The Beadwork Fair – Sunday 28th August, The de Havilland Campus, University of Hertfordshire, AL10 9EU  10am to 4pm

I have been persuaded (thank you Paul), to do this bead fair this Bank Holiday Sunday. As you know I normally do the Stourbridge Bead Fair, but decided to take a break from it this year and enjoy the summer, but due to one thing and another and not attending the Ardingly summer fair in July due to my mums’ sudden death, I thought maybe I should take the plunge.

So I will be at this event, this Sunday, with my usual mix of handmade lampworked glass beads, sterling silver chains, New Designs of Cloud Beads and my range of contemporary jewellery. There are many new £1 bargain beads to be had, together with some old favourites.

I hope you will come and say hello and make the effort to attend this fair, being a Bank Holiday Sunday of course means the traffic will be minimal for a Sunday. Go on, you know you want to!

Lampwork Classes – I have one new space on a 1 day Beginners  Beadmaking course, Tuesday 3rd May, contact me now for more information and to book your place.

I’ve popped some repeat sets on Etsy and a new whopper set of amber, ivory, black and brown beads. Here’s a taster including some of my new ‘Didy sets’.

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks as I’ve enrolled on a 10 week course down in Goring and so went to have lunch on the beach after the session this week. After my food I had a walk along the path down to where we often go in the summer with friends. It was very different with the mist and cool spring breeze, and people wearing coats to walk their dogs. The sun was shinning very brightly and dazzling my eyes as it reflected off the pools of water on the sands where the sea had receded away from the shore. It was very peaceful and energising although a bit windy, my hair was a complete state by the time I got back in the car to come home.  It was a treat to have a change of scenery and a chance to reflect on the mornings’ proceedings and life in general. Here’s a few snaps that I took with my new Canon Ixus 130, including the ones I shot after I had rolled backwards onto my back through trying to crouch so low….I meant to do that.

More new beads on Etsy.

What to do on a train journey? Normal people play games like ‘I spy’ but we had fun on our way home from London on Saturday messing around with my new camera…Oh I didn’t tell you I eventually got a new one in January (for my birthday in November). I am the proud owner of a Canon Ixus 130 in Shocking pink.

OK so here’s my list so far…….

1. Play ‘I Spy’
2. Play Noughts and Crosses
3. Read something
4. Eat…mmmmmm
5. Drink…..glug
6. Talk quietly so as not to disturb anyone
7. Sleep…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
8. Play hangman
9. Play join the dots to make boxes – remember that from school?
10. Listen to music
11. Play with I phone/Blackberry/HTC Desire/ insert your phone here
12. Take silly photos with said phone or small camera and see how many different silly effects you can get.

and here’s some of the photos we took…….

Phew, feeling a bit jaded but very happy. Anyone heard of Zumba? (links to You Tube)  Cos that’s where I’ve been this morning. All my life I’ve hated exercise classes, especially aerobics, but I think I may have actually found some exercise that I like. I adore dancing and have been given the all go by my hip specialist to do Latin American dancing so I thought Zumba might be right up my street. I was so excited yesterday when I booked it, and fortunately I was not disappointed. I’m definitely going again, and need to buy some new jogging pants as my existing ones are 3 sizes too big, yay!

More sets on Etsy, some are new designs, others are repeats and variations on a theme.

I’m off to do more washing (boo hiss boo) and make some cup cakes for tomorrow (yay).

Hellooooo there, thank you to all my friends, customers and students who came to say hello yesterday at the bead fair. You all make my bead fair days so special, it’s great to catch up with you all and share news and coo over beautiful beads and bits.  I’ve spent the day recovering from all my preparation efforts from the fair, as I had 4 full days bead making and spent all Saturday stringing up sets, pricing stuff and packing up. Of course we celebrated the day with a lovely curry when we got home, yum yum.

