Beading Milk beads in Spiral

This necklace is another spiral, but because it is chips you can hardly see that it is spiral. I call this milk stone but I know some people call it moon stone. I really dont care I think it is quite eye catching. What I should have done is saved enough beads and chips to make matching earings.
Never mind I will know the next time.

Beading by The Princess

This necklace was made for me by my 8 year old grand daughter (fondly called The Princess) actually I think the stork made a mistake when it dropped in to my daughter's arms..
She loves doing beading . Funny enough she does not like tidying up her room !! We have some arguments about that. However none when I ask her does she want to bead with me.

More Beading from recent past

This necklace was made while I was in my Spiral mode. I love this stitch I think it is my favourite.
What can I say. I thought I would try the double spiral. I loved doing this BUT found it difficult after a time it seemed to crush up and went very tight.So what I thought I would carry on in one colour at one end then the other colour on the other side. It turned out very interesting dont you think? I had seen this on a site in my web wanderings.. Sorry I cannot remember where it was. But when I do I will give credit where it is due.

beading in the New Year

It is ages since I have done my blogging thing. My friends have been contacting me to say how sad they were because I have not been keeping my blog up to date.

This necklace was the outcome of the spiral necklace I told you I was going to try in the clear and royal blue mini bugles. I have never tried to cover a stone but as this my first attempt I hope you will forgive any mistakes you can see..

A friend of mine who lives in England does a lot for some very needy charities.. In November I sent her some of my finished UOF's. I have now started on the next bunch to send her. It is good to clear the decks (so to speak) .

Focus on Beading

Well I have given myself a good talking to.
Things were going from bad to worse. The UFO's were piling up and I was getting nowhere fast. I could see the problem but I just could do nothing about it.
My answer was do something I really love to do.. well that was easy to answer 'A Spiral' I love the spiral I can do it with my eyes shut , so to speak. All I had to do was decide on the colors .
I went into the stash and found some clear seed beads and some royal blue small bugles and away I went spiraling like a mad thing..
Maybe this is not your way to deal with an over active brain but its mine .
I feel so much calmer today. I know I will get the call to do a wee bit here and there on the UFO's and as I take my time they will get finished..
Time is something I have a lot of. I just lost sight of this fact and lost my calm.
Hope you have a nice day thank you for visiting

The Beading Mixing Pot

I find I have a lot UFO's kicking about. I cant seem to sit down and finish them off. My brain does not want to let me finish the one piece before it throws the next piece into the mix that is my ideas pot. At the moment I have two flower pieces on the go and a peyote bracelet cuff. Last night while getting on with the cuff I lifted one of the flowers and laid it on the cuff and it was really quite beautiful. . . The large flower and the 'Kind of a Passion Flower' were made from the tutorial on http://www.blisstree.com/jewelryandbeading/making-beaded-flowers
The small rose was made from a book 'The beaded Garden' by Diane Fitzgerald



By the way I made the passion flower, in a kind of a way, but I could
not make the stamens stand up so did away with them and am going to add a golden seed bead center.


It is a 'Kind of a Passion Flower' Can you see a kind of a passion flower?

I have so much whirling round in my head I wish I could slow it down just a bit...
At the moment I have a hankering to bead the edge of a scarf. It just has to be a project for the future.

A day in Jungle Park Tenerife Thro' Jim's Lens

This was a smashing day. As a family we love Jungle Park there is so much to do and see. Also it is situated quite near where we live so no long bus journeys or car drives. The Wild Child and Princess Wat-A-Pong thoroughly enjoyed them selves as usual. We saw the Parrot Show and then later on saw the wild bird show.
How on earth do they get the birds to come back I have no idea. The birds set off from the tower and fly off into the distance and you think to your self 'Bye bye birdy' but no before the show is over there they swooping over the tower again and there they are safe and sound.
The children have been there so often that they were off showing CC and CJ the way to the next bit of the park. We had two very tired bunnies to take home.

Beaded flowers!!

