A set of Glass Charm Beads in Winter White...

January 12, 2018Chellie PurnellComment

I have always loved the concept of a 'Winter White' outfit!

It's not very practical but all of those lovely mixtures of cosy cream knits, pure white and maybe a touch of silver grey it my favourite kind of look during the chilly months. I love all that layering and I think it gives a feeling of sophistication but understated elegance.

White and black beads are always a good neutral option and go with this look well, but over the holiday I thought about making a set of beads for me to put on my Trollbead bracelet and necklace that used a more subtle colour palette and I was so pleased with the results.

If you look up 'winter white' on pinterest you will find lots of lovely pictures of winter white fashions and clothing combinations so I wont put any here, but some images that help bring my idea to life and served as inspiration for my work at the torch are shown here.

You may remember that a little while ago we had a bit of a cold snap and had snow here for a little while. I think this is what started me off on the idea. This was a couple of views out of my window on the Sunday morning when I woke up. I love the creamy hues merging into oyster as the sun comes up paired with the ever so subtle bluey white of the snow.

For me the idea is all about the juxtaposition of the cold with the warm. Pure and crispy icy whiteness reminiscent of deep and crunchy snow underfoot or the ice cold wind whipping past your face, combined with an overcast and heavy sky that offers a silver grey atmospheric contrast, all that joined with the warm creams of fluffy blankets, log fire warmed cheeks, cashmere cardigans or the biggest latte coffee held in both hands that brings warmth into your bones.

I added swirls of clear for lots of magnification, and to suggest the idea of solid ice...

Snow Flowers

..and Pixie Dust for Sparkle!

Snowball Bead

Clear rings to evoke ice...

Snowflake!

winter_white_charm_bead

I was really happy with them all in the end so can't wait to wear them! The only thing I might need now is a new 'Winter White' outfit to go with them!!! Hee Hee!

Many thanks for reading the blog xx

Can you make handmade glass beads that look like fur?

January 12, 2018Chellie PurnellComment

OK - so from time to time you get a project that you just cant say no to. One of these came my way just before Christmas...

Let me introduce Missy a lovely little tricolour tortoiseshell cat. One of my lovely customers (the same lady that gave me the reptile and snake beads job), asked me if I could recreate Missy's fur in a set of beads!!

Well! I didn't know if I could make anything remotely acceptable but thought I would give it a whirl. I remembered a technique that I used for the set of garden beads (from the "How does your garden grow blog" for the 'Sunlight Through Hazel' bead pictured above) that I thought i might be able to use as a start point so I started there and played around a bit.

I had quite a few sessions at the torch trying to get colours and textures right and eventually I felt like I was getting warm. Here is a bead from the final set with Missy's picture!

The trickiest bits were to get a decent 'fur' effect within the encasement and also to get the balance of black, yellow, orange and black just right...

The added factor (which makes it quite exciting) is that orange glass looks blacky brown when it is hot so when I had the bead in a semi molten state and started to build up the texture, I can't tell fully where the orange sections end and the black sections begin. The real finished look of the bead only becomes apparent when they come out of the kiln and are cool.

Thanks to the lovely Cerry as always for giving me a great piece of work and a wonderful challenge. Many thanks for reading the blog xx

Creating a memory in glass - Polis Bay, Greece...

January 8, 2018bespoke handmade glass, Handmade glass beadsChellie PurnellComment

While we were in Greece last summer we had two fantastic sailing guides Mihai and Monika. They shared with us their favourite place 'Ormos Polis' which is one of the most tiny and beautiful coves in the Ionian.

“This has got to be our favourite place in the whole of the Ionian”

Beautiful crystal green water , coupled with all kinds of sea life, pools and little caves made it a magical place to spend a wonderful couple of days.

I promised back then to make Monika a special bead that would remind her of Polis Bay forever. Well finally I am about to send it off to her. I hope she likes it.

It was important to get that lovely sea green colour right, and I must admit I did not get it right first time!!

I started with a core of ivory glass for the rocks and then used layers of transparent green and blue glass to build up the feeling of the deeper water. I used some fine silver foil to bring the reflective quality of the water to the bead and then worked on the details of the colour changes as the water becomes shallower towards the shore.

The last picture is of Tommy having a final chill before we jumped back on the boat to go off to the next destination!

Could do with a bit of that sunshine today in England, bloomin' freezing right now!

Summer Flower Glass Beads Bespoke Jewellery Set

July 17, 2017Chellie Purnell2 Comments

Beads full of summery freshness!

I have been playing with some little floral fresh looking beads to make some necklaces and bracelets. Sometimes the simplest of things can be really effective. I love things that are a little bite different, but I don’t really like a lot of fuss in my own jewellery , so these handmade glass beauties are just the kind of things I like to wear.

The emerald green, white and warm yellow combination really looks great with a nice crisp white linen shirt, and the clear glass adds to the sense of freshness and clean-ness and clarity!

Look at my video to show how a little flower bead is born!

For ages I've been wanting to post a little 'how I make' video. For anyone that is curious as to how my beads come to life, this 4 minute video will do the job...

Here are some close up pictures of my finished flowers.....

Sterling Silver Warrior Ring

May 4, 2017Chellie PurnellComment

Why Warrior?

I wanted to create a handmade silver ring design with a bold statement. The 'Warrior' ring signifies strength but also resilience. I wanted the wearer to feel strong, empowered and brave. Chunky silver jewellery always does that job for me but I wanted to accentuate this feeling even more! The ring has a substantial weight to it and it is built using a 'wrap-around' style.

The detail is provided by three sterling silver balls which are attached diagonally to the top of the wrapped part. I think it has the impression of armour in a way, and also reminds me of the Orion constellation in space which has the three bright stabilising stars that form Orion's belt.

How is it made?

All of the work I do uses traditional silver-smithing techniques. I use hand tools and tried and tested methods*. These methods are not speedy, (the ring from start to finish took a good few hours,) but I think you do end up with a superior product that looks fabulous and feels fantastic to wear. I just wanted to show some of the stages that take place in order to transform a flat lifeless piece of sterling silver sheet into a finished dynamic piece of jewellery.

The whole process is incredibly stimulating and fun for me. Here's a sneeky-peek into the kinds of things I get up to when I'm making one of these babies. So with that in mind, here's a 6 minute movie that shows you some of the elements:

My boys say that my voice sounds far too relaxing on the tape (!)...so I guess an alternative way you could use the video is to close your eyes, drift off, and have a 6min nap - could be equally therapeutic for you!!!

(I will try to sound a bit more perky in the next one boys!!!)

It's my first try at 'vlogging' so forgive me if it is not as 'slick' as it could be. (I'm just a beginner ;-)) but I hope it gives you a flavour of what's involved:

I do love doing this work. Right from the beginning the intrigue starts...I measure my clients fingers and start to understand what they might like, the designing bit is exhilarating as I start to feel the piece come alive in the drawings, and the 'making' part itself is really fulfilling as we get closer and closer to the baby being 'born' as it were.

Please pass on my details to anyone who might like a nice bespoke piece made for them, I tend to get work on a 'word of mouth' basis rather than by advertising so any personal referrals are like gold dust to me!

Also, don't forget to click through to Facebook and 'like' my page if you would like to see my latest images and projects I have on the go. I value your support immensely.

*(Thank you as always to my fabulous tutor Janet Richardson who taught me all the right moves as far as silver is concerned..).