gemstone kumihimo

Gold Seed Beads

Finally, here are the last designs from the Jewellery Maker show on 27.11.14! Sorry for the wait.  

Copper Seed Beads

Here is the next installment of the instructions from the last show. I loved the rich colours in this kit and it was good to have a big tube of both size 6 and size 8 copper seed beads to play with. Here are the instructions.

Silver Seed Beads

It has been a very busy time for me with two Jewellery Maker shows to prepare for, two magazine submissions and several workshops to plan and I have badly neglected my blog! Now I need to mend my ways and I have got lots of things to talk about. My last show at Jewellery Maker was a sort of relaunch …

Kumihimo Winter Brights

These are some of the designs from my most recent appearance on Jewellery Maker. It was great to get such lovely bright colours to work with to brighten up the winter months and it was a great opportunity to show how kumihimo can be used to bring colour and texture to jewellery making. There were 4 different colours of cord …

Kumihimo Christmas in September!

      The Kumihimo Christmas show on Jewellery Maker went down well and I have just finished posting the brief instructions on this site. One kit was big, bold and bright, while the other kit was more subtle and refined. I had great fun with both of them and it makes it much more interesting for me to have …

New Facebook Page

I have just created a new facebook page at the request of Jewellery Maker. The name is JM Guest Designer Pru McRae and its purpose is to make it easier for viewers and designers to interact. It was a great opportunity for me to go back through all the designs I have made for the shows since I started in …

Rosary Chain

The technique of making up a chain using small beads and wrapped loops is often known as rosary chain. It is a great technique and not difficult to master. However, it is also possible to buy it ready made, especially with gemstones and sterling silver. The advantage of the ready made chain is that the links tend to be particularly …

Classic Black and Gold

  It has taken me a while for me to get this done, but here it is at last, the instructions for the designs for the first kit from the Jewellery Maker show on 20.8.14. I hope people will find them useful. I have had a lot of interest in the bracelet and I would like to point out that …

Amazing Labradorite

This is a little glimpse of one of the stones I have been working with for my next appearance on Jewellery Maker. If you watch the shows you will know that Labradorite is very popular. In fact it has been voted the favourite gemstone by viewers. However, you will also hear the presenters lament how difficult it is to show …

Kumi-cabs 2

Here it is at last! This is the second tutorial in the series of hybrid designs, combining the best of kumihimo, bead embroidery and a hint of soutache. This is the first tutorial I have published which uses the kumihimo square plate instead of the disk. I have been asked many times for some plate tutorials, but I have found …