Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Friday lunchtime

I’m feeling very surburban housewifey at the moment. I didn’t get that feeling 2 weeks ago when I tidied downstairs for my daughters party and assembled finger food for the tea.

Today sees me baking of all things, that’s unusual for me. I’ve got 2 nice round pavlovas in the oven (ah, did you think I was going to say something else?) and the smell of roasted peppers is pervading the house. You could say I’m getting nekid in the kitchen with Jamie Oliver, however before you get too excited I should tell you that he’s not here but his books are….you can heave a sigh of relief Rick. The only thing that’s stopping me from being a real Desperate Housewife and that shatters my urban story is that to make the vinegrette I have to retreave one of my many jam jars with lids that I keep stashed in my studio, ready to hold glass or some other work item.
Next on the agenda is my lunch and my usual sado viewing of Neighbours, I won’t apologise to anyone who thinks it’s naff, I see it as one of the perks of working from home……

Tuesday afternoon

Look what I made at my class last week.

I had a go at last at Cuttlefish casting. I’ve never really been that enamoured of the pieces that I’ve seen done that way in the past, but I saw someone elses work and was inspired to have a go. The thing that’s so funky about this is that you can prepare your mould, carve your design and cast it all in the space of a couple of hours unlike normal Lost Wax Casting which takes a couple of days from start to finish.

I love this shape so much that I might make a rubber mould of it so I can reproduce it using the tradditional lost wax method.

Monday evening

Monday again already. I had a fun but short sesh in my studio today, sometimes I find it really hard to get going, but that silly grin always comes to my face when I sit down at the torch. I do need to get a good session in tommorrow as it’s the Easter holiday next week and Tuesday is the only other day I get to torch this week.

I made some interesting dichroic beads today, using a silver dichroic and my new glass I bought from Creative Glass in the half term.  They turned out good, kinda rainbowesque stylie on acid.

This week we’re all getting reved up for my parents golden wedding party at the weekend.  I shall probably be knee deep in salads on Friday and have various trips to the shops for ingredients this week.  Oh well, lots of nice deserts to look forward to, yum yum.

It’s back, every night this week, repeats of the first series leading to the new second series.  Oh yes it’s Green Wing.  Need I say more.  Bliss!

Monday morning

Hi guys! I had to blog again about out CD delivery! Mainly to say that the problems with delivery were nothing to do with Graham at Cyclone, but were down to the couriers that the CD production company used, again both the CD company and the couriers have nothing to do with Graham (or Ash as we fondly call him).

Rick was so desperate last week that he’d miss the couriers (he worked from home Thursday to receive the CD’s that didn’t come) that he left this message on the door when he went to collect our daughter from school…..

To the courier delivering here

I have had to collect my daughter from school.

I will be back in < 10 minutes DO NOT leave without dropping off the delivery THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT DELIVERY It's sods law you arrive in the only 10 minutes that I have not been here to collect it in the last 4 days! Please wait for me to return I have been waiting for it for 4 days 10 mins is all I ask!!

I also ought to add that the CDs did arrive safely in the end at the conference centre in time for the conference. Woo hoo.

Friday morning

Well after 4 days waiting at home, guess where the delivery of CD’s is….Cardiff. That’s a fat lot of use since we live about 30 miles from the Sussex south coast and the conference that we ordered them for starts this evening in Hertfordshire.

Apparently there was a mix up, no kidding. They’d mucked up on the post code, but instead of being honest about it, knowing full well that they wouldn’t be delivering here for the last FOUR days they let us stay in waiting. It wasn’t even like they could just stick it through the letter box or send it to the post office, we’re talking a pallet load here, probably 15 boxes each a foot cubed.

I have to say I don’t mind there being problems, and I appreciate that mistakes do happen, that’s life. BUT at least be courteous to your clients and honest. Keep them informed of the situation and don’t lie. I can’t even begin to tell you how furious I am about this last week, 3 days lost work for me, and Rick had to work from home yesterday.  I can’t make beads that take half an hour or more in the studio at the end of the garden if the doorbell is going to ring and I’ve got 30 seconds to get to the door before they run off.

But, lets cheer up now, I have to spend the day tidying the house, eeek. We have a kids party here this afternoon and I’ve got all that stuff to finish preparing. I suppose it’s payback for never doing housework because I prefer making beads, or doing anything else for that matter!

Wednesday morning

So here I am, third day running, waiting for the delivery of the CDs we were working on. All the time I wait I cannot get on in my studio because I would never get to the door on time. Talk about frustrated, not to mention stressed and increasingly annoyed.

This leads me nicely to courier companies and British companies who lie about when goods are despatched because they think you’ll be impressed (or fooled) that the goods have gone when they’re actually sat in a corner. Or who can’t be bothered to let you know when in the day your goods will arrive ‘Oh, anytime up to 4.30pm love’. Or who haven’t got the courtesy to tell you that even though you’ve been stuck in the house all day waiting, that actually they’ll be delivered sometime the next day….if you’re lucky.

I just don’t understand what harm a little thought for the customers would do, and surely they have some idea what time of day you’ll get your stuff, after all couriers normally have a roughly set route that they follow, eg Guildford, then Cranleigh, then Horsham and Brighton usually at the end of the day.

The only good side of this is that I’ve spent some time working on my shop pages, so hopefully we’ll have a shop here soon. (That’s got to be the 3rd or 4th time i’ve said this! and no, I’m not trying to be like the couriers!!! I’ve sorted the very boring page with delivery costs ‘n stuff, and now have the fun bit to do.)

Monday afternoon

Spring is sprung! It’s a lovely sunny day today down ‘ere in t’t south. I’ve just felt inspired to tidy up today………Rick faints to the ground in surpirse. Actually I think it’s more the impending kids party on Friday that’s turning my thoughts to moving anything fragile! And the Christmas cards came down today, trouble is you don’t notice them when you see them for such a long time (oops, I’m using one of Ricks excuses for not seeing the mess here), and I’ve moved one of our card hanging strips to the other side of the room to cover the annoying column of holes in the wall that were left when the previous owner removed his shelves 6 years ago. It looks better in a strange way. Of course the problem is the holes are even less likely to get filled now you can’t see ’em. Darn it!

Friday morning

Hello there. Did you miss me????? It’s been a very unproductive week that started with Monday off due to an Inset day. I had my first proper Acupuncture session Monday, well weird!

After that it all went downhill with me brewing a cold at the torch on Tuesday, sleeping all morning on Wednesday, and doing nothing all day yesterday. Now it seems I may have Conjunctivitis, why I mon (this has to be said in a Newcastle accent). So definately no torching for me at the moment.

The big news this week however is that Rick and I officially launched the new GBUK website that we have been working on. For a little peekie go to GBUK.org All this work on other stuff is why I still haven’t got anything up for sale here…………..

Wednesday

Just catching up with paperwork and stuff today, yawn. I made beads yesterday, not one of my best sessions. It was 1.5deg C in there yesterday, not as cold as Monday which was -2degC (brrrrrr). I’ve been challeging myself in my beads this month, seeing how far I’ve progressed and attempting things that I haven’t previously been able to do well. I’ve been very pleased with my efforts, but yesterdays beads suck. Oh well, I feel some some more beads on leather coming on!