Different shapes necklace

I played around with different coloured beads and then I hit upon this combination:

It is perhaps a bit difficult to see, but there are both round and square beads in addition to the heart pendant.

This is then the end result. I thought the colours worked well with each other, but it can be a bit difficult to see in a picture perhaps.

A little bird whispered in my ear.....

I had a couple of small metal birds in different shapes. So I thought I would make a couple of earrings with these birds and a couple of blue beads.

This is the result. I thought they were cute. Two different pairs.

From chaotic to order or not….

I am slowly learning to not become too attached to a design as it often ends up differently than what I originally thought. Case in point, the making of this green/grey/reddish necklace.

The basis of the necklace was the square pendant and then I wanted to pick up the green colour and use that in beads that formed part of the necklace. So I got a couple of green square beads with a touch of pink and gold. However, I didn't like the look of those beads with the other beads I have. So I wanted just those two styles, however the hole in the green squares were too narrow. So I could not get the grey thread into it. So I had to think again.

I could not get a grip on the beads with the thin thread. So I decided to add some metallic separators and then hang the square beads from that. I must admit, this was very, very far from what I originally had planned, but I liked it.

Here is the finished necklace:

Painting on different glasses

I have never been really good at drawing, it is mostly stick-figures and silhouettes and so forth. However, I do like the painting processes. I like to make colours blend and give a new expression or perhaps a feeling. For many years, I resisted the idee of painting as I could not paint in the "normal" way, my paintings are not lifelike nor are the great abstracts. But I recently started painting on glass, and it is fun to blend different colours and not make a picture, bur rather just decoration. I am sort of just letting the paintbrush move. I did buy a couple of small bottles. I don't know what I will use them for, but they are fun to paint on. Other than that I am using empty jam jars or the like. My part in recycling!

So here are a few of the ones that I am finished with, at least for now:

This has both blue and purple lines and a purple ribbon. I love candle holders, a bit too much at times perhaps, but still. This is what it looks like when I have a small light in it. 

Below is a bottle that I have just made a couple of flower like decoration on. It is a rather small bottle, but it is decorative. 

This is the same bottle, but here I have made green vines up and mixed three different greens. So I have painted on this bottle several times (you may have seen the bottle in its early stages in another description that I have made on my blog)

 Here I am trying to be a bit more lifelike. It is difficult to see in a picture I think, but each of the sides of this jar has a different tree on it and a different season. So on one side there is a tree with it's leaves falling off, in another there branches are bare, than in one there is snow all around and so forth. It was great fun to make, but I do not know what to do with it, yet.

Their hearts are singing...

I know that this is a song, perhaps somebody with a bit more control than me know which one? I believe that it is a country song, but I could be mistaken.

However, I have always liked this phrase and while I can not make a necklace sing, I can make bells chime. At least a little.
So I made this

I took 4 hearts, one for each child and placed a tiny bell in the middle of each. Then I took a circle with beaten silver, and place a heart glass bead inside it. I added to keys to the end. In my mind, the hearts are the children and they are held together and given stability and support by the heart in the oval, which represents us as parents. Then the keys symbolises that this unit is holding firm, no matter what, 

I then added a pale grey thread to i, so it can be worn as a necklace.  

A blue necklace, playing with different materials

I must say that one of my favourite colors is blue. So I decided to play around with a couple of different types of beads and make a necklace.
I wanted the colour blue to really stand out, but at the same time I didn't want it all blue. So I chose a grey, rather thick thread.

This was my first plan. The black at the sides are magnetic beads that I thought would make bit of an interesting addition. But I was not that happy with this as I felt that it did not give the right feel. I wanted more blue colour. So I took a several small beads and sown them into one part of the thread. Then I wanted to add the blue beads that you can see just above the blue heart. However, the holes in the beads were to small for the thread to get through. I tried everything, but then I suddenly decided to try and shred the thread. That worked: 

Here you can see both the part where I have sown the small blue beads into the thread, and also the many, many thin threads that make up one large thread. There were really a lot of them, but as you can see on the right hand side of the picture, I was now able to get the blue beads into the thread. 

I decided to remove the black, magnetic beads as I felt that they did not fit into the new design. 

So the ned result was: 

 I had a bit of the thin thread left, so I made a couple of earrings to match the necklace.

I love the colours, but I am a bit uncertain about the small threads as they are not so sturdy. I may have to think of something new.
I also made a bracelet to match in colour, and I think that I am in love with the grey thread. It is so soft and supple.

Having fun with the kids

I do fall into the trap of thinking that what I think is fun is something that the kids also think is fun.  Perhaps this is because I can find something fun in most things, at least for a little while.

But as my kids get older, especially the boys, I have to admit that I have to think differently. 

I have to balance between following their lead and inviting them into my world. Because it is very easy to also get in the rhyme of following the kids, which is not good in the long run. 

So I try to think of one activity a day that I think is good to do together, even if it is not the most fun thing to do and it often doesn't have to last for a long time either. It can simply be that we train the dog together, look at a tv-series together (chosen by all) or that we just sit together and relax. 

With my kids at least there are usually a lot of opportunities to spend time with them on their terms, watching them play video or computer games while I am keeping busy with a craft or two.

But I do feel that it is very important to invite the kids into the grown up world, in a good manner and get to know me as a person and not just as their mother. 

Bracelets for boys

I have three boys and one girl. It is always simple to make something for the girl as she sort of loves everything.
The boys are a bit jealous of this, as they also want me to spend time making something for them. Of course they do not know what they want, but something. They are 8, 10 and 12 years old, so it can be a  bit of a challenge.
However, now I tried to make some bracelets that were more geared towards boys than girls, however, they can be used by both as I discovered when my girl wanted them also.
The boys haven't worn them yet, but they did approve.

It brown leather, macrame and then a silver figure of a tiger is attached. I have attached the figure two places so it will not move. 

Here I have used a silver, thick thread. It was not very easy to use and I am not that happy with it, but it was ok. The silver figure is a dragon. This was also attached two places so it will not move around.

 Here I have used several rings, in bright silver and in bronze. I attached a dragon to one of the rings so it will not swing freely.

 On this I used silver ringers and I attached the tiger between two of the rings. The problem is that neither the tiger or the dragon has to attachment points. Thus I had to improvise, it worked after a bit of trial and error.