Special Gift for Fathers Day

Hello everyone,

Bit of a crazy week this week, have had to make myself scarce at home as the house is on the market & we are having a fair amount of viewings.

I just wanted to remind you that Sunday 19^th June is Fathers Day & if you are stuck for gift ideas then why not a pair of cufflinks?  You can go for my classic fused glass style, or for something a bit more personal then how about these fun letter cufflinks?   

Made from Vintage Scrabble Tiles you can choose the initials to make a personalised set.  The scrabble cufflinks are just £10 and come gift wrapped in a pillow box.  Letters are subject to availability … there are only so many letters tiles in a set of scrabble!

Have a lovely week

Kendra x

www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

Chiyogami Pendants

Hello everyone,

How's your week been?  I'm getting through one day at a time, it's all I can do.

Last weekend I managed to make some pendants I've been longing to make for a while.  The inspiration was from an american artist a friend of mine found on the internet & I instantly fell in love with her artwork.  On her website she sells jewellery of her artwork, glass tiles with the artwork image, after speaking by e-mail with the wonderful artist, Rebecca Sinz (Elvenstar Art), she told me how it was done after I explained I made jewellery & loved fusing glass & it was much simpler than I originally thought it was.


It's taken me just over a year to find a supplier of the glass tiles, but then I don't have any wonderful artwork to reproduce for the jewellery, so my idea was to use some beautiful chiyogami origami paper I found when I was clearing out Dad's house.  Chiyogami is used to describe one type of Japanese paper. These are hand-silk screened mulberry papers many of which are embellished and consist of repeated patterns. Chiyogami/Yuzen patterns are based on traditional designs, including flowers, plants, butterflies, birds or geometric patterns.

I adore the colours & the patterns, not all of them worked out as pendants so I've made some cute little badge sized ones.  These should be available soon on my Misi Store.

That's all for this week, see you soon

Kendra x
www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

Weekend At Bernies

Hi everyone,
sorry it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted, but I seem to be having a spate of very bad personal luck at the moment, I thought things would look up after the passing of Dad but it turns out I was wrong & I feel like my world has collapsed in on itself.  Obviously I don't want to go into it here as it's a far too public forum, but I'm happy when I'm creating but I can only create when I'm happy so I've not made much jewellery recently.

I thought I would share with you today what I have managed to make using my new kiln, Bernie.  He's been very good at baking glass for me since he arrived, I need to do a bit of tinkering with the tack fuse setting but I'm very pleased with his hard work.

This is the glass I've cut & laid out on the kiln shelf with Bullseye Thinfire paper to protect the shelf.

This is the kiln shelf after firing, notice the nice rounded edges on the larger pieces, the layers of glass all deliciously fused together & the smaller pieces are now nice little rounds for cufflinks.

These are the fused glass pieces all nicely attached to their blank components to make colourful pendants, dashing cufflinks & fabulous rings.  As always the rings are sterling silver & stamped with 925.

Hopefully I'll post again soon with more adventures in beading, see you then.

Kendra x
www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

How You Doing?

Hello everyone,

How are you all doing?  It feels like ages since I last wrote, but looking it was just 2 weeks ago.  I've not had a lot of opportunity to make much in the way of jewellery recently, my excuses are that I had my wrist operated on to remove the metal plate when when I broke my arm last year & my other excuse is that the past 2 weekends we ... when I say we I actually mean my beloved boyfriend ... have been doing some decorating & home improvements & I've been staying safely out of the way, which normally would be a good time to keep myself occupied in the ways of beading but to be honest there wasn't much space to work in without getting in the way.

I have had an opportunity to have a go at my New Year Resolutions, if you remember I targeted myself with 3 & I'm very proud to say I've achieved 2 out of the 3 ...ok so they were the easier two, but still two out of three ... whoohoo!
 
My first resolution was to try at least one thing in Kirstie's Homemade Home book, & I can report that I have actually tried making 2 things from the book, I've made Lavendar Bags & I've had a go at Fabric Decoupage which was marvellously messy & using the PVA glue brought back memories of making at mess with it at middle school.

Today I'm going to share with you the Lavendar Bags, because in making these I managed to acheive resolution number three, to learn to use my mum's sewing machine.  Well it's more of a twist on this resolution, my mother in law actually took my mum's sewing machine for me, it was perfect for what she wanted & for me it was a bit too big for what I needed, so I brought a new one from John Lewis!

