Photoshoot: Summer Solstice

Central to the Summer Solstice, is the sun.  This sun catcher is one my husband brought while we were in Canada a few years back, in Nova Scotia.

In front of it is a little sun brooch.  It's one I have had since I was pretty young.  My Gran used to go to the Darby and Joan club in her village and one time she took me to a tabletop sale there.  I don't know who donated the brooch and so I have no idea of it's story or age, but on that day, it became mine.  It's not in any fancy metal with a makers mark.  I doubt I will ever let it go, but I like to think when I am old, it will pass in to the hands of a young child.

I had to look up Darby and Joan and I discovered that they were an idealised couple, living out the latter years of their lives in quiet contentment together.  Social clubs for older people are still often called Darby and Joan clubs.

I wanted some artwork for the photo and I choose this lovely design by Mycelium23.  I brought several cards, so I am sure they will feature in the future too.  I like the idea of exploring the year as we go.  It's a bright happy picture!  I think my favourite is the Halloween one though!  I love Halloween...  Any holiday with fancy dress and sweets is bound to be great as far as I am concerned...

The bag on the left is from SupaChicDesigns and was something we very much needed right now.  My husband's daily work routine has changed a fair bit over the last few months as infection control has become so important.  He goes to and from work in his own clothes, carrying his uniform in a fabric bag he was gifted by some of the many wonderful volunteers who have been crafting away to make bags and masks.  When he gets home, the bag goes in the washing machine and he goes in the shower.  One bag is often not enough though when he has a run of shifts, so I decided to get him a second one.   The card came with the bag :-)

I hope with everything going on that we continue to stay safe and well, that one day, we get to go to a Darby and Joan club together.  Right now, the sun is shining and everything is good in my little world.

Tutorial: Bead Slides with Toggle Clasp

Weave any loose ends into the beadwork and finish as you normally would for your choice of thread.  Do not remove the final working thread from the beadwork at this point, in case you need to adjust the bracelet length.

I used two bead slides and then attached a toggle clasp, which has the attachment loop at the same angle as the clasp.  These particular bead slides can take beads up to size 8.  I like to finish the existing thread and begin a new thread for the clasp.  This means that if the clasp thread should wear through, the beadwork will remain intact.

Working at the end marked start in the diagram above, add a new thread and exit the bead highlighted in the close up below.

Thread through to the first bead of the last row (highlighted in blue) and thread through it.

Pick up the first bead slide bead.

Thread through the previous bead from the original beadwork (highlighted in blue) in the same direction as before (brick stitch).

Stitch through the beadwork to the next high bead (highlighted) and pass the thread through it.

Carry on adding the bead slide beads in the same way across the end of the beadwork and finish the thread off.

The bead slide consists of a tube with a slot in the side.  At the ends of the tube there are bendable flaps.  Make sure one flap is tight to the tube and the other one is open. Slide each of the bead slide beads in to the tube so that the threads between the bead slide beads and the peyote bracelet beadwork fit into the slot.  All the peyote delicas sit outside the bead slide.  Once you have worked all the bead slide beads in to the tube, close the second flap of the bead slide.

Next add the toggle to the bead slide using three (or more) jump or split rings.  Split rings

require a special tool to open easily but this means there is no chance of things slipping through gaps accidentally.  If you use jump rings open them with pliers, by moving one end to the side as this does not stretch the ring and allows it to be easily closed by flattening it with pliers.

Take the second bead slide and add the loop of the clasp with a jump or split ring in the same way and then put the two parts of the clasp together.

At this point, I like to check the length of the bracelet and ensure it is a good fit, now I know the length of the clasp exactly.  If necessary, add or remove rows with the remaining working thread and then finish the thread.

Add a new thread and brick stitch bead slide beads on to all the high beads on the end of the beadwork in the same way, before sliding the bead slide beads in to the tube and sealing it closed.

This method can be amended if the attachment loop on the metal ring or toggle of the clasp is perpendicular to the clasp.  The addition of a second jump ring will prevent the clasp from twisting.

Put on your new bracelet and do a happy dance!

Inspiration: All That Jazz

So when I named my All That Jazz bracelet, I plucked the name out of the ether.  It's a glittery bracelet, full of silver lined beads in sumptuous rich colours.  It reminds me of Quality Street wrappers when they used to be foil, the colours so rich and indulgent.  There is just something glittery and alluring about it, it's hedonistic and glitzy.

