Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Thursday teatime

What a day, it started off so well, was rubbish in the middle and for the last couple of hours has been good again. So what’s that all about? Well, after watching Nigella Lawson on Monday I was inspired and decided to get organised with our meals, so by 10am I had this evenings meal all ready in a bag, marinading, so I could just tip it out onto a baking tin. It was after this that things went downhill. My beadmaking was average to say the least today, nothing went right, even the simplest of spacer beads, which I decided to make because everything was so rubbish, turned out average. Somehow it just wasn’t happening for me in the studio today. Oh well, it’s at times like this that it’s better to go and do something else.

I’ve managed to plough through cleaning all the beads I’ve made this last couple of weeks, and they’re drying as we speak, ready to be put into sets for Sundays bead fair, or made into my popular ‘shades of’ series of jewellery. Part 2 of this evenings meal is also ready to go in the oven when it’s time, in fact I’ll just go and do that now……done. Oh I can’t wait for dinner, we’re having Nigella’s roast Lamb Shanks with Delia’s roasted roots, and some fresh veg. Yum. Off to tidy my desk now and clear the table.

Thursday evening

Good news for me, and hopefully you beady buyers…..I will be at the Harrow Bead fair this year after all.  My friend Francesca Cerreta has invited me to share her stall, so now I have to start preparing for it! Of course with only half a table I won’t need so much stock, and will have to decide what stays and what goes. I will be sorting out the most lush and colourful beads that I can, and hopefully making a few new sets in the next few days. Details of the fair can be found on my events page.

Tuesday evening

Another successful few hours at the torch today, I’ll go and get my goodies from the kiln in a  minute. Of course the lounge still looks like a bomb hit, but with good cause, we’ve been decorating our daughters bedroom for the last couple of weeks and there’s stuff everywhere…well, there always is in our house for some reason or another. At least the new room looks tidyish at the moment, and it looked extremely pink and bright this morning too. I think I may have to wear shades tomorrow (no kidding) when I go in there, it’s the sunlight streaming through the new curtains that really did it. Don’t get me wrong, I love the rooms new look, and it’s not at all Barbie or baby pink, just a deep rich shade of dark pink on one wall and furnishings in pinky purple, red and some orange….lush. I may have to sleep in there myself! The only downside is that I now have to go through everything my daughter owns with her, and decide what she keeps, recycles or passes on, and we have 6 years worth of stuff…eek, I’m not looking forward to it. Off to get my beads….I made some pink today!

Thursday morning

At last, after nearly 3 weeks back at school I get to make glass beads for me (well, to sell or make into jewellery). Either way…….Woohoo.  This month was supposed to be quiet but I’ve been soooo busy, either teaching or working in the Surrey Guild of Craftsmen gallery.  I have one day left to do now this month (in the gallery) until November, so I should get some more beadies made over the following weeks.  To say I am chomping at the bit would be an understatement, in fact, why am I blogging when I could be getting ready to make beads? Good point……see you!

Saturday lunchtime

Don’t blink, don’t turn away, don’t blink……..well I did and my week has been stolen. It hasn’t really, but it made an interesting start to this post. I’ve been busy teaching all week in what should have been a quiet and cooler month, and hasn’t it been hot and sunny? The weather’s been gorgeous and we’ve been getting soooooo hot with 2 burners, 3 people and a kiln in a relatively small space. It looks like summer has arrived at last, mind you the main problem with that is the wasps have arrived as well. But the good news is that most flying things haven’t bothered us this week with the new all singing and dancing fly screen. We had 2 sneaky wasps find a large gap when we hadn’t closed it properly but that was all. Not bad going really, so definitely an improvement on no screen and lots of screams!

Meanwhile the saga of the unruly house continues, you should see it (or maybe not). Stuff everywhere since we decided to decorate our daughters bedroom and are now having to accommodate 8 years worth of general stuff and art in the rest of the house. We really need to have a big sort out and de clutter before it all goes back in…which it’s NOT going to do. I’m well prepared for the sort out….got my dust masks and dust goggles last weekend to cope….I have a dust allergy see? I think it may end up looking like a scene from Silent Witness if we’re not careful. Now where did I put my white disposable coveralls?

Friday lunchtime

Still in a spin! But I’ve installed what I hope will be one of the best improvements to my studio yet…….drum roll please………..

a fly screen!

