Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

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).

Monday morning

I forgot to say…I’m in the County Times that came out Friday. Back page of section 1. There is a picture of me holding some of my jewellery made with glass beads, although I have to add that those pieces aren’t in the exhibition but I do have about 12 different pieces in the cabinet. The exhibition the Jewellers Craft is on at Horsham Museum and details and a link to their website can be reached from my events page.

Friday morning

I was hoping to sneak out to my studio for a little play today (oops I mean work), but my thermals are in the wash, maybe I don’t need them, it is still very mild. I think procrastination city has set in, I’m doing everything but my tax. I’ve updated my events page to show the bookings I have so far this year but you need to go to the bottom as we still have to shift last years stuff.

Yesterday saw me going to the museum again, this time to have my photo taken for the County Times about the exhibition they have put on. It should be in next Fridays edition. The exhibition opened yesterday afternoon and finishes 24th March, more details and a link are on my events page.

Monday evening

I’m pooped. Don’t know why, but I’m going to make this quick…famous last words.

You’ll be pleased to know that after my Christmas clean up of my desk I’m now trying to keep it tidy, and so far it’s working. We did a trip to Ikea on Saturday and I treated myself to a plywood desk tidy that has space for the odd bits of paper that end up floating all over my desk and piling up on every available space. The problem is that I have to do my tax now, and that means showers of paper and receipts all over the place. So my desk is ‘organised chaos’ at the moment, with everything coming out and going away very fast.

I did try to keep on top of it this year, but all I’ve achieved is filing most of the receipts and entering most but not all of the purchases. I did buy a program to help me cost things and keep track of inventory, but so far haven’t had time to even start entering details. maybe I need a input clerk…….that takes me back to when I was a student. Everyone was scared of computers and I wasn’t, so I got loads of jobs during University holidays doing computer input. How things have changed.

It has been a busy day, with a quick trek to Horsham museum to deliver my jewellery and a few rods of glass and some twisties for the exhibition that they’re putting on. More details will follow here and on my news and events page probably. TTFN.

Monday morning

Ho Ho HO. Less than a week to go…..I should be doing other stuff not writing my blog, but this is more fun. I’ve updated my news on the front page, so don’t forget to visit the exhibition in the Guildford House Gallery if you get a chance (one week remaining).

We popped down to the Guild gallery at Millford on Friday to top up my cabinet with yet more jewellery and a selection of my fun phone dangles. It really is selling like hot cakes at the moment which is why I’ve concentrated on keeping it restocked and you haven’t seen any fundangles or new jewellery here. I had every intention to stock my shop with more goodies before Christmas but we’ve been ridiculously busy this season with our sales and the Guild exhibitions, that most of what I’ve made and is unsold, is on display in Guildford or Millford so my apologies if you’ve been eagerly waiting for them. This is the problem with being self employed…you only have one pair of hands and a spare set in the evening if you’re fortunate to have a friend/partner who can help.

After saying all that, if you are familiar with my work and have seen something over the past few weeks that you’d really like for Christmas, please don’t hesitate to drop me an email and I’ll see what I can do, but you’ll have to be quick or we’ll miss the Christmas post.

Friday lunchtime

You know how I was feeling jaded on Monday? It so happens that I came down with a cold later that day and have been suffering since then. Just what I needed in the run up to Christmas. Never mind, I’m enjoying swigging back the fizzy orange flavoured Vitamin C tablets while attacking the enormous mess that needs clearing in our house. Speaking of which we watched Anthea Turners perfect Christmas last night. That was a laugh, goodness knows what she’d make of our house and front garden, still it was worth watching just to see one of the contestants bond with her turkey that she named Jeffrey and weeping while she stuffed it.
Wednesday was enjoyable at least. I had my stewarding session at the Guildford House gallery and met 2 more Guild members and the lovely staff at the gallery. This was my second ever visit to the Guildford shopping streets and I had the unenviable delight of queing for about an hour waiting to get into the car park that I was recommended to use.

The part of the High Street that I quickly explored during my short break looked lovely, and I managed to get a couple of Christmas goodies…..still haven’t done the cards yet!

