Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Monday evening

Where did the last month go? It seems only yesterday I was posting about the RAG Open Houses, and here we are 3 weeks later and we’ve had a late dinner after popping down to Worthing to collect my work and display case. And now I’m shattered.
We had a lovely day at Lingfield Bead Fair yesterday, we met up with old friends, and new. It was lovely to see all of you who came to say hello and have a chat. Now I have to catch up with housework (yuk) and sleep, washing and shopping, while making sure I get all my work done before the school holidays start. I’m planning to have fun tommorrow making nice beads in my studio, I have 2 commission beads to make, but will see where the muse takes me tommorrow. Night all.

Tuesday evening

Cool at last, but boy hasn’t it been hot today. I was mad enough to make beads during the day again today, at least I got started earlier than normal, although it would have been earlier if I could have got my didymium specs over my normal glasses. It was absolutely sweltering and I think the heat must have made me careless cos I kept catching myself on hot stuff and burning myself. Would you believe it the first time I ever wear shorts to make beads I had lots of glass popping everywhere, and of course most landed on my legs even though they were under the bench. The last straw was with a bead that I’d parked in the kiln to answer the door, I caught my hand on the scorching mandrel (460 deg C) getting it back out of the kiln and then all the stringer popped off, most of making it’s way straight to me, and one bit even got my lips. Ouch ow and double drat.

I have to say the best bit of the day was when we had a 5 minute shower. I could tell it was raining because that lovely smell you get when it’s been hot and it’s just started raining, came wafting in on the only cool breeze (in fact the only breeze) of the day. It was a lovely feeling sitting melting my hot glass, with the smell of hot wet dust and a cooling breeze and the sound of rain on the plants and the studio roof. Bliss. Have a cool evening.

ps. here’s the new man in my life…..

Monday morning

A quick hello before I go to my studio and make beads. It was already 17.5 degC out there when I turned the kiln on. I’m hoping to get a head start and make beads before the scorching heat comes today.

In the battle of ‘mozzie versus me’, I prowled the upper hall last night before bed on ‘Mozzie Watch’ and managed to split a good number with my trusty pink critter splitter. The score last night was Mozzie 1, me 9. Forget the World Cup or Spring Watch, it’s all happening here. And a quick update on those old snails….I decided to try protecting my beloved Hostas with a crushed up eggshell mulch, and so far it seems to be working a treat. One poor Hosta that they munched almost the whole thing might just be recovering, not sure, but the last one they were attacking is now unfurling it’s tender, if not small, leaves. My hostas are not looking at all good this year, I did have 8 or 9 large plants, but only one large one this year, and most of the others are non-existant. That’ll teach me to put all my energy into beadmaking at the expense of my plant collection. Hmmmph.

Wednesday morning

just thought I’d pop in and say hi. It’s my bits and pieces day today, when I catch up with admin and stuff (yuk), I’d much rather make beads. We have the man from Everest here this morning, attempting to go around the side of the house (ha) and on the patio bit at the back (hee hee), shame it’s covered in pots and stuff. Oooh he’s just gone oopstairs with Rick, I imagine them both crammed in the loo to peer at the hole in the sofit where the birds go in and out to their nests and little ones. Forget Spring Watch, we have a bird made nest in our roof, but no tit webcam. Of course they can’t do the work until the birds have flown the nest so to speak. Better trot off and continue with catching up. byeeeee

Sunday night/Monday morning

Hi there, just thought I’d pop in and say hi before I trot off to bed (after I’ve tidied the kitchen and stuff). I survived the week, just, lots of late nights (2am) getting ready for the Open Houses in Worthing, and Barton Beading day (that was today). I had a lovely afternoon at our private view in Sheilas house in Worthing, (address No. 9 and on the events page) and took time out to chat with the other exhibiting artists and admire their lovely work. Sheila has a lovely ecclectic mix of styles of work displayed in her house, but I suppose the thing that links all of it together is the amount of colour that we all use, most pieces are very colourful, from patchwork to papermache, and resin jewellery to lively cat paintings. The walls are covered in beautiful paintings, pieces of decorated driftwood, colourful crochet scarves, silk paintings, hats, bags and there is also rumered to be a cabinet full of glass jewellery by me. I even treated me to a wonderful garden sculpture based on the idea of the faces at Easter Island, now I have to tart up the garden so it looks fabulous in it.

Gotta go and get some zzzz’s in…….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Monday evening

Welcome to the mad house, I have one of those really manic weeks ahead where I have far too much to do work wise. I have to get beads ready and out for the Barton under Needwood beading day (Amanda Glanville is kindly organising a stall for us again this year) and also sort my jewellery for the RAG Open Houses. This is my main problem because I haven’t started, you know how it is, everything has to be done yesterday, and of course there’s always some other job more important.