I started getting a hankering to try to make beaded flowers. Now I thought you could only make these lovely little things with wire. These are the kind of flowers I showed off in my last beading post. However doing my usual browsing through the internet I found this example of flowers in bead and thread http://www.blisstree.com/jewelryandbeading/making-beaded-flowers/ I was immediately tempted and here is the first of the finished article. Cyndi's tutorial is very well shown and if I can make this on my first attempt anyone can do it.
I enjoyed doing this and I have found a flower called the passion flower, I wondered to myself if I could try and make it up in this 'bead and thread' method. I will keep you posted how I get on.

I have recently purchased a book called 'The beaded Garden' by Diane Fitzgerald and I am working my way through it. The book is wonderful, full of detailed descriptions and pictures. I have tried the small tulip so far I am in wonderment at the lovely things she makes but it is mostly in the perky peyote.. enough said.

Holiday in Tenerife Thro' Jim's Lens

On the Friday CC and I had a lovely trip to the supermercado ( supermarket) CC was suitably impressed. We also took a little trip aside to a Chinese shop that sells beads. We had a quick look round Iceland , yes I mean the same shop as in Britain. CC was gobsmacked.. Actually the prices are awful but if you want British goods you have to pay the price..

When we got back to Tagoro Park CC and CJ made their way down to the coast road in Costa del Silencio . CJ wanted to take more pictures .

Beading something new

I saw this kind of beading on a web site and when I looked at the tutorial I thought 'I could do that' http://www.jewelrylessons.com/tutorial/victorian-beading-technique .. I am sure you all know this site.. There is just soo much on this site. I realy could not try something..
Ok so they are not too professional but I think you can see it has possibilities. Since finding that Victorian Beading Technique I have found another one for a rose I am now going to tackle that.

Holiday in Tenerife Thro' Jim's Lens.

I want to take you all back to my wonderful holiday I spent with CC and CJ. On the first Thursday of the holiday we got on a bus and took a little trip to Los Abrigos we went for a walk down the harbour. It was a lovely day Plenty of sun with a little breeze, we appreciated the gentle breeze. These pictures although lovely do not do justice to this little village.



Our next stop on this day of gentle adventures was El Medano. This village is famous for the wind-surfing.. It is also known for the wind. There is almost a 'hippy' feeling it is such a laid back village. There is beautiful boardwalk that is a pleasure to walk along. We stopped off in a cafe for a bite of lunch and a refreshment then wandered on. CJ taking many photos and CC an I following on behind him .

Beading with 'Shaped Beadwork'

I have an apology to make to all my readers. I have not been very well recently, nothing to do with my visitors, just a cold type thing I could not seem to shake . However I am feeling much better now. There seems to be a lot of this sort of bug at this time of year. (The change from high summer to a little cooler autumn). There is so many people going around with this infection you would think we would be prepared for it. But no we are all caught out every year..




Now I will show you just what I have been doing. I had another trip through Diane Fitzgerald book 'Shaped Beadwork' I do love this book. I said some time ago on the blog that I hated Peyote, well since buying this lovely book I have changed my mind. I have tried quite a few of the pieces, I need to tell you all ' I love Peyote '

Quiet day in Las Galletas

Today was a walk down to our little village Las Galletas. Here we have a brand new harbor and marina. We stopped quite a few times to quench our thirst. We walked our legs off again. With CC and I trailing behind again while our very own David Bailey clicked away merrily. Thar shutter must have been red hot.

Tuesday Los Cristianos

Today it was the turn of Los Cristianos for the sightseeing lark. CJ with his trusty camera and CC and I trailing along behind him.. mind you we were quite happy to do just that because we had not seen each other for 10 years so as you can imagine we had a lot to catch up on.. The weather was just glorious. We walked along the prom from one end to the other.

Los Gigantes Tenerife

On Monday we took the auto-bus (la gua-gua) to Los Gigantes. The journey was quite an eye opener for CC & CJ and when we at last got into Los Gigantes the look on their faces was priceless. The first look at the cliffs of Gigantes is always breathtaking.

