A quick one...

Just to show you my most recent make...

A wire wrapped necklace with lots of purples and greens and swarovski crystals :)

You can find it for sale here...

www.etsy.com/shop/jivesjools

Thanks for reading :)

Rachel

My birthday present...

Well I got my order from Beads Direct! I'm so happy with it! I got the Christmas Bead Hamper and it was well worth the money:)

Lots of lovely beads!!!

I will def have to order more! Glad christmas is coming up :)

Website up and running...

Got my website back on the air and my shop is full of lots of goodies :) Drop by and have a look!!



Thanks everyone

Rachel

Back on track...

Hello everyone...

The craft fair was yesterday and went very well which was such a relief :)

I sold quite alot of jewellery which was great..I love selling face to face!

Rachel

Been a while...

Hello everyone, I know its has been an absolute age since I have been on , but no I haven't dropped off of the face of the earth haha.

I've been busy busy busy. I got married to my Fiance James on September 18th which was great! Had a wonderful, slightly stressful day :)

Also I am 6 months pregnant at the moment with my first child, a little boy, so exciting hehe.

However I am well and truly back on track with my jewellery making as I have a craft fair coming up on the 5th of December so I need to get a move on with building up my stock haha.

More from me later

Rach

My New Website

Hello again everyone!

Well I now have my website up and running, www.JivesJools.co.uk, finally :)

I have added a few things to my shop and will be adding more as I go so please feel free to take a look.

There is also a mailing list so please do join so I can keep everyone up to date with whats going on with Jive's Jools.

Thanks

Rachel

8 Things...

Hello everyone...I've been tagged by Keiara from www.bykeiara.blogspot.com. (Check out her blog, some fantastic work over there). What I have to do is fill out the 8 things survey. Sounds like a great idea. Fantastic idea to get to know each other and promote each others beautiful work. Please keep it up everyone :)

The Rules

Mention the name of the person who tagged you
Do the lists of 8
Tag 8 bloggers of your choice
Let them know that they have been tagged

Heres mine...



8 things I'm looking forward to

1.Going for a romantic meal tonight with my Fiance
2.Getting the book I've been waiting for from amazon (how to make polymer clay beads hehe)
3.Getting my business cards from vista print
4.Going away with my fiance for my 21st birthday in December
5.Getting married
6.My first sale from my website :)
7.My days off so I could make more beads :)
8.My Gran getting the all clear from cancer.

8 things I done yesterday

1.Went to work at Kingscross Hospital
2.Got soaked in the rain
3.Went to visit my Dad and Step-Mum.
4.Watched Still Game Live.
5.Made some polymer clay beads
6.Had dinner with my family
7.Looked at lots of old photos of my dad when he was a baby.
8.watched my Step-mum homebaking lots of goodies that she sells for charity! yum yum!

8 things I wish I could do

1.Quit my dead end job
2.Concentrate on what I love, Making Jewellery
3.Open a bead shop in Dundee
4.Make a living from selling jewellery and beads
5.Travel with James
6.Get married right now
7.Cure Cancer
8.Be more approachable

8 things I watch

1.Supernatural
2.Laddette to Lady
3.Charmed
4.Coldcase
5.Still Game
6.Friends
7.The Apprentice
8.CSI Newyork

8 people I am tagging

1. Amber over at www.arohajewels.blogspot.com
2.Victoria over at www.lampworkandsilver.blogspot.com
3.Jo over at www.jrjewels.blogspot.com
4.Saffie over at www.saffieandherblog.blogspot.com
5.Elaine over at www.chatelainejewellery.blogspot.com
6.Heather over at www.bumpybeads.blogspot.com
7.Josephine over at www.josephinewadman.blogspot.com
8.Billie over at www.glassbybillie.blogspot.com

Have Fun :)

xxRachxx

Another herringbone...

This time with gold, copper and silver wire and ceramic beads :)

Told you I was addicted he he.

