Does anybody want some free healthy snacks?

My supervisor at ChildLine gave me a voucher code for a free box from Graze so I went and got me one, and whatdya know I got a voucher code of my own to give out :) There's a limited time on it, though it looks like it can be used unlimited times (once per person though) so if you're in the UK and you fancy giving it a go drop me a comment and I'll put the code up for you all. The food is pretty scrumptious and you have the option of selecting especially healthy snacks should that be your wish. I can't wait till I get my next one, but a bit bummed I have to wait till after Xmas :(

Grazing aside, today I've been a busy little bunny today. I ordered a fabulous new dress and matching shoes to see me looking gorgeous throughout the Xmas season, all in a festive shade of red. Unfortunately I didn't have any jewellery to wear with it so I dusted off my pliers (seriously haven't crafted anything since I started work!) and gave pearl knotting a try.

I love pearls, and most of the jewellery I wear or make incorporates them. The first piece of jewellery I ever made was a pearl and swarovski crystal necklace for my wedding, as I couldn't find anything affordable or to my taste in the shops. It was lovely, though a little on the long side to what I'd initially imagined. However, thanks to my being a complete novice at the time I strung the lot on Beadalon 49 (I think it was 49...) and eventually the sharp edges of the crystals wore through the wire and all the pearls and crystals scattered all over my living room floor.

I picked them up and stored them away for use at a later date, and have been surreptitiously adding them to pieces of jewellery made as gifts for close friends and family. Call me a wierdo but I can't help but believe that those pearls absorbed some of the magic of that day.

Anyway, moving swiftly on. I've learned a lot about making jewellery in the years since, and discovered not long after my little accident that traditional pearl necklaces are strung on silk threads with knots between each bead. For a long while I presumed that this was some kind of dark mysterious art, especially as you can buy tools specifically designed for the job, but actually I've found it to be a relatively simple (by comparison to, say, wire wrapping) technique and I'm rather chuffed with the result (and secure in the knowlege that should my thread decide to snap, I won't be picking pearls and garnets off the floor for a month!). I used most of the rest of my wedding pearls and interspaced them with lovely Indian Garnets. The earrings I made with pearl, garnet, some of the clear swarovski crystals I used on my wedding necklace, and a generic big red glass bead at the end.

Sadly I ran out of garnets before I reached my desired length, indeed the pearls alone aren't long enough to fit round my lovely tree trunk of a neck...so instead of snipping through all the knots individually and starting from scratch with a different design I just added an extension chain to the end. It's not quite as classy as a pure string of pearls but it does mean that as I loose weight I can take links off of the chain until my neck is slim enough for the pearls alone to fit around, and I won't just be left with a necklace that gets longer and longer and longer when it's meant to be short.

Am rather pleased with myself, and can't wait to wear it all together with my lovely new dress. It's been lovely to put my hands to something wonderful too. Now all I have to do is hope my dress arrives ^_^;;