2017 Archive

Your guide to creating exquisite, floral, hand-crafted table favours, cracker gifts and stocking fillers this Christmas.
When it comes to Christmas, most of us don’t have the time or inclination to try and achieve an all-out handmade nirvana a la Kirsty Allsop. Yet, finding original, quirky, personalised gifts and stocking-fillers for friends and family who, let’s face it, have everything anyway, is always something of a headache. You want them to love what you’ve given them[..]

Snuggle down this autumn with a gorgeous embellished knitwear project
The nights are drawing in, the soft, misty mornings seem strangely alert and crisp and the leaves are curling and billowing at our feet in their rainbow-hued serenade to autumn. What better time to snuggle down beside a crackling fire and take on a decadent autumn knitwear project embellished with our favourite lustrous knit-friendly Preciosa Ornela seed beads?
Luxury yarn and Preciosa beads – a marriage made in he[..]

We explore the history of one of our favourite and most versatile beads, the Presiosa Ornela seed bead, and introduce you to a dramatic spiral seed bead necklace suitable for every level of jewellery designer.
Humble beginnings
Our relationship with jewellery dates back many thousands of years. Indeed, the discovery in 2013 of 130,000-year-old Neanderthal eagle talons adorned with deliberate cuts and notches led archaeologists to believe that they had discovered the world’s oldest kn[..]

One of the most common things we hear from people who would love to have a go at creating their own jewellery is: “We don’t know where to start and wouldn’t know which colours to choose”.
So here you have it, the perfect beginner’s project, with a simple accompanying step-by-step video and free instructions. And the most exciting bit; we supply the design, YOU choose the bead colours.

Elegant luxury* (*and it won’t break the bank – shh!)
We [..]

There’s no denying the character of a hand knitted pair of socks, crafted perfectly to your taste and created from soft fine yarn. With a pair of hand knitted, beaded socks you’re guaranteed to feel cosy and maintain control and comfort even when the weather is not so perfect.
The feeling of slipping on a pair of cosy socks is unbeatable, even in circumstances where you would perhaps be less likely to wear a pair of socks at all. You could even say a comfy pair of socks can help c[..]

Mother’s Day is nearly upon us, and we wanted to invite you all to raise a glass (bead!) in celebration of cherished mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers and mothers-in-law everywhere!
As a special thank-you to mothers far and wide, we’ve put together a FREE ring-making masterclass which we hope you will enjoy sharing with your family and friends this Mothering Sunday.

We’ve kept the technical aspects of this project super simple so that it can be enjoyed by all abiliti[..]

Going ‘back to basics’ with jewellery design doesn’t actually mean creating a piece that looks amateurish or simplistic. Far from it. When you’re working with Czech glass beads, which are vibrant and striking in their own right, it’s often the purest designs which allow the intricacies of the beads to sing the loudest.
Simply the best
This month, we have put together a three-step guide to creating this beautiful triangle drop necklace, which uses only the simp[..]