Hope you enjoy :)

Rach

Getting Started : Beginning Jewellery Making

Hello again, yeah I know, I know, two posts in one week, amazing ain't it! Haha I told you I would get better at blogging...



Ok so when I first started making jewellery I found it really hard knowing what to buy to get myself started. There are so many tools and things around it can be quite confusing getting the essentials or getting non-essential thingy ma-bobs and gadgets. Then there are books, beads, threading materials, wire, findings, storage....do you get my point? So I thought it would be a good idea to write something that will give newbies an idea of what to get and how to get started.



I'll break this up into sections:



Tools



When I bought my starting tools I did end up with alot of things I never use. I bought a plier set by Bead Smith. The set I bought was one of the cheapest ones. It is an 8 piece set, consisting of: Round nose, chain nose, nylon jaw and flat nose pliers, thread cutters, knotting tweezers, side cutters, and a bead scoop, all in a nice little case.



I do think it is good value for money as it only cost me around £9.99. However I don't use everything in it. I mainly use:



Round nose pliers

Flat nose pliers

Nylon jaw pliers

Wire cutters



Because they were not the best quality they are showing the wear and tear. So I would suggest investing your money in getting these 4 tools but of a better quality.



Books



Okey well there a probably hundreds of jewellery making books out there but these are the ones that I got to get myself started.



All About Beads by Barbara Case



Bead Fantasies by Takako Samejima



These are the only two I bought, and the are both excellent. However as I said there are lots out there to choose from and we all have our own tastes so that really up to you haha.



Amazon is great for all your beady books : http://www.amazon.co.uk/ or http://www.amazon.com/



Storage



Well there are lots of storage options available. However I prefer tool organisers, like this one from B&Q:



http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9380709&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB&fh_search=organisers&fh_eds=%c3%9f&fh_refview=search&ts=1241725284831&isSearch=true



You can pick bead storage up at most craft shops and bead shops and they vary in price.

I also picked up a great deal in Lidl, it was a black and decker organiser and its fab so keep an eye out in Lidl and Aldi because they often have special offers.

Beads

Now beads, there are absolutely thousands upon thousands of beads out there in all different styles, colours and materials and its really down to you to pick your own. I will warn you, you will spend LOTS of £££! There are so many beautiful beads!

Some of the suppliers I like to use that are reliable, good quality and good value are:

http://www.beadsunlimited.co.uk/
http://www.empirebeads.co.uk/

and the ebay shops I use the most are:

Sanctuary Beads (http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/SANCTUARY-BEADs)

K2-Acessories (http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/K2-Accessories)

The Bead Basket (http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/the-bead-basket-uk)

They are all very reliable seller, with very reasonable postage rates and a great variety of beads and everything else you need.

Findings

Personally I always buy silver plate finding and Sterling Silver findings. But its totaly up to you. Theres lots of different colours, metals, finishes that you can buy. There silver, gold, copper, bronze, antique...etc.

Heres the basics:

Head pins
Eye pins
Jump rings
Chain
Earwires

Other findings that are good to have are:

Crimps
spacers
Ear posts
challotes

These can also be purchased from the above supliers.

Threading materials

The materials I purchased were:

Tiger tail wire which comes in an array of colours

Strong and stretchy beading elastic which also comes in lots of colours

Hemp twine comes in lots of colours but I only every buy the natural one.

Anyway hope this help all the newbies a little bit. Do not hesitate to contact me if you need any help or have any questions. Will speak soon, Thanks for reading..

Love
Rachel

A Little Catch Up...

Hello everyone!

Well I haven't posted much recently been a busy bee-eader!

While I was at the flame off, I bought a lovely little kit from Dizzy Di (http://www.dizzydi.co.uk/), a wonderful Artist who was selling at the Towcester bead fair. I bought the Herringbone Bracelet kit, with the hope to learn some wirework. Well I absolutely loved it, it was so easy to understand and came with everything you needed to make the bracelet and some extra bits and bobs. The kits are available from her website along with some other kits. I also purchased the gypsy bracelet kit which was fab.