……oh yes, don’t you just hate it when you’re in mid flow, crafting some amazing bead or pendant, and in wafts a buzzy thang on the draft, buzzes around your head, whizzes left and right in front of you, and generally harasses you. What can a girl do when she’s torching at over 1000 deg c and can’t stop until said item is finished and put in the kiln! Last year I lost several sculpted off mandrel leaves in late summer as the pesky insects came in one after the other, intimidating me and threatening to set up home in my pad. I think the wasp nest in the tree 4 metres from my door didn’t help much either. Large Kamikaze moths in the evening have also been something of a problem, diving headlong into my flame then crazily fluttering around in ever decreasing circles as their scorched wings make them fly wonky, then crawling on my bench in circles on their only remaining legs and wing. Should I also mention the dust these things make as their scales flake off, only just missing my hot glass? Maybe this could be a new inclusion to my beads, like Pixie Dust. So hopefully, gone will be the days of me screaming like a big girls blouse and struggling to resist the temptation to rush out of my studio as fast as possible to avoid the critters……enjoy the sun!

Tuesday morning

Hurrah! I have the house to myself again. Oh what to do first! I’m all in a spin! I’m itching to get out to my studio and make new beads, I have so many new ideas, lots of inspiration from my last visit to Cornwall, and last night in bed – well, I was trying to get to sleep and a parade of new bead designs and colours kept floating up to my eyes and then moving on for the next one. Very peculiar I must say, and a first for me, I just hope I can make them or at least attempt to draw them or even remember all of them today ‘cos they were really yummy.

Unfortunately I have lots of admin stuff to do, and a desk and work area to organise (again) but at least the house is looking somewhat clearer now. I’ve been doing lots of gradual tidying because it’s still painful to sit down for long after my stair tumble, which also goes to show that there’s always a good side to find in any problem. lol.

Wednesday morning

It’s been a while hasn’t it, did you miss me? It was a real struggle for me not to post over the past few weeks, and yet before I started my beadlog I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to keep it up. Still, here we are towards the end of the school holiday, and I’m in a rather delicate state! Not through being in the constant presence of an 8 year old, but due to the mishap I had yesterday lunchtime when I managed to slip and bump down all but 5 steps on a very steep carpeted staircase at a friends house. Woops. Needless to say I’m still feeling a bit shaken and am wondering how I’m going to cope with all those jobs I need to do today and this week. The house still looks less than tidy, due to lots of trips, the Winchester exhibition, GBUK beadfair, the course I did last week and general stuff that needs putting away. Oh well. Some things never change.

I’d like at this point to say how lovely it was to meet everyone who came to say hello at the bead fair this weekend. It was good to put faces to names, and we all had a very enjoyable day. I’m not sure what other bead-fairs I will be doing next year, I’ve applied for a few but need to hear back from the organisers. I will post details on my events page when I have them.

Friday lunchtime

This will be my last post for a little while. I’ve been banned from doing any work or web updates for a few weeks as I’m supposed to be taking a break and concentrating on house stuff and our daughter. So please bear with me regarding contact forms. You can still send them in, but it will be a while before you get a reply.

IF you fancy a trip to France the exhibition in Sars Poteries started on the 30th July. This now runs until 15th October. Details on my events page.

At the end of the month, 26th August, we have the GBUK 4th Annual bead fair, in Stourbridge. Again details and a link to the website can be found on my events page.

Have a lovely August.

Monday evening

The school hols are well and truely here. We’re one week in and I’m still not on holiday even if my daughter is. My work and emails are so stacked up, but fortunately even my mum doesn’t think I’m a failure, she reckons I’m behind because of my daughters pneumonia earlier on this year, and I have to say I think she’s right. All those days spent in hospital and at home caring for a convalescing child meant that I didn’t get any torching time in, and when I did, well, remember the kiln problems? Also my mind was on more important things, family health means so much and can’t help but take priority. Still, I’m much less stressed now, having finished my do’s for now, although we do have the GBUK bead fair looming at the end of August.

The design fair at Winchester is over, we went down on Friday as I was stewarding and made a family day of it. The city is lovely, I didn’t see much, but what I did looked nice. Also the work in the show was lovely and I saw several items that I could have spent my money on. Thank you to every one who came to see my work and those of you who came to say hello to me on Friday, it was lovely to meet you.

Tuesday evening

We have our book! We decided to live dangerously and go to Waterstone’s at midnight for a bit of fun. It was an interesting experience, with youths in cars slowing down to shout funny stuff out of the window at the queue. We waited 1 hour in the cold and dark to collect our book, with a small witch at our side, and when we were given our book in a black plastic bag and asked where the posh orange paper bags were, the manageress replied ‘we have to save some for the people coming in the morning that couldn’t come tonight’. I’m sorry, but what’s that all about? Surely if we make the effort to stand in the cold and dark at midnight we should reap the benefits, not the lazy dudes who couldn’t be bothered, or who didn’t care less, or just couldn’t make it. It’s a shame if they wanted to get there but circumstances were against them, but we were there! Tch. lol.