So now all I have to do is finish my accounts (ha ha) and get my tax out of the way, then I can start on my new efforts for this years business. I’m hoping to spend some time developing some new designs and hopefully some new colour combinations, although I will be continuing my favourites, as they are so lovely. I’m looking forward to spending time playing with new ideas without the pressure to stock up for an event, I just hope my mojo doesn’t go go.

Here’s some snaps of the bead fair from my stall, and ‘the boys’, sorry Jim, you’re out of focus….

Dreams. We all have them. But I’m not talking hopes and dreams, I’m talking of gently coming out of a deep slumber type dreaming here. I get loads, so many that it’s unusual for me not to have one in the morning. They often have recurring themes, and I often visit the same places regularly. I wasn’t going to divulge what I dream, but I may as well tell you that one of my regular haunts is a very big modern house with lots of rooms and a massive garden that stretches off into the distance. We don’t have the real luxury of that but at least I get to enjoy one of my dream properties regularly, including the joy of rediscovering a room that I had forgotten existed. We wouldn’t mind that here in our real house, although several months after we moved in our present house we rediscovered the cupboard under the stairs.

Dreams can often confuse and disappoint. Take this Saturday, when I had to get up early and continue with my preparations for the exhibitions I have to set up this week. I got up and ploughed on with my work really well, feeling relaxed and on top of things, enjoying the early morning weekend peace downstairs,  only to wake up at 10:30 and find that I’d seriously overslept and had to remake all the stuff I’d already done that morning. Oh that sucked.

Still, I successfully prepared my pieces for the Winter Exhibition at the Bank Gallery at Chobham, and now have today and tomorrow to prepare for the Surrey Guild Guildford Exhibition ‘Unique’. I’m feeling very jaded but also optimistic. Let’s hope the snow stays away so I can get stuck in. Here’s some more snowy photos to get you even more in the Christmas mood. Please excuse the dodgy photos, my camera is on it’s way out and Picasa isn’t playing ball either, it keeps changing the photo next to the one I’m trying to tweak. Bye y’all.

It’s official…Christmas is coming and would you believe it if I said I’m getting organised? Oh yes, I had an email from Sainsbury on-line the other day announcing Christmas delivery dates and I actually bagged a slot today. Not one of the really close ones, but I have Monday evening, which is good as that means that I can get the worst of it delivered and anything they muck up on, or I forget, or they don’t have, I still have plenty of time to go and get myself, without having to spend 3 hours traipsing around a packed shop like the other year (click here).

We also have snow, but you’re not really surprised there are you? Fortunately I was able to go to the Gallery in Milford safely yesterday and got home easily, but today we are snowed in, well, my daughter had to stay home as her school was closed. But gone are the days of a real ‘snow day’, she had lots of work on the internet from her teachers, so didn’t get off that lightly. As usual I found it very hard to concentrate and plough on with my work (making jewellery for my 2 exhibitions that start next week) with her here. What am I like?

Here’s a couple of snowy pictures to get you in the mood for December…….

Well hello there. Bet you thought I’d gone. It’s about time I re-surfaced really. So what’s new and what’s been happening? The past few weeks have been full of teaching, half term ending with the Big Bead Show, and a week long stint of stewarding in the Surrey Guild of Craftsmen Gallery in Milford. To say I’m exhausted would be very true. The Big Bead Show was an excellent day out, we saw lots of friends, regular customers, lots of new customers and lots of students came by to say hello and to show off their new lampworking equipment or glass and tool goodies. Thank you to everyone who came and made our day really special.

My week in the gallery at Milford was an interesting one. I started off by cleaning my cabinet and all my jewellery in it, that took 2 days, as every time I was about to do something someone came in and I had to stop. But it all looks nice and shiny and new again now, together with the new pieces that I made while I was there. I also spent a day hatching a cunning plan to sell more in the gallery, and spent all of 2 days at home busy making lots of big hole beads and little project sets to sell. I have designed new packaging to sell these new pieces and spent Friday and Saturday packaging up my smaller items to sell and display in the gallery. It would be fair to say I worked a 16 hour day from Monday to Saturday last week, no wonder I’m officially pooped.