Looking up the roots of the phrase has been interesting.  It was originally the name of a song from the musical Chicago before being the name of a film made in 1979.  In Chicago, it's the opening number which shows Velma Kelly dancing on stage and it is clear the production is missing her sister.  Velma found her sister with her husband and killed them both.  The other main character Roxie Hart shoots her lover at the beginning of the show as he attempts to break off their affair.

The play is set in the Jazz Age which was a time of carefree hedonism and exuberance but it also overlapped with Prohibition Era.  Chicago in the 20s was run by infamous gangs who controlled alcohol supply and the underground scene of the speakeasies was the home of vaudeville and scantily clad ladies who you could pay to dance with you.  The Capone gang looked after the south and 'Bugs' Moran's gang ran the north.  The officials of the time were particularly corrupt in Chicago.

The 20s saw women having increasing freedom.  Fashion was suddenly much more revealing and designed for new dances.  The flapper was born, with revealing clothes and I love the way the fringeing of many of the dresses moves as they dance (I am a huge Strictly fan!).  They drank and smoked and were much freer with men than previous generations.  They had spirit, but they also courted trouble.

In the musical, one of the themes is the pursuit of celebrity.  The two main characters are celebrity criminals but their fame is fleeting.  They were in pursuit of more.

While part of me loves the idea of the freedom and creative growth of the 20s another part of me sees an awful lot of shadows.  I think the dancing, music, clothes and freedom would have been great fun but you link that to gang culture and a society that largely wasn't ready for woman's liberation and there was also the potential for great suffering and misery.  

The misery of extreme hedonism is also explored in the film All That Jazz, which is semi-autobiographical of the director Bob Fosse who directed and choreographed Chicago in 1975.  The main character, Joe Gideon, is a chain smoker, workaholic and womanizer who uses stimulants every morning.  He develops heart issues but refuses to change his ways and despite surgery, eventually dies.

When I think of All That Jazz, it's that rich over the top creativity, the women in their beautiful dresses and the incredible art deco movement of the time.  It is an inspiring time and looking back, the excess and darkness is just as fascinating as the beauty.  

I made a 20s board on pinterest!

Photoshoot: All That Jazz!

I really love rich purples and this bracelet reminds me of the crinkly foil of Quality Street chocolates and the rich purple foil of Dairy Milk (before it became wrapped in plastic).  It's so beautifully rich and metallic.  It glitters and sparkles from all those lovely silver lined beads.  It has enough Pizzazz to attract any Magpie to steal it away!

So it seemed fitting that it would attract a Magpie to come say "Hi!"  This little Magpie came all the way from Scotland where it was made by Samieston Ceramics.  I adore Magpies.  It's easy to think they are black and white but look closely and they have spectacular multi-coloured plumage.  They seem to have a sense of humour the way they look at the world, and just a little bit of sass.

The Magpie wanted to show off some treasure and some of it's glittery stash sits on the left.  Pearls from GJ Beads.  The Swarovski crystal come from all over as there isn't really a specialist in the UK, different shops have different bits.  For the really unusual things though, I tend to go to Dreamtime Creations.  The postage is prohibitive though from the US so I tend to wait and buy things in one go.  Swarovski changes it's range frequently, so if you see something unusual, buy it will you can...

The short strings of purple bicones are part of Swarovski's Spark range and they are really sparkly.  While some are still available, it's stock suppliers have remaining rather than the original full range now.  I have also included some bicones in Indigo, Rose and other colours.  There are a few rivoli's which are so sparkly because they have foil backs.  The largest stone is a Solaris with eight sides and bands of frosting.

On the right are the sorts of sumptuous fabrics that a human Magpie would appreciate.  On the bottom is a tunic, not quite a dress, by Joe Browns in a beautiful dark blue almost purple velvet.  Above it is a purple velvet tunic which was a bargain from Crazy Clearance I think.  The pink scarf was a Tesco buy and is white with bright pink butterflies.  The scarf on top, at the back, has more of a story.

