Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Tuesday morning
Yipeee, at last I get to make beads again. I’ve been so busy the last week that this is my first chance to blog or bead and I may not be doing experimental work or trying out all the new glass and frits I have ordered lately, but I’m going to enjoy myself. I have to make pendants and beads for my craft fairs and the Guild exhibition, so will be in production mode, but the good news is that I can please myself on what I produce, oh the joys of being self employed and setting my own targets.

I must say though that it is going to be very hard to stop myself from trying out the new ASK104 glass from Kugler or the gold pink frit that I’ve waited years to get hold of. It’s also going to be fun working in a studio with more space, it feels so much better now the shelves have been removed and storage is below the benches like it should have been from the start.

I’m also very relieved that the weather is still so mild, I’ve been kind of dreading working in the freezing cold, but last night as I dipped mandrels at 10pm it was still warm enough to work and I had to stop myself sitting down for a play. Must dash. (moustache?)

Wednesday tea time

Oh he’s so funny my hubby Rick! Today I’m officially another year older and what did I get for my pressy? A plant that I can never kill…..oh yes, I can starve this one of water like all the other houseplants and it won’t ever die. Marvellous. I will be getting something nicer cos I’d like a digital radio to listen to while making beads in my studio. That way I’ll be able to listen to some of the books read on One Word. All I need to do is choose one, hmmm, like I have time for that at the moment. We have 2 fairs this weekend and I need to sort my pieces for the next Surrey Guild exhibition at Guildford by Thursday next week. I just can’t believe how the time is shooting by and how little time I seem to have, to do stuff. All my wishes to be less stressed in the build up to Christmas are going horribly wrong. But the good news is that I’m extra busy because of joining the Guild, with all the extra opportunities that it has brought. Must dash and get ready for my birthday treat.

Friday evening

Oh I’ve been a busy bee this evening.  I’ve made a few updates to the information on this site.  Details of the Surrey Guild gallery can be found on the outlets page, and a link to the website on the links page. I’ve also updated my tuition details announcing the second workstation, so ‘learn with a friend’ is officially here. yipee.

We have an early(ish) start tomorrow as we attend the first of our official Christmas do’s.

We can be found at Croham Hurst School, Croham Road in South Croydon at their Craft Fair, from 11am to 3pm. We will have our usual mix of my contemporary glass jewellery together with my fun fashion ranges and my hand-crafted silver chains, bangles and earrings.

Thursday evening

Just a quick note to say I have successfully set up my cabinet with lots of jewellery goodies in the Surrey Guild Gallery at Milford.  Details can be found on the Surrey Guild website, and I’ll put more info up on my site when I get a chance.

Tuesday evening

Oh no….it would appear that the dishwasher’s broken. Rats, rats and double rats. If there’s nothing I dislike more than housework in general, it’s washing up. Honestly you should see our kitchen, the proverbial bomb has hit it. For some reason the dish wash I did Sunday morning left things less than clean, so tonight we decided to run it again (and no, we hadn’t emptied it, and yes, there is 3 days washing up stacked up all around the kitchen waiting to fill the dishwasher when the load in it got clean), and would you believe it, it was full of bubbles at the end of the cycle and everything was cold. So now we have to get it fixed, which may mean a new one, also the washing machine was making a strange squealing noise during it’s spin and the microwave keeps cutting out and the door doesn’t shut properly so we have to wedge it shut using a pickle jar. We knew everything may wear out at once when we got married, but this is silly, especially as they are all different ages. The microwave is 6 years, the dishwasher nearly 8, and the washing machine 10 and a half. Hmmm. I’m off to do a bit of wiping up…rats….don’t like wiping up, but Rick’s already done 5 bowls of washing up in the last hour.

Monday evening

Hello. It’s nice to have a bit of time to blog again, but oh dear, I didn’t realise it had been nearly one week, eek. I’ve been spending the past week designing a few new pieces of jewellery to put in my cabinet at the Surrey Guild gallery in Milford, and generally making up new pieces and organising everything I need to do for this. I hope to get this set up this Thursday, so look out for details later this week. I’ve also been preparing for 2 days of selling this week at the Bromley Adult Education Centre where I attend a class one afternoon a week. It’s lovely to have a day focused on jewellery making, which was how I got started on this lampworking obsession, and time with other people who love designing and making jewellery, and going to similar exhibitions and events. It’s very easy to become insular when doing any type of work or craft alone at home every day, although my joining a few groups has been very good with making new friends locally who love all things arty.

Anyways, this evening I’m taking a bit of a rest and am sitting on the settee with my feet up. I know things are going to get more frantic as my local craft fairs start this Saturday, and I have to start restocking my jewellery for sale by the weekend and want to have my batteries recharged at least a bit so I can work efficiently. I’m resisting the urge to go and clean all the beads that my last 4 students have made. I’ll do them tommorrow, hee hee, honest govner. Evening all.

Tuesday evening

Well hello there, at last a few minutes time to blog. We had so much to do to get the studio ready to accommodate 2 students, which included changing a worktop, buying under bench storage frames, sorting shelves for them, reorganising tools, glass, and generally moving everything, that poor Richard didn’t really get to celebrate his birthday properly yesterday. Added to that I was teaching all day Saturday, and we were out all day Sunday, and I was out all day yesterday so we’ve only just stopped. I think that may be why a migrane is threatening to rear it’s ugly head. Mind you, at least the floor got a quick wizz of the hoover this morning (cheers rick).

So the good news is that we had a lovely day today, we all fitted in the studio nicely, my students made some fab beads and were really pleased with themselves. My studio looks great without the shelves and now needs a lick of paint to make the remaining section of wall white, and a bit of time to cut lengths of waste pipe and glue them to the shelves to make a posh rod storage thingy-ma-jig. While tomorrow my next panic starts, ho hum….I really know how to get snowed under with stuff to do. Night all.

Saturday evening

Brrrrrrrrrrr. It’s definately cooling down for winter. It was 0.5 deg C in my studio yesterday morning and 5 deg C today, although Rick had put the heater on to warm it up before we went out there. I’ve had the joy of teaching several beginner beadmakers lately and have 2 more coming together next week, so it’s a relief to finally get my spare oxygen concentrator and second torch hooked up and working. Rick changed part of the worktop last week so we can accommodate a second student, and I’ve been buying the bits to furnish a second workstation and to posh up my glass storage, which at the moment consists of long cardboard boxes stowed on the shelves in the studio. Those are coming out to make room for 3 people at once in the studio (2 students and little ole’ me). Oh it’s so exciting, I love changes, especially when it’s for the better.

Of course I will be sticking to my one to one lessons, so if you book on your own, that booking is one to one, unless of course you want to bring a friend to learn with you. I will never add another person to a one to one booking that has already been made, but I’ve had so many requests for 2 friends together lately that we felt we needed to do something. I’m off to put me feet up with a coffee now, have a good weekend.

Thursday afternoon

Oh it feels good to be alive. I’ve had another one of my days out, well it feels like it, even though I was technically working. I had another lovely drive this time through the leafy Sussex countryside over to Haslemere, were I was manning the Surrey Guild exhibiton this morning. My route there took me through Petworth and Midhurst and various other beautiful villages, and up and along an amazing tree covered hill will stunning views over the woods and fields below, with the occassional glint of sun reflecting on pools of water. There were various tree lined lanes and really dark wooded parts along the way and the buidings en route were gorgeous.

Haslemere itself is a lovely town, I popped out to grab a sandwich and caught a very quick look up the High Street. I came home via the villages on a more direct route that I discussed with a couple of the volunteers at the museum. With the sun shinning and the autumn hues surrounding me, I have to say my heart was singing all the way.

It’s so good to get out of the house and explore this glorious countryside, and I hope this is the start of lots of good trips out from being a member of the Guild….I think it is.

Tuesday evening

I’m very pleased to tell you that my application to join the Surrey Guild of Craftsmen was accepted the other week, and that I’ve already started my first exhibition with a few of the other guild members (no point hanging around). The exhibition is at Haslemere Educational museum in Surrey, it started today and continues until 18th November. For more details please visit my events page.

The really good news about this is that it brings various opportunities to exhibit and sell throughout the year in addition to having a place in the Guild gallery in Milford, near Godalming, and of course a whole new group of artists to meet and share with. I’m really looking forward to what this will bring in the coming year, so please keep checking back to stay in touch with where I will be exhibiting next.