Suze H

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Monday 24 November 2014

Woven Collar Necklace

I made this necklace at The Beaderie some time ago, but have only just got around to posting it.

Amazingly, despite its appearance the pattern was very simple and was great fun to make.



Monday 25 August 2014

Baby knits

Well, so much for this New Year's resolution about keeping this blog up-to-date! 

I've been really busy now I'm back at work (temp assignment for 3 months) and I'm loving it - the job, the place, the people, all fab!

Also been really busy with baby knits.  I became an auntie again in  July and one of my friends had a baby earlier this month, so things have been flying off those needles.





Scratch mitts


I didn't make these - got them at a craft fair.  Bit of a risk, but I thought my friend would have a boy.  I was right!!!!


Hooded tops for 6-12 months - one for the niece....


....and one for my friend's little boy




This was such a pain to make, but well worth the effort - I was really pleased with the end result
Happy Bank Holiday Monday to you all - off for a cup of tea!

Thursday 19 June 2014

Getaway to Cromer

HP and me had a lovely getaway for a few days earlier this month to celebrate our 4th anniversary.  We went to Cromer and stayed in a fab B&B, called Cromer House.  The owners, Jan and Terry, are fab and can't do enough for you.  The beds are soooo comfortable.  I suffer frequently with bad insomnia, so I usually find going away really stressful, but I slept so well here.  Cromer House is right by the sea, so it's ideally located too.  We will definitely go back there!

Cromer still has Xmas decs up in June!

View from the pier towards town



We were so lucky with the weather.  Just look at that blue sky!

















Walking bare foot in the sand

Loved this painting on the wall at Sheringham





Tuesday 17 June 2014

The power of juice

A few months ago, thanks to a friend, I got into juicing and blending.  I got a free recipe book with my juicer from the fantastic Mr Jason Vale and I soon became hooked.  After trying out numerous recipes, I decided to check out Mr Vale's other books on Amazon.  The "Turbo Charge Your Life In 14 days"
book appealed to me, so I ordered that and read it from cover to cover in a couple of days.  The idea of this book is to kick you well and truly up the butt and make you change your diet and get into a major exercise routine.  I won't say it was easy.  It took a lot to do 45 mins of exercise in the morning and again in the evening, plus cut out all those foods that you think you love and that you're used to eating.  But I did it and it was nowhere near as bad as I thought.  Besides, it was only for 2 weeks and as Jason says, you can do anything for 2 weeks.

In those 14 days, I lost 10lbs when I'd found it really hard to shift even 2lbs before Jason showed me the light.  I started this regime mid-March and since that time have now lost nearly 1.5 stone in weight.  I have toned up (I've lost 5 inches from my hips and 6 inches from my waist), I feel fitter, I'm more flexible and I have more energy and confidence.  And more importantly, I have kept the weight off!  I do not exercise as hard as I did for the first 6 weeks of this regime, but I have kept up with the good food and I have at least one freshly squeezed juice a day. 

Now don't think that you've got to forego all treats for the rest of your natural, but when you've trained your body, it will crave different things.  I cannot stomach most greasy food now; I can taste the grease in which it was cooked and it makes me feel ill.  I still enjoy the occasional sugary treat - I will never turn against a good cream doughnut, but my body mostly craves fresh fruit and veg.  I hardly eat wheat anymore, I don't touch dairy (mostly because I also have a bit of an allergy), no longer drink caffeine, hardly have sugar (maybe a cake once a month).  You may not wish to go this far, but that was my choice.  I feel fitter, I sleep better and even my skin and hair have improved.  I used to suffer with seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp and if I have the right juice each day, I don't notice it. 

Juicing is fab for so many things - I really recommend it.  Even if you don't want/ need to lose weight, drinking freshly squeezed juice is absorbed so easily by your body, it nourishes every cell and you feel feel GREAT!

I LOVE my juicer and blender - please excuse the fact that the kitchen is being redecorated!

Monday 9 June 2014

Micro Macrame bracelets

So recently did another couple of fabulous classes at The Beaderie.  These ones were both for micro macrame bracelets.

The first class was really easy as, once the button loop had been made, it was just square knots.  The effect was really pretty though.

I made this bracelet a few days after the class, just to ensure I could remember what I should be doing!  I really like the yellow and blue beads for the summer.

The other two bracelets were made during the class.

The second class was a bit more complicated as it involved double half hitch knots.  Once you've done a few repeat patterns though, it's really easy to get the hang of.  You just need to remember which hand the holding cord is in! 


The 'wave' pattern has a really pretty effect.  Just noticed that the piccie on the left though is the wrong way round.  Like knitting, there is a right and a wrong side of this bracelet.  The top piccie shows the right side, so you can see the knotting cord.

These are two very simple versions of micro macrame.  There are some really complicated patterns out there, but I think I'm a long way off those!

Sunday 8 June 2014

A skirt out of ties

I've finally finished my tie skirt!  It's been nearly a year in the making, mostly because I put it to one side and forgot about it!!

I am not the world's best sewer by any stretch of the imagination, so I did find some aspects of this project a bit challenging, so finishing it called for a huge amount of smugness on my part.

I still have loads of ties left; when I told my Mum that I was planning to make this skirt, she kindly bought ties wherever she saw them in her local charity shops and they were really cheap in Devon - they were three times the price in Cambridge charity shops!  So, I'll probably make another skirt, but this time a bit longer.  Shouldn't take me as long now that I've grasped the basic principle of the thing.