But the main reason I’m here today, is to point you in the direction of one of my oldest friends that I grew up with. She has had a major sucess and I’m so excited for her. She is a fantastic artist, and from a very young age even I could see she would be brilliant. In fact she was so good that I couldn’t see any reason to pursue a career in art and craft because I felt I wasn’t anywhere near her standard. I believed when I was younger that you had to be the best to suceed, although it helps, I do realise now that is not true. There are many places in life for all sorts of abilities, and not everyone can understand or even afford the top art.

Anyway, I digress, please follow this link to view Wedgewoods newest collection of home crockery, complete with stuningly beautiful floral decoration by my friend Mary Woodin. The pattern is called The Painted Garden after her book journal of the same name. Some of the pieces have anaemones like the ones we have on our original painting from Mary (which she painted specially for us for our wedding present). I’m going to have to buy at least one of these pieces.

Thursday morning

Yo dudes, ready for a fun filled day? I am but I’m not gonna get it, cos I have to do admin stuff and not make beads again. I so wish being an artist designer maker meant that I could do just that all day, rather than have to worry about all the other stuff that goes along with running a small business. Whoever coined that phrase ‘Small business’ must have been trying to pull the wool over our eyes. There’s nothing small about the amount of admin we have to do such as the finances, proper paperwork, keeping all the relevant tax information and in a way you can do your tax return. Then there’s sourcing componants and materials, ordering stuff (I like that bit), stock control (boo), opening packages (hooray), advertising (hiss), cleaning the inside of beads (boo hiss boo)(ooo that’s not admin, but I don’t like having to do it), and the list goes on.

Then there’s photography, the pivotall element to any web-based business. I love photography (you know fun stuff like castles, flowers, gardens and people), but I just don’t seem to have cracked taking bead and jewellery pictures without an hours setting up and using a large flash, scoopy background thingy and shading. When I can consistently take wonderful pictures that really show the subtlty of the colouring in my beads consistently and quickly I shall be a happy woman. I shall also do a tutorial to help others that are struggling with this.

Off to take more pictures for a current order. Note to self – don’t put washing on until pictures taken or tripod will wobble all over the place. In case you’re wondering…..I’ve been taking pictures using the kitchen worktop over the washing machine as it’s next to the kitchen windows and gets diffuse light in the morning. The only problem is that our floor is 3 feet above the ground and it vibrates everytime the machine spins, and I keep forgeting this fact whenever I put the washing on in the morning, then have to wait until I can do any photography, by which time the sun is making an appearance near the windows and I have to do it another time, preferably next morning, but oops, I put the washing on……..you get the picture. Maybe I should find another spot?

Saturday evening

Evening all, and what a cracking day it’s been. What a scorcher. I’m sat here on my bench again, no tea this time, and I can see my screen. I’ve been in my studio all day and boy was it ever hot, but sat out here now I could be in the mediteranean, all I need now is a nice cool Pimms with cucumber, mint and stawberry. Unfortunately I won’t be having one because they now give me migraine, maybe I’ll go for Cinzano Bianco instead or a nice Sauvignon Blanc. I just love cool evenings after a hot day, it’s so lovely to sit and listen to the hum of my neighbours around me (oo, someone just blew their nose rather horn like) and smell the aroma of barbeques wafting on the gentle breeze, and listen to the bird song as they get ready for bed. This is the life, I love the feeling of holidays when I’m still at home, it really refreshes me. Have a lovely balmy evening.

Thursday morning

The birds are tweeting, lawnmowers are humming, in the distance a holiday jet passes overhead….you guessed it, I’m in residence on the bench again.  OOh, there goes  a siren, actually I wish they’d pipe down a bit, those birds are making a racket!  The only problem with this is that it’s sooooo bright I’m having difficulty seeing my screen even with the brightness turned right up and I keep loosing my trusty arrow.  Also in an attempt to scoop some fresh bird poop off the bench I picked up a the nearest leaf to use and pricked my thumb, it being a holly leaf and all!  But I could really get usd to this.  I’ll sit here all day, blogging, surfing the net, and sipping Twinnings tea, wot  a life.  I could be a ‘Lady that lunches’, except I don’t think Rick would be too pleased.

Talking of Rick, it’s that time of year again when the mozzies come out in force and Rick does his balletict poses to keep up with them and splat the blighters.  Normally he’ll go around with rolled up paper or a magazine leaving fetching coloured splats and smeers on the wall and ceiling where mozzie goo and ink have mixed, but this year I had a cunning plan and insisted on buying a twin pack of attractively coloured plastic fly swotters in Ikea the last time we visited.  What a difference.  Even I can get the critters now, with my go faster aerodynamic (it has holes) critter splitter, and it’s such fun, it’s like playing tennis but with mozzies, well, against them, well, actually using them like balls, only they don’t bounce, or ping across the room, or make that lovely popping noise you get when you hit the ball really well.

Now you might think I’m being cruel, and I generally don’t like killing creepy crawlies, poor things, but when it comes to mozzies, especially when you have fifteen of them flitting around, it has to be us instead of them.  I just don’t want to be seen walking around with a line of red bumps where some vampiritic fly has had a five course meal with starters and desert folowed by coffee and mints.  It’s not on, you know what I mean?