The hotels and complexes are just about aw-inspiring. We walked about seeing the lovely scenery. After a while CC and I sat in a cafe while CJ walked about taking lots of photos.

The holiday in Tenerife continues

On Sunday CJ was up early to take pictures of the dawn from their patio.




About 10 o'clock the four of us bundled into the car and drove to Los Cristianos where there is a large tourist market that is on every Sunday . It is mostly touristy sort of things but then there are few quite crafty things also.


On our way home we walked round Las Galletas. Las Galletas has some very nice streets to walk through .




We stopped and had a refreshment and discussed what excursion we would venture Monday

No beading in Tenerife

My cousin CC and her husband CJ came over to our island for two weeks holiday and I had an opportunity to see our beautiful island through fresh eyes. They loved Tenerife to bits. It was quite an eye opener for me..
The Friday they arrived it was not particularly warm . However they thought it was lovely and warm. I wondered how I was going to tell them just how hot it would get.

The next day we went to Westhaven Bay complex for a coffee and to let them see some of the scenery. While we sat beside the wall some cheeky little lizards came out for some breakfast of our cakes. We had placed some crumbs into the cracks in the wall.

The scenery is lovely from Westhaven and CC&CJ were gob smacked.

We walked down to the little village Of Las Galletas this is a small fishing village that is some what untouched by the tourist industry.
We walked down the new marina /harbor. This construction is very new it is only about a year old. From there we walked along the prom Here there is quite a few restaurants and bars.

The first pic is of the walk from Tagro Park to Westhaven Bay. The gardens are full of very interesting plants and cacti.
The next pic is of the little lizards and the last one is the veiw of Las Galletas from the patio at Westhaven.

A Happy Mistake

I will tell you all of a happy mistake I made not long ago. On my travels through the internet I came across a book called 'The Beaders Bible' . Now I did not realise there is two Beaders Bibles.

Anyway I duly sent away for 'The Beaders Bible' from my old favorite Amazon.co.uk. I did not check that it was the right book. However when it came (Amazon has never let me down) It certainly was The Beaders Bible this book was by Claire Crouchley. The book has a fund of designs in Square Stitch. This stitch can be used on a loom as well as square stitch. This was great because I had not long before purchased a wire loom. the other stitch is Peyote Stitch or Brick Stitch.

Well if you have read my previous posts you will know I had no great liking for the pesky peyote.. I did try some of the simpler patterns in all the different stitches. I got caught up in some of them .

The stitches in the book are very well explained and the pictures make you want to try all of them.

I was trawling through the internet on Saturday and guess what I found another Beaders Bible.I now realise this was the book I had wanted in the first place. This book is by Dorothy Wood and is a Comprehensive Guide to Beading Techniques. It sounds good dont you think. When I recieve it from the trusty Amazon I will let you know how I get on with it.

Birthday instead of Beading

It was the princess's birthday she is 8 years old. Mind you it must be true what they say that time goes quicker as you get older. I really dont know how she got to be 8. I feel it was just yesterday we were at the hospital to see our beautiful new grand-daughter.
She is quite the little lady now. She decided she wanted a pool party this year. I must say it all went well on the day. A friend of ours lent us a karaoke machine . What a wonderful invention because while some kids did not want to be swimming all day there was this machine to take there attention.

I feel so tired today I just want to get on with my beading. This week has been hectic with me trying to remember everything for the party. Between food, cakes, pop, balloons and all the rest of the things that make up a kids party nowadays.

Now I am back to my usual weekend things like tidying and sorting out my beading table.

Beading Books

At the beginning of this month I turned 70 and on my birthday I decided to buy myself Diane Fitzgerald's book 'Shaped Beadwork'. One of the things that decided me to buy this book was the fact I could not get the hang of the Peyote Stitch and on looking at many web sites and beading blogs this book came up time after time when I found articles on the pesky Peyote.
I have loved working through the book. Her instructions and descriptions of the wonderful items she has made and shows in the book are amazing..
However there was another book I was very interested in and that was Horace R. Goodhue's 'Indian Bead-weaving Patterns' . I have always have been interested in the beadwork of the American Indians. Again while surfing the net I kept coming across this book. However there were as many against as there was for.. some people thought the drawings left a lot to be desired.. and on the other hand there were people that thought his explanations and stories on the subject of the American Indian beading refreshing. I am one of those people. Since receiving the book from Amazon.co.uk (wonderful web site, wonderful service) on Monday I have read it from front to back and loved every word and diagram.
As you can imagine I am working my way through this book too. Wish me luck..

