7cm.

This one I made with a 2 hole bead, made with my button mandrel. That clasp is mine too!

Finally here are the earrings I made for Mum for Mother's day. Thank goodness she liked them!

The Devil Wears Denim!

2010-01-28T06:36:00.000-08:00

I had a go at St Petersburg chain stitch, single and double, and this was the result! It was an experiment really, I wanted to make something that looked like it had almost been zipped together, and I felt the stitch might achieve this look. Not quite, but I am still pleased with the result. It's given me some ideas too, which can only be a good thing, don't you think? ;-)

The fab focal was a birthday pressie from my Frit Happens friend Shahlaa.

FHF Team spotlight, new!

2010-01-26T13:36:00.000-08:00

This week it is the turn of Trudi. Trudi creates beautiful lampwork beads and jewellery, please take a look!
You can see Trudi's work here : www.glitteringprize.co.uk

Thank you!

I've been at those Sparkles again!

2010-01-19T06:51:00.000-08:00

I made some more Sparkle pendants from Lynn Davy's tutorial, these are destined to be turned into jewellery once I can afford to buy some stuff to make it with!

Frit Happens Forum Team Spotlight - Jo Bailey

2010-01-19T06:28:00.000-08:00

This weeks Forum spotlight is Jo Bailey.
www.jobaileydesigns.co.uk

Jo makes beautiful Jewellery as well as being an embroiderer and seamstress! Take a look at her site, I dare you not to be tempted!

New Listing on Etsy!

2009-12-20T06:15:00.001-08:00

I have just listed this bracelet in my Etsy shop. The focal is made by me, the "frame" beads are Clare Scott's. The wirework and beadweaving is all my own, oh and so is the toggle bead. I hope you like it!

Beadweaving!

2009-12-20T05:47:00.000-08:00

I can't torch at the moment, for ventilation and pain in the a** gas reasons. I'm going to have to go onto bulk fuel sometime in the new year, buyt until then, what's a creative gal to do?

Well, I have resolved to learn beadweaving and wirework, so that I can make more jewellery from my own beads! And I have found that I rather enjoy beadweaving, It's quite therapeutic really :-) I recently made these following a tutorial from Lynn Davey (currently available in this listing) The sparkly crystals are Swarovski!

Then there was a challenge on Frit happens, so I learned Tubular Peyote stitch and made a Cellini Spiral tube bead, which then demanded to be turned into an icicle!

What fun!

Etsy Treasury!

2009-11-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I was one of the lucky ones and managed to bag a Treasury on Etsy. I filled it with lovely rainbows to cheer you up in these dull grey days. You can see it here, please sign into Etsy and click on the pictures, they really will cheer you up!!

Click HERE to see it.

Thanks for looking!

For Sale on Etsy - more listings added today!

2009-11-01T07:22:00.000-08:00

I have just listed a couple more beadies, I hope you like them!

For Sale on Etsy!

2009-11-01T04:12:00.001-08:00

These are the beads I currently have for sale on Etsy, hope you like them!

Slacking...

2009-11-01T03:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been slacking lately, haven't I? So very rude of me! I have started writing "The Trials and Tribulations of a Newbie Lampworker" for the Frit Happens Forum Team blog, and it reminded me that I have neglected my own blog something chronic! So, what have I been up to lately? I have made a good few beads, of course. Some eye candy coming up any minute. I have also had my first two Etsy sales, about which I am amazed! My first sale was to a lady called Jean, and she sent me this picture of what she made with it....I'm sooo chuffed :-) Thank you Jean!

This is the other bead that sold last week:

The next post will show you the other beads I currently have for sale on Etsy, wish me luck!

Even more Macmillan Beads!

2009-08-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

This is the final one for this coming Friday. Thanks!

More Macmillan Beads!