It is Friday today…

and Potter mania is well and truly here (together with the rain). What we want to know is how much effort goes into organising the distribution of the new books by the posties. We know that Royal Mail lost the contract to one of their competitors (a quick chat to our friendly postie told us that) but they will still end up posting all the books anyway but get less money for it. How daft is that? So my questions are ‘do they employ more postmen for the day? What about the poor chaps who go on bikes down remote lanes? What happens if a few really remote houses down a bridle path have all ordered 10 copies each? Do the Royal Mail know well in advance where the books are going to be delivered so they can get extra staff where needed?’ I can see it now, Mr postie on his bike wobbling down the path with 300 Potter books on his back. How do they know where the bulk of the orders are, and if they’re not in places where people don’t normally get much post? So does everyone who pre-ordered (including us!) get their book on Saturday, or do lots of people have to wait for the cogs of the system to cope with the extra bulk? For us it’s a trot down to our local friendly Waterstones amid the wizards and witches at midnight, although I think I’d rather be tucked up in bed, especially if it’s chucking it down like it is at the moment.

What I do find bizarre is the people who wait all this time for the story, then speed read it. Where’s the fun in that? Surely you want the enjoyment to last as long as possible? I know I always have to force myself to put the books down, but speed reading! It’s certainly a dilemma, you want to enjoy the book for as long as possible, but on the other hand you just HAVE to know what’s going to happen next. JK has certainly crafted a wonderful series of books, and I’m going to miss them. I wonder what she’ll come up with next?

Thursday lunchtime

I keep thinking it’s Friday! Probably because normally that’s the day I tidy up (yes, I know, you thought I didn’t do that), fill the car with stuff for recycling at the dump and generally try to get some sort of order (I say ‘some’ because things are never completely ordered here…..talking to other artists and creative people, they seem to have the same problem). I shouldn’t really tell you this….but there’s stuff EVERYWHERE…..on the floor, the setees, dining table, desk, hall…………………………packages arrived for me to make my jewellery and beads, got unwrapped and have stayed where they were dumped, until today. ‘BLITZ the place’ is my battle cry! Well I’d love to do that, but can you really honestly see me managing it? lol. On telly the other day we saw a really appropriate quote – ‘I tidied up last week, but you missed it’, ha ha. Still, I can see the carpet again in a few places, and the numerous cardboard boxes complete with flo-pac and bubble wrap are gradually being flattened and stuffed in the car.

Of course all this tidying activity is only possible now because my desperate deadlines have passed at last. Phew, that was a really hard slog this time. You can see my efforts at Winchester Cathedral at the Contemporary Art, Craft & Design Fair that starts Saturday 21st July and finishes on Sunday 29th July.

Friday morning

Whatcha! The last 3 days I’ve had a ball. And how’s that? Remember all those things I had to stuff into July? Well, I managed 2 of the 3 days on the Art Clay course, and I didn’t get to the Hampton Court flower show, but I have just completed 3 consecutive days on a course colouring anodised aluminium. It was so much fun, even though I’d done it before several years ago (I hadn’t realised just how long ago until I pulled out my notes to get some dying ideas). Of course I was just getting really revved up with ideas and loads of inspiring stuff to try when we had to finish. Looks like I’ll have to book it again if it runs next year.

Today I have to source and buy materials to make up a demonstration area for making glass beads. I hope to be demonstrating at the Open House and Garden tommorrow, so I’d better get cracking.

Monday morning

At last, a day off. I’m enjoying a leisurely morning on the settee with my feet up and drinking loads of tea. I’ve been working flat out for the last 3 or 4 weeks now and I’m very much in need of some R & R, unfortunately our housework has been AWOl also for the last 3 weeks and is in need of some effort (actually it’s in need of masses of effort). The house truly looks like a bomb exploded, and the kitchen’s even worse, the main problem being that the dishwasher broke down and it all has to be done by hand at the moment. If I hate housework, I hate washing up even more, it’s such a waste of time, and there’s always something more important or fun to do. So unfortunately my day isn’t going to be a complete rest (even though I’m also struggling with a cold) but will be interspersed with washing clothes and the occasional bouts of tidying up unless I keep getting woozy cold induced wobbles. Now, if the new Harry Potter book was out already I could be sat here reading that instead……

Thank you to everyone who came and said hello yesterday at the Lingfield bead fair, it’s so good to see old friends and students and to meet new ones. This is what really makes these days so enjoyable for me, even if the drinks machine in the restaurant did break down for the second year running…do you suppose they say this because they want to go home early, or do bead ladies and gents drink more tea?

The Open Houses and Studios has also got off to a good start. Saturday saw Claire stone carving most of the day, while I sat and made up some of my earrings and phone dangles for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I hope to be making glass beads in the garden next Saturday and maybe Sunday morning, so please pop along to see how it’s done and say hello. There will also be some watercolour painting and textile work being done next weekend (but not all at the same time!). This is such a good opportunity to see collections of work in a very informal environment and there are several venues around Horsham and Worthing that are also taking part, so make time next weekend for a tour of the West Sussex studios. Festival Brochures are available around the county in Tourist information centres and libraries, or you can download one from this site Artists and Makers. The information postcards around also feature a necklace by yours truly.