Using the sewng machine

One lining bag & one decorative bag

Stuffing the lining bag with lavendar

Finished Lavendar Bags

 I'm going to be honest, I don't think I'll be able to achieve my second resolution, to attend a copperfoiling course.  I was left a bit of money from Dad as inheritence & with a very small part of it I brought a new kiln, but at the moment I'm still dealing with things from Dad's Estate, which is really horrible as I thought I was nearly done & it's a question of 1 step forward & 2 steps back, it's all rather upsetting.  So I want to make the absolute most of the kiln, we've named him Bernie.

Speaking of Bernie I put him to good use yesterday & I fused nearly everything I had cut ages ago, so this morning I want to cut some new glass that I brought & see what goodies he bakes me!  I hope to share more about Bernie next week, I also have a few other jewellery products in mind which again I hope to share soon!

Hope you're all enjoying the weekend.
Love
Kendra x
www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

UK Handmade

Hello there,

just a short blog for you this week.  Did you watch the Royal Wedding yesterday?  I did & it was so lovely!  Had a wonderful chilled out day with friends & had a bbq in their garden, so nice & relaxing.

Just a little update to let you know I'm now proud to be a member of UK Handmade!  UK Handmade supports & promotes the best UK artists, designers & makers.  To represent this I've added their badge to my website & this blog.

You can find their website here:  www.ukhandmade.co.uk

"UK Handmade is a design led online magazine committed to showcasing and promoting the best creative talent the UK has to offer. The term 'handmade' is now an indicator of quality, care and professionalism that is second to none and something we at UK Handmade wish to encourage and celebrate."

I'm going to leave you to enjoy your long weekend, next week I hope to have more new jewellery to share & maybe an update on my New Year Resolutions!

Take care!

Kendra x

www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

Best of British

Hello All,

As it's the Queens 85th Birthday today & the Royal Wedding in just about a week I thought that would be my theme for today.  I remember the Wedding of Prince Charles & Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, it was just after my 6th birthday & I went to a Street Party at Brampton Gardens in Hersham dressed as Little Bo Peep.  I also remember some awful young child trying to steal my toy sheep which I was less than pleased at.  We were all given commemorative coins, I still have mine!  I wish I could share with you the photo of me dressed up outside my parents front door where a poster of Charles & Di was placed with 2 Union Jack Flags, but all my old family photographs are being looked after by a friend of mine whilst I try to find space.

Best of British for me would have to be all about the music & 3 of the best for me would have to be David Bowie, Rolling Stones & Queen.

In honour of this special time I have created 2 bracelets with a Red, White & Blue theme the first is a charm braclet, I've not made a charm bracelet in such a long time.  This bracelet uses red and blue glass beads with heart shaped & crown shaped tibetan silver charms hung on a silver plated chain & secured with a lobster clasp.

The second braclet is simple strung beaded bracelet using red & blue indian glass beads & sparkly tibetan silver beads to represent the white.  I've also hung a heart shaped charm & 2 crown shaped charms & the bracelet is finished with a tibetan silver toggle clasp.

Both bracelets are available from my Misi Store.

That just leaves me to wish you a Happy Easter Weekend, I hope I don't eat too much chocolate, I still have chocolates left from Christmas!  Oh, in case you were wondering I'm typing better thank you, the consultant gave me the all clear yesterday so now it's down to physio, exercise & determination.

Kendra x

www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

Hippity Hop, Here Comes The Easter Bunny

Hello All,

Please excuse me, this will probably be a short blog, I'm typing this slowly with my left hand as I had the titanium plate removed from my right wrist a week ago, so no driving, no work & certainly no beading for me.  I'm being a bad patient as I hate doing nothing!

Fortunately before I went into hospital I had the forsight to look for Easter themed components & I discovered some delightful Easter Bunny Charms, perfectly detailed on both sides.

I'd not worked with Swarovski Crystals for a while & the first thing I made with the rabbit charms was a pair of earrings, using Jonquille & Light Rose Swarovski Crystals, I was so happy with the combination of the shiny crystals with the cute charm that I made a matching bracelet.  I've listed this on my Misi store.

I could't leave the Easter Bunnies alone then & inspired by a rose quartz bracelet I'd made a week prior I selected some dyed jade beads & created this bracelet which is also available on my Misi Store.

So if you fancy a sweet treat for Easter, but without the calories, then remember my store for something a bit different, handmade & can be treasured for a long time!

Kendra x
www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

Are you ready for Mothers Day?

Hello everyone,  just a short update from the goings on at Spellbound.  I've returned back to work full time now after arranging most of my Dad's Estate & I was doing rather well, but then I came down with an ear & throat infection on Wednesday & by Thursday it was so painful I could hardly croak, a lot of friends have all said it's probably the build up of the stress & then as things return to normal it's manifested itself as an infection.  Either way I'm not too happy about it, ears & throat doing better, seems to have moved to a head cold.