Oh well, enough of that, I’d better go and pour another mug of tea and get on with some of the orders that I have, I may even take some photos….although I could have a problem there – but I’ll tell you about that another day.

Wednesday morning

Well, Rick mowed the lawn (back and front), shared cooking dinner and hoovered the floor this morning AND cleaned the bathwoom sink. Yahoo, I must get very busy more often. Actually he did a good job on the garden when I was on my course last month, I cheekily left him a huge list of jobs to do in the garden, including assembling the bench I’m sitting on as I write my blog this morning, oh yes, are you all jealous? I’m sat here sipping my Twinnings Breakfast tea as I write, enjoying the lovely morning sunshine. I thought I may as well blog while I gather my thoughts for the rest of the day. Anyways, he romped through the list and even had time to take our daughter swimming and visit his family around the corner. I must do that more often and then maybe our garden would look half tidy, after all, it needs a few hours done every week, it’s getting so bad I even thought about hiring the gardener who does one of our neighbours gardens evry week.

At the moment I have a huge patch of thriving Ground elder that’s just coming into flower, looks very pretty but I know it’s a lurking threat. I’ve been trying to get rid of it as long as we’ve been here, but hate using poisons and always forget to do the follow up treatment. Also I have a nice row of dead annuals still in their polystyrene cells that I bought last year and never got around to planting. I don’t know what it is a about June and July but they just seem to get busier each year, and the garden’s sufferring for it, poor thing. Oh well, better trot off and get on with my humungus list. See ya.

Sunday evening

Helloooooooooo. Wow, nearly the end of the weekend already, I’m wacked! I had a craft fair on Friday afternoon/teatime and came home to pack for one night in Dudley and the following day at the museum. Well, we got ready and arrived at midnight to stay at the Copthorne Hotel for the first time. I got a cracking internet deal, cos I wasn’t about to stay in the Travelodge again after the grotty room we had last summer (that’s yet another story). We arrived bright and early at the museum at 9:45 (well I’m very honest when I say I’m rubbish at early mornings, and we did get waylaid by a huge tray of food for breakfast delivered by room service) and helped Amanda finish setting out the display. The day zoomed by, it was such a lovely atmosphere, with lots of interested people eager to discuss beads and glass, and several locals who had popped in to see what it was all about, only to be overwhelmed by the beauty of the lampworked beads on display and for sale.

Our demonstrations were well received, I had a whale of a time making a raked star, a penguin, a fish and a slightly wonky red dotty bead and of course I had that very silly grin on my face when I finished. We were also joined by Kate Drew Wilkinson for the day who’d been teaching at Plowden and Thompsons the previous week.

After we’d all packed up and finished chatting in the car park we went our separate ways, us on a mission to find a campsite for the glass festival later on this year. 4 campsites later Read the rest of this entry »

Friday afternoon

Lovely day today here. I decided to try and do wifey thangs and do some washing and shopping and stuff. I also got some lovely purple nail polish to mark my tools, it’s called Passionale. Of course I couldn’t stick to the wifey stuff all day, I just had to go and get something more tooly. I’ve invested in a leather apron for tommorrow and general use, and a huge container (5kg) of welding rods to make new mandrels. I’m going to have a surfeit of mandrels soon, so I may just put some in my shop….coming soon!

My tools are nicely marked now, together with the black kitchen worktop, oops. Have a good weekend, I know I will, hurrah! and I’ll hopefully have some pictures for you next week.

p.s. pot of beads still crammed full to the gunnels…..can’t put this off much longer

I had a good long, if interupted session yesterday, 9.5 deg C in the studio so it’s warming up.  I made some more variations on the implossion pendant theme and a couple more pendant designs.  Alas one loop broke in the kiln, but I think I’ll try and fix it next time, pendants are easier (I hope) to repair and reanneal after the event….famous last words.

I have sooo much to do around the house today that I won’t get to play with fire (it’s work Rick) and might try and take some pics for my shop which is coming next week….more on that later.

Better go and stick a wash on….oh the thrill of modern life.

Wednesday eve

The Easter holiday is certainly here and I’m trying my best to give my daughter a nice time without overdoing it (tight wad!).

Yesterday we had a super trip to one of the local Country Parks with one of my friends and her grandaughter, who my one gets on well with. Today saw us driving to Worthing on a company jolly to exchange bags for my business. After making the switch we headed down to the seafront to take in the sea air and go looking for cuttlefish on the shingle. We got waylaid by the sight of a mini train chugging around a park and took a detour to have a ride. What fun, the train was so diddy and reminded me of my childhood in Bexleyheath where the mini railway used to wend it’s way around the lake in the park there too. There was also a derilict looking 50s paddling pool coloured the obligatory blue, and pedolos on the lake too. That took me back a bit too, to Danson park were we went sometimes to row on the lake, and fished for tiddlers in the stream.

We did make it to the seashore later, but alas there were no cuttlefish today, only lots of the really small seashells and fragments of different seaweed in different colours and textures. We even found some driftwood. Happy days.

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……

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.

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!