More from the Botanic Gardens

Just sharing more photos from the National Botanic Gardens as I look for inspiration...

 

Like this? How about: Greenhouse Structures, A Royal Riot of Colour or the series 'Caught My Eye'?

Etsy Treasury Time Again

It's that time again when I share recent Etsy treasuries either made by me or featuring one of my items. Feast your eyes and appreciate handcraft, OOAK, handmade, original artwork, unique gifts, once-off, one of a kind......need I say more?

 To Market To Market

Here's a treasury I made featuring only Crafty Ireland Team members when I should have been preparing for a craft market.

Can't Help Thinking In Black and White by La Creature and You
(a blend of Crafty Ireland Team and  A Printmaker's Revival Team)

And this sleek treasury in black and white was made by fellow team member, Raphaele of La Creature and You. It is a cross-team collection featuring 50% Crafty Ireland team and 50% A Print Makers Revival Team. A special thanks is due to Raphaele as she regularly makes cross-team treasuries to introduce the Irish squad to other, international teams on Etsy and faithfully posts them on the team blog. Thank you too Raphaele for including my black lava earrings, Dark Moon.

Thank you to all these lovely Etsy peeps around the globe who featured my work in their stunning treasuries this past week or so:

 

Shades of Purple by Treazured Designz

Extra by red road DESIGN

Fathers Day Gifts Under $20 by Lynn's Creative Crochet

USA based, Lynn Corrigan, deserves a special thank you from me as she regularly features my items in her well-thought out treasuries.

Shades of Green Seaglass

Irish Connemara marble is not the only local material that comes in 40 shades of green. Though seaglass plucked from the shore is most often found in bottle green or kelly  green, it also comes in a variety of rarer shades. Some of them are truly beautiful. Here are some examples of what can be found. (Tones may vary slightly from monitor to monitor.)

Bottle green seaglass

 Bottle green is fairly common alongside kelly green. Both these shades mostly come from old wine and beer bottles. Coloured glass was and is still used to filter out light that can deteriorate beer. Green was used less often for beer bottles from circa 1930 as it was discovered that brown glass does a better job of keeping out the light.

Kelly green seaglass pendant 'Emerald of the Sea' (sold)

 Nowadays, beer doesn't generally stay in the bottle that long (and we have better storage and refrigeration) so green and clear bottles have made a comeback. Though common, kelly green can be exceptionally vibrant and makes beautiful jewellery. (readers from this corner at least should understand when I say..Probably the best green in the world....)

Irish sea glass pendant, Ocean Moon 

This dark, forest green piece is one of my favourites. The colour is exceptionally deep and rich and the glass itself is highly frosted. This tells me it is probably one of the oldest pieces of beach glass I have found. It can take 100 years for seaglass to develop a thick frost with decent white speckles.

Pale lime seaglass pendant 'Lime Jelly' (sold)

  Lime is one of the rarer, more valuable colours in seaglass. This one is a pale, citric shade but I have found deeper lime and more yellowy versions in the past. This one really does look like lime jelly.

Olive Seaglass

 Olive seaglass is less common than bottle or kelly green but not as rare as lime or teal.

Teal seaglass pendant 'Wave' (sold)

(sold)

Pale teal seaglass pendant 'Ocean Flora'

Teal is my favourite colour. Teal seaglass is a fairly rare find. It can come in dark or paler tones.

sea foam sea glass pendant, Seascape

Seafoam isn't an obvious green. Bluer versions can be found. This piece, Seascape, has a hint of pale apple in in it, though it is technically aquamarine.

Here are a few more samples. right to left: 2 x blue-green teal, yellow lime, bright kelly green, neon lime, dark olive and in the centre; forest green. (There are alternative names for some of these shades.) Blue and blue-green shades are rarer than most greens, though the neon lime and yellowy lime are prize finds indeed. If you find a specimen in either shade, lucky you!

To learn how to clean seaglass click HERE

To learn how to clean seaglass jewellery click HERE 

For a crafty idea for small pieces of seaglass click HERE

Inspirations

Two of my great passions are hill walking and jewellery making .  These two activities have absolutely nothing in common with each other, and yet one often inspires the other, which for me, makes them very much connected. Even just getting out of the city re-fires my creativity. I guess it's like a sorbet refreshing the palate.

I always take my camera out with me when rambling in the countryside. I can't lay claim to being in any way a decent photographer. I didn't even have the patience to read the instructions that came with my little Canon Ixus, though every now and again I fiddle around with the buttons and functions to see what happens. When I get back home and upload the photos, I often find I have captured a scene, a colour or a texture that sends me straight to my bead stash.

Here are some of my pics and the jewellery they inspired:

A good while back, a trip to Howth harbour and this little fella sparked off a nautical theme

These lobster pots seen the same day influenced me to buy some amazonite beads, used in these earrings

 

 Lough Tay and surrounding countryside led me to wire this piece of green seaglass, listed on Etsy

Lough Dan - the peaty water inspired me to bead up this bronzite stone into this brown pendant aptly named 'Autumn in Ireland.'

Vartry Resevoir, Roundwood inspired me to make some very Irish Jewellery for Paddy's Day

I'd love to hear what inspires other crafters?

For more posts about inspirations click here

Colour Me Etsy.

It's a beautiful, bright day in Dublin Ireland. I'd normally say that makes a change, but the winter has been so mild this year and the Spring sunshine has warmed us with soft, golden rays for most of this month. Long may it last!

I'm Irish and proud of it, but I think I've had my fill of green in the run up to St Patrick's Day. It appears you can have too much of a good thing! As an antidote to all that luscious 'glas' as we say in Irish, this morning I went in search of colour. Throughout Etsy there is no shortage of bold and bright, handmade creations, vintage goodies and supplies. All listings in the following collection are from the European Street Team, of which I am a member. Some are Irish, who, like me, are also part of the Crafty Ireland Team.

Colour Burst by Handmade by Amo'r

These past few weeks with the focus on Ireland and March 17th, I was really lucky to have my items featured in numerous Patrick's Day Treasuries. I'd love to thank everyone who featured me.

Lynn Corrigan in particular deserves a huge Etsy hug from me. Ever since this lovely US-based crafter with Irish roots purchased a gift from me, she has featured my items in several treasuries (member curated collections on Etsy.) I just can't thank her enough for her infinite goodwill. Here is her latest, beautiful treasury, which features my labradorite teardrop pendant among all these gorgeous handmade items. The cornflower and peacock blues with a hint of lime and yellow are fresh and fabulous!

Proud as a Peacock by Lynn Corrigan

So to thank her I would like to show off some colourful goodies from her Etsy shop, Lynn's Creative Crochet:

Easter Basket

Cotton Wash Cloths

I'd also like to share this pretty treasury by Ava from Driftwood and Fossil. Thank you for featuring my Irish beach glass pendant in this stunning collection Ava. The soft colours capture the essence of Spring and Summer.

 To the beach by Ava of Driftwood and Fossil 

So let the sunshine in. Let's hope it's here to stay. I best get out there and enjoy it while I can.....