Tiny Triangle Earrings

Regular readers will know how much I love and am inspired by the works of Jean Power, especially her triangles.  They're so simple and yet so versatile.  Recently I needed to make a small thank you gift for someone and Jean came to the rescue again!

Tiny little triangle earrings were perfect!  

I bead around the post rather than glue the post to the finished triangle, mainly because you never know what people are allergic too, and the glue could dry prickly - never good!

I ended up making these for all my friends in all sorts of colours:

They are available for only £5 in my Etsy shop here

A Day With Jean

As a gift to Mummy for organising the wedding for me and Chris, we aarranged to have her spend the day with Jean Power in an intimate one on one lesson.  Mummy is amazing and said that I could join them too though!

It was utterly amazing!!!  She bought all her finished pieces along and we saw pretty much the entire contents of her gallery in real life, which was AMAZING!

We decided to choose three things and have a jam packed day of learning: Icos Pendant, Beaded Frames and the amazing Interlocking Crystals and it was outstanding how much we learned from her.  The wedding was the best day ever but this came a close second!

This is mine and Mummy's work for the day:

Mummy's Makes: Earrings Galore!

Mummy has been on a bit of an earring frenzy recently.  We wanted some cheaper, smaller items available in our Etsy shop because we both felt that we want to be more accessible to all purse sizes.  No matter what price we sell things for though, only sterling silver or gold fill ear hooks will suffice because who wants earrings that turn your ears green or itch like crazy by the end of the day?!

I had some Swarovski Heliotrope rivolis left over from my Necklace & Earrings Set so I gave them to Mummy and she concocted these gorgeously simple earrings adapting Jean Power's 3D Geometric Triangles to bezel the rivolis using silver duracoat seed beads!  Gorgeous!

These are some simple 14mm Swarovski emerald rivolis simply bezelled (again using silver duracoat seed beads), to let that rich green sing.

She also made a pair using gold seed beads and those delightful green AB 15s to add some interest to the rivolis.

Some gorgeous 16mm Swarovski Heliotrope rivolis simply bezelled using gunmetal seed beads.  I honestly can't believe the difference between these and the first ones in this post.  The heliotrope is really darkened and more indigo, whereas the ones at the top seem much more purple.

These cute little earrings were made using Swarovski Cosmic Squares in Crystal and some Swarovski pearls.  I love them and may have something similar for my wedding in October!

Again, Swarovski Cosmic Squares in Crystal but the Aqua AB delicas look almost denim coloured in daylight and make these earrings seem much more 'everyday war'.  I really love these for their chic simplicity.

A simplified version of her Crystal Triangle Earrings, I love these for the addition of the 2AB bicones at the corners of the triangles.  

And then finally this bad boy!  Rather than make a pendant for a necklace, Mummy decided that this Swarovski Golden Shadow stepped rectangle would make a perfect medal style brooch/lapel pin.  Of all the items she has made recently, I love this the most.  It is so unusual and so stylish that I almost wished I wore suits to work so I could make me one of these!

All of the above are available in our etsy shop.

Geometric 3-4-4 Bracelet in Gold & White

I had the urge recently to make a bracelet using Jean Power's Geometric 3-4-4 pattern that comes with the Geometric Series Set.  I decided to go way out of my comfort zone and use gold and white - not a colour combination I have ever used before! I went for plain white opaque and then the gold duracoat delicas to add some seriously decadent glamour!

This is the finished product:

It starts with the first triangle...  Here I needed some second opinions of the white and gold combination, which I showed to pretty much everybody!  I didn't want the colour combo to be dull, just chic - not something I'm used to having to think about with my usual work!! 

Once I'd made two of the power puffs, it was back out for more opinions.  I really wasn't confident with my colour choices because these are two colours I hardly ever go to.

Slowly the bracelet grew...

...and grew some more

 After a good 30g of beads and two weeks of work, this gorgeous bracelet was finished!  As you can see, I made it into a bracelet with a magnetic clasp as I wanted it to sit closer to the wrist than a bangle would.

The clasp is pretty well camouflaged by the power puffs, which I'm pleased about as I didn't want it to be conspicuous or dramatically take away from the gorgeous design that Jean has given us.

 This photo shows how the bracelet looks on with the gold triangles pointed outwards.  I think I prefer it this way for some reason - don't know why though!

So there it is, my latest make.  Hope you like it.