Well Mothers Day is a week today, are you ready for it?  If not I do happen to have a few handy last minute suggestions on the handmade beaded jewellery front ;o)

This week I've been catching up on my Bedazzle Bracelets & I made a couple of earrings to match.  These are limited edition sets, first to see how well they are received & secondly I've actually run out of one of the tibetan silver beads I use & I'm struggling to source more!  I have 2 sets available, one in Aqua Blue & one in two tone Dark Blue which uses dark blue & metallic blue glass facted beads.

I also found some interesting blue lava stone beads whilst out shopping last weekend & I made this wonderful set from them.  Beautiful blue lava stones with blue glass beads interspacing them; this set was inspired by the beads themselves, such an interesting texture & shape.  I was able to make full use of the circular shape of the beads by stringing a coordinating coloured bead in the centre of each. I'm sure you'll agree it's a little bit different!

Maybe your Mum is a kitty lover, how about this gorgeous cat necklace called "Autumn"?  He's very well behaved.

All these gift ideas are available to purchase from my Misi shop along with more!

That's almost all for now, except to say I've been working on some Workshop ideas so you can learn to make your own beaded jewellery.  I'm looking to start these in May so watch this space for details.

Hope you've all been enjoying the nice weather & having a lovely weekend.

Kendra x
www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

Spellbound Jewellery at Emerald Grove

Hello, hope you are all having a lovely weekend.  I've not managed to do much beading recently, still been so busy after the passing of Dad and I returned to my day job this week too.

Inside The Emerald Grove

I have been working on some beautiful gemstone collections but these are all for a wonderful Shop called The Emerald Grove.  The Emerald Grove approached me mid January after I'd listed some bracelets on Misi & asked if I'd supply stock to their store.  As some of you may know I had looked into potential Retail supply with very little joy, but after speaking to Julie over e-mail & reading the T&C's I took the opportunity.

Their shop policy & ethos is very similar to mine & they are passionate about handmade goods, eveything they sell in their shop is handmade, from jewellery to clothes, cards to gifts, handbags to furniture.

So if you do find yourself in lovely Ledbury in Herefordshire (I spent a lot of time there as a child) then please do pop in & say hello.

love

Kendra x

www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

A Time To Reflect

Hello dear readers, I've not written a blog for 4 weeks now, this is because sadly my father passed away on Valentines Day. I've spent the last 4 weeks spending every waking moment making arrangements, sorting things & clearing the house.  Instead of being surrounded by beads in my spare time this has been exchanged for being surrounded by paperwork & fond, happy memories.

Going through things at my Dad's house was difficult but I found lots of things that made me smile & I realised where I get my passion for handmade items as both my parents had very craft driven abilities and hobbies.  My Dad loved to do carpentry & I found some dolls house furniture that he made me, my mum too was extremely "crafty" and was a great knitter, sewer, embroiderer, you name it she did it!

So whilst going through the things I found my old craft bag where I'd given knitting & sewing a go, unfortunately I've completely forgotten these skills but I'm sure I could pick it up again.  I also found my old box of beads & findings from when I first started to make jewellery 24 years ago!  I had no tools back then so either used my fingers or a pair of eyelash tweezers to bend the headpins.  Below is a photo of one of the first pairs of earrings I made, as you can tell my skills have improved greatly, and having the right tools for the job certainly does help!  As you'll see I used gold plated findings, probably because that was all they had at the craft stall that day.  The earrings are clip ons & it took me a while to realise this was most likely because I wasn't allowed to get my ears pierced until I was 15 so when I was 11 years old most of the earrings I made were clip ons!

Earrings I made when I was just 11 years old! Thank goodness I've improved!

Happy Valentines

Let me start this blog by wishing you all a Happy Valentines day for tomorrow.

Dad is still in hospital, medically he has improved a little, but physically it has really taken a toll on poor Dad, I don't think he'll get back to his old self.

On a far brighter note, my bathroom is finished (well almost!) and it's my complete bathroom utopia.  Thanks to Sanj & his hard working guys; he's created the most wonderful bathroom out of a nightmare of a room!

Friday I was at Sony selling my wares, I had a really good morning there & thanks to everyone that visited me.  It felt like it took me forever to set up as I had quite a few eager people for Valentines gifts which was absolutely lovely & I hope the receivers of the gifts enjoy them!

Stand At Sony

As you may remember I was struggling to think of something to get Jay (my other half) for Valentines (it's also our anniversay) and as you know I'm all about the handmade, last week I said I'd thought of something & I'd let you know this week about it.  Well I must say I'm really very pleased with my idea & how it turned out!