Tuesday Morning

I thought I’d stick my head in and quickly say ‘Hi’, in case you were wondering where I’d got to. Things are very hot here at the moment while I’m rushing around getting ready for Open Houses which starts this Saturday and the Lingfield Bead fair, this Sunday. My cabinet of goodies for the Open Houses is coming together nicely but needs to be ready Wednesday evening to put up Thursday morning. I’m also trying to squeeze in some beadmaking for Sunday. I hope you’ll come and say hello at one of these events. Mush dash!

Saturday night

One event down, one bead fair sorted for tomorrow…that’s Barton Bead Day (see my events). Now I have to get my head down for the Artists and Makers festival (Open Houses) that starts in 2 weeks time. At least I actually feel like making jewellery now, my brains been on a bit of a go slow and acting like a temperamental artist, saying that I didn’t feel like being creative. I do now, and I’m raring to go. Chomping at the bit, me. And it’s lovely to sit here blogging while class acts play at Glastonbury.

Oh yes, it’s festival time again, and I just love how the digital channels on TV cover so many of the music festivals now. I’m in my element, and it’s so much more comfortable watching from the sofa (or desk as I am now). I’d love to go to Glastonbury but have heard so many tales of friends tents being removed lock stock and barrel, then there’s the mud bath when it rains, not to mention rushing miles from one stage to the other (and by that I don’t mean ‘the other stage’), and how do you decide what to watch? There’s 2000 acts this year on loads of different stages. I’d feel like I was missing out if I didn’t see everything, which is obviously impossible anyway due to the logistics of the size of the place. I’m off to get a glass of wine and a coffee and to put my weary feet up.

Monday afternoon

Phew, I need a rest. I started my art clay course this morning and only got back an hour ago because the traffic was so terrible on the M25. I decided to leave the motorway and take the A25 but that wasn’t any better, so I left that route and went the very scenic way through Ide Hill, Edenbridge and Lingfield. 1 hour and 40 minutes later I got home. It makes you realise how the motorways have changed the way we all live now, and how easy it is (when the traffic is good) to travel long distances with ease. This journey normally takes me 55minutes, and the first 20 minutes were a breeze. Still, I got to see some more of the beautiful countryside as I drove up and down the south downs, as it was really high up when got to Toy Hill.

I will post a picture of what I made this morning when I’ve finished it, it was all a bit of an experiment morning, getting the feel of the clay and how to manipulate it. The wire I stuck on with slip didn’t stay on the whole length and I have to solder about 1/4″ to make it secure, as I do the bail that I put on the back. I also have to clean up the edges and barrel polish it. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished article, but I’m really not sure if I like this medium or not, or if it’s any easier than doing normal metalwork with silver.

Friday evening

Do you ever get those days or weeks where you’ve been busy non-stop, and yet when you look back to see what you’ve achieved you can’t work out you’ve been doing with your time? I have to say this week has been one of those. I’ve hardly made any beads, although I suppose odd little jobs have been done. One of the fun things I had to do yesterday was go to my friend Ediths house to see where we are locating our work for the RAG Open Houses. It was great to all sit around with a mug of tea, wander around the garden and discuss our plans.

Our work is going to be inside and outside of the massive summer house, with a relaxing area outside to sit and enjoy the garden, and we also plan to do demonstrations of our discipline, so if you fancy seeing how my beads are made, do pop along and have a look. I’m not sure what days I will be demoing but I will put details up here, so stay tuned. I will of course be at the Lingfield Beadfair on the first Sunday, and may well be doing the headless chicken dance the day before if previous events are anything to go by. Have a great weekend.

Monday morning

The kiln is on and heating up as we speak. 17 deg in my studio (well, the kiln actually) again today, but it feels cooler as ‘it’s spitting’ (run for your lives). I managed 4 torch sessions last week, and have cleaned ALL the beads already..however Rick very kindly pointed out that the first batch I did weren’t done properly…how annoying….and I’d been trying out a new faster method before you start getting worried that I don’t clean my beads properly, cos I do normally. So the upshot is I have a hundred odd beads to clean again, urgh. I was doing so well as well.

Today I’m planning to make some lovely dichroic focal beads, so that should be fewer to clean. lol. I have ssoooooo much on over the next few weeks, and only 6 weeks of school left and I’m already stressed. This year so far has been a bit of a funny one with our daughter being seriously ill and me not being able to work and more importantly attend and sell at the few events I’d hoped to at that time. So now it’s doubly important that I make the best use of the opportunities in the next few months, which have all come along at once, like buses. Mind you I seem to remember it being like this last summer too. Now, how can I squeeze in those visits to the Hampton Court Flower Show, Tate Modern and the V&A?