As if the last few days haven't been enough! But you see, I have this little stockpile of photos & projects I always plan to blog about, but never seemed to get around to.

I was quite obsessed with the website Etsy which is quite like eBay for crafty vintage cool things. Sadly the crash of the Australian dollar has put the brakes on that particular pastime for now, since the majority of the things I seem to want need to be shipped from the States.

Anyhoo, my first foray into Etsy purchasing was some beads. I had in my head an idea for a necklace that was like a Van Cleef & Arpels design that I'd seen in some magazine. Sort of like a crazy long chain interspersed with clover-shaped things.. it looked fantastic in my head. In the end I couldn't find beads the right shape, but the idea progressed from there and I bought these:

First I pulled apart an old silver chain, splitting it into equal lengths, then I used medium gauge sterling silver wire to make little joining bars. That was a little difficult because I could only shape the loops with the bead already in place, and then try and slip the chain on to the loop..it took a few attempts to get the hang of it.

Once I'd made the chain back into one length, joined by the black beads, I made more little loops for the birdies. Even more fiddly. I was happy with the result, even if it was very different to my original inspiration.

I had a few beads left over so made some earrings too, but they aren't quite right.
I'm not sure if I'll pull them apart and make something else. I might give them to someone instead...