I made Jay a pair of Boba Fett Lego character cufflinks.  It was a little bit of a nightmare as Boba Fett wears a jet pack on his back, and for me it would have been easier if he'd decided to just hop around from place to place using Slave 1.  My Epoxy Resin didn't want to play with me anymore & I actually ended up confessing to Jay what I was making him as I needed his help with the drill (as some of you know power tools & me aren't a good idea since I broke my wrist & elbow), then there was the guilt of drilling dear little Boba Fett's.  But I must say I am really pleased with them & more importantly so is Jay!

I hope next week I'll have updated my Misi & Etsy online stores for you with a few new items.

I'm going back to watching Labyrinth on Blu-Ray, Jay got it for me for Valentines, it's my favourite film, David Bowie, Jim Henson & Brian Froud ... for me it doesn't get much better!

Let me know what you think about the cufflinks, as ever I really appreciate feedback & it may be something I consider expanding for my range.


Kendra x

www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

Love Is In The Air

I've just got back from The Spring London Bead Fair at Kempton Park Racecourse, what a great morning that was, meeting my usual suppliers & discovering some new lampwork artists!

Once again we're very up & down at the Spellbound household.  On monday morning I went off to work as normal but I had a funny feeling & the only way I can describe it was it felt like I was waiting for something to happen.  Call me freaky but a few hours later I had a call from my Dad's carers saying he wasn't well & they'd called an ambulance for him.  Dad has severe pneumonia & is really rather poorly in hospital again.

On top of this we're also having a new bathroom installed, the old one has been ripped out & the room has been gutted, as we're only a tiny cottage bungalow it's had an affect on the whole house so we're surviving on take-outs, microwave meals & borrowing our friends showers (thanks Hollie & Rob)!

I've still found some time to do some beading (it keeps me sane), with St Valentines Day approaching I've been playing with heart shaped beads & done a new take on a necklace that proved to be very popular at Christmas.

These will be available on my Misi Shop soon (as soon as I find the time to do nice photographs) and will be available at my stand at Sony on Friday 11th February along with coordinating bracelets & earrings.

I've also finally come up with an idea for Jay for Valentines, just waiting for something to arrive & then I can get making, hopefully I'll be able to show you in my post next week!

Kendra x

www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

Sweets for your Sweetheart!

This week has had it's ups & downs, Dad has been out of hospital for 3 weeks now & I've been feeling a bit streatched & strained, mostly because he's obviously still not a well bunny, but I'm seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel & Dad will be going to our local community hospital for a period of respite to assess him properly medically and to get him on the road to rehabillitation with a goal of being able to feed himself etc.

Well I hope you are all paying attention, in a little over 2 weeks it's Valentines Day.  I know this as it's also our Anniversary, a double whammy!  As you know I'm pro handmade & I've been trying to turn the tiny cogs in my brain to think of something little I can make for him.  I'll let you know how that goes! 

Are you prepared to St Valentines Day?  If you're looking for something a bit different or fun, or if you want something colourful for yourself then I've just the thing.  I discovered some wonderful beads that look like Dolly Mixtures & I've made a choker style necklace, a tangle style necklace, an EmBracelet, a small bracelet, a pair of earrings & a little keyring.

The beads look so real that I had to hide them from Jay in case he tried to eat them.  I'll be displaying these at my stand at Sony on Friday 11th February, just in time for last minute Valentines shoppers.  Please give me your feedback, if these prove to be popular I may expand the range into Love Hearts & maybe Liquoirce Allsorts.  If you are tempted by these & considering them as a gift, best to keep them away from small children, they really do look good enough to eat so please be responsible!

Tomorrow is the last day of my January Sale for Facebook followers, so if you've been thinking about it, now is the time to do it before it's too late!

I'm going back to my beads now, hope you're all enjoying the weekend.


Kendra x

www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

Sunbaked Goodness

Why is it 9.15 on a Sunday night & I don't feel like I've acheived much this weekend!  I'd anticipated a whole weekend of uninterupted beading, well ok, not the WHOLE weekend, but a majority of it.  I started out with all good intentions, but I remembered I had to write a letter & then I ended up doing some shredding of old paperwork & doing other various "admin" type things, then as I'd complained that the weather had turned colder I insisted on going out & getting some firewood so we could enjoy our open fire, and then to enjoy the open fire properly I thought I'd have a nice relaxing bath, then I'd do some beading ... deffinately... Around 7pm last night I felt so guilty about not making any jewellery I surrounded myself with beads & made some gorgeous gemstone bracelets ... then drank 2 glasses of wine to celebrate.

