Lyonhart Jewellery

Made! Miyuki Tila beads "Monochrome Bracelet" kit

2011-12-11T06:59:00.001-08:00

Even though we've been back in Zurich for nearly a month now, I still haven't sorted out and put away all the things I treated myself to in Japan - and one of them was this "Tila Beads Recipe" kit from Miyuki. I bought it in the stunning Yuzawaya craft shop in Kamata, just south of Tokyo on the JR and Tokyu lines. I hadn't seen any Tila beads in person before, and couldn't find any on sale in any of the craft shops I went to, so I snapped this kit up when I saw it (it was the only one in the shop!).

The kit comes with instructions for both the Monotone Bracelet and another kit which uses beaded beads made from Tila beads plus larger beads spaced out on a long necklace.

The contents of the kit, including 20m of black Miyuki monocord, a (very!) flexible beading needle, five colours of Tila beads, some matt black Delica beads, three fire-polished black drops, three headpins, and a small length of chain.

The instructions call for 2m of thread, doubled, with a 20cm tail to attach the clasp at the end - but this is how far I got with that. I ended up using as much thread as I can comfortably work with (about 4m doubled to 2m) and then followed their very nice instructions for tying off in the middle of the bracelet before joining the same amount of thread again. I had enough left over to work the clasp, but not much excess.

The instructions are simple - brick stitch - but following the pattern given for the colours gives a pleasing not-quite-random result. The needle is very thin (one of the few times I've really wanted one of those needle threaders) and bends easily.

The finished product! There were nine Tila beads left over, so I made a little pendant.

The mix of matt black, gloss black, frosted, silver and clear makes for a very nice variation around a very small colour base.

Unusually for a Miyuki product, there were two misshapen Delicas, and one of the fire-polished drop beads was cracked at the top.

Liked:

Flat square beads with holes on each side? Tila beads practically cry out to be square-stitched and it's a really simple and relaxing kit to make.
Using the black thread to give a 'stripe' to the clear beads is a nice touch.
Plenty of thread and extra beads.
Very clear instructions, including tying off, where and how to tie knots along the thread path, opening/closing jump rings and making a loop for headpins.

Disliked:

The thread length in the instructions was far too short - unless you weren't meant to use doubled thread, but it shows two strands taped down. (I never use tape, instead I passed the thread through one of the fire-polished beads as a stopper bead.)
The monocord thread was quite rough and fibrous. It feels very strong, especially doubled, but it isn't as flexible as some other threads and tends to stick in the eye of the needle and not pull the thread tight.

Overall, it's a great kit, with excellent instructions and it gives you a simple and effective way of showing off Tila beads!

Love it? Reuse it!

2011-09-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for storage boxes for my jewellery supplies, and although I acquired quite a few DIY storage boxes - the kind with the internal partitions to create lots of little sections - the sections are quite deep and narrow, and the hard plastic sometimes scraped things as I was fishing them out.

One unavoidable part of any trip to Japan is omiyage - literally, something from the local area, but in practice a small gift that you bring when you visit someone or bring back if you've been away on holidays.

Japan is still big on packaging, and food items to be given as gifts are often individually wrapped in paper or foil and then placed in formed trays inside boxes. The overall effect is beautiful, but you're left with almost as much wrapping as food in the end.

But there's always reuse! This colourful little box, which originally contained hiyoko cakes, which are sold at Tokyo Station, is great for holding smaller items like phone straps and earrings when I don't have room to put everything out on display. (If you look closely at the photo in the article linked above, you can just see the little yellow sign on the far right which says ひよこ - hiyoko!)

Inside, there are nine moulded compartments, which are reasonably deep but with smooth sides so it's easy to slide things out and they don't get damaged.

I have a few others like this, but this one is one of my favourites. ^_^

What about you? If you have any great, unusual or crafty storage ideas, please let me know!

Absolutely not stalking. Honest.

2010-08-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

I'm meeting someone for the first time tomorrow. We're both members of the same profession and professional organisations, and she's coming into town to do a few things and we're having lunch. On a whim - and since I seem to have acquired the ability to get rid of things - I popped an enamelled paperclip into a gift bag and set about constructing one of the gift boxes I got ages ago in a pound shop in Brighton, of all places, to put it all in.

And then I thought, why not something else too? I have loads of phone straps made up from when I was doing craft fairs. But it's not so easy when you don't know what kind of colours someone likes. So... I searched for her online. And found a picture on her membership profile on a site and could see that she is blonde and was wearing some kind of party dress with a gold ribbon. So, I raided my stash of Swarovski and came up with a phone strap with an AB coated pale yellow-orange heart. That'll do.

Well, she might be doing the same with me.

It also reminded me to put a strap on a very old "MOM" construction I have, that I'm going to give to Mom when I see her in Paris next month. And that I haven't taken a photo of the chainmail flower kit I just finished (bar not being able to find my split rings, which are probably still in storage boxes down in the keller) and put it up here yet. That's next on the list!

It was a rush to go through some of my things, even the ready-made ones, and think like that again.

