Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Friday lunchtime

Eek, it’s the Big Bead Show tomorrow at Sandown Park, Esher. It looks like it will be a biggie if last years stories are anything to go by, well, let’s hope so anyway, as numbers attending each bead fair do seem to be dwindling as there are so many to go to now. Of course I’m not ready, I never am for these things, and it’s not through lack of organisation but because as an artist there’s always more beads that could be made, you know, the ones in my head that haven’t made it on to the mandrel yet. It just doesn’t seem to matter how many beads you’ve made you always feel you could have and should have done more. It’s a dreadful feeling, and rather silly of course, but there we go. I do actually have lots of new beads, and a few more waiting to be cleaned and made up into sets today. I also have 99% of my extra stall bits ready, all of my packing and display ready, I just have to finish cleaning a few beads, wire up some more sets and sort some more of my popular bargain beads for you avid bargain hunters. Don’t forget that the very best new bead sets always get snaffled up very early on in the fair, so if you have anything particular in mind, come and see us first. Of course that doesn’t mean anything left after the first hour is not excellant! I believe every focal and bead set is perfect for someone special, they just haven’t necessarily come to see them yet.

So, I will have my usual mix of bead sets and focals in yummy colours, dichroic sets, silver foil lined bling sets (I think they’re gorge), dichroic pick ‘n’ mix, pots of bargain experiments and orphan beads priced from £1 to £3 each, cute pandas, penguin, snowmen and fish. I also have my supply of good quality sterling silver snake chains, sterling silver cables and beadable sterling silver bangles. I will also have some gold colour gift pillow boxes, perfect for giving away with your Christmas creations.

See you there!

P.S. My stand is Number 64, and it looks to be in the opposite corner from the main entrance and facing the back wall.

P.P.S.  I have Fruit Rocks from M&S in addition to my usual jelly beans!

Tues morning

Just a quick fly by to say hi (ooer that rhymes). I seem to be very busy, making beads for orders, teaching and getting ready for the Big Bead Show on the 1st Nov. Please note that this is a Saturday Bead Fair, not the usual Sunday affair. My personal targets for October seem to be slipping away without me achieving them, apart for one which was to try and master silver rich glass, which I’ve had a few hours at and have made wonderful progress, well, in one session at least.  I got all technical about it, went down to my studio armed with printed hints and tips and a tutorial, and a piece of paper to record my results and make notes on how I did it, where and what time it was put in the kiln….and guess what…no more poo on sticks! yay. Of course the second time I tried, but with a different technique and on ivory, all I got was tiny brown dots and very muted colours where I’d done a plunge dot. So now I need to work out how to get fabulous colours with encasing the stuff. Anyway, I must dash, I have a shed load of beads to make today, and they won’t make themselves you know…wags finger.

Wednesday teatime

Here we are again, a week later. Harrow was good, even though I was tired by the time I got there. I had been pushing it working everyday for the 2 weeks in the run up to the fair, and now I’m extremely pooped, but hey, I did it! Thank you to everyone who came to say hello and also those who bought my beads, especially to Elizabeth, my first customer of the day. So this week I’ve been trying to relax a bit which I’m finding difficult to do as there are so many jobs that I have at the moment, although that’s nothing new, there’s always something to do when you run your own business, and I thought October would be quiet. I have 2 days tuition this week and another hectic weekend ahead of me.

Wednesday teatime

As of last night I now have a table at the Harrow Bead fair this Sunday. Yipee. This has to be my favourite fair, not sure why really, but somehow it seems like ‘The’ bead fair of the year, maybe because it was one of the first. So I’m beavering away this week getting ready for it, well, not so much beavering, but working steadily and not too hard like last week, as we were both shattered after last weekend….partly because I worked soooo hard in the run up, then Rick continued with replacing the fence down the side of our house, then we had a party in the evening which we were both involved with helping, got to bed at 2:00am then up at 6:30 am for the Hatfield Bead Fair………oooooo no sleep. I’m teaching again this Saturday too. Phew I’m really going to need a rest next week.