Roadworks in Costa del Silencio

I came to Costa Del Silencio in 1999. From then until last year the roads and paths around the town were deplorable. To think that I pushed my grandkids buggy up and down those potholed pavements and cobbled kerbs!

We were happy when work started to improve the situation but heavens what a mess they are making! And it is all taking soooo long.

The powers that be have now dug up a stretch of road from Coral Mar all the way to Calle de Te. Up till now they have not thought to cover it over with the tar macadam that constitutes what we could call a road. At the moment it is just dust blowing all over the place and bone-shattering pot holes. God only knows what it is doing to the car...

There have been a few posts on the subject on Tenerife Tattle if you want to know more about the CDS roadworks - just search for Costa Del Silencio and you'll get them in a list.

It is so obvious that the mayor of this small town is a man. No woman would let this mess go on month after month. It is a standing joke that just as it all looks to be finished they'll realise that they forgot to lay the underground pipes for water, electric and sewage. It is a kind of madness and all I can say in their defense is 'TIT' (this is Tenerife) in other words what do we expect.

Here is my first finished project from THE BOOK.As I said Yesterday I run out of beads but managed to make a ribbon of the diagonal chain. I had to change the colors round on one of the bits because I saw I was running out of the pewter color fast. I feel really good about the ' The open Shapes Bracelet'.
I sat up till all hours trying to finish all the bits but I had to give in bed was calling. I got up and finished it this morning. I had to add the chain because of the lack of beads. I dont think it looks too bad.
More good news the kids are home so I will have then here tomorrow and they can play in the pool with all the other children.

Happily Beading in Tenerife

I have had some fun today I have been beading away getting through this book. I love it..as I told you before it is the kind of book you have to work through from front to back if you know what I mean. I usually flick through the pages to see what takes my fancy. Not this book I tried that and realised I needed to really take my time and follow the instructions.
Well I am getting on not too bad ..I am on to the second chapter 'Open Shapes' . I got myself into a few twists and knots but now I have cracked it. At the back of the book I found a pattern for a 'Diagonal stripe chain' How do people think these things up. It is so simple but looks so lush.
Ah but there is still a problem I have run out of beads. This the curse of Tenerife. Sure I can get lots of beads but not the ones I want.. I am sure I could get some but not in the colors I want or not in the amounts I want. Well never say die I will just get on and finish what I have done . It will be a bracelet. I will try and post it tomorrow.

Not Beading just thinking

We have got a big hole in our lives at the moment.. the children are away in Los Cristianos for the most of this week.. they are visiting relations that came over for a holiday from Paris.
I am usually complaining about having to be jumping up and down to their beck and call. Really I dont know what is wrong with me 'I DO MISS THEM' there I said it.
I have decided I will try not to complain about them at all next week..

Beading with 'Shaped Beadwork'

I am sure you can imagine the excitement here when I opened the package yesterday. This is a lovely book. A joy to read and to follow the illustrations. I have pottered through all the basics in chapter one. Well I have never been able to get the hang of peyote stitch but Diane Fitzgerald's book has shown me I can do this stitch. Maybe I am not proficient just yet but I am getting there.
In the recent past I tried the chevron stitch then I found out it was one of Diane's. She has a knack of breaking down the instructions to make things simple. Thank you Diane

The photos in the book of her work leave me gasping for air. I have always liked the thought of being able to make simple 3D jewelery but, come on, in peyote stitch.. no way, well here I am attempting to do just that. I dont sell the things I make I just love the challenge.
I will keep you posted how I get on with THE BOOK

At last I have got the BOOK

I received a book I had sent away for this morning. What a book! The title is Shaped Beadwork by Diane Fitzgerald. The book is all about peyote stitch. I never did get the art of this stitch . The illustrations are lovely and the photos of her work WELL Now! will I ever be able to make items like these?..
The book is like a continuous lesson it takes you from the simplest to what, to me, looks a lot more difficult. I have already started the triangle. I am going to try and make it 3D however we shall see.
As you can see I whipped up two sides of my tri-angle I will show you the finished article.Of course I have delved right in.