We had been to Canada, flying back in to Bristol Airport.  We have a lovely little Airbnb we like to stay at to get over jet lag, or break our journey when we leave Cornwall.  It was a hot day as we left there and we were still a little lagged and low on supplies.  We were on the M5 when we realised we were going to have to stop and we were not near a service station so we pulled off at Wellington and headed for the centre.  We stopped at some traffic lights and there was this amazing shop, so after we parked, I of course had to go and have a look...

The shop was Chandni Chowk and was full of beautiful things.  They are a fair trade and ethical company with a range of textiles produced in India.  The scarf I brought was hand printed using traditional block printing methods.  The designs are so lovely.  Their website has details on the techniques used as well as the range of designs for sale.  They also have a whole bunch of other things too and as a bonus it was lovely and cool in there...

At the back is a nice pink glass from Tesco with Vimto in it.  Vimto is one of my favourite drinks but I don't let myself buy a bottle too often!

Inspiration: Summer Solstice

So at the weekend it was the Summer Solstice and I watched the clouds and morning rain live on English Heritage facebook page as they streamed footage of Stonehenge live around the world.  About 100,000 people watched the sunset and about 50,000 watched the sunrise.  The sunset was glorious, even though you couldn't see the sun set as the clouds were amazing.

We think of the Solstice as being a day, or even a couple of days but the truth is, it's a moment and this year it was on the 20th June at 21:43 (GMT).  The earth orbits the sun, but it also has a tilt which means that when it is one side of the sun, one hemisphere gets more light and when the earth is the other side, the other hemisphere gets more light.  This is why Australia has summer when the UK has winter.  

The Solstices are the points of the Earth's journey round the sun where the tilt is at it's maximum in relation to the sun.  So at the summer solstice in Australia, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away and so has shorter days and experiences winter, while the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the sun and has longer days and experiences Summer.  There are some diagrams here on pinterest.

As we head from Spring Equinox, which is the point in the Earth's orbit where the seasons are equal in both hemispheres because the tilt is at right angles to path of light from the sun, to Summer Solstice, the sun climbs higher in the sky every day and the length of the day increases also.

At the North Pole, Summer Solstice means that it faces the sun constantly so the sun does not set while the South Pole is plunged in to darkness.  The Equator has a latitude of 0 degrees while the North Pole is at 90 degrees.  Where I live in Cornwall is around 50 degrees.  On the 20th June 2020, the sun set at 21.35 and then rose again at 5:10, giving us 7 hours 35 minutes of night.  In Aberdeen, which is further North at 57 degrees, the sun set at 22.08 and then rose at 4:12, giving 6 hours and four minutes of night.  At the North Pole, the sun does not set during the Summer Solstice, in fact it will not set until the Autumn Equinox when it finally sinks below the horizon.

The parts of the planet that get more sun warm up and those that get less, cool down.  It takes time for things to heat up though.  At the Summer Solstice, most of summer is ahead of us (in theory, it isn't always like that in the UK).  The land reaches its warmest shortly after the Solstice in mid July, but the sea takes longer reaching it's warmest in late August.  This is why the coldest part of winter is after the Winter Solstice and January is often the coldest month.  It's known as lag.

So for now, the effect of the decreasing day length will not be very noticeable.  The greatest changes in day lengths occur around the Equinoxes and the smallest changes in day length around the Solstices.  On Saturday, the sun set at 21.35 and it won't set at 21.34 until the 1st of July.  On the Equinox this year the sun will set at 19:18 while the following day it will set ay 19.15.

I began my most recent bracelet with the Stonehenge sunset in the background and it seemed very fitting to name it after the Summer Solstice.  It has a softness to it the light often has early on Summer days.  The sun's path gradually climbs higher and higher across the bracelet.  It has to be said though, the sun does not take a zig zag path...  I really love this bracelet and I know I am going to wear it loads this summer, because the best is yet to come!

Bead Basics: Seed Bead Colours

The range of seed beads is truly staggering.  Miyuki produce well over 1000 different size 11 delica beads for instance.  I am going to run through some of the different types of finish.

Opaque - these are solid colour beads with a gloss surface.  They do not get affected by the colour of the beads around them so much so give definite colour in a piece and clear edges.

Matte Opaque - these are solid colour beads with a matte surface.  They feel a little softer than standard opaques and give a very different texture.  They also have very definite colour and don't pick up colour from other beads.  The finish is actually a frosting and they are sometimes called frosted.