So, if you are in the market for a beautifully made individual  Big Hole Bead with no silver lining (I’ve called them Sky Beads) pop on down to the Surrey Guild of Craftsmen Gallery and have a look in one of my wicker baskets. I have singles, pairs and trios available to buy, already gift packed for a perfect stocking filler, prices from £3 up to £10. I also have my handmade icicle hanging decorations, these look lovely on a tree or hanging in doorways or anywhere else that they will catch the light. My other stocking filler is a pretty handmade lampwork bead with 2 plain coordinating beads on an adjustable cotton thong necklace, again gift packed, making the perfect stocking filler at only £5.

I have a couple of new tuition dates on my tuition page, one of these is my last teaching date for 2010 on Wednesday 1st December,  drop me a line now to reserve your place on either of these courses.

Yay, we have our glass! Photos below…..using the phone again. Fortunately my pieces were better than Ricks,  I would have been gutted if they weren’t, but it’s not a competition and I did have the best position going last in all the exercises so I could learn from what the others did. Although it was obvious that my experience did help, being able to constantly turn the punty, knowing what sort of speed to turn it in response to how the molton glass was moving,  and having a better feel for how much pressure to apply to the glass etc..I’m just itching to have another go now, it was so much fun, especially the bit where we took a gather, there was something rather special and exciting about dipping the punty into all that tremendously hot glass. It really was like collecting honey on a spoon or one of those ridged wooden honey handles, but VERY hot. hee hee. I have to admit the blowing part wasn’t my favourite bit, and that I really loved making the paperweight, I just wish I hadn’t gone for more blue powder and twisted it so much, or the colours would have been purer. It appears that the blue and yellow react in the same way that they do in a bead, by creating black/dark grey where they touch.

Don’t forget that I have a couple of tuition dates available, one for this Friday 1st October, so if you fancy having a go making beads (in a much more accessible hot glass process) then don’t delay, and contact me now.

***1 place on a 1 day beginners course on Fri 1st Oct***

***1 place on a 1 day silver glass and sparkly bits course Thurs 14th October***
On this class we will be covering – using silver glass, dichroic glass, sparkly stuff , encasing, presses and shaping, long tubes and flame know-how – or as much as we can get through on this massive list in one day!

Oh dear, I’m going to get lots of flack from Rick about these photos, apart from the fact that I haven’t shown his pieces, oh yes, these are all mine, different views.

So tomorrow is the day…the day when we get our glassy bits from our glass-blowing taster last month. I’m so excited I can barely contain myself. I have to keep myself from bobbing up and down when I think of it. More importantly though, tomorrow is the GBUK Bead Fair at the Loyd Lindsay Rooms, Ardington, Oxon. The fair starts at 1pm and goes through to 5pm and will be amazing. It will be bringing together lampworkers from around the UK, both seasoned veterans (like myself) and exciting newcomers. Days like this are always very sociable, so we’re looking to forward to spending time in the company of our friends and have lots of good natters.

Of course I have some new beads, I’ve been playing with my new hand shaped nugget which I love  and have strung the faux bo beads shown below into lovely sets for you to buy and use. I’ve also been playing with animal print designs in amber colours, as these are all the rage this season.

But now I have to show you what the spiders have been getting up to on the hedge outside our front door (photos taken 8am Tues 21st Oct)……

Ah, I should add that I have a new course vacancy….

***1 place on a 1 day silver glass and sparkly bits course Thurs 14th October***
On this class we will be covering – using silver glass, dichroic glass, sparkly stuff (see my tuition page), encasing, presses and shaping, long tubes and flame know-how – or as much as we can get through on this massive list in one day!
Contact me now to book your place on this jam packed day.