Monday Moodboard - Grey, Silver & White

This weeks Monday Moodboard is a serene combination of grey, silver & white, inspired by a quote from Gandalf in The Lord Of The Rings...

"Pippin: I didn't think it would end this way.
Gandalf: End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.
Pippin: What? Gandalf? See what?
Gandalf: White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.
Pippin: Well, that isn't so bad.
Gandalf: No. No, it isn't.”

Clockwise from top-left: Bead Horizon, Gandalf White Shores, Light, Cat.

We'd love to see your creations here! As always you can email your photos to me at liz@thecrimsonmoon.co.uk or add them to our Flickr group pool (you'll need a Flickr account for this).

Wednesdays Wear It or Frog it

This week's wear it or frog it piece was in deep, deep hiding in a box at the bottom of my wardrobe. I made it a while ago and have never worn it. It is easy to see why, I don't really know what I was thinking when I made this, it is very boring and more than a bit blah! I cut it up in quick time and the pile of 7 wooden beads sat on my beading mat as I wondered what to do with them, there aren't really enough to make a whole necklace or even a bracelet. One of them rolled next to a bead cap that I had just made and I realised that combined they would make a perfect acorn, so I whipped up a little pendant and attached it to a chain. I also have some other ideas and I'll show you those later.

Do you have any jewellery that is now languishing at the back of your wardrobe? Why not dig it out and decide whether to wear it or frog it? We would love to see what you come up with, you can add pictures to our Flickr Group http://www.flickr.com/groups/1455268@N20/.

Monday Moodboard Reveal - Orange & Turquoise

Last week's Monday Moodboard colour scheme was zesty orange combined with cool turquoise. Need a recap? Here ya go...

Clockwise from top-left: Door, Turquoise...Nice orange...Turquoise! Fiestaware!...Orange Explosion.

Here's what the team made. Sarah has gone for a beautiful warm orange with lampwork discs and swarovksi crystals on a gold plated chain...


Maria chose a wonderful mixture of materials and textures for her very first necklace using tiger tail. Blue howlite, carnelian, wood, glass and plastic lead down to a very pretty enamel flower...


I've been meaning have a go at double St Petersburg chain for ages, I love the V shape you get from working up the one side and then down the other. I went for a turquoise mix for the main beads, transparent orange for the accents and used an artisan lampwork bead to make a simple closure. I followed instructions from issue 91 of Bead & Button so I've made use of one of my old magazines too...


Been inspired by this weeks colour scheme? Email your photos to me at liz@thecrimsonmoon.co.uk or add them to our Flickr group pool and I'll show them on the blog.

Wednesday's Wear It Or Frog It

This week's Wednesday Wear It Or Frog It is this Maia bracelet that I made several years ago. I used to wear it all the time but somehow it got consigned to bottom of the jewellery box, probably just by adding new pieces on top of it!


The pentacle is pewter and the semi-precious nuggets are rose quartz, new jade and clear quartz, all wire wrapped to a sterling silver bracelet. I was a bit concerned about using silver plated wire to add the beads but I'm really pleased to see how good it's looking, with just a few places where it's tarnished a little. Definitely not one for frogging, I'll be wearing this piece a lot more now that I've rediscovered it!

Monday Moodboard - Orange & Turquoise

This week's Monday Moodboard is a funky combination of orange and turquoise. Use subtle shades or go all out with the brightest beads you can find...the choice is yours! Don't forget the textures and materials too: stone, wood, ceramic, shiny and rough.

Clockwise from top-left: Door, Turquoise...Nice orange...Turquoise! Fiestaware!...Orange Explosion.

We'd love to see your creations here! As always you can email your photos to me at liz@thecrimsonmoon.co.uk or add them to our Flickr group pool (you'll need a Flickr account for this).

Wednesday's Wear It or Frog It.

I made this necklace a couple of years ago when I was going through a back to basics phase, I had gotten a bit sloppy with my tension and into the habit of quick fix beading, so these Cellini spiral beads were a real personal challenge at the time, Cellini is a slooooooow stitch and needs some fairly tight tension. I really liked, and still do, the simple but bold colour combination of black, white and red. My initial impulse when pulling this piece out was to bin it, the faux leather cord is a bit bedraggled and as you can see I have lost one of the beaded beads. On closer inspection, however, I realised that the spiral beads were still in good condition and the colours were still fresh and bold.

So I dug through the stash and found some 12mm grey glass pearls and 6mm black fire polish beads and restrung on beading wire, using a sterling silver magnetic clasp that I have had in my stash for 2 years, so I am glad to have used that too! I wear lots of black/white/grey, so this should get worn a lot more often & if not you may well see it in another Wear It or frog It Wednesday. I still have 1 beaded spiral bead left, so if you have any suggestions on how to use it, please comment on this post!

Do you have any hidden treasures that you have recently dug out of your jewellery box? We'd love to see them, you can e-mail photo's to ottbs@hotmail.co.uk.

Green and Purple Reveal {Monday Moodboard}

Last week's Monday Moodboard was a combination of green and purple with your pick of any shades. Here's a reminder...

Clockwise from top-left: Purple and Green...macro green eye with purple m.a.c. and ben nye eyeshadow...morris minor...Purple and Green.

Here's what the team made.

Sarah chose two beautiful bold shades for her fabulous hoop & dangle earrings...


And I couldn't pick one shade so I used them all in this freefrom peyote bracelet...


Have you been inspired by this week's moodboard? Send your photographs to liz@thecrimsonmoon.co.uk and I'll post them on the blog!