goldwork – The Indecisive Beader

Goldwork wire restock

Sorry it’s been a bit quiet here, but what with Christmas and the current lockdown we’ve been a bit busy. We’ve been in lockdown pretty much since October (with a couple of small gaps) and as schools have been closed in the UK since Christmas both of the boys are at home. Whilst they’re supplied with ‘remote learning’ by their lovely school, they both need extensive support with this (particularly the 7 year old) and as we’re both working, Mr Indecisive Beader and I are rather pushed for time, so blogging has had to take a back seat!

I have been able to do some beading though – since we can’t go out I can at least bead on the evenings I’m not having to work to make up for the time I’ve spent home schooling in the day. As I’ve mainly be working on my Beadworker’s Guild Challenge piece I don’t have anything I can show though……

I’ve also been able to keep my shop fully open this time round, which means lots of goldwork wires going out to locked down beaders and embroiderers around the UK and further afield, so I’ve had to restock and have snuck in some new colours of smooth purl. I’ve also introduced some more colour packs – just nice combos chosen by me as I think they work together, and these represent a discounted price on buying each colour separately.

Individual 1mm smooth purl packs in 2g increments are available here.

And the packs, which contain 2g each of 4 colours (8g total) are available here:

The new colours are Burnt Orange, Copper Peach, Matte Pink, Mid Turquoise, Golden Brown and Black, and I introduced Fuchsia, Matte Red, Pale Bronze, a greater selection of Golds, Parrot Green, Jade, Navy and Matte Silver to my original selection late last year. That makes 26 colours (I have my eye on a few more but I might stop at 30…..).

The new packs are Pretty in Pink, Fire, Heavy Metal and Ocean. Etsy only gives me room for 10, so the Ocean is not currently listed, so just give a yell if you are interested in that one and I can set up a custom listing. I’m also happy to do custom packs to suit your individual taste or projects, and can price for larger quantities if I have them available – just contact me here or through Etsy ‘contact seller’.

I also have some check purl ready to photograph so I’ll try and do something with that soon as it will be lovely for Squidy’s fins.

Green Squidy

Thank you to all of the beaders who purchased the limited edition Blue Squidy component packs. Sadly they are now all gone and it looks like I can’t get the cabs again, so they’re even more unique than promised!

Fret not though, for now we have new Green and everso slightly bigger Squidy – gorgeous dyed agate cabs (once again you can select your own cab from the list), a new colourway of lovely Hope Jacare hand dyed silk ribbons, and superlush lime lacquer Swarovski chaton eyes, with matching goldwork wires and backings, so he’ll be even livelier than my sample (which has blue zircon eyes). These cabs are a teeny bit wider round the middle than the original cabs (although they claim to be the same size) so you’ll also get a revised paper template so you don’t run out of space for the beads!

I had two cabs from the blue batch left which were probably not bought because they’re a bit paler than the rest so didn’t work as well with the strong blues. I’ve now paired them with new ribbons in softer colours, using a different set for each cab so these two colourways are genuinely unique and can’t be repeated. One makes the most of the lovely soft heather colours which Clare at Hope Jacre is so good at, and the other has mossier blues and greens with hints of peach and lilac. Yummy – please buy them before I’m tempted to steal them for myself!

As with the previous component packs these just include the hard to find elements – you’ll need to add your own beads. Have a look here to see the exact requirements for beads, you’re sure to have them in your stash already, and you only need a tiny quantity of each, and can mix and match as you please. You will also need to purchase the tutorial. If you’re after the wires needed, then you’ll be happy to know I now also sell these in my Etsy shop too!

Goldwork embroidery

The eagle eyed among you may have spotted that I’m now selling Goldwork wires in my Etsy shop. I have a variety of colours of 1mm smooth purl, 1mm and 1.25mm pearl purl and some new and very pretty 1.5mm spiral purl. They’re all lovely quality enamelled copper wires from India, where they’re used in beautiful embroidered fabrics, and I use them myself in my bead embroidery work by employing a mix of goldwork and bead embroidery techniques, mainly (but not always) working on hard felt. Here are some examples:

I’ve also put together some 20g mixed bargain packs which are ideal for having a play with these wires . They contain a mix of different complimentary colours and textures/types of smooth, check, spiral and cut purl, so you’ll be able to work them into a range of goldwork techniques and styles, and hopefully are very good value tasters. If you purchase one then please add ‘BLOG’ to the ‘comments to seller’ section when you checkout on Etsy and I’ll throw in a free length of pearl purl for you to say ‘thank you’ for reading my blog.

Where Corals Lie

This trio of boxes were inspired by a beautiful poem by Richard Garnett, set to song by Elgar in his song cycle ‘Sea Pictures’. They were my entry in the Previous Winners category of this year’s Beadworker’s Guild Annual Challenge. The theme this year was ‘Fantasy’ and I’m happy to say that they won their class.

When I get some time I’ll tell you more about how I made them, and hopefully show some better pictures (these were taken in a tearing hurry one morning just before lockdown as I rushed to get them packed and sent before it became impossible) but for now here is the artist’s statement I submitted with the work to the judges, along with the text of the poem. To really understand though how as a singer Elgar‘s wonderful song inspired me to bead them, I’d recommend listening to it here.

A rose gold ship in the shallows betwixt shore and deep is joined by almost invisible sirens, whilst alongside a whale comes up from the depths to greet her ethereal friends, and the coral filled shallows are dotted with hidden holes for a mermaid’s treasures.

Techniques – bead embroidery, peyote, goldwork embroidery.

Materials – Miyuki and Czech beads; Swarovski crystals and pearls; vintage, new & hand cut sequins; goldwork wires; found coral; acrylic rods; hard felt; bentwood boxes.

Where Corals Lie – Richard Garnett

The deeps have music soft and low

When winds awake the airy spry,

It lures me, lures me on to go

And see the land where corals lie.

The land, the land, where corals lie.

By mount and mead, by lawn and rill,

When night is deep, and moon is high,

That music seeks and finds me still,

And tells me where the corals lie.

Yes, press my eyelids close, ’tis well,

But far the rapid fancies fly

To rolling worlds of wave and shell,

And all the land where corals lie.

Thy lips are like a sunset glow,

Thy smile is like a morning sky,

Yet leave me, leave me, let me go

And see the land where corals lie.

The land, the land, where corals lie.

Jelly

Last summer I made a series of sea creatures – beginning with a bead embroidered pink and yellow jellyfish done as a stitch and material sampler. She was a bit big and slightly clumsy, so she was called Big Jelly.

The next piece was Squidy, who mixes bead embroidery, bead weaving and goldwork embroidery techniques. I published Squidy as a tutorial last year, and also sell component packs for him (which include Hope Jacare‘s lovely ribbons and the other non-beady elements). You can read about him here.

Finally I made Jelly, a simplified piece using just one goldwork and a few bead embroidery stitches – simplified because I knew she was going to go off to the Beadworkers Guild as a journal tutorial. So that meant I had to keep her under wraps for quite a long time!

Last week the Journal was published and here she is. She looks lovely on the cover, particularly in her second colourway of blues and fuchsia, and it’s great to make a contribution to the Guild and to one of the most popular beadworking publications.

If you’re interested in the Journal it forms part of the membership benefits of joining the Guild, and is available internationally.

If you’re already a member and wanting to try making Jelly, then I have the Pearl Purl available in my Etsy shop, and Clare at Hope Jacare has just listed yet more beautiful ribbons, net tape and other hand dyed loveliness. Have fun!