My life seems to be pretty much back to normal now, it was officially 4 months on Saturday since I became a bionic hippy, and I can’t believe how good I feel, so much better already than the last 3 years, and I have the next 8 months to really get over the experiance. I haven’t used my stick at all for over a week, yay, and have been walking to the school unaided, which is all a bit wierd for me at the moment as I’ve been using a stick for the last 15 years. I have to really concentrate on how I walk, as bad habits formed in my endeavor to walk without pain, and I’m having physiotherapy to help me reach my foot again, it’s funny needing to have someone else tie up my shoelaces! and of course once lace ups are on they have to stay on all day. But hey, I feel good.

Tuesday night

Yoo hoo I’m back….well, I’m home but working in the Surrey Guild gallery in Millford this week. It’s been such a busy summer, with one event after another, like the Stourbridge bead fair one weekend, 3 days home to unpack then repack to go away again for a family wedding then a short holiday. It’s been all go but fun and exhausting, and I have had no hip pain in my new bionic hip, although some pain in my origianlly bad hip, rats. I’m hoping this will reduce as dependance on overusing it reduces. So what’s new? Not a lot really yet, as I am still unable to enjoy my torch because of the days out this week, although I’m hoping to get some torch time on Thursday as I’ve managed to swap one of my days. I’m getting reved up for the Bead Fair at Hatfield House on 21st September, less than 2 weeks (well, I should be but I’m unable to do anything for this yet) and I have also booked the Big Bead Show at Esher on 1st November (6 weeks away).

These bookings are all very well, but will they happen, will I be able to torch on Thursday or will we have been sucked into a black hole by then?  If you haven’t heard what’s happening tomorrow then look up Large hadron Collider. It amazes me how people are allowed to do this if it’s really so risky. Of course they say it’s not, then laugh manically, but who’s to know? I guess we’ll all know, or not by Thursday. lol.

Tuesday midday

Phew I’m wacked! Today is post International Festival of Glass and more importantly post Stourbridge bead fair which this year was an exhausting 3 day affair, but well worth every minute and great fun. Hi to all my friends, customers and forum mates who dropped by to say hello, you all made our weekend such a good one. We should really have rested every evening after the fair, but what’s the point of going all that way and not going out with your friends in the evening? I think the best meal (in terms of taste) was on our first evening when we visited Ruby Cantonese around the corner from the Ruskin Centre, with Di East, Paddy Bush and Ruzica Ruane and her son (sorry, I can’t remember your name). We also revisited a pub where you get 2 meals for 1 with Francesca Cerreta and Caroline McMillan (waves!) and then the penultimate evening visited the Crooked House pub with Julie Anne Denton, Di East and Vic and Ian Bamforth, 2 glass blowers from the Red House Cone. It’s so nice to be able to spend time with glassy friends and make new friends.

I think it’s fair to say a good time was had by all, including our daughter who we took with us for the first time, I think 4 days babysitting was a bit too much after all the time she spent away when I was in hospital! I will try and get some photos up later, it’s not like I don’t have many to choose from, Rick took over 400 this weekend…lol.

Wednesday afternoon

Wow I’ve been away from here a long time. So what’s been happening? Well it’s school holidays for a start, so life is upside down at the moment, but since we last spoke we’ve had Ardingly bead fair, a lovely day with lots of friendly faces coming to say hi and lots of bead shopping, yes me too! I couldn’t resist some amazing and simple boro beads from Purple Beech Designs, I bought some of the teardrops in various colours. Of course I had to rest for a few days after the exertion of preparing for this, then we went away to France for a week with Ricks family. There will be more about ‘The Great Downton Getaway’ in later posts. Now I’m trying to recover from the journey home and the last few days of our holiday which were very busy physically for me.

The good news is that I was 12 weeks post op yesterday, this being another milestone for me being allowed to do a few more things, but the last milestone is my 3 month date on 20th August, when I will be able to stop all my hip precautions and start to lead a completely normal life again (I hope). This is the date I’m really looking forward to. Also this week I have 2 days teaching, my first course until I resume working full time in September, obviously I can’t really teach many days in August due to my daughter being on holiday and family commitments on general.

