Christmas pressies and kit

Been making Christmas pressies with some of my home made beads, the first items of jewellery made with them that were not just for me.  This first one is make with turquoise opaque and clear glass with ivory dots.  The two earring beads and the clear glass beads have been etched.  Also used Hill Tribe silver spacer beads and my own hand made clasp with Stirling silver.

The second item is for my Mum; periwinkle blue and sky blue with blue/green frit (crushed glass) melted in.  Strung on 49 strand beadalon and finished off with seed beads to hide the beading line and to prevent it cutting into the skin.  I would have done a nice clasp to go with it, but my poor old Mum has terrible arthritis and had previously asked if I could use magnetic clasps (one of her friends had showed this type of thing) so I have, not very pretty but functional and does the job well. (Sorry not good pictures but I was in a rush to take them to get the items into the post).

In other news I now have all the kit to start making beads at home, but it has been so very cold (currently minus 6.7 outside) that I haven't been able to face getting the studio set up properly as it is in an unheated outbuilding.  Seems that it might get a bit warmer after Christmas so hopefully I can get going.  It's very exciting to have my own kit, but very frustrating not to be able to use it yet.