How did Christmas come around so fast?

This year I had great intentions of making my own Christmas cards and somehow it still hasn't happened yet and Christmas is galloping closer every day.

However Ten Two Studios has come to the rescue with a great selection of free Christmas themed collage sheets so if you fancy having a go at making some vintage or collage themed Christmas cards pop by and download as many of these gorgeous free sheets as you like.

Art classes

Because I've been wittering and Twittering on about how much I'm enjoying my beginners art classes I thought I'd share a couple of the pictures I've created since I started classes about 2 months ago.

Please bear in mind that I'm in my 50's never really done much sketching or painting since I was at school and these are the very first things I've completed, however I'm enjoying it so much and thats the main thing isn't it? I only went along to keep a friend company and I'm so glad she persuaded me to go with her.

I thought I was going to like paiting with watercolours best but when I tried them I found it rather difficult to control the colour and when we tried acrylics I hated it as I hate getting my hands sticky or messy and they are very messy.

What I am loving is working with coloured pencils, and pastels.

The picture of the tiger is done in Cretacolour pastel pencils which I treated myself to on Sunday when I went to the arts and crafts show at the NEC Birmingham.

The landscape with boats I did in WHSmiths artist quality watercolour pencils and the fruit was the very first picture I did at my first lesson and its done in soft pastels.

The pictures have come up in reverse order to how I wanted them as the most recent picture is at the top and the oldest at the bottom but I can't work out how to change the order - maybe my next class should be a basics of computing?

I'm not completely happy with my work yet but its a fair start, and I can see TONS of room for improvement but I'm fairly happy that I've managed to produce something that actually looks something like what I intended it to, thanks for looking.

New bookmarks and bracelets for Christmas

Beaded bookmark, lots of colours available just £4 including post and packing
" Mythrelle" multi coil wrap memory wire bracelet in purples, lilacs and black £12

"Naiads wish" multo coil memory wire wrap bracelet in turquoise, aqua, silver and pearl. £12

Been busy making stuff for Christmas, bookmarks and bracelets which you can buy from my Folksy store.

Just click HERE to pop in my on-line Folksy shop if you'd like to purchase a bracelet or bookmark as a Christmas gift.

Guinevere bracelet

I've just finished making this pretty multi coil memory wire bracelet in lovely frosty sparkling neutral shades of pewter grey, white, pearl, crystal and silver.

To fit any size wrist I'm selling it for £12.

Gonna be busy making stuff for friends for Christmas soon so if YOU'D like a unique Beadyjan piece making as a unique gift please let me know soon.

Catching up

Ok I've been really naughty not keeping up with my blogging!

Two excuses, I was having huge problems opening blogs because of some conflict with IE which seems to be rectified now, fingers crossed!

I've also been spending quite a lot of time at our caravan, where its gorgeous and peaceful but theres not even any mobile phone coverage let alone internet access, so I have't seemed able to get caught up properly with blogging and emailing.

OK heres a few photos - This is the farmland where the caravan site is

This is the view of Kirkcarrion above the site late one sunny August evening

Heres our favourite tearooms in Middleton in Teesdale

And me sitting outside reading (bad photo of me but I've never been what you'd call photogenic)

It was my birthday back in July and I recieved a Sony E-reader from my other half as I'm a very keen reader. I LOVE it, its easier to hold than most books, and I can carry literally hundreds of books with me in my hanbag wherever I go, there are also some great free ebooks to download legally.

heres a huge list of free romance books and stories to download

http://www.roadtoromance.ca/freestories.htm

And a variety of different kinds of books here

http://newfreebooks.com/

If you don't have a Sony reader you can read ebooks on your PC, laptop or PDA. I wish I'd known about them when I worked in the call centre. I could have sat at my work pc with an ebook open and read it between calls! Theres even loads online so you can read them anywhere you have internet access. Not that I'm encouraging anyone to sit reading when they should be working - Oh ok I AM encouraging you to do that - why not!

I've had a few nice days out with friends, my mate Sue and I have jumped on a bus and been to the coast and a couple of nice country villages and enjoyed a stroll and afternoon tea.

I had a lovely meet up with 2 book loving friends, we all went to Annes house in Wetherby for lunchj then had a lovely look around the shops in Wetherby - its a lovely place for a couple of hours mooching with some great charity shops crammed with bargains, a few lovely upmarket gift and craft shops and a recently opened fabulous discount bookshop.

