I am a pearl and bead jewellery repairer. I can also redesign and/or renew you old bead strands to make them like new. I am also a self taught crochet addict, new mum and craft enthusiast with not enough hours in the day!
I apologise that I have again been awol, it turns out that babies take up a lot of your day and leave you pretty exhausted at night! I am very pleased to announce the safe arrival of our little boy, born on 15th December at an unexpectedly light 7lb! Gestational diabetes meant that I was …
Ok ok so you are probably bored of crochet blankets now and I apologise but this one is so bright and fun I just had to show you all! Unfortunately I can't claim any credit for the design or colour choices for this one as it was a pattern and yarn pack that I bought …
Continue reading "Skittles Blanket: crochet blanket number 3!"
Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and creative Christmas xx This is our table all set ready for lunch! Did I mention that we are having a sprout themed Christmas?! The wreath is made from real sprouts, but see my previous post for my other awesome sprout decorations.
It's the run up to Christmas, I am heavily pregnant, due any day and have realised that since moving from our 1 bed flat into our new house, we don't have enough Christmas decorations to make our new home festive. There is no way I am braving the Christmas shoppers so there is only one …
I know that this blog is supposed to be primarily about pearls and restringing, but since I am on maternity leave and taking a little break from that, I have little else to talk about other than my new crochet obsession! I even have a ravelry account! One of the first things I knew I …
Aka: unlimited crochet time until baby arrives!! Just to let you all know that I am now on maternity leave and I am halting my restringing work until the arrival of baby C. Once I am in the swing of this looking after a baby thing, I will resume my restringing which I hope will …
I think I have spoken about this before and it still winds me up! Why would you put metal beads on silk thread?! I know they might be gold, the pearls are nice pearls and you probably paid a lot of money for the necklace. I understand you want it threaded "the best" way, but …
I hope that you don't get bored of the odd non pearl related posts - especially since with a baby looming I have become increasingly homey and chrocheting lots of blankets seems to be a priority right now! This one is a true labour of love. I saw the technique on Pinterest (where else?!) and …
We have some exciting news to share!! We are having a baby!! Steve and I are very excited and cannot wait for the arrival of our little one in December. Don't worry - I am not going to turn this page into a baby blog but you may just see a few crafty things pop …
To start with an apology. I am sorry that I have been AWOL a lot recently! Things have been manic! I have still been here in the background and answered all your emails - just posting anything seemed to get away me! To summarise...we sold our flat and moved into my parents’ house for a …
I am very proud to say that I have finally finished my crochet star blanket! It is the first blanket that I have ever made and I love it! It is made with Hobbycraft Women's Institute soft and silky with a 4mm hook. The free pattern can be found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/star-blanket-6 UPDATE 20/01/17: We have …
OK, please dont read the title of this and think - loser! Crochet is cool, its not all granny squares and old people, seriously, you only need to search #crochetersofinstagram on Instagram and you will see so much awesome stuff and not a teapot cozy insight! I started my crochet journey at the beginning of …
This is an example of when there is little point in knotting your pearls. This was a very graduated string of pearls that has a large size difference between the smallest and largest pearls. The problem with this is that the holes in the small pearls are often smaller than those in the largest …
My elastic, wire, silk and thread are nutotious for getting tangled and unravelling of their own accord. The best way I have found for storing them is on a mug tree that keeps the thread separate and easily accessible. Occasionally either I loose or break the little plastic cuffs that stop the thread unravelling. …
I often get asked how I store my tools so I thought I would share... Ta daa!!! I use IKEA magnetic strips on my wall to keep my tools organised. Most of the pliers etc are magnetic so this is the perfect way to keep everything in easy reach. 🙂 You're welcome! Update: …
I get these bracelets often for restringing so I thought I would share how I go about it... This is what I got to start with. This one had no charms on it but did have the split rings. As you can see, the original elastic was brown and discoloured. Not surprising that it had …
You get good pearls and you get bad pearls. Then you get pearls that were once ok but now are wrecked! I had some of these this week for restringing that were the worst I had seen for a long time... They arrived as a double row that had broken. When I opened the bag …
As the marriage vows state, I need to support Steve in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer and from good times to geekier times etc etc or something like that. Which is why, like a good wifey, I am spending my day off following him around London Comic Con 2015. For those who …
Freshwater pearls are the most common non synthetic pearl that are available and are produced by mussels not oysters. They are cultured which means that the mussels are farmed and the pearls are encouraged to form in a controlled environment. This is done by a technician delicately grafting small piece of donor tissue into …
Anna's Pearl and Bead Restringing 