This week, I wanted to highlight a small jewellery-making brand. The owner of Picnic Blanket Jewellery, Katie, creates her own adorable glass beads, from little guinea pigs to seasonal pumpkins! She describes her business as “Bespoke, handcrafted glass jewellery,” which I can agree with, as I love how none of the beads are the same due to their handmade qualities. Learning the process of lampworking and jewellery making in its entirety has made me view this craft with much more empathy and appreciation!
A few of her recent animal beads!
I ordered a matching set of handmade earrings and a pendant necklace depicting a little orange cat—view my “About Me” page for my adorable muse. I was happy to support a growing business while gifting myself these fine pieces. She often posts videos of her creations, which has inspired me to engage in additional research into the craft of lampworking beads. Luckily, she discloses this process on her shop’s website: “Each lampwork feature bead takes up to half an hour to delicately form by hand in the flame and reaches temperatures up to 800°C, before heading to soak in the warmth of the kiln for over 6 hours where the annealing process strengthens and ensures longevity of the finished bead. Once cooled, the beads are then carefully removed from the mandrels which they were formed on. They are then individually washed, reamed, cleaned and polished all by hand, before moving to the studio bench where they are crafted into finished pieces, with the total process taking 2 days to complete from start to finish.”
here is the same necklace that I ordered from her. I particularly love the small gold spheres throughout the gold-filled chain!
There are many more beads listed in her shop, included in various seasonal collections, bracelets, earrings, and custom pieces where you can submit photos of your pet for her to design and create as a charm!
these are the earrings I ordered!
While I do not wear the sizeable earrings often, I find myself regularly wearing the charm necklace in combination with one of my own beaded creations. I am sure I will be purchasing more pieces from her and other creative sole proprietorships in the future.
Thank you for reading this appreciation post <3