I know it's Father's Day, but...

2010-06-21T05:48:00.001-07:00

First of all, the only jewellery my dad wears are cufflinks, and I've had my mom's bracelet to repair for about four months now. So, I spent Father's Day rebuilding a Mother's Day bracelet!

The focal point is the three letter cubes, made from sterling silver. The whole bracelet is threaded on two lengths of nylon-coated wire and finished off with a bar and loop clasp. One of the wires had broken off and some of the beads lost, so I decided to replace all of the smaller seed beads to keep them consistent and supplement the larger 4mm Swarovski bicones and fire-polished Czech beads with some more from my stocks. The whole theme is gold, green and brown, all colours that suit my blonde mom beautifully!

This is the second repair for this bracelet. It's well constructed with tough materials and well finished off... but mom insists on wearing it all the time, everywhere. To bed, when washing up, when in the bath... and handmade jewellery isn't meant to take that kind of abuse! But it's a pleasure to remake it every time knowing that it's been worn out that way.

The photos aren't as nice as I would have liked - I need to get a better light source and work on the white balance on the camera again. Like finishing off the tigertail, there are some things that have grown a bit hazy from lack of use.

The other thing I'm working on is a maille kit from Beadsisters, which so far is mainly making me wish I had more smooth-jawed pliers!

Why, hello there!

2010-06-21T05:33:00.001-07:00

Okay, that was a bit longer than expected. I was reunited with my jewellery supplies two weeks ago when the movers finally arrived in the middle of a huge thunderstorm - they had to back their van down the ramp to the underground garages, although it was too tall to get inside, and we all joined in to unload it and get it into our garage as quickly as possible. Since then, I've been unpacking things bit by bit when I have time and finally have my rolling case full of semi-precious stones, silver findings and beads upstairs in the living room. There is still some sorting out to do to find the right place for everything, especially now that I have a small stash of fabrics and a mini sewing machine as well! But everything is in the same country, and that's a step forward for now.

A new leaf in winter?

2009-08-25T06:15:00.001-07:00

You won't even need to guess that I haven't been doing much jewellery making in the last while.

After two hectic six month stints in Germany we're now in the middle of moving house to Zurich in Switzerland. All my jewels and tools are packed up ready to move, so I should have them back for wintertime - something to do when all that snow falls.

I'm really looking forward to getting back to making things, so watch this space!

I'm not dead - just resting...

2008-07-08T14:00:00.001-07:00

Well, despite my dreams of getting a jewellery business off the ground, it seems to be feast or famine in terms of getting the time to do so. Since leaving my full-time job last October, I've started working freelance as a translator and got a full-time contract in Germany from March - which means I'm not even in the same country as my beloved crystals, gemstones and silver!

But I'm back for a whirlwind resumption of business at the Kings Langley and Abbots Langley festival of the arts, with my own stand at the craft fair, kindly assisted by Wendy Beaumont (who is also appearing in the play! go and see it!).

If you're around Watford, take a detour out to the Abbots Langley church, which is worth seeing just for itself, and have a look at all the fantastic crafts that the village has to offer - patchwork quilting, card making, woodworking, lace making, stained glass and more!

We're on display again!

2007-06-14T04:54:00.000-07:00

Oops - been a while since I've posted here. We had our half-term break in the silver jewellery course, and I've been unwell and working overtime again...

But the news is that some of my work is on display again at Thames Valley University's end of year show at the King's Road campus in Reading. There is a preview evening next Wednesday 20 June and it continues until the Saturday.

As soon as I get some of the pieces back, I'll take photos of the ring and earrings made to match the hammered bangle, and some experiments in that vein.

No question, it's hand made

2007-05-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

I went out to dinner with some friends, one of whom is a silversmith, and showed them what I'd done in class. I really liked it, as I do the 'damage' pendants, but wasn't sure why.

But I think my friend understood - as she handed the bangle back to me she said "there's no question it's hand made."

We sometimes go around craft fairs together and speculate on what is and isn't mass produced. And while I have great respect for a lot of the silver jewellery I see, there's something too polished about a lot of it. I like seeing the tool marks, evidence that a human hand worked on it.

Simple is beautiful

2007-05-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

I love these amazingly shiny Swarovski components - perfect for simple but eyecatching earrings, pendants, etc.

We're on display!

2007-05-10T02:04:00.000-07:00

Some of my work, including the 'damaged' pendants pictured last week, are now on display in the main hallway of Thames Valley University's main Reading campus on King's Road. If you're passing, have a look in the perspex display cases inside the main doors!

Prototypes!

2007-05-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

There seems to be something about exhausting my brain at work - I had a great and very productive session at my silversmithing class. My arms ache and the pads of my fingers and thumbs are sore, but it was well worth it!

Welcome to Lyonhart Jewellery!

2007-04-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

This blog will take over the function of the old News page on the Lyonhart Jewellery website, giving you the lowdown on the high points of our new pieces and collection of shiny things!

I'll post here whenever I have something of interest to say, or whenever something new and lovely comes into my possession - stay tuned.