My next event is the Stourbridge Bead Fair, formerly the GBUK Bead Fair. This is a 3 day bead fair at the Bonded Warehouse in Stourbridge running over the Bank Holiday weekend and is again part of the International festival of Glass (IFG), an amazing and exciting celebration of all things glassy. Actually I’m only going for the Gaffers’ Ale and another hand blown and cut 1 pint beer glass (hee hee) to add to the other 3 in the cupboard.

I am also very pleased to be taking part in ‘The Tempest’ glass bead exhibition on the theme of Shakesperes’ play. This exhibition of handmade glass beads and small sculptures is in the Coffee shop at the Ruskin Glass Centre, details are on my events page together with details of the bead fair. There is a fab website to accompany the exhibition, follow this link for a sneaky peak at my bead (which looks even better in the flesh)! I may also have a couple of my prototype beads for sale in the coffee shop, if I decide to sell them there, if not then they’ll be available on my stall at the beadfair.

Tuesday morning

9 weeks today, and what can I say, things have been going extremely well, and I’m feeling more like I’m getting back to where I was before the op in terms of my range of movement (well, it’s better actually), apart from getting incredibly tired very easily. I had a few busy days last week and at the weekend and today it’s all caught up with me, I’m so tired, which is a real nuisance as I was planning to make beads today and tomorrow before the school holidays start on Thursday and for the bead fair at Ardingly this Sunday.

Instead I will be trawling through my many bead boxes putting sets together from my oversize stash to bring you as yet unseen beads, some which I made with the purpose of using in my jewellery designs but haven’t and also more of my older beads that I never put into sets. I’m also sorting out some more bargain beads for my bargain pots and reducing some focals and bead sets. I suppose you could say I’m having a summer clearance but it’s not really that fancy or grand. I’m determined that I’ll be ready in good time the day before and I’m doing my best to get megga organised, famous last words. It’s always those little bits that take the time, they’re unseen but make a difference to presentation.

So what else will be new? My daughter told me to make my favourite animal, so I’ve designed a panda bead and have made a few for Sunday, also I will have a few more fish beads in new designs, maybe more if I have enough energy to make some tomorrow, but I’m not going to moan about it.

Saturday evening

The last day of Open Houses and studios is tomorrow, Sunday. Several venues will be open during the afternoon so do have a trek around and see some individual pieces of art. Today I woke up feeling so chirpy that I decided last minute to pack up my studio and take it down to Ediths to demonstrate making handmade glass beads. I was in the same place as last year, in a cosy little outbuilding facing out to the garden, although it was rather chilly in the shade there today. This was only my second attempt at making beads since my surgery, and I started getting back into the groove after a dodgy start last Thursday. It’s so good to be getting back to normality, and even though I had a rainbow of colours available to use today I decided to concentrate on making black and white beads with clear, to make a necklace for my mums birthday. It’s amazing how many different styles you can come up with even with such a limited palette, oh I had great fun, and even Rick joined in with a bumpy black and white creation just before we packed up.

Talking about new things, my recovery has progressed enough to allow me to drive again, amazing how fast all this is, so on Tuesday (seven weeks after) I attempted to get in the driving seat and had an enjoyable little tootle around the block, yay! This is really good news for me as it now means I have some independence and can actually leave the house on short errands or just to treat myself to a coffee in town, because I can. I can also start walking up and down a few of the stairs at home normally (instead of one step at a time with the same foot leading each step). I tend to walk around the house without a stick now, much better for carrying trays and mugs of tea, and even managed to wash my own hair this week. Now I’m guessing that for most of this you’ll be thinking ‘So what?’ but for a 45 year old it’s really annoying having to depend on someone else to do all this, and every new achievement is another step back to normality and independence. I’m hoping to conquer the shower this week, as up until now I’ve needed help to get in and out of the bath.

I hope that this little log of my progress will encourage anyone who’se reading and needing some sort of replacement, to feel encouraged by my experience and take the plunge to get help.

