Free Form Purple Sea Sediment Jasper

Sea sediment Jasper is gorgeous and even a little mysterious. I searched Google for a definition to include here and while there are a few comments to say it is apparently not jasper, there is little confirmation of what it actually is instead.

I don't mind not knowing what stone it is because I love the mottled veins, spots and detail. Each piece has its own personality which is why I found these free form beads particularly individualistic and pleasing. Sea sediment Jasper comes in a variety of dyed colours and shapes usually highly polished focal beads are more widely available. A departure from blue I had great fun creating these.

Did you know that like orange and silver no true word rhymes with purple?

But I digress, the bold patterns of the focal bead have small flecks that the liquid gold glass and copper accent beads compliment. Teamed with antique toggle clasp to complete the rich colours reminiscent of Byzantine jewellery.

 

Sky Blue Quartz and Glass Bead Necklaces

Blue is my favourite colour with peacock blues being my absolute fave. These sky blue quartz focal beads are a delicate but unusual shade of blue and reflect the light so beautifully that I just had to make up some necklaces with them.

I am tempted to make some with other colour combinations but so far a variety of shapes in the same shade seem to work best. In saying that one of the necklaces has the palest lavender AB cube beads!

I have changed my Facebook page cover shot to show these too. Do you like them?

 

In an English Urban garden

Here are a few of the inhabitants of our garden. We love animals and all of Creation so we don't use any chemicals or other poisonous substances and we have various areas of chopped branches and other havens for small creatures and birds.
This means we do land up with loads to see just outside when gardens around us are fairly devoid of creatures, if more manicured.
We always wondered why this feeder got emptied yet we never saw any birds on it - culprits have been found and captured on camera! Can anyone identify this character?
I am scared of spiders and even felt brave taking a picture of these - I couldn't bring myself to get closer for a macro shot although the markings are beautiful. I admire their dexterity, shape and form and yet they send shivers down my spine.

My fave is bumblebees but here are 2 other insects I captured
The birds are of course an endless delight and the cats spend hours watching them through the door - we call it Cat TV.
An English garden without a robin - unthinkable! So cute and friendly, they will even sit on your foot or spade if you are digging up their fave worms - I haven't yet managed to be digging, have a robin on my foot and take a pic so this little guy is eating some of the bread and seeds we throw out dailyLast but not least Mr Greedy!

Who hates London traffic?..... I do!

I attended a lovely craft fair at Trafalgar Infant School in Twickenham. Very Christmassy and just such a lovely atmosphere. The organisers had really done an excellent job and everything ran very smoothly…………
Well except for getting there – my estimated time to get there was an hour but in fact it took me 2 hours 15 mins!
Traffic was to blame and I landed up arriving there with 10 mins to set up before opening. Nothing like a good old sit in the traffic to improve your mood and I was tempted to give up and go home but I had made a commitment. I knew it would not be fair to the organisers to be a no-show and it certainly wouldn’t do my reputation any good either.
I am so glad I stuck it out as I had a great time.
Today I am making some orders that I received from there, will post pics later xx