Arg!  No!  I have jewellery-block again.  Doh.  Literally surrounded by beads and things and can't think of anything to make, I definitely need some inspiration.  The weather has been amazing over the past few days and it pains me that we haven't got a garden to sit in so I can take some inspiration from nature.  Bringing a little indoors though, growing a hyacinth which has finally sprouted it's first little blossom and hatched some cute little seamonkeys in a tank!  I'm going to go and sit and stare at my piles of beads and hopefully something will come to me!

I think I go through phases with making jewellery - the current one is using semi-precious stones and stringing.  Here's my latest from today:

It's Green Oil Jade and Dark Oil Jade with a little Tibetan silver thrown in.  I love semi-precious stones, the texture and feel of each stone is really different.  Things like Rose Quartz will be really cold and hard to the touch and quite smooth and polished, whereas stones like Oil Jade are more earthy, feeling quite warm and almost rough to touch although they have been polished smooth.

For a couple of reasons, I am no longer using the name Firelily, but am however going by my very own name!  It's a little daunting taking all the credit for my work and actually putting my name to my work but it's time to take the plunge!  You can find the new page showcasing all my work (and where you can order jewellery) at Jewellery by Sarah Brookes.

To celebrate, I've gone back to my roots and dug out a bag of Garnet chips that I bought when I was a fledgling jewellery maker.  These were originally used in the Garnet chip chain that graces one of Alexis Southall's dancing costumes but somehow I never got round to using the rest!

The necklace is a lovely 18" in length, silver plated with Tibetan silver and those beautiful Garnet chips, hand strung on natural silk.  I've always wanted to be able to string and never had the confidence.  Practise practise, it's all it takes!