Anyhoo, since trying out the kit I have been addicted to the Herringbone wirework. So when it came around to my sisters birthday it was the perfect excuse to make a jewellery set he he :)

And here it is...

The Bracelet...

The Necklace...


She loved it :) There will be more of this as I can't seem to stop making hehe.

I also bought alot of Hemp while I was away so have been practicing with that. Will no doubt be posting pictures of that soon too :)

Will Speak Soon

Love...

Rach

WOW!

Well the Flame off is finished :( *sob*

But wow! I had a fantastic time, met some really lovely beady people and spent all my money he he.

This is just a quick post before I sort out all my beady buys. I will be posting pictures soon of my Glassy Stash :)

Catch ya later

Rachel

The Countdown: Towcester Flame Off

Oh my god, so its only like 6 sleeps until the Flame Off :) he he, and I am so unbelievably excited. Its my first glassy event, and I'm far too excited about seeing all the wonderfully talented glassy people doing their thing.

I'm officially off on holiday from work for a whole, well earned, 11 days! Whoop whoop, and whoop again. However, I have taken to sitting around fiddling with beads and counting down the days until I get to spend a hell of a lot of money on all things sparkly and glassy he he.

I have prepared myself for going down to Towcester loaded with cash and coming back with bundles of beautiful beads, glass...a brain full of new found knowledge and inspiration and absolutely nothing in my bank account..sounds like a fair exchange I think.

Also, I do hope to make lots of new friends, as, of course, I will be equipped with my snazzy FritHappens badge :)

Anyhow I will go now and spread my total over excitedness somewhere else

Love and Sparkles

Rachel

Well, with Mother's Day being tomorrow, I have been busy, busy, busy!

I took a trip to "Bead Crazy" in Perth, http://www.beadcrazy.co.uk/, to stock up on lovely beady supplies. I did end up spending an absolute fortune but it was well worth it hehe.

The shop is amazing! It has a massive selection of great quality beads, and jewellery making bits and bobs. You could spend hours in there honestly and the prices are quite reasonable. Also the lady who owns it is really helpful and she also has a shop in Aberdeen which is larger.

Anyway, so after stocking up on lots of beautiful beads I have been busy making Mother's Day gifts for my Mum and my other halfs Mum.

This is the result...

This is the set I have made for my mother in law. Its made with aqua mother of pearl and purple mother of pearl beads with swarovski crystals on silver plate finding.

And this is the necklace I made for my Mum. Its mother of pearl in dark pink, baby pink and cream with swarovski crystals...

And matching earrings...

So hopefully they will be liked :)

More from me later..Thanks for reading...

Hello World...

Hello fellow bloggers and general web surfers,

My name is Rachel and I'm from "sunny" Dundee in Scotland. I have always been a creative person, and love to make beautiful handmade jewellery. I first studied Jewellery Design when I was in high school and have been absolutely fascinated ever since. I just love plucking a design from my imagination and making it real. Its become somewhat of an addiction. And I seem to get my inspiration from the most unusual places!

At the moment I use glass beads, swarovski crystals, natural gemstones and silver plate findings. However I do intend to introduce Sterling Silver in to my work in the near future, so watch this space.

I have also set up my own lampwork home studio, after finding it hard to find the exact beads that I wanted to use for my designs, where I am currently learning to make lampwork glass beads, so I am hoping to begin using my own unique beads in my work, which is very exciting!

My jewellery making started out as a hobby, and has quickly taken over everything! I have recently began selling my creations so you can purchase my Jewellery at

http://www.folksy.com/shops/Jivesjools.

Anyhow this is my first attempt at blogging so you will have to bare with me as I am a newbie. I just thought it would be a good idea to start keeping track of my journey especially if it helps other people who want to start out.

Thanks for listening to my Ramblings,

Rachel B
(Jewellery Designer and full time beadaholic)