It is available in my etsy shop.

Ultra Blue Swarovski Triangle Necklace

I've been making so much big jewellery recently that I fancied a bit of a change so I decided to make a pendant inspired by Jean Power's Heroine Necklace.  

This is what I've made.

I bought a 14mm Swarovski Ultra Blue rivoli and used Jean's method of bezelling (not sure I'll ever go back to doing it the old way to be honest!) and then had to figure out the maths to make the triangle even and integral to the bezel.  Lots of trial and error as maths really isn't my strong suit!I used silver duracoat delicas and silver duracoat seed beads in size 15.

The triangle didn't look great until I zipped the edges together and then it became a very solid and firm triangle.  In this shot you can see how I was inspired by the clasp of the Heroine necklace, although this one is solid, rather than being a tremendously clever three way clasp!

I left the back of the rivoli open so that light can travel through it and make it shine.  Also, I quite like the back being blue, rather than the usual silver or gold foil!

I added a very small and simple square stitched bezel and sewed it closed with the sterling silver chain in situ so that it was tight around the chain, not so tight that the chain won't move, but tight enough that it won't slide off the end when putting it on and taking it off.

I hope you like this simple necklace.  It is Available in my etsy shop here.

Swarovski Heliotrope Necklace & Earrings

I've been concentrating so much on geometric beadwork for the last few years, after being heavily influenced by the unbelievably fabulous Jean Power and the work she inspired for the Contemporary Geometric Beadwork community started by Kate McKinnon, that I recently felt like I needed a bit of a break from structurally impressive beadwork. I didn't start off with this necklace and earrings set in my head.  Originally I was going to make an asymmetric and bonkers necklace inspired by Jean's Marun Bracelet but as I was bezelling all the rivolis, my plan changed and  I decided to make something a lot more traditional and basic.  I needed some serious sparkles in my life and some old school Hollywood glamour! 

I chose silver duracoat delicas for the simple reason that I wanted the rivolis to take centre stage.  I did think about other colours, but wanted simplicity of form and background colour to fade so those rivolis really sang.

This is what I made:

It's an extraordinarily simple but uber glamorous necklace made using Swarovski Heliotrope rivolis in an assortment of sizes (from 12mm to 18mm), with a 27mm vintage Heliotrope Reverse Fancy Stone as the centrepiece.


I started by using Jean Power's obvious, but previously unthought of, method of bezelling smaller rivolis (soooo obvious now she's pointed it out here!)

It felt like a never-ending bezelling job!  Although I did find some Swarovski 2AB bicones in my stash that I had utterly forgotten about that went beautifully with the heliotrope rivolis.

I don't think I was even half way finished at this point!  (I also really need to do something about how messy my bead tray gets when I'm creating!)

Then came the moment to bead that gorgeous vintage Heliotrope Reverse fancy stone.  No picture can do justice to this bad boy!  It has some serious sparkle and the colour is just so intense.  I love it!

I started joining the rivolis using the bicones.  I used 3mm bicones round the back to join the 12mm rivolis and then switched to 4mm for all other sizes.

Halfway there and the threads are starting to be tamed!

I decided to use a sterling silver magnetic clasp on this necklace.  Mainly for aesthetics, but also I would be absolutely distraught if someone was wearing it and it got caught in something and ripped - it would be such a waste of a lot of work!

Look at all those rivolis!  Sparkles from every angle!

I enjoyed making the necklace so much I decided that I would make a pair of simple matching earrings.  I don't often make earrings - generally I find them too small and fiddly - but this time I knew that they would compliment the necklace perfectly.

One earring done...

And finally I made its match.  They're extraordinarily simple and pretty plain.  I really just wanted the rivolis and the bicones to do the talking.

It is available in my etsy shop here

Golden Chocolate Rick Rack Bracelet

Oh my goodness it's been a while!  I didn't quite realise just how long it had been though!  Ooops...

Anyways, I have been incredibly busy with my needle, thread, beads and a smattering of Swarovski rivolis and am pleased to show you my latest bracelet:

As you can see, I used Jean Power's amazing Rick Rack pattern, started off by using the incredible Contemporary Geometric Beadwork MRAW start.  As this isn't the first Rick Rack bracelet I've done, I also made the Double Layer Rick Rack bracelet last year, I noticed that those delicious v shapes could be perfectly filled using Swarovski pear shaped crystals.  This got me thinking....