Another reason for being a bit smug with the finish of this project (and ultimately the resulting photo) is that I would never have made an above the knee skirt a few months ago.   Through a huge change in diet, copious amounts of exercise and with the power of juice (thank you Jason Vale - you are a god!), I have recently lost 18 lbs!  Woo-hoo!  I must do a post on juicing and how I made huge body changes because of it - that will follow soon, promise!

Wednesday 21 May 2014

Beaded Symmetry

Oops, I've been neglecting my blog - yet again!  But in my defence, not only have I been incredibly busy, but the Virgin connection in our village has been totally flaky recently and we had an engineer out twice in 3 weeks.  Uploading photos was near impossible and our speed is still rather slow compared to what we're paying for.  Why are all these companies so pants?! 

Anyho, on to happier things - I took another trip to Devon to see the folks and fortunately my visit coincided with a craft fair at Exmouth Pavillion.  I specifically wanted to check out the jewellery of 'Beaded Symmetry'.  My Mum bought me a necklace from this designer at Christmas and I love it sooooo much.

I had a lovely chat with Pauline, the owner and designer and she let me take a picture of her stall.

Obviously, this picture cannot do the products justice, so you can check out her facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/BeadedSymmetry?fref=ts

But in the meantime, here are a few pics of the items that I bought from her.
I'm totally obsessed with brooches




Pauline also has an Etsy shop, which is listed on her facebook page.  There are no items for sale as yet, but she did mention she hopes to rectify that soon.


Sunday 27 April 2014

Jewellery making



I've had a bit of a surge on jewellery projects recently and have managed to complete a few projects that have been hanging around for a while.



The red necklaces was a little kit giving to me about a year ago.  It's a very simple idea.  You wire wrap 5 beads into the oval shapes, attach them all with jump rings and attach a chain.

I loved how complicated this looked, but how amazingly simple this was to make.  I simply put a small (25mm) ball end pin through each coloured chip bead, rolled the pin downwards to make a spiral/ coil, threaded them all onto some necklace memory wire, added a chain and finito!
This photo is on its side, but you get the idea.  I may make some of these for the shop as the store owner was impressed with the simplicity and thinks they will sell.

This cute bracelet is an idea from The Beaderie and you can even buy a complete kit from there online and make one of your own.








The green bracelet was from another kit I was given a couple of years ago.  It's not really my thing, so it will probably end up as a gift.



Wednesday 9 April 2014

Geometric necklace


I've been looking into making a few different things for the shop, especially now the sun is coming out, bringing with it tourists and the need for more sparkle and bold jewellery statements!

I've been wanting to make a geometric necklace for some time, so a couple of days ago, I finally pulled my finger out and got round to it.  This isn't my original design.  I first saw something like this on YouTube and thought it was fab, so wanted to try my own.

The first one I made was a large version, which I wore out on Monday evening to meet my bestie, Lady Char-Char, for sushi.  I rely on her honest opinions about my jewellery and she loved it.  In fact so did a couple of other people, so I ended up giving out 2 business cards just for wearing that creation - hoorah!

I then trialled a smaller version, as I'm aware that not everyone will want to wear such a bold piece.  I think I will make a couple of each for the shop and see how they do.  Hope to have them on display in the next 3-4 weeks.



Sadly, my camera never shows up the colours and textures of the pieces that well.

Have a good day, y'all!

Tuesday 8 April 2014

Game of Chores

If you're anything like me, you have a list of chores a mile long.  You seem to constantly add to this list, but cross off very few.  Well, enough is enough!  I decided to get a lot more organised and to stop procrastinating (love that word - sounds so rude, but the folks never tell me off for using it!)  So, I went from room to room, making a list of all the chores that I had to do.  I rewrote each chore on a scrap of paper and divided them into pots.  There are 4 pots, labelled as follows:
1-3 hours
1/2 day
All day
Ongoing

Pretty self-explanatory, really.  So, if I have a whole day at home, then I will pick a chore out of that pot.  If I only have a couple of hours, I open the 1-3 hour pot.  I have to dip into the ongoing pot once a week and work on 3 hours of that particular job over that week.  Chances are I'll often get a job I really don't want to do (as those are the ones I always put off) but tough titty!  I've pulled it out, so do it I must. 

This may sound a bit of a long-winded way of doing those jobs you always put off, but I like the fact it's now a bit of a game and I have to confess I'm getting through those chores now!  Chores range from, cleaning windows, to sorting out wardrobe and chucking clothes that don't fit or I don't wear anymore to doing some mending, to fixing something, attaching a new clasp to a bracelet or making a new piece of jewellery for the shop, or finishing off a cardigan I was knitting, etc.......

I still have about 68 chores to do - yikes!!!!

P.S.  I have regained some of my mojo since the last post, so I will show off my creative side again soon.


Friday 21 March 2014

Loss of mojo!

In case you were wondering, I am still around, but have suffered a severe lack of mojo recently in all things creative - jewellery making, knitting, sewing.....  I think this is mostly due to the recent spell of fab weather, so I've been making the most of that.  The sun has inspired me to be a lot more energetic, so in between 90 mins of exercise per day, plus trying to catch up on some chores around the house, I've found little time for anything else.

Hopefully, there will be a forthcoming creative day and I can actually post about something interesting with piccies!

Have a lovely sunny weekend!

Friday 7 March 2014

Handmade Hotspot

Well, I am now officially a sole trader!  My friend's shop opens on Monday 10th March and will be selling handmade arts and crafts, including my jewellery - yay!!!






My full display

Handmade Hotspot can be found at 4 High Street, Ely, Cambs, so if you're a local, do drop in!