I've recently discovered Spotify where you can listen to some great quality music how about listening to some Goldfrapp

http://open.spotify.com/track/2WjcUtchLH4Uxc8hxFiFxu

or if you prefer heavy rock you could give Chickenfoot a listen

http://open.spotify.com/track/1AWXKlAvgXcwzisycW0Lge

I'm still going to my creative writing group every other Monday and enjoying it a lot - though I don't think I'll ever be happy enough with anything I've written to attempt getting it published!

Finally, a question for anyone who reads my blog - What do you or would you enjoy reading about, seeing pictures of, or having links to most of all on my future blog posts?

Please let me know by adding a comment.

Thanks for popping by, hope to see you again soon.

Coriandr / Beadyjan / Nebula earrings

Coriandr / Beadyjan / Nebula earrings

I've just listed some new earrings to my Coriandr shop.

The Nebula Earrings are a little more elaborate than my usual simple earrings and take a little more time to create.

They are made by taking a facetted crystal bead and brickstitching around it with toning and contrasting beads, then adding a pretty dangling fringe.

They are suspended from 100% surgical steel ear wires as are all my handmade earrings as these are really the ONLY wires I can wear in my own sensitive ears apart from gold and whats good enough for me is good enough for my customers.

At a recession busting price of just £5.00 a pair they are available in a wide choice of different colours just email your preference and I'll make a pair just for you.

Oh and as someone so nicely asked me the other day if I will ship items abroad - yes I'll send them to USA, Canada, Australia and anywhere in the EU - in fact if you'd like to buy any item I've made I'll be happy to quote you shipping costs to your country, wherever you live as long as you pay by Paypal, just contact me by email Beadyjan@yahoo.co.uk

Wired pink floral heart pendant on ribbon thong

Wired pink floral heart pendant on ribbon thong
Originally uploaded by Beadyjan

Just finished this pretty pink heart pendant on wire with a little coil at the bottom. I've added it to a silvery grey ribbon and cord thong.

Buy this for just £5 now at my Coriandr shop

http://beadyjan.coriandr.com/

Happy Weekend everyone

What are you doing this weekend? I hope you have a good one whatever you're up to and the weathers a bit kinder than it was here last weekend.

I've been making some new earrings - I decided to name every pair I make even though they sell for as little as £3.50 a pair because each pair is one of a kind and individually handcrafted so I thought they deserve names rather than just reference numbers.

This pairs called Tenderness.

This pair is Tranquille

These are Serenity

This pair is called Enchantment - you can't see terribly well in the photo the absolutely stunning Czech crystal cluster beads at the top but they are gorgeous.

I bet these would be about £20 if you got them in a shop!

And this pair is Cherish because they are so precious looking

If you're a Facebook user I've started a new page for my jewellery, you can become a fan of my page on Facebook with a chance to WIN FREE EARRINGS by visiting it HERE as once I have 100 facebook fans I will be giving away a pair of unique bespoke Earrings absolutely free - please pass it on!

Earlier this week I went to the doctor and found I've trapped a nerve in my neck, probably with all the sneezing. At least I have some strong painkillers and some new arthritis medication, which seem to be helping.

Today I'm meeting up with an old friend Sue, we usually manage to have a good laugh so I'm looking forward to a catch up with her.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Quick update

Got back from a week away at our caravan and felt achey and fluey with an awful headache which my doctor says is a trapped nerve in my neck caused by my arthritis! So I'm doped up on painkillers and feeling very sorry for myself.

I'm having a go at using Twitter, but can't quite work out what to do and how to find any followers - so if anyone reads this who uses Twitter do let me know!

As soon as I feel a bit more like myself I'll be posting a few new pics.

My new Folksy shop

Just a short blog today as I've been busy finding my way around FOLKSY

Its a fairly new wesbite aimed at providing UK based craftspeople with a place to list and sell their handmade goods.

It seems pretty good and I've opened my own Folksy shop

So far just a few items listed but I'll be adding more. Do have a quick look and let me know what you think.

Lavender Lane bracelet - perfect for arthritis sufferers

Ideal for Arthritis/ rheumatism sufferers, my latest bracelet is a stunning mix of beads in shades of lavender, lilac, purple and silver.