Semi-Frosted - these are less frosted than the fully matte beads

Metallic - these have a metallic finish and come in a range of colours.  They have highly reflective surfaces and as a result they can pick up on colours around them slightly.  They add sparkle.  The metallic finish and reflectiveness result in slightly less solid colour than opaques.

Matte Metallic - Instead of a gloss reflective surface, these metallic beads are matte, giving them a softer look.  These are a particular favourite of mine.  They have a little natural colour variation throughout the bead which is beautiful.

Plated and Metal - you can also get delicas made from metal rather than glass.  Some are made from base metal and then plated while others are solid precious metal.  The price varies!  Solid gold beads  are not cheap...  I have used silver in some pieces where I have really wanted that look and feel and been prepared to pay for it for that piece.  

Galvanized - a metallic coating is added to the beads, similar to metallic beads.

Transparent - see through glass that gives a different light quality to a piece.  Colours are more likely to be influenced by surrounding colours and are not as strong.

Transparent Matte / Frosted - the glass is still see through but has a frosted finish.  They are less likely to pick up on colours next to them as they are not reflective but the colours have a soft look.

Silver Lined - Mirror like shiny beads, the silver sits in the hole and the glass is coloured.  The colour is strong.

Colour Lined - Instead of being lined with silver, the bead is lined with another colour and this gives the bead a different look.  For instance magenta lined blue will have hints of blue and magenta and the colour of the blue will be shifted because of the magenta.  They can act as useful beads to bridge two different colours.  Sometimes they are transparent glass with a colour lining and these obviously have a weaker colour because not all of the bead is coloured.  Also worth noting are white lined beads as I think these look particularly lovely in greens and blues.

Pearl Lined - These are lined beads which have a more muted and subtle lining colour.  The pearl is light enough to still be reflective but has some colour variation.

Silk Lined - Another variation!  I think this is where the silk satin finish is used as a lining instead of on the outside of a bead.

Fancy Lined - These are new and I have not had a good look at them yet....

AB - this is a particular lustre finish added to beads that gives the surface a rainbow effect, although the precise colours of the effect depend on the bead underneath.  The colour is less solid as a result and so a green AB bead may have hints of blue or purple and the beads will not all be exactly the same colour.  These beads are beautiful and attractive but they tend to pick up on the colours around them.  A piece of beadwork made entirely of beads like this is less like likely to have clear distinctions between colours but will be pretty and glittery.  Colour variation will be more subtle.

Gold lustre - a gold sheen over the surface of a bead, it adds an extra colour dimension.  I have some violet gold lustre and these are beautiful beads.  

Iris - is another lustre finish that is multi coloured rather than single coloured but not as multi coloured as AB.  These beads will be affected by the beads surrounding them in regards to what colour they look.

Ceylon - this is a finish that gives a soft pearly quality and is only found in lighter pastel colours.  They give a solid colour finish.

Silk Satin - This is a soft finish that reminds me of the mineral Selenite.  Selenite is fibrous and both frosted and shiny.  I think the glass is etched with fine lines.

Luminous - A range of colours designed to be particularly bright.

Duracoat - This is a particular type of opaque coating that is more hard wearing.  They don't look very different from other opaque beads.

Dyed - not all colours can be produced with every technique and some colours are achieved by dying the beads.  

Different finishes and types of bead can be combined so that you have silver lined semi frosted beads - these would be coloured glass beads with a silver lining to make them reflective but the glass has been partly frosted to give a matte type finish.  Matte metallic iris would be matte metallic beads with an iris coating which would give them more variation in colour across the bead.

The types of bead you choose are just as important as the colour to the overall end effect of a piece.  It can be useful to pour some beads on to a mat to look at colour and colour strength as when you look at them in a tube the colour can appear stronger as you are looking through multiple beads.  I think that mixing finishes can be as good as having all one finish.  If you mix up finishes then the light will interact with the different beads in a piece in different ways.

In That Blue Bracelet, I used whatever sea like colours I had.  Ten different ones.  They all react differently to the light and I like this because the sea changes colour based on how it reacts to the light.  It has galvanized, matte, silver lined, iris, opaque, frosted and metallic and as a result, all the layers behave differently.  If Monochrome Magic is the middle ground of mixing finishes, That Blue is the extreme.