2009-08-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

These start this Friday:

Beads for Macmillan

2009-08-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

I have decided to sell some of my beads on ebay to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. The first four here have already sold, the ones in the next post are a sneak peek of some that will start on Friday. I hope to raise as much as possible as part of the Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning which takes place on 25th September 2009. I am very grateful to the members of the Frit Happens Forum who have donated much of the glass used to create these beads. Thank you!

More Pendants

2009-06-28T03:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been busy with the drop pendants again. I am loving the results so far, and the lovely Sam from the FH forum has annealed some for me, and they survived! I will sort out my Etsy shop very soon to see how they get on...
In the meantime, here are a few more...

No Time!!!

2009-06-08T12:45:00.000-07:00

Post and run, but I adore this bead!!

Signature beads?

2009-06-06T03:54:00.000-07:00

I have been experimenting with a new bead shape to create these long dangly pendants. I am having a blast making them, and I think they are becoming my first "Signature" bead style. The shortest one of these lovelies is 4.5 cm, that's over an inch and a half long!
Oh, and the green one on the right is now living around my friend Nikki's neck, and very pretty it looks too!

New glass!

2009-06-06T03:48:00.000-07:00

These beads have been made with a glass called "Aurae" which is an absolutely amazing glass. The glass rod is pale transparent pink, but when you melt it it goes all shiny. It can be as shiney as a mirror or have a softer, silkier look as it does here. I love it! Even if it does dent the bank balance quite badly.......

No, I haven't disappeared completely.........

2009-06-06T03:41:00.000-07:00

I have just been extremely busy! I have, however, found a few little pockets of time to play with molten glass over the past few weeks, and here are the results!

Goddesses

2009-04-24T04:25:00.001-07:00

I have tried some glass sculpting, these are "Goddess" beads!

More from me

2009-04-24T04:22:00.000-07:00

I have been playing with molten glass again! It's fun!

OMG!! I MADE BEADS!!

2009-04-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

I finally got myself some equipment to create my own lampwork beads! I have always admired what lampworkers can achieve with molten glass, but the craft has been prohibitively expensive, until now! I will have to save up for a kiln ( £600, that's gonna take a while! ) before I can sell anything, as the beads have to be annealed, that is they need to be cooled down really slowly so they don't shatter when worn as jewellery. So for now I can only practise getting shape, size and colour right. Anyway, here are some of my first offerings. I made the larger beads on the earrings (top right), the clear bead and the flower bead at the bottom, the white speckled beads and the two unstrung beads. I had a blast, but I ran out of gas for my torch, so I can't do anymore for a while. How we suffer for our art! I will be setting up an Etsy shop soon to sell some of my jewellery, the proceeds of which will go towards feeding my new glass addiction!

2009-04-06T23:53:00.000-07:00

I was playing around, putting colours together, and the pink and green reminded me of a watermelon! I love watermelon, it's so refreshing and sweet and colourful. I can see me creating a range called "Tutti Frutti" or something!

2009-04-06T23:48:00.000-07:00

I have had these silver coloured beads in my stash for over 20 years! Does that make them vintage? It is nice to be able to do something with them after all this time, I think these neclaces have a Medieval look to them.

2009-04-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

The bead is the thing here. I really loved the colours of these beads, so I have simply strung and knotted three together. Foiled Indian glass can be so pretty!

Comic Relief Prizes

2009-03-15T03:02:00.000-07:00

I got my hands on some bead sets which I had coveted for a while, and these are the first two necklaces I made from those sets. I gave these as prizes in a raffle for Comic Relief. The pendants were made by threading the first bead then knotting at the mid point lengthways. I then passed both ends of the thread through the second bead, so that they crossed in the middle. Knotted at the mid point again and so on. I don't think they are too bad for a first attempt in 20 years!

How Exciting!

2009-03-15T01:33:00.000-07:00

After about 20 years of hardly picking up a single bead, I have finally started jewellery making again! I have already made several necklaces, two of which I raffled for Comic Relief on Friday. I will start uploading pictures as soon as I have taken them, see you soon!