Earlier this year I was poorly and missed 10 days so these are to make up for those...
Top to bottom, chunky silver bead necklace (possibly from Wallis), silver bead necklace worn as bracelet (hand made), silver and pearl necklace (hand made), purple and silver bead bracelet (present), yellow and silver bead necklace (hand made), long silver and pearl necklace (charity shop), silvery gold bead necklace (hand made), blue and silver wooden bead bracelet (hand made), silver bead necklace worn as bracelet (hand made) and long wooden bead necklace (hand made).
I'm still working through my recently discovered stash, many of which I made when I was first experimenting with jewellery or are from charity shops which very much personify what I've been wearing this week!
Shop of the Week this week is Literary Emporium. I stumbled upon this boutique on Twitter and I adore their book themed jewellery. My favourite is definitely the silver cloud charm necklace. It's so unusual and really well priced too.
This week I have been wearing (from top to bottom); blue bead and crystal necklace (hand made), pearl and silver bead necklace (hand made), black and silver bead necklace (hand made), silver bead necklace (hand made), chunky turquoise necklace (charity shop), green bead and wood necklace (charity shop, possibly originally from Next) and hematite bead necklace (hand made).
We've broken the 300 mark!! I'm really excited about this as it means the end is in sight but it is freaking me out slightly that I have more than 300 pieces of jewellery! There are no rings this week you'll be glad to hear. This week I've been rooting through some old necklaces so there are quite a few really old pieces but it was nice to stumble upon them.
My Shop of the Week this week goes to Debenhams, and specifically Jon Richard. Their lovely PR team found my blog and really liked it so they sent me some bits and bobs that I'm going to be wearing between now and the end of the year. As you know I do love a bit of costume jewellery and I think if you want something on trend and a bit blingy then you can't really go wrong for the party season. Go check them out!
From top to bottom - black wooden bead necklace (think this was free with a magazine?), Simple three drop crystal necklace (maybe from a charity shop), gold square string necklace (definitely from a charity shop!), long silver shell necklace (made by me using materials from Smitten Beads), pearl bracelet made out of a long pearl necklace (not sure where this is from, silver and blue earrings (from Sam Ubhi, a present from the hubby), and long wooden multi-bead necklace (this might be from Wallis but its around 10 years old!)
This was the ring I bought from Next that was similar tot he one worn earlier this week. Its a silver adjustable cuff with a loop that has a number of clear or silver beads attached to it.
I made this some time ago and I really like the square purple beads (the same ones I used for this bracelet). It's not the best photo unfortunately but there are around seven of the square beads and some silver round beads as well. I've then attached them to a wire that I've formed into a ring. I really like it!
I made this using a bead 'cup' (I don't think that's the technical term!) - but it comes fixed to a ring base and has lots of holes in and then you use wire to thread beads on the top. I've only tried this technique the one time and I don't think it was that successful to be honest, but still - it looks good from a distance!
This is another charity shop find, although it may have originally been from somewhere like Wallis. It's super long and is a mix of silver and black beads. It's hard to get a good shot of it without making my chest look humungous or my head really small - this was the best I could do!
I should have worn this on Sunday really, but I'm a bit late. I got this from a clothes swap event at work and wanted to crack something gold out to commemorate the Olympics. I'm feeling a little bereft if I'm honest, but excited that we've got some Paralympic athletics tickets for early September - yay!!
I bought this from a boutique in London called Something, but I just discovered that they are now only online. I don't wear this very often as its so delicate but I think its really pretty so I wanted to wear it again as I've had a bit of a blue phase recently!
Speaking of Team GB (as I did yesterday!) I thought I'd wear some good old gold today to celebrate all Team GB's achievements! I made this when I was experimenting - making rings just using wire and beads is a bit harder than it looks and its not my best creation but I like the random-ness of it and the beads look really pretty when they catch the light.
I made this using the beads from a necklace I got in a charity shop. They are just simple chunky flat wooden beads strung with small silver round beads between them. Its quite a nice tactile necklace to wear as the beads are so smooth.
I made this with the beads left over from making this necklace. It's just a simple elasticated bracelet, perfect for the weekend!
I made this a while ago using some Cloisonne beads - they're so stunningly detailed. I don't really wear this too often as I am always really worried about damaging the beads but it looks so pretty in the sun that I couldn't resist!
This was a present from my mum, I'm not sure where its from but I quite like the colours. It works wellw ith my engagement and wedding ring and is nice and bright for this lovely weather!
I first read about Juzi in Look Magazine a few years ago and I loved the whole project! I'm going to tell you more about then in the next post so for now just enjoy the picture and you'll find out more shortly!
Wow, so we're officially half way through the year, and half way through the challenge! I am starting to struggle now with the no buying rule (especially as Accessorize has a sale on!) as I always want to buy some new pieces in the summertime...but I am holding back.
I'm also finding it increasingly tricky to make sure I wear something that I've not worn before every day. Sometimes I have to get up super early and check through the blog to make sure! ARGH...I have no idea how tough its going to get come Novermber!
Today I am wearing a simple blue beaded bracelet that was a present from a friend when she came back from holiday. I swore I had already worn it but I checked back and it seems we're ok!! Phew.
Yep, another one of my own pieces. I made this with some small turquoise beads I got from Buffy's Beads, mixed up with some small silver beads too. Just a nice simple piece for a Sunday, and I'm trying to channel a bit of sumemr as it is 1st July...not that its helping. This summer is just rotten!!!
I made this a while ago and thought I'd wear it today as I've got a nice red dress on. Its just three strands of simple red seed beads interspersed with some red cube shaped beads. Nothing too fancy, but when its this humid you don't want anything too fiddly do you!
This is the bracelet that matches the earrings I wore yesterday. It's made up of the same pale blue crackle beads, which are threaded on to wire with small amethyst chips and clear seed beads. I love the fact that the blue beads remind me of cracking ice - and with the weather as its been recently that's a sound we've all been enjoying!
I didn't make these! These were a pair of earrings I bought from a friend of a friend a long time ago, way before I thought of making jewellery myself. It seemed like something you needed some qualifications or expertise in and I had neither - just a passion for accessories! I found them again recently and tried to remember how much I paid for them as they are really simple but using really nice quality beads so they look quite expensive. They are a lesson to me about how I should price my own pieces if/when I do sell them (I tend to do commissions for friends rather than having my own site but I'd like to do that one day - maybe I'll start with a shop on Etsy or Folksy). I often under-price my pieces and I need to remember that people are paying for your time and creativity and not just supplies!