Woven together to form a cuff style bracelet which caresses your wrist it fastens with an elegant and practical foldover magnetic clasp in antique bronzed copper. Overall length including clasp is 19cm (7.5")

As an arthritis sufferer myself I am always looking for ways to alleviate pain and follow the popular belief that both copper and magnets are an effective source of pain relief.

These clasps contain two strong magnets and are made from copper, providing two widely popular treatments in one together with the added advantage of being extremely easy to fasten by yourself, even with painful hands.

This colourway is a one off and this unique and unusual bracelet can be yours for just £14, please email me if interested.

Chunky agate necklace and bracelet set

Another item I've been working on lately is this big, bold gemstone pendant necklace and matching bracelet, and I love it - I hope you do too.

In genuine natural agate gemstones the fabulous brown, gold and red shades make me think of South American desert landscapes so I've called it Atacama.

At £25 for the set its a snip of a price for a huge statement piece and as its a one off, if you like it buy it now.

Email me at Beadyjan@yahoo.co.uk to reserve it for yourself or to ask me any more questions about it and any of my creations.

New necklace

I haven't blogged anything for ages so just thought I'd share my latest creation. This necklace is a beadworked peyote spiral embellished with a myriad of lovely beads in shades of bronze, copper and turquoise.

Approximately 18" long it fastens with an ornate Tibetan silver flower t-bar clasp.

Its a one of a kind item and is available for sale at just £24.

If you're interested just let me know.

Butterfly world

The other day my friend Sue and I decided to have a day out but when we were ready to jump on the bus it began to chuck it down with rain and it was pretty chilly too and suddenly the idea of a day out shopping and walking around outdoors didn't seem quite so appealing.

I came up with the bright idea of a trip to Butterfly world at Preston Park which is quite close by as my friend had never been in before.

It costs £3.50 admission for adults and you can come and go as you please all day. You enter via a small shop with lots of butterfly related souvenirs and the receptionist brings her gorgeous talking parrot Maia to work with her and the parrot sits in her large cage and greets everyone and waves!

Once inside the large Butterfly enclosure you step into a warm, steamy tropical paradise housed in a very large conservatory type building. Tropical blooms and plants abound and the huge exotic butterflies flit and flutter all around you, if you sit or stand still for long they even land on you!

Seats are provided and you can just sit and relax in this lovely warm environment.

There is a waterfall and a pretty stream with lots of Koi carp which you can feed with food available at 20p a packet.

At the far end is a small mini zoo, with snakes tarantulas and lizards plus the current attraction 3 cute Meercats.

Collage picture of Smokey cat

I can hardly believe its now 3 weeks since we lost our lovely Smokey.

To be honest I'm finding it very hard to cope with and am still tearful and weepy at times. I get up on a morning and expect to find him waiting to be fed, I go upstairs during the day and expect to find him lying on the bed sunning himself, sometimes my chest aches so much from not being able to hold him close and give him a cuddle, ever again.

I wanted to do something in memory of him and made this little collage of photos of him.

Hope you like it.

My OWOH giveaway mini pillow arrived

We went away for a long weekend at our caravan in the Durham Dales and arrived home nicely chilled out to find my One world one Heart giveaway prize waiting.

Its a dainty little mini pillow made from vintage fabrics by Laurie at http://indulgeyourshelf.blogspot.com/

If you love vintage items do pop by her blog and see some of her tips and tricks.

Its a very pretty little handmade treasure and I'm delighted I was the lucky recipient.

In memory of Smokey - my gorgeous cat

I'm afraid the worst thing imaginable has happened and last night we lost our beloved Smokey cat. I'm devastated as, even though he's been very ill, I hoped the medication helping meant he was going to improve enough to have a decent quality of life for some time.

Last evening he was asleep on the back of the sofa (one of his favourite spots) where I was sitting watching tv and he suddenly made a strange little noise, then a few seconds later I heard him moving and thought he was going to come on my knee as usual, but he just fell off the back of the sofa and I managed to catch him, he was shaking and I thought he'd just gone a bit wobbly again so I put him on the floor and he fell over and then began to stagger about and fall into the coffee table and banging into stuff it was terribly scary to watch.

So I scooped him up and held him and could tell he was having or had just had a seizure his eyes were rolling around and one was bulging a bit while the other was sunk right back and he was shaking and his back legs were rigid.