Monday morning

Yuk what horrible weather. I don’t know what it’s like where you live but it’s still really overcast here, although a quick glance out of the window does reveal it looking a bit brighter. That’s the weather forecast out of the way.
We had our last Christmas fair yesterday afternoon, always one of my favourites at Box Hill School. The entrance hall with the grand fireplace strewn with holly and decorations always makes me start to feel a bit more Christmassy, even though we’ve been doing Christmas fairs since about the middle of November and listening to the Christmas songs and seeing lots of Santas, I don’t feel one bit festive. Baa humbug. No not really, but I think the problem at the moment is the adrenalin has kept me going through all my 2am bedtimes and now I’m feeling very jaded.  I think some beadmaking therapy may be just what the doctor ordered…….no, it’s all right Rick…only joking….yes I know the lounge looks like a bomb hit it as does the rest of the house.

At least my poor sore finger is getting better now. I managed to get some sort of burn or blister from all the 192 beads I cleaned on Thursday.  You know how much I hate cleaning beads, and I sure let them pile up this week until I had 2 sessions and blitzed the lot. Well any bead makers will sympathise with me and share my excitement at my delivery this morning from Mr Postie man. I’ve ordered some ZippZ bead release which is supposed to dissolve in sudsy water and I can’t wait to try it. It sure will be a great help if it works. Watch this space.

Saturday afternoon

Rick’s asleep on the settee. Honestly the man’s got no stamina. We got home from a short Christmas fair an hour ago and now he’s zeding away, anyone would think he’s been lugging boxes around or that he got up earlish for a Saturday. We now have to decide what to do with the remainder of our precious Saturday. We have 3 fairs next weekend then we’re done, although I’m beevering away busily to keep my cabinet at the Gallery in Milford stocked up, where my jewellery is out of the shop quicker than I can keep it stocked (they are buying it, it doesn’t just hop off on it’s own like an enchanted thang).

I have to say that I’m feeling a bit less stressed now yesterday is over, which had to be ‘The day from Hell’. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t that bad but it was bad enough. I had to drive over to Guildford with my pieces for the Exhibition at The Guildford House in the High Street, and couldn’t find the gallery anywhere, having never really been to Guildford before. I had to park on a meter near where I thought it would be and walk until I could find it, stopping to ask knowledgeable looking passers-by where it could be, not like I was in a hurry or anything (hmmm). When I’d set up my part of the display and helped where I could (the room looks great by the way, lots of scarves) I whizzed back uphill to my car with 2 minutes to spare on the meter and planned my trip to Millford to restock my cabinet.

I was told it was 10 minutes down the road……I suppose it would have been if I hadn’t kept taking wrong turns and going round in 15 mile circles, or getting stuck in traffic jams while I tried to correct what I’d done wrong. Then my phone ran out of money in the middle of nowhere. nnnnnrrrrgh. I should have reached the Millford gallery by 4:05 at the latest but ended up staggering in totally flustered at 4:47 with 13 minutes to spare before the shop closed. Then I left my only pen that works well with my jewellery labels on the top of my cabinet. rats. Still at least my cabinet looks a bit fuller again.

Here’s some snaps of the gallery at Millford

Thursday evening

I shouldn’t really be sat here talking to you. I should be working at labelling up pieces for the exhibition in Guildford. But I’m feeling a bit like a rabbit in the headlights at the moment because of all the things I need to do. Believe it or not I do actually work better under pressure, but today has been one of those ‘too panicked to do anything days’ which I get sometimes. So I’ve decided to try and take my mind off it, and am enjoying a well deserved glass of wine. Hopefully I’ll be more with it after dinner.

I’ve designed and made a really gorgeous new necklace and earrings this week (with some of my beads inspired by a tree trunk on one of my visits to Wisley) which will be on display at Guildford together with a selection of pieces from my usual collection of jewellery. If it doesn’t sell I think I’ll have to keep it to wear.

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.

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.

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.

Monday morning

I’m back. I haven’t really been away but it feels like it, having had my head down getting ready for Harrow. It was manic last week, spending every hour possible in my studio making new beads (yipee), cleaning them (yuk) and then Saturday photographing them (thank you Rick) and pricing them up (boring). I made several new favourites last week, and it was lovely to see them sell early on in the day, always reassuring that but also a bit sad that I can’t enjoy looking at them this week. Oh well, I do have my photos. Or should I say we’ll always have photos…….we watched Red Dwarf when we got home last night, the episode called Camille where Kryton falls in love with what turns out to be a blob, then they go on to reenact Cassablanca. Sorry, rambling, but I would recommend Red Dwarf (series 4 episode 1). I’ll be putting the new boxed set All the Shows 5 to whatever it is on my Christmas list. Although I didn’t like the last one so much cos it got all posh with film type production instead of the low budget, wobbly set, naff sound I loved at the start. Not at all like Blake 7 wobbly sets that they took so seriously….but oh, I’m starting to sound like a sci fi geek.

