Sunday, 22 November 2015

10K Subscriber Giveaway!!

I cannot believe I have over 10K subscribers on YouTube! I wanted to give something back to you, so here it is!

Here's a photo of the prizes that I have for you :D It's perfect for those wanting to get into bead weaving as it's full of beady delights.



Many thanks to The Bead Shop Nottingham for generously donating some prizes towards this giveaway!


  • The ONLY requirement to enter is that you are subscribed to my channel. The other things are just delightful extras that will earn you extra entries.
  • If you are under 18, please make sure you have your parents' permission as I will need your address to send you the prizes.


  • This giveaway IS INTERNATIONAL! If you have an address, I will send you your prize :)


Well what are you waiting for?? Get entering!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, 19 November 2015

Brick Stitch Dolphin Pattern



I was asked way back in January to make a dolphin charm using brick stitch bead weaving techniques. I  made the charm way back then and even posted a photo in Instagram, promising to make a tutorial "soon". Clearly to me, "soon", means 10 months later (or 44 weeks, according to Instagram.)



I know, I know... I'm clearly the worst kind of person. It's not my fault. I receive quite a few video requests, and I like to keep everyone happy. Also I don't want to just be a bead weaving channel, so I try to mix it up where I can. That is just an excuse... I just forgot to make the tutorial :D But hey, I'm only human

Enough waffling around... Here is the pattern:


As always, I used size 11 delica beads by the Japanese brand Miyuki. I also used beading thread by the company Nymo and a size 10 beading needle.

All items were purchased from http;//mailorder-beads.co.uk who were generous enough to give me a 10% discount code on full-items on orders over £5! It's valid until 31st Dec 2015 and the company do ship internationally! Just type TCOC10 in the promo code box at the checkout :D




Monday, 2 November 2015

Brick Stitch Patterns to Older Videos

So back in early 2015, I went on a bit of a brick stitch rampage. I discovered how to make my own patterns,  but I couldn't save any of them. I made videos for these patterns, and one of my lovely followers on Instagram shared with me a beading program in which I could save the patterns I make! ANYWAY I thought it high time to trawl back though my past videos, and make patterns for the tutorials I hadn't done.

All of these tutorials can be found in my bead weaving playlist: click here to view the playlist
Brick stitch bow


Hello Kitty


Minion!


Owl


Penguin


Piggy


Sunday, 11 October 2015

Sugar Skull Brick Stitch Pattern



Hello! So I was asked to do a tutorial for my sugar skull brick stitch pendant which has been floating around Etsy for a while now. I put off making the video because it takes so long to make the pendant, I didn't know how I'd be able to cut the tutorial down! It's still a 30 minutes video, but worth it :D

The colours I used are:
DB010 - Opaque Black
DB200 - Opaque White
DB568 - Opaque Turquoise
DB-651 - Opaque Squash
DB-660 - Opaque Dark Orchid
DB-2115 - Opaque Guava

I also used Nymo beading thread in black and a size 10 beading needle.




Tuesday, 29 September 2015

Candy Corn Peyote Bracelet



This is the first of my Halloween tutorials! Although candy corn isn't easily accessible in Europe, as far as I'm aware anyway, I remember trying some when I was 17. It tasted a lot like honey and I thought it was delicious :) I made a peyote bracelet with a similar pattern to this when I was into making my peyote name bracelets, but I decided it would be fun to turn the geometric shapes into cute candy corns! The pattern isn't too tricky to do so and it's made using odd count peyote, which is my new favourite stitch for making bracelets!

Anyway... You don't come to this page to read my waffly descriptions. Here's the pattern:

Colours I used:

All Miyuki Delica size 11 beads.

DB010 - Black
DB200 - White
DB-1132 - Canary Yellow
DB-651 - Opaque Squash (Orange)




Friday, 28 August 2015

Cute Ursula Beading Pattern




I like Disney villains. They're always scary, but mysterious. I often wonder what made them evil and why they dislike the "good guys" of the film. When it was suggested by CraftGyver that our collaboration video should be The Little Mermaid, I knew who I had to make!!

One of my Instagram followers was kind enough to tell me about a computer program on which you can design patterns. It's free to use and, even better, you can save the patterns!!

Here is my pattern for a cute Ursula beaded charm using square stitch.



If you're new to square stitch, I recommend checking out my Square Stitch Basics tutorial! It explains everything you need to know to make this adorable sea witch.




Who's your favourite character from The Little Mermaid?

Saturday, 15 August 2015

My Mum's Banana Bread Recipe!


This banana bread (although we call it "chocolate chip and banana cake") has been in my family for a number of years now! Not centuries, but definitely over a decade. It's so easy to make and is the perfect way to use up over-ripe bananas. In fact, I recommend using over ripe bananas as they're sweeter and will mash more easily. Chocolate chips are an amazing addition to this cake, but we didn't have any...

Anyway, you don't want to read a bunch of waffle from me, you just want me to get on with the recipe!! (If you'd like to see this cake being made, check out the video at the bottom of this post)


For this cake, you will need:

2 bananas
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
170g butter (or margarine)
225g caster sugar
285g self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 eggs
57g chocolate chips *optional*

1) Preheat your oven to 170­°C

2) Melt the butter completely, and then stir in the sugar. Be sure the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, bicarb and salt. This will get rid of any lumps in the flour.

4) Stir in the butter and sugar mixture, making sure it is well-combined.

5) Peel and mash your bananas, and then add them to the rest of the mix, stirring thoroughly. Throw in your vanilla extract.

6) Beat your eggs, and then add them to the rest of the mix too. One again, stir thoroughly!

*At this point, you can add chocolate chips. I recommend leaving the mixture to cool first as otherwise the chocolate will melt!*

7) Pour the batter into your tin of choice. An 8'' round tin works well, but we used a 900g loaf tin, which also did the job delightfully.

8) Bake for 50-60 minutes. Baking time can vary, especially depending on what type of tin you use. Our cake took a full hour, and we don't have a fan-oven. Check your cake is cooked by inserting a skewer. When it comes out clean, it's done!

My mum swears that this cake is best made two days before expected consumption, that's if you can wait that long!!