I cuddled him for a few minutes and when he didn't get any better we got his basket and we put him in to stop him trying to move and hurting himself.

We dashed over to the emergency vet but knew there was nothing he'd be able to do except stop things before he suffered too much. If we'd even waited overnight he'd have been scared and we couldn't have left him as he couldn't stand up and he'd have fallen and hurt himself even worse.

It was one of the hardest things thats ever happened and I am completely distraught, I know he was a pet but he was also my furry baby and I loved him SOO much it hurts.

At least, after the first episode he came home and spent a couple of weeks of love and cuddles being even more pampered and spoilt than usual and in a way we said goodbye properly and had a bit of time to get used to the idea that he may not get better.

I'm going to miss him SO much as we've had him since we moved into this house over 10 years ago and with me not working I'm used to having him around all day when I'm at home alone.

Rest in peace my little Smokey - if ever a pet was adored you were and I'll never forget you.

Winter sun

I just wanted to share this lovely view of the sea in winter which I snapped yesterday. After so much snow it was nice to see the sun shining and as we were passing by the headland at Hartlepool I grabbed my camera.

At first I thought I wasn't going to be able to take a picture of the sea as the sun was bang in front of me, but as I lowered my viewpoint I realised it might turn out ok after all - and it did, I think this pictures turned out really pretty.

The WINNER is ....

I'm delighted to announce the lucky winner of my one of a kind polyclay pendant necklace is.....

Kimmie of Once upon a Blue Crow her name was drawn at random yesterday and she's contacted me to claim her prize.

Kimmie is a talented art doll maker who makes adorable dolls like this one

Please call by her blog, say Hi and see how talented she is.

OWOH giveaway draw

Its come around so fast - the day to draw a winner - and I still didn't find time to visit all the entrants blogs and enter all their draws as this just grew SO much bigger than I'd envisaged. Wow this has been so much fun.

I'll still be able to visit those blogs I haven't seen yet over the next few weeks though.

I've drawn a lucky winner of my necklace and am waiting until they've replied to my email before I announce their details ....
I do hope they like their necklace.

Snowy Monday

Like much of Britain we awoke to find several inches of snow and freezing temperatures. I just can't get warmed through even with the heating on full blast and my thick fluffy socks and slipper boots on my toes are like icicles.

Last week I had a horrid week hence no new posts. My oven went on the blink and couldn't be fixed so I've been living on microwaved and wok fried meals.

Today my new oven is due to be delivered, so I'm hoping the waether won't delay or postpone its arrival. I NEED my oven!

My cat Smokey has been really poorly, we took him to the vet last week who gave him two injections and if he wasn't any better by Monday to take him back. He is no better so as soon as my delivery arrives I'll be taking him back there. Fingers crossed, I'm quite worried about him - he looks as though he might have had a stroke or something he's all lopsided and wobbly on his paws.

I had a lovely day on Saturday, went to Sheffield to meet up with about 20 on-line friends I've met through a book exchange site Read it Swap it
We all went to LA Tasca Spanish Tapas restuarant and had a good old gossip and stuffed our faces. A great day out.

UPDATE
My lovely new cooker arrived and is safely installed, I haven't really tried it out much yet but I'm sure I'll be creating some gourmet delicacaies very soon - ha ha (I'm the worlds worst cook)

Took Smokey back to the vets and we're not really any further forward, They still don't know for sure what's wrong but suggested we may want to wait a few more days and see if he improves (the antibiotics are slow release so may take a little longer before they show results)
If not, we could consider leaving him at the vet hospital for some quite lengthy, expensive tests and trials including the risk of a general anaesthetic to do them, which might be quite stressful/ risky for him, so at the moment we are waiting and taking it day by day.

I don't want to tempt fate but he seems a touch more alert and lively today so I'm crossing all my digits that he can turn the corner without hospitalisation.

One world one heart giveaway

Bloggers - win this Beadyjan handmade pendant necklace absolutely free!

Find out how by reading on ....

Whilst blog hopping to find some new craft blogs to peruse I've come across the one world one heart blog. its a huge international blog giveaway event created to encourage arty crafty bloggers around the world to get together, give away a piece or more of their art and discover new people and find new blogs and possibly win something too!