Thursday evening

What a difference a tidy up makes. We cleared the thing called a patio outside our back doors on Saturday, and the garden looks so much better. It’s taking a long time and lots of hard work but we’re gradually getting there. Unfortunately we had a lot of ivy growing there and when we removed it we displaced 4 frogs, a whole family! It was OK cos they all bounced off under the castor oil plant.

Not so good for the numerous snails and slugs…ah ha….they ain’t gotten anywhere to shelter near our pots now. I had a bit of a euwwww moment yesterday as a 5 inch long slug slimed it’s way over the steps, I just had to perform surgery. Yuk. It’s something I really don’t like doing but I can’t let the critters lay eggs. Next week I hope to go and get some pansies to plant and get a bit of colour out the back and on the doorstep.

It’s all go here at the moment, I’m mega busy getting ready for Harrow this Sunday. I have a new bead design which I really like and has the feel of the fabrics used in the dresses and tunics in the shops at the moment. I will have a couple of sets of these available at Harrow, together with my other new designs I launched at Lingfield. Off for my evening coffee now. Night all.

Wednesday night

I’m exhausted.  The seminar in the Arts Centre in Horsham today was excellent.  We had 4 different 55 minute long sessions on various art promotion subjects, and each session managed to pack in masses of information and tips.  Now I have to let this sink in and work out how I’m going to use my new found ideas.  It was lovely to see a few familiar faces of artists I met during the RAG Open Houses, and to meet other artists ranging from painters to actors and musicians.

While I was out cavorting with the struggling artists (lol) we had the sofit at the back of the house replaced.  They removed loads of birds nests and a beautiful old wasps nest.  It’s such a relief to know that the hole has gone and no bidies (oops, typo, that should be birdies) or waspies can get in the roof anymore, and that the structure of the roof is sound.

Friday afternoon

Where did the last week go? I thought I’d look at my blog to see where I am, and lo a week plus has passed…..and I’m still very tired.

Thank you to all of you who came by my stall last weekend to say hi, and to everyone who bought goodies. That means we can eat for the next month……well, the funds are actually rather depleted after all the hotel stays and Lorens course, porridge every day I think, Oh yes, I have that already.

I can’t believe we’re already nearing the end of the kids summer hols, and the house is even more untidy than it was at the start, so much for clearing it over the summer, I should have known I’d never manage it. At least the front border in our garden is looking a bit better, except for all the cat poos that are left daily in our bark mulch. Note to self…must find some sort of moggie deterant.

Have a great weekend, and don’t forget to put the Harrow Bead Fair in your diaries for October 8th.

Monday lunchtime

I thought I’d pop up and say hi. The school holiday is now in full swing, so I’ve decided to take a months break from the computer! eek, it’s going to be very hard to do, but I need to spend some quality time with my family and time to try to get the house and garden tidy (ha ha). I may be popping in from time to time to blog, but don’t hold your breath!

So…..the upshot is, please don’t be upset or annoyed when I don’t reply to your emails. If you’re interested in tuition and can wait for a reply, please feel free to send me a contact form and I’ll reply when I can.

Also, a reminder that the GBUK Bead Fair in Stourbridge is fast approaching, details are on my events page and you can also visit gbukbeadfair.co.uk

Thurday lunchtime

Sports day has been postponed unitl September! So I get to work at home all day, but still a bit too hot for me to make beads unfortunately. So now I’m panicking as I look at my planner and see how many days I have left to make beads and jewellery for the GBUK Bead Fair in August at Stourbridge or to make some pieces for sale on my website. I’ve decided that since the school hols are approaching so rapidly now, I should give my family a bit of a break from my business and so have decided to delay the launch of my on-line shop until the beginning of September (are you taking this in Rick?). What with family loyalties, the glass festival and getting our house and garden looking half decent I shall be taking a well deserved break (or as much of one as I can have) during August, ready to return for business in September. I can’t believe how quickly the year is zipping by!

August isn’t here yet though, so keep those emails and lampwork tuition enquiries coming. Off to get me some lunch now and hang up the washing (such an exciting life).