In my Monochrome Magic bracelet I used two very shiny beads that pick up and reflect any light there is.  These were galvanized un metal (DB453) and transparent silver grey (DB114) and they do not sit next to each other so when the light hits it, zig zag lines stand out in dark and light grey.  The chalk white is opaque (DB200) so it is reflective but not as reflective as the other two, so it picks up some light and then the light part of the design, chalk white with light grey either side really stands out.  The remaining two colours are both matte, black (DB310) and matte metallic silver (DB321), which means that these two colours really swallow the light.  I always think matte black looks blacker and darker and the matte colours make the shiny colours stand out more.

Light combined uses matte transparent coloured beads edge in opaque white.  I like the way if feels like the coloured beads are full of light and framed by the opaque beads.  It's an affect I intend to use further.

Sticking to one finish has great effects too.  I made my rainbow using matte transparent beads and they give the bracelet a soft but light effect; hold it up to the light and it shines through.  All That Jazz uses silver lined beads, with one galvanized thrown in though you would have to look hard to see it.  The result is a beautiful shiny piece that looks like a multi coloured piece of silver foil with tiny scales.  Mysterious Mauve is full of matte metallic which gently blend in to each other and it has such a soft fluid quality I adore.

By Fires Light uses a mix of opaques and matte opaques.  You would not notice until you shone a light directly on it and then the dark red and yellow just catch the light differently.  It gives the piece a subtle depth.  There is no chance of the colours blending in to each other, because of the opaques, but the mix of matte and non-matte separates them even further.

Copper Tree is based around two colours of olive bead, one matte and the other AB.  The AB has given the beads a pinkish overtone but by placing the beads next to copper beads, it's shifts the AB finish to looking coppery.  Where the light hits the shiny beads, there is almost a tiny bit of gold which ties in the yellow gold.  In some lights and at some angles the colours merge, at others the copper and olive AB shine in unity while in other conditions every colour is distinct and harmonious.

A piece I am working on at the moment is called Colour Shift.  It contains pink, purple, green and blue in beautiful jewel like tones so you think the colours would really stand out as individuals.  The beads however include two iris finishes, a lustre and a glazed silver lined.  The result is that the colours largely merge into a multi coloured reflective beauty.  The pattern is discernible but subtle as the beads are the star of this one.

It can take a lot of experience to know in advance how the colours and finishes and effects will all work together.  I don't think it matters.  Experiment and enjoy.  See what happy accidents occur.  Pick colours you love and be prepared to do a few rows and see if you like how it looks.

Photoshoot: Copper Tree!

I love copper.  It's such a great colour and add in that beautiful metallic quality.  It's such a warm and rich colour.  I often pair it with green and this time I decided to pair it with olive green because I had some beautiful Olive AB delicas.  The lustre on these picked up the copper tones beautifully.

I originally wanted to call it olive tree, because olive trees are amazing!  I love their gnarly beauty.  They are not generally known for their copper tones though, so Copper Tree it became.

One the left me have a generic glass ramekin dish with copper leaf in it that I think came from the Range.  It's beautiful stuff.  I brought one of those plain wooden decoupage boxes and painted it black before patchily adding the copper leaf over the top and then varnishing.  It came out looking lovely and I know the friend I made it for still has it.

It is however pesky stuff.  Don't breathe at it or it will all fly away.  Don't let it near damp surfaces and I really would not recommend using a fan around it.  In fact, maybe just don't move!

The two candles are olive and thyme from Yankee Candles.  The holders are cheap glass ones I think I got from Tesco.  The card is also from Tesco, because being badass is a daily goal!

My husband loves a good bargain and he found this in a charity shop locally.  It's so pretty and I have never seen anything quite like it.  It reminds me of the stone, serpentine, but it's pottery.  It has no markings and I can not say anything else about it.  Except it's lovely.

The purse is made from cork and I got it from a tourist shop somewhere around the bottom of the toboggan run in Funchal on the island of Madeira.  I like the idea of cork trees finding a new reason for being kept around so that they do not get ripped up...

The snake is Voldermort's snake from Harry Potter taken from the lego minifigure set.  He is called Nagini.