It sounded right up my street so I thought I'd find out more about it and having read that its been happening for 3 consecutive years I decided to take part this year.

For my giveaway I've decided to offer this handmade donut pendant which I made from polymer clay with glittery inclusions and then I wove a spiral rope from seed beads and added a tibetan silver toggle clasp.

To be in with a chance of winning this one of a kind necklace all you need to do is add a comment to this post, you must have a blog of your own and I should be able to contact you through your blog so no anonymous comments.

All valid comments received up to and before midnight (uk time) on February 11th will be put into a hat and the winner will be drawn on February 12th 2009. At this point I will announce the winner on my blog and contact them via email asking them to contact me within 14 days with their snail mail address.

This is an international event and entries are welcome from all bloggers wherever in the world you are.

Good luck.

If you're an artist or creative crafter who'd like to join in please visit Lisa Swifkas blog for more details. We'd love to have more people aboard our "gypsy caravan" as its also called.

Couple of new necklaces I made

I've had a little break from beading as my arthritis has been so painful with the colder weather, however its a touch less cold now so I have made this black necklace for a friend in the USA.

I made her a black and grey wrap bracelet before Christmas and she asked me to make a necklace to match in black and grey. I hope she doesn't think its too dark or dull. She doesn't blog so I know she won't see this.

The second, freeform necklace is one I began making for myself before Christmas and didn't finish it, I picked it up yesterday and completed it and I must say I'm pretty pleased with the end result.

My lovely blog candy arrived

Before Christmas I received an email from Mel at Paper Imagery Designs that I'd been picked as the winner of her blog giveaway.

I've recieved 5 scrummy romantic collage sheets aren't they lovely.

If you fancy som efor yourself you can buy them from her website or why not pop by one of her lovely blogs and get some creative ideas.

http://paperimagerydesigns.blogspot.com/

andhttp://alterediva.blogspot.com/

Now I just have to make myself some time this week to sit down and get creative with them.

Thankyou for my lovely prize Mel.

Heritage scrapbook page Mum when she was young

I just downloaded some lovely free digital scrapbook paper from http://scrapu.blogspot.com/ and had to use it straight away to make this layout.

It seemed to me to be both youthful and yet vintage so suited perfectly this very old photo of my lovely Mum when she was a little girl.

I made the entire page with free digiral scrapbook elements. The beads and pin are from DSP.

The Quote is by AlyAly Designs and the corners by PascaleA

I hope you like it.

Altered chocolate box

Once the chocs are eaten the box often gets thrown away or put in the recycling but this one was such a useful size - it holds 2 stacks of 6 or 7 cds, I decided to collage it up a bit and use it to store my cds of vintage images and collage sheets etc.

I covered it with some K & Co Vintage themed scrapbook paper of old envelopes and postcards, then added 2 rubber stamped vintage images from The Stampsmith and an altered slide mount, then trimmed the edge with a scrap of old lace.

I think it looks really vintagey yet it sits next to my pc and doesn't look out of place.

New Scrapbook page

Its quite cold today but we did manage to spend an hour or so in the garden, cutting back some shrubs and trees which has tidied up the back garden and surprised a few birds when they came down to my seed feeder to find half the tree they sit in, gone!

Doing a bit of hard graft has made me feel justified in spending the remains of the afternoon indoors, on my computer making a few scrapbook pages.

The other day I downloaded the excellent free photo editing programme Paint.net and am learning how to use that to make scrapbook pages and digital collages. I'm not very Au Fait with it yet but have managed to make one or two.

I cheated a little with this one by using a gorgeous ready made quickpage by Pam Lefors Designs and just added a couple of images.

The pictures I used are of really poor quality. They were taken over 30 years ago on a really cheap and tacky camera. Since then they were stuck in a non acid free album which faded and damaged them. I came across them and even though they're so poor they are the only photos I have of my little dog Ben who died a few weeks after these photos were taken.

Even though he was just a baby when he died and spend just a few short months with me so many many years ago, I have never forgotten my lovely sweet baby Ben.

This way a few more people can share him.

He was a miniature long haired dachsund and the big white dog was his best friend whose name was Hypo and belonged to a neighbour. Even though Ben was so tiny he could sit in the palm of my hand he was a feisty little chap and used to run this big puppy ragged, jumping all over him and showing him who was boss.

I hope you like the scrapbook page.