Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Friday morning

woo hoo. It’s a lovely day and I’m about to go outside to fire up the kiln and make beads. I’m feeling a bit nervous about the spark lighter…..but the good news is that all my beads from Tuesday were OK, no blips or notches on them from sticking to other beads, which they obviously didn’t.  Ooo and I should say that I DID manage to repair the pendant with the broken loop, so I’m well pleased.
I’m busy making beads to send to France for a gallery, so that should keep me occupied for a while. Also the Bead bazaar at Redworth in County Durham is looming so I’ve got that to prepare for too. And…..I’m going on a bead making course next weekend. This will be my first one since I learnt to put glass to mandrel 4 years ago. It’s an advanced class with Kate Fowle (I think I’m up to it) over at Creative Glass in Rochester, where I popped in a couple of months ago to stock up on glass. I’m really looking forward to this, and hope I’ll meet some new glass budies. Must scoot and get on. byeeeeeeee.

Tuesday evening

I don’t know about ‘Passing the Flame’ but I’ve been doing a bit of ‘Thowing the Flame’ today. Oh yes the new Spark lighter briefly turned my torch into a high velocity flame thrower, again. It’s only my first day of using it but I’m obviously doing something wrong. Cindy Jenkins in her book ‘Making Glass Beads’ says this about spark lighters “These tend to be a little more difficult to use than matches and may require a bit of practice”, no **** Sherlock!

It hasn’t been a marvelous day making beads. My zone was here big time and I made some gorgeous beads, but every time I went to put those focals in the kiln I managed to clonk what was next to it, or put them in too hot and then clonk the adjacent one making a blip. Oh man, sometimes you just get those days, I decided to quit earlier than I would normally on a Tuesday, before I do anymore damage to my precious works of art.

Tuesday morning

I’ve got a new toy, nothing particulary exciting, just a piece of equipment to let me light my torch flame safer than what I’ve been using previously. But you wouldn’t have thought so an hour ago. I managed to turn my torch into a flame thrower with huge flames coming at me and licking at my left hand which was controlling the gas knob! I tried again to see what would happen and the same thing happened……I’ve singed the hairs on my left hand and had a lovely smell of burnt hair lingering on my hand and in my studio for the last hour. I think a bit more practice is in order. OK so I need to go back out and light up again now, must process information and work out how to do this safely in the next 5 minutes………..

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.

Yay! Kids are back at school, well actually it’s kid and she went back last Wednesday, but still, Yay!

I had 2 fantastic sessions at the torch last week, making some new Hydraengea beads and experimenting with some more new styles and colour combinations. I absolutely love my new design, inspired by a photo I took the other week at Wisley gardens. I had such a surprise when I took the main bead out of the kiln because it didn’t have the colours I was expecting, but gorgeous sunset hues instead. I’m very excited about these, but I’m afraid they’re going to have to stay under wraps for the moment.

But today stank….I didn’t realise how low my stock of white glass had got, having only one rod left and took time to sort through my glass looking for more and working out what other colours I am low on. I’m also reinstated as the stuby queen, spending valuable time today melting white stubies together and I only managed to get 2 more rods of the scraps. I think I’ve enough scrap left for another rod if I’m lucky. So only 6 focals in the kiln today and I think I’ll have to focus on dichroic tommorrow as I don’t use much white in those.

30 mins later…..I’ve just managed to make 2 more wiggly rods of white to use tommorrow.  Phew.

Did anyone watch ER on E4 last night?

It was a bit pertinant to me to say the least. I made the decision when I started this blog not to be personal about myself, but I think I may let on about one part of my life which dominates me and makes me what I am to an exent.

Last nights episode (I don’t think I’m about to spoil anything if you haven’t already seen it) saw Dr Weaver struggle with the fact that she needed a hip replacement at a fairly young age, and discussing the inconvience of her hip problem with regard to her physical performance and how she coped (or didn’t) with her young son, her job and just bending down to pick things up (which incidentaly is very difficult when you have a very sharp pain shooting down your leg and your hip has just locked in a stupid postion for the umpteenth time that day – I speak from experience).

Dr Weaver (the one with a crutch) has what I have….CDH or clicky hip, this is what they test for when a baby is born and they waggle the legