Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Wednesday afternoon

A week has almost gone (come to think, also a whole page on my calender) and we feel like we live here again. But I’ve not had the time or energy to do much work wise, I’m feeling so drained from the whole hospital and health experience, and my daughter is still home recouperating. We had hoped she’d go back to school this week but is obviously still under par, poor thing, so it looks like the beadmaking will have to wait until next Tuesday. I can’t even begin to explain how hard it is to stay away from the torch. There’s just something about it that lifts my spirit, and when I can’t get to play (that’s work for you Rick…lol) I actually start to get sad.

I’m starting to get a bit worried about my stock levels, I really need to get out there and make some more of my usual beads for my range of glass jewellery, which is still selling well in the Surrey Guild Gallery, even though Christmas has passed. I also have a belated Christmas present to make and just don’t seem to have the right beads available to make the pair of earrings I envisage. I don’t know, first my accounts and tax, then family health. I expect that sounds like normal family life to most people, and I have to admit, as much as I don’t like it, that is one of the benefits of being self employed with a business like mine, that you can take the time off when you need to.

I got one hour on the torch Sunday lunchtime and made a few sample bobbly beads in my new colours to see what they’d look like. I’m pleased and can’t wait to have another crack at them so to speak. I think I’ll clean them later on today…you know me and my ‘pot of beads’ to clean.

Thursday evening

I blogged earlier today but lost it, so here’s my second attempt. I got home yesterday from 10 nights in hospital staying with my little one who has been rather ill (Rick did the first night). We started in our local main hospital and were transferred to the Royal Brompton in Chelsea after a couple of days. We have had the best treatment possible and would like to thank all the consultant doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, play specialists and all the other people who have helped look after us, this includes the cleaners and the lovely kitchen staff.

It’s really weird how life goes into stasis and all ones everyday concerns and jobs just fade away while we concentrate on the important things of health. Well, I’m back now, utterly exhausted and surprised that February is almost over (bit of a shock that one). I need a few days to re familiarise myself with my To Do List, and hope normal service will soon be resumed. Although it may be another week and a half before I can really get stuck in as it’s half term and my daughter is not completely well yet.

As Rick said I’ve been mulling over a few new colour ways and designs and hope to be able to make some of these soon. Of course I didn’t get to do that much reading in Hospital, there’s always something to do when they’re on so much medication and needing mother’s care and attention. Although I did get some time off for good behaviour at the weekend and actually managed to have a good nosey around the Heals that was a couple of minutes walk from the hospital. It would have been good to sneak off to the V&A which was also close, but we’ll maybe do that when we go for her check-up clinic in a few weeks time (actually it will be the Science and Natural History museum – rats, I’m going to have to go on my own for the V&A).

Still, I’m home, she’s much better, and spring is on the way. woo hoo, life is good.

Hi there…Richard here again…

Just a quite note to let you know the Sarah will now not be sharing a stall at the Essex bead fair this Sunday due to still being in Hospital with our daughter… But… Judith Johnston will still be going, and will have a whole stall full of her luscious beads !!!

Sarah is not wasting the time in hospital, but is coming up with several new designs and colours for beads… so the time has not been completely wasted !!!

Watch this space for some new beads in the shop in the next few weeks… (daughters health permitting of course).

Hi this is Richard here (Sarah’s husband)

Sarah has asked me to say that she is still in hospital with our daughter, and hopefully normal service will be resumed next week. So if you have any outstanding emails please bear with us, but as I’m sure you understand it’s not exactly practical responding to emails at this time !!

Sunday lunchtime

I’m sorry there won’t be any more new beads yet as promised because my daughter is ill in hospital and you all know what that means!….several nights sleeping on a zed bed (I typed bead first!) and lots of bland hospital food, but hopefully some time to do some reading about bead making techniques, I haven’t really looked much at the copy of Contemporary Lampworking by Bandhu Dunham that I got for my birthday over a year ago, and now’s the time I think. Of course she’ll be better by the time half term starts which means she’ll have had 3 weeks off (and I’ll not have had much beady time, looks like it will be cold evenings in the studio for me next week, what fun)
Gotta shoot, byeeee.