A Spiral Bracelet.

I was looking for something to take my interest and found a 'different' Spiral on the Beading Daily web site. This spiral bracelet was made by Janel Gradowski is called Holiday Swirl and I feel well named.
It is a lovely swirly bracelet and I just had to attempt it. I like things that set me a bit of a challenge or 'using the old noddle'.
It was my birthday on the 3rd when I found the post by Michelle Mach, what a gift, on reading down I found the bit about spirals this was written by Jean Campbell. The blogs by Jean always have something of interest in them and I find all her instructions very easy to follow.
Now I love the spiral stitch, any spiral, I dont mind. I love finding new ones to try. My next challenge is going to be a bracelet in the Cellini Spiral.

Beading Table Clear!!

I feel as if I have spent all day trying to sort out the mess. Well I have done it. I can see the little table once more.The only thing is I dont want to make a mess of my wee table. That means no beading lol. How could I make such a mess.
I am going to try and not mess it up again. I have to remember 'you cant make omeletes without breaking eggs' Well I think I must have made a lot of them to make such a mess.

Tidying up the Beading Mess

Yes I am still trying to make sense of my very small work table. I just dont know how I manage to make such a mess. Every time I try to make some order of the mess I find something else to do. Always beading.
Since the last time I said I was going to tidy it all up I have made two necklaces , two bracelets and I am now in the middle of two other bracelets..

Just how can I keep focused on the job in hand. I want to try so many different stitches and colors.
My brain is tumbling over and over. The ideas just flow in and get all mixed up.
I think it is an age thing. Senior moments and all that. Still I enjoy the beading but not the trying to make sense and order of the mess. Wish me luck back to the wee table.

Beading : St. Petersburgh chain

This my attempt at the St. Petersburgh Chain. I found a good clear tutorial in the http://www.beadingdaily.com/ ..
I have tried this stitch before but not with the success that I have had today. It is has very clear instructions It would be very hard to go wrong with them..
This was actually one of the first stitches I ever tried. That one was from this website http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/8782/beads/beadpatt/pattern07_e.htm
The usual thing happened I ran out of beads before I had the item finished.. It was quite a success, but the instructions were not as clear as the Beading Daily one.
I have also tried a bracelet in S.P. that was hard going too but I got there in the end. This was instructions from the bead and button web site. You had to do 6 rows of SP. and it took me a long time to do it.

Here is the princess's newest effort. I think we have a budding beader in the making what do you think?. We have a couple of kids visiting their grand-parents for the summer. The Wild Child and the Princess play with them when they come to the complex. The little girl is very much into the beading lark and our wee princess thought she would like to try it. She is dying to try earrings I think that will be the next thing on the cards..

I have had a bit of excitement on the complex today the Wild Child let the dogs out on the complex. The dogs are not allowed to run about in case they have 'A little accident' I am the one who is so much against dogs running free .. So of course mine are definitely not allowed to run wild and free on the complex. The princess caught Zapa and the Wild Child caught Annie so all ended well..

Beading to keep the stash down

Here is some of the stuff I have been making from my stash.

Top , started out as a double spiral but I could not get the hang of it. I found it was turning out as an ordinary spiral however it is turning out ok..

Left, is from a pattern I found on the Bead n Button web site. I have done this stitch before and I loved doing it and wanted to try it again. This one was made with the base beads just seed beads. The other on was made in delicas for the base row and the delicas made it more even and stable.