I used MRAW to bezel the Swarovski crystals (I used 18x13mm Pear Fancy Stones in Golden Shadow), which was surprisingly easy on the hands.  The stones didn't pop out or misbehave in any way whist I was beading - highly recommend using this method of bezelling!

I used delicas in Dark Bronze Matte and Galvanised Light Champagne Duracoat for the front.  I used the champagne for the ladders in the MRAW on the stones so decided to echo that in the main bracelet as well and then do a zigzag stripe of the gold to really draw those crystals into the design as a whole.

As you can see in this shot, the bracelet is double layered.  It could work single layered but I think that because I decided to use the bigger crystals, the body needed to be much more sturdy than a single layer.  I'm a tight beader and even one layer of rick rack is pretty strong but I really didn't want this bad boy to buckle over time with lots of wear! The reverse of the bracelet is just plain matte dark bronze as there was no need for there to be any ornamentation as it generally won't be seen.

It was finished with a simple gold slide clasp, the loops of which were securely attached and hidden inside the bracelet to give it a fully finished and sleek look.  

I must admit that I'm really proud of how well this bracelet turned out.  It sits really closely to the wrist (well, mine anyway!) and looks quite chic and elegant - not my usual style at all! It is exactly what I imagined when I first put needle and thread to beads - that never happens! I hope you like it too.

It is available in my etsy shop here.

I've also finished another bangle that's along these lines but a teeny touch more bonkers - I'll blog it soon!

Mummy's Shape Up Bracelet

Mummy has been at it again...  She has been playing with Tila Beads and decided to see if she could use them as the MRAW start to make all sorts of chunky different shapes.  Once she'd made a handful she decided to sew them all together and voila, a gorgeous Shape Up bracelet!

The bracelet below is the original gold and gunmetal design that she used.  Not colours I'd ever put together but my goodness it works!

Here you can see all the shapes laid out and how deftly put together they are.  This bracelet is delicate but chunky.  It doesn't slide, just sits close to the wrist and the look totally depends upon which of the elements you have showing. It's a very comfortable bracelet and doesn't interfere with anything you're doing. 

Then the cheeky minx that is Mummy decided to have a rummage through my opaques because she decided that where the gold and gunmetal was elegant and grown up, bright keleidoscopic colours would turn the same bracelet into something entirely different! And doesn't it just?!  It's playful and fun and I love this so much more than the gold one above.  It's reminiscent of Liquorice Allsorts (yummy!) and that makes me think of happy summer days playing in the garden when I was little.

In this final picture below you can see how Mummy has used a dressmaker's popper for the closure.  A simple little tab for one half and the other half sewn to a baby square.  So lovely and so seamless when on. 

Mummy's Crystal Triangle Earrings

Once again, Mummy is the creator behind the pieces in this post (I really need to get more beading time in!).

Inspired by the most marvellous Jean Power and the triangles she is famous for, Mummy decided that she wanted to see if she could use the triangles as a bezel in which to hide some delicious little Swarovski rivolis.  Of course, she couldn't stop at the making of one pair of earrings, so made three!

How sweet are these gorgeous little earrings?!  Unfortunately, the light was rubbish (blooming England in Winter) so you can't get the full delight that these earrings are.  The back side is a simple triangle and then decreased around the front, using 3mm rounds at each point, which helps stop the rivoli wriggling about in it's triangular cocoon, and then sparklied up with a picot edge in 15s.  I love this set in gunmetal and steel with the smoky grey rivoli.  Very me!

Isn't it strange how a different colour can change the whole look of a piece?!  The exact same pattern as above, just with shades of pink yet they look so delicate and girly and definitely not something that I'd wear (sorry Mummy!).

And then again, with black and dark red.   These look quite gothy compared with the more industrial gunmetals and the girly pinks.  I love them!

 like how the rivoli is completely encapsulated at the back, reducing the risk of the point being knocked off and ruining the whole earring. Also, how different these earrings look just with a change of colour.  It always astonishes me that colour plays such a huge part in the whole feel of a piece, even something as small as a pair of earrings.  I shouldn't be so surprised but because I'm rubbish and generally have my go to colours, I always am!  If Mummy had just shown me the pink set, I would have been impressed with the construction, but never in a million years thought they were my bag, yet the exact same earring in the gunmetal and steel may simply have to find their way into my jewellery box!