I purposely left all my beads, tools & equipment out last night so I'd have absolutely no excuse to crack on today. Yeah, you guessed it, more procrastination & distractions!  My lovely hairdresser came round to do my colour & I ended up having a trim too, and it always takes longer than we mean to because we get chatting!  Of course, before settling down to some serious beading I had to pop out & get my Dad a new lamp for his room (the carers seem to keep breaking them, not sure what they're doing?!), and as I was out I had to run a couple of small errands & get to an ATM.

I finally did manage to make 3 gemstone necklaces.  All these gemstone pieces are being stocked up for an exciting new adventure for me, which I'll fill you in on another time.

I also finished a set I'd been working on, the focal beads are Sunbaked Beads by glass lampwork artist Lush Lampwork, they are beautiful silverwrapped beads in toning shades of summer.  I've teamed them with Tibetan Silver heart shaped beads & sparkle beads, the necklace is a choker style strung on memory wire.  This bright & colourful collection is just what we need to shake off the January Blues.  This is a sneak preview, the set is not currently availble on my Misi or Etsy stores, the first time they'll be available is at my stand at Sony on Friday 11th February.

Just leaves me to annouce the winner of last weeks Prize Draw, the name chosen at random is Greta Wall, congratulations Greta, I'll arrange to pass on the bracelet to you.

Have a good rest of the weekend (what little there is of it!)

Kendra x


www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk
www.facebook.com/spellboundjewelleryuk

Competition Time

It's been a bit hectic in the Spellbound household this week, with Dad being out of hospital there seems to be no end of things to take care of, very little time left for beading or fusing for me!

I'm going to run a little competition, to win the bracelet pictured below, its a dainty  bracelet made with red cylinder millifiori beads, tibetan silver & seed beads.  It's a Prize Draw so all you have to do is comment on my blog saying you'd like to win & leave your name/e-mail address or post on my Spellbound Jewellery FaceBook page saying you'd like to win.  A winner will be chosen at random & I'll post out or pass on to you this sweet piece of Spellbound Jewellery. Deadline for entries is Saturday 22nd January 2011.

Win Me!

 I have managed to do one small piece of beading, I'm visitng my friend Keira (Hi Keira!) later today, she moved into her flat ages ago & I'm such a rubbish friend I've not been round to see it yet.  So, for a small belated house warming gift I made her a Dolly Mixture Keyring using some cute & terribly realistic Dolly Mixture Beads made from polymer clay.  They look so real I've had to hide them from Jay to stop him trying to eat them!

Yum!

I've also updated my website a little, some newer images & I've manged to put a slideshow on the About Spellbound Jewellery Page & a new tag line, let me know what you think!  That just leaves me time to remind you I'm still having a Jan Sale, please see my last blog (Happy New 2011) for details.

Kendra xx
www.spellboundjewellery.co.uk

Happy New 2011

Well a belated Happy New Year to you all!

My Dad is finally out of hospital & despite our worries, the powers that be have said they believe he is well enough to go back to his own home rather than a nursing home.

I don't really do New Years Resolutions, mostly because I believe that if you are going to do something you should do it because you really want to, not just because it's a New Year & a "new start", but probably more likely that I don't tend to stick to things like join the gym, eat less etc because they don't really motivate me!  

Having said that, there a few things I've made a mental list of that I'd really like to achieve this year:

1) I want to attempt at least one of the things in Kirsties Homemade Home book (lovely Christmas present!), just to try something new, even if it is something small! 

2)I want to attend a copperfoiling course to gain more skills working with glass, I really enjoy fusing glass for my pendants, rings & cufflinks but I'm interested in expanding to work on small glass projects like trinket boxes & mirrors. 

3)I have my Mum's old sewing machine, I know how to use a sewing machine but threading this one totally befuddles me.  I'd like to learn how to thread this machine so I can work on a project I have in mind.  More on the project another time!

Finally my Tibetan Silver beads have arrived in the post, delayed due to the snow they arrived just after the New Year break, so this weekend I've made some Bedazzle Bracelets, these are proving to be really popular & I sold out before Christmas.

So sparkly & shiny!  These are now for sale on my Misi Store along with two new Enchanted Bracelets, these bracelets have been made using beads from one of my favourite Lampwork Artists, Lush Lampwork.

Don't forget, I'm having a January Sale on my Etsy Store, 15% off when you quote FACEBOOK15 at checkout, but please "like" my Spellbound Jewellery page on Facebook first!  This code will only work on my Etsy Store, if you would like to use this discount on any items on my Misi Store then please e-mail me & quote the discount code & we can arrange.


That's all for now, time for a cup of tea! x