Right, is me trying to do peyote stitch I cant seem to get it quite right I keep showing the threads. I would like to try fancy beaded beads with lots of embellishments.. With this bracelet I am going to make three strands then softly pleat them together. I will keep you updated how it turns out. Hopefully the practice will help me with this stitch.

Neurotic Little Dog

We have two dogs in this little house of ours. Both are mutts but we love then in spite of this handicap. Zapa the black one is a little laid back chappy. But the other one is a kind of ugly but beautiful ( if you know what I mean) she is a yappy kind of dog and drives us nuts with her barking.. However we cope with this as she is a wonderful little watch dog..

Now the next thing we have to cope with is she is terrified of the noise round the pool she shakes and pants at an alarming rate all we can do is shut the glass doors to the patio to try and keep down the noise.. she also suffers from separation anxiety .. Annie and I are joined at the hip at the moment and going to the toilet is fun she worries if I shut the door on her. When I am making the food she has to come with me in case I disappear into the pots and pans.

August in Tenerife is a quiet month if you need anything official done but not so quiet here on the complex with all the spanish having their holidays and of course the tourists from all over Europe..

If you look at the pics you will see Zapa looking after his neurotic companion. Wee Annie is the worried one..

Beading and The Problem with the Ever Growing Stash

Boy! do I have a problem.. as you all know by this time 'I love my beading' BUT and this is a big BUT it seems to have a life of its own, the stash I mean. I am making a lot of things( thinking I am using up my stash) but no there seems to be even more .

Wahhh what can I do to make this lot go away.. NO I dont really mean that .. I love my stash even just to sit and fondle the beads gives me pleasure. The many ideas I have got from just sitting playing with my beads is surprising.

I have been trying to tidy it all up.. I have 6 drawers and they are all a mess. I have a small working table and that is a disaster.

I start tidying it all up and then I come across a lovely set of beads and I have to stop tidying up and test the color and the stitch combination my find has brought to mind.

On Friday I went to the new bead shop and I bought two lovely strands of beads.. I know what you will say to that but how could I resist.

This is the Princess's first attempt at beading.. My photography does not do it justice. She sat and worked at it for well over an hour. I wonder what will be next in her beading challenge. She is thinking up something else I dread to think what it will be.



I made this effort yesterday it is quite nice I think.
Because this is Thursday I have the two children. the wild child goes to karate tonight. Someone left them a blowup boat and I can hear them giggling and squealing in the pool. Today I have asked them to stay in the shallow end of the pool .. each of them keeps coming in to tell me the other one is in the forbidden deep end.
They both can swim like fish but if they go to the deep end I cant see them and I have to sit in the sun. I am not good in the sun.

Having a quiet day. Just sorting the beading table

I have been having a relaxing day. As I look around I find my little beading table needs sorting. I have to admit I am a very messy beader. There is all sorts here, there is thread that is rolled into a ball to throw away and odd beads lingering there too. But the funniest is a set of ear phones for my ipod , I lost them a while ago. Oh my there is even finished stuff hiding there too. I amnot going to show you the mess but I might show you the spiral bugle beaded bracelet I found. Lol



I dont know how I manage it I do hope you all understand..

Quite a day, NO BEADING

This being Tuesday The Wild Child does karate this evening so that means the two of them, The Wild Child and Princess Wattapong , come to us and spend most of the day in the swimming pool with their friends. Me, of course am sitting watching them with their friends . I do love to watch them diving and jumping yelling and screaming with excitement while I am baking in the sun.
Princess Wattapong had a Belly Dancing class this morning. She just loves it, her and two of her little friends take the class together. This is her latest thing I wonder how long it will last..
My latest thingy a dangle for DD's bag

Beading in Tenerife.

As I have explained to you before sometimes it is hard to find new beads in Tenerife. However a new Chinese warehouse has opened up and I have found a glorious treasure of beads sold by the strand.
Here is the selection I bought the other day.
I was so stunned with the variety and colors I just stood and looked and gasped. It was like christmas had come in July. However I am not satisfied because what I really need is seed beads size 11 or 8 mind you I could use some size 15 too.
So you see what I mean I am never satisfied.