Thursday evening (late)

I’m sat here propping my eyelids open with a couple of matchsticks (not really, but I am suddenly feeling very tired) so I can let you know that I have a few new beads in my shop tonight, which include Bubbles the fish, kindly named by Sooz on Frit Happens, a seasonal heart focal bead and a spring set inspired by the roof tops of the St Basil Cathedral in St Petersburg.

You may also notice a few little changes here and there, we’re having a bit of a tweak evening which should result in me being able to update some of the other pages a bit easier and adding more eye candy. Anyway I don’t really want to bore you with website waffle so I’m going to shut up now and toddle off to bed. Ta ta.

Wednesday morning

What a lovely crisp wintry morning (and doesn’t wintry look odd spelled like that?). There’s frost everywhere and the sun is shining making it sparkle. Again I’m glad I don’t have to travel far today like I did yesterday, when I went to the Guild shop to do another days duty. Honestly that dratted auto-piloty thing and not really twigging about where I was going yesterday saw me pootling up the road towards Guildford for 10 minutes in totally the wrong direction for the road I normally take. I suddenly realised I was going the wrong way as my brain was working out the rest of the route and I had to stop and see if I could get back on track easily. Fortunately for me there was a short cut across country which took me through Ewehurst and Cranleigh, which I was quite pleased about because I’ve never seen Cranleigh and my curiosity has been very piqued by all the signs that you see on the road that say ‘Cranleigh, England’s largest village‘.

I have to say that after driving through the place, It’s gotta be a town, it’s so big. Anyway, what is the definition of a village or town? Surely if it has a big church, used to have a hospital and has a largish supermarket and a couple of pedestrianised shopping squares it counts as a town? In modern day terms it must be a town if it boasts a ‘Costa coffee’? Wikipedia says a town can be a village that is larger than surrounding villages and has a regular market, and is also a community that doesn’t survive on mainly agriculture – well I passed signs to what looked like a large industrial estate. A village can also decide to call itself a town by it’s Parish Council calling themselves a ‘Town Council’. So I reckon it should be called a town, but they want to keep themselves as the largest village. And why not, if you’ve got a uniqueness, flaunt it!

Sunday evening

Oh yes, yesterdays news is todays chip paper, so I guess my brief claim to fame in last Fridays County Times is now this weeks chip paper. It’s been fun when people I know have come up to me and told me they saw me in the paper, maybe a small taste of celebrity? I think not.

I’d been wondering what new beads I could come up with this spring, but now I’m pleased to say that the ideas for new bead designs and colour combinations are coming my way again. A few themes are emerging which I hope I will be able to do in a variety of different colour ways, maybe partly inspired by the attempt I had at joining in with a group painting yesterday, and also the feeling of spring and new beginnings, and the promise of fresh new life that we see everywhere around us at this time of the year in the buds and bulbs that are emerging.

I’m also planning to make more of my new designs from last summer/autumn in fresh new colours, I had lots of lovely playtime last week with my 4 sessions in the studio and discovered some new colour combinations that I think work really well. Most of these are simply due to expanding my palette with grey, an unassuming colour that I think adds great scope to my work. I also spent some time last week mixing my own glass colours, now that was fun, and easier than I remember. I was taught this on my course with Loren Stump last summer, and this was the first time I’ve made use of it, although I’ve been making cane since then that don’t have dog bone ends, woo hoo.

Friday evening

Well hello there. I’ve had a much needed day off today. It started with getting my hair cut in Tony and Guy, always a pleasurable experience that one, especially when they do the head massage thing with the conditioner. I then had a wander round town and came upon a new coffee shop. I had to go in and have a look, and lo and behold it was Scott and Sargent our fabulous cookware shop which just got even more fabulous and got a new name – Steamer Trading Cook Shop. Now when Rick asked what I was doing today and I said ‘going into town’ there was a sharp intake of breath. ‘What’s that all about?’ I asked? To which he replied ‘well I never know what you are going to come back with’. Oooo, he’s just just come home, so he’s about to find out, but I’ll tell you lot first….

1. Funky silicone brush with stainless handle and purple brushy bits.

2. Funky orange lighter

3. Metal pastry cutters – big tin with lots of sizes

4. 2 fabulous white oven dishes, designed to make a humble meat pie look like Jamie Oliver or Nigella Lawson cooked it.

5. A raspberry coloured hooded fleece to wear while making beads in my studio and a new pair of thermal socks.