It's yet again time for a recap of what I've written at Manekis Pärlblogg, my jewellery-making and beading blog in Swedish.
MeTaL from Lilly Pilly
Lilly Pilly Designs is perhaps best known for laser engraved beads and pendants, but now they have a new line, MeTaL, featuring patterned anodized aluminium and patinated copper sheets.
Silvergrejs silver wire contest
Swedish shop Silvergrejs is preparing an inspirational gallery and has announced a contest to find works that will displayed in it.
Soapstone
In Swedish soapstone is known as täljsten, which says something about the properties of this soft stone: it can be carved, sawed and drilled just like wood, making it an ideal material for crafters. Includes links to how-tos for working with the stone.
Year of Jewelry, second quarter sign-up dates
Right now, you can register if you want to start participating in the year-long jewellery making challenge Year of Jewelry (YOJ). As before, the challenge spans all year, but you can choose to parttake in as many of the four quarters the challenge is divided in as you like.
Ring a Week
There are many challenges for jewellery makers and beaders. Some have themes while others are totally free, some are more like contests while others are just for personal growth. Ring a Week (RAW) is a personal challenge where you post a pic of each ring you make in the challenge's Flickr pool.
Crazy quilt beads
How to make beads and pendants using miniature crazy quilts.
Spring blossom
Spring is in the air (despite the occasional snow) and so here are a few floral jewellery projects perfect for the season ahead. Also a collection of links to other blog posts I've made on flower themes.
Vintaj April challenge
The theme for Vintaj's monthly challenge this time is Woodland Blush.
Make colour samples with your seed beads
It can be hard to visualize how certain seed bead colous will look when stitched together unless you first make samples. Samples can also be useful to carry with you when visiting a bead shop, looking for matching beads.
Pearl and jump ring pendant
On the Beadalon Blog you can find this simple but pretty project, using a few jump rings and leftover beads.
Make a creative workspace using scents
Olfaction can be one of our most powerful senses: a whiff of a special scent or fragrance can make you recall childhood memories or induce certain feelings. You can use this to make your workspace more inspirational by e.g. lightling a scented candle or diffusing essential oils.
Ergonomics
Ergonomics is important to jewellery makers and beaders. It's very easy to work in a position that can cause strain injuries and which in turn can lead to long-term problems. It's not just a matter of posture, but also about finding the right light, ergonomic tools that are easier on the hands and remembering to take breaks.
Thank you for sharing, this is a really interesting and informative post :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it. :)
ReplyDeleteI do these recaps thinking maybe there's something of interest in the pärlblogg even for those who don't speak swedish and it does look like it. Sometimes people ask why I don't do that blog in English as it'd get a bigger audience, but I love to write in my own language and I have a fluency and broad vocabulary that makes writing so much more fun than when I write in English, which will always be a second language to me.