Wednesday morning

I have a zillion and one things to do today, OK not really, but I do have lots to do and I shouldn’t really be here talking to you but I am so there. Yesterday was my 6 week from hip hop day, and it was a good one. No more blood thinning jabs in my belly and I got rid of my sexy white compression pop socks just in time for the hotest day so far this year and spent the day sporting a cool pair of shorts. I even managed to get a steaming hot mug of tea down the steps into our garden so I could sit and slurp on my favourite bench. I also haven’t had any painkillers since Sunday night, how cool is that? I have to admit having a moment at 12 noon yesterday, as that was when they woke me up in recovery and I felt so chilled. This whole experience so far has been completely different from my last surgery, where I was still on crutches and using a wheelchair after 6 months, but here we are, 6 weeks on and I practice walking in the house without sticks when I feel up to it, although I do still need my crutches. Chalk and cheese.

Half way through my recommended recovery period and I think it’s going really well, now all I have to do is pluck up the courage to try making beads again. My brain has been and is still so ditzy and slow that I haven’t dared approach the flame for fear of doing something stupid and burning myself, also my mobility and flexibility constraints have made me wary of trying to sit for any length of time in my studio or reaching to get things and forgetting my hip precautions. Add to this my tiredness after short times of activity and you don’t really have the best of situations. So I’ve decided to leave well alone until I feel I can enjoy making glass beads in safety.

I do have lots to do to get ready for Open Houses this weekend. I’m setting up my first display at the 2×4 Studios in Horsham today and have several jobs that I must do for that, including fitting out my flat display cabinets, deciding exactly what I want in them and how I’m going to arrange and display them. I also have to get all the ‘stuff’ together to make my sales, for example packaging, a sign to explain what I do, a mirror etc…..phew. See you later.

Monday tea time

Open Houses as part of the Artists and Makers Festival in West Sussex starts this weekend and continues the following weekend. I am exhibiting in 2 places, my first and main venue is at Edith Barton’s house in Plummers Plain, where I will have my tall cabinet of designer glass bead jewellery. Edith has once again opened her summerhouse in her huge garden to display her work together with mine and 2 other local artists, Thea Taylor who will have sculpture on display indoors and outside, and Katherine Haynes who makes bags and lampshades from bubble wrap.  We are discussing having demonstrations like we did last year, and I may be taking my equipment to make handmade glass beads again, this will depend on how energetic I’m feeling by then. Come and see our artworks, enjoy some refreshment while you watch a demonstration and have a leisurely stroll around the garden whilst admiring the sculptures.

My second venue is in the 2×4 Artists community room in the Drill Hall in Horsham town centre. I will have a smaller range of jewellery for sale, but in different colours from the other venue, so don’t forget to check out both places. The room will of course be displaying many pieces by my fellow artists in the group, including paintings, mixed media, textiles, sculpture and printmaking. Studio artists will also be opening their doors as always.

More information is on my events page and by clicking on the links to the festival website where a pdf of the festival guide can be downloaded, and a festival map can be viewed. Unfortunately this map doesn’t so far appear to have our Horsham locations marked on it, oh well!

Friday tea time

The end of another working (well, not for me) week. I’m feeling so tired after I’ve done my numerous exercise sessions, walks outside, trips up and down the stairs, getting my lunch and all those mugs of tea, that I’ve decided I’m not going to do any work for another week or so. Hah. So there. My goal now is to actually finish reading the last Terry Prachett book that I started over 2 years ago, and somehow didn’t manage to finish quickly like I normally do. I think it may have had something to do with the final Harry Potter book which came out last summer in time for our family holiday as I normally only seem to get time to read on holiday.

Of course this not working malarky might be a bit of a risk as I have Open Houses coming up, both in the 2×4 Artists communal room in Horsham and at my friend Edith’s in Plummers Plain. Also I’m considering not doing the fair at Winchester Cathedral, I just don’t think I can take the pressure at the moment, and I’m finding that if I want to be awake enough to work then I don’t do as much exercising as I should be doing if I want to get better quickly and maximise my hip’s potential, which after all is what this voluntary stick leave (Rick coined that one) is all about. So there we are, nearly at the end of another weeks recuperation at home.

On another note, Congratulations to Peter Westwood (Rick’s work mate and one of the lead developers of WordPress – I use this for my blog and various pages of my site) and his Bride-to-be Sam who are due to tie the knot tomorrow. I hope you both have a lovely day and wish you all the best for your new life together. I probably won’t be at your evening party, but I do hope you have a great time.

Tuesday lunchtime

Where did the morning go?  I was supposed to be in my studio making beads but have so many other bead & jewellery business jobs to do that I’m still indoors. The last week and weekend have been just hectic, with 3 days back to back teaching, a busy weekend and half term I’m now shattered, but it doesn’t end there as I have an exhibition to get ready for this week. The details of the Surrey Guild of Craftsmen New Members exhibition are on my events page.  Must dash, sorry this was so short, I didn’t want you to think I’d forgotten you!

Tuesday afternoon

We are in the throws of half term once more, and I am reminded of the events of last February’s half term when I spent the week and longer in The Royal Brompton and Harefield hospital in Chelsea with my daughter who  was suffering with a very bad bout of pneumonia. I much prefer this February! Although it looks like I won’t actually be doing my accounts tomorrow morning as planned because I forgot the school holiday and I have a hair cut booked, oh, how easily my best intentions go to pot. At least I’ve managed so far to do something vaguely mummsy today, by making dough and getting my daughter and her friend to make their own pizza for lunch. Yum. And we have half the dough left, so we can have some fun with that tomorrow….maybe bread rolls or dough balls with garlic butter, very naughty but nice.

I’m getting very confused by the weather at the moment, we’ve been sweltering at home today (not really, I thought it sounded good) and yet if I turn the heating down or off altogether we totally freeze in the evening, what’s that all about then? Aside from that I’m revelling in the fact that the evenings are getting longer by leaps and bounds, hopefully I’ll feel like making beads in the evening when the evenings are even lighter and more importantly warmer. I am fast running out of time to make my own beads and jewellery for the events that I have planned for the summer, namely the Guild exhibitions, Open Houses and 2 bead fairs. Looks like I’ll be raiding my bead box for further bargains and clear-out beads to top up my stock.

Wednesday night

I was planning to write tonight about how smug I feel, having done my accounts for the second Wednesday in a row – I diligently worked last Weds doing my accounts for the current year – but alas I got waylaid this morning by all the contact forms I’d received regarding tuition, and spent the day communicating with all you lovely people instead. A very fine way to spend the day but not what I’d planned. Still, I can feel smug about last week can’t I? and I have planned to do more paperwork next Wednesday morning, can’t wait…lol. I also added a couple of new events to my events page, a new members exhibition at the Surrey Guild gallery in Milford and dates for the 2nd Contemporary Art and Craft fair at Winchester Cathedral.

Yesterday I had a very pleasant day in Brighton. After meeting my friend for coffee I had the arduous task of finding somewhere for lunch, which I managed quite nicely. It was rather a shock when I went past my favourite cafe, Pulp Kitchen, to find they’d closed. Such a shame, they did wonderful smoothies, great home-made soup and lovely salads and wraps. The new place I found stir fry sizzled the hot fillings individually on a small stove in the cafe, yum. I may well visit TFI Lunchtime again. I made my way back to the car park after lunch, browsing the many bohemian shops of the South and North Laines, and even treated myself to a beautiful piece of jewellery, a stunning and colourful butterfly broach made of tin in gorgeous shades of pink, orange, yellow and gold. Mine’s the middle one on the third row. I must admit I’d have been very tempted by far right second row if they’d had that one. Maybe I need to email her……

Monday morning

What a weekend, I need a rest to get over it. All Saturday we were preparing for the bead fair yesterday, and of course yesterday was the main event. We had a lovely day mainly due to all you lovely people who came to say hello and spend some time with us. Now I have the unenviable job of finishing my accounts today so that my MIL can come over tonight to finish the tax part and do the online bit. Urrgh and I’m missing my class to do this today, still, it’s a good impetus to finish today.

What a fantastic and inspiring programme last night, I watched Monty Dons’ first part of ‘Around the World in 80 gardens’. I thought it would be interesting but was really amazed at the wonderful gardens and sights that he saw. Also the reasoning behind some of the gardens was very thought provoking, especially the Havana gardens in Cuba. Many of these gardens are tucked away in what used to be derelict areas of the city, and have been converted to communal fruit and vegatable plots for the benefit of the local residents. I loved the idea of the 60 small information centres where the gardeners could get help and advice on growing their crops, truly inspirational, and very green. There was also some amazing eye candy and many interesting themes and ideas for garden design and even bead inspiration. Just what I’m looking for to shape my new collection.

Friday morning

Hi there, me again. What a lovely sunny day it is today. I’ve been walking my daughter to school every morning this week as Rick has been away, and every day has been different, but today is lovely. Especially as I now have 10 new gorgeous pots of frit to play with and my very own Creation Station at last, all hot off the plane from New York. There’s definitely an advantage to having family visit the States when you’re into making glass beads. Of course now I want to dash out to my studio and try out my new toys…err…work items…but that will have to wait until next week, hopefully Tuesday, when my accounts and thus tax will be well and truly done, yay. I just hope he hasn’t brought any critters home with him on his suitcase, it’s so reassuring to know they have high levels of bed bug infestations in New York, lol.

Don’t forget I will be at the Bead fair at Ardingly this Sunday, come and say hello and bag yourself some bargains, most of my reduced beads are at least 70% off, and I also have some special sets that have never been offered for sale before now. The show opens at 10am, see you there!

Wednesday morning

This has been such a busy January, I hadn’t realised how fast the weeks were going, and I’ve hardly chatted you guys. This month has been full of tuition and other pressing jobs, so much so that I still haven’t finished my accounts, and I’ve been avoiding writing here so that I don’t run out of time.

I’ve been spending some time in the evenings getting my stock ready for the beadfair at Ardingly this Sunday (27rd Jan). I’m having a bit of a clear out and it’s been fun going through my bead box, looking at the older beads I’ve made and hung on to because I like them and for inspiration. I really notice the improvement in my control of the glass, in shaping and general neatness, and have ditched several of the beads I would have been happy to sell during my first few years. However I do still have some from early on, that I’ve never offered for sale, and these will be in my bargain pots this Sunday, together with some old styles and some experiments. I hope to see you there.

Monday morning

Hi guys and gals. I’ve just finished updating my events page with the bead fairs and Open Houses that I have booked for the coming year, so do shimmy on down for a look. My first event is the Beadwork fair at Ardingly in 2 weeks time, oooh eck that’s not long. I am planning to have a bit of a sale of some of my older beads and seconds, as they seem to have accumulated somewhat over the years, together with my newer sets and dichroic focal beads. So make a date on your diary please and at the very least come and say hello!

Tuesday lunchtime

Freedom! Yes it’s all over, my 6 sales and one exhibition, and now I have the unenviable task of preparing for Christmas and all that comes with it. Of course anything could go wrong with my plans and already has, oh yes, my daughter woke up with a temperature on the first morning after my events ended and now I’m stuck at home not even able to make beads. Dahhhhhhhh! So I’m tidying up today, and boy does the place need it. It seems that when I’m really busy and don’t tidy the house then no one else bothers and it all goes from bad to worse.

Hopefully having a tidy up will mean that I don’t have another embarrassing  incident like I did on Sunday, when it was a bit too dark in the bedroom when I grabbed my boots to wear, and didn’t notice that I picked up an old boot and a newer snug fitting and lovely clean one for my right foot. I only noticed the discrepancy between shiny clean black boot and scuffed navy looking left boot as I was sitting with my feet out in front of me and got the most silly fit of giggles at a very inappropriate time, that I had to control.  Needless to say I immediately hooked my left foot behind my right and kept both feet out of view under the chair hoping no one  would notice, and walked oh so confidently when I had to appear in public. I was wondering too why my new boot seemed to be letting the water in. Oh the shame!  Almost as embarrassing as owning a caravan. lol.