A Story of the "I Love Blood" Necklace in the Demi-Monde

When I decided that the time had come for me to sell beads - I didn't sell the ones I was making when I just started, they didn't seem to me to be good enough for other people to buy them - I thought that the best place to sell would be at a fair. And the first ever fair I went to was the Halloween weekend at Whitby. I made lots and lots of black beads, mainly tablet-shaped, and as you can see, they are still here with me! :)

There are all kinds, mainly etched with a tiny design on one side which is left unetched, or shiny. I do like them, and I hope one day they will find a good home with someone who will treasure them as much as I do.

The reason why I remembered these beads today is because I made a little necklace that consisted of three beads:

The original transparent red bead had a little white artificial diamond inside, but I could not find that necklace. It doesn't matter really, as today the sun was shining right through the bead making it all sparkly. When you look at them, you see "i", "heart" and a red bead in the shape of a drop. This was my take on "I love blood" - for the Whitby crowd.

BUT there is one other side to this story: in "The Demi-Monde: Winter", the first of the quadrology that Rod has written, there is a tiny episode, where Norma, one of the main characters, is surrounded by the bad guys, and "...The Witchfinder wrenched off the 'I (heart) Blood' necklace Norma was wearing, sending the glass beads skittering over the frost-hard cobbles."... Well, this is the necklace that went into the book!

Update from Daventry

Hello to you all again! I have decided (again!) that I will keep writing my blog no matter what. I love writing about beads and designs and colours. Actually, I'd prefer chatting about them, but I don't think my husband would be very happy, though he is very good about it, always helping me naming my sets and giving valuable comments on whether the colours have worked or not. Also my blog gives me an opportunity to keep people updated with what I'm up to these days.

Some of you might know that I have started working as PA, it is a part time position with London Russian Ballet School in Clapham. I am also looking after their charity "Kids Love Lambeth", so one can say that I am sort of a development officer. Despite a busy schedule and having sometimes to do bits a pieces over the weekend (like promoting performances on Facebook and in other media) I have not stopped making beads and jewellery and I still manage to sell here and there as well as write a tutorial from time to time. If anything, having to go to work has made me more focused on how I want to spend my free time, and of course when I go on my train journey there is plenty of time to think about new designs and projects.

So this is a little update on what's been happening in the "Princess Bead's Garden". I have also made new pieces for my Etsy shop, and here are the pictures. I had the "Russian Flag" pair in the shop for some time, but it became obvious that my Russian compatriots are not strong on jewellery making. So, as it is Christmas soon, I had a cunning plan and transformed them into a pretty pair of earrings, with a fashionable long loop, ready to wear. So we'll see! There is a bracelet featuring my famous "Berry! Christmas" beads, crystals and sterling silver findings. And the last one - Go, Matrioshka, go! One of the Matrioshkas, my winning stars, with a beautiful 8mm crystal on top as a sparkling crown, turned into a pendant - a truly unique piece. I have a better photo of it in the shop, but Blogger did not want to accept the portrait picture, so here it is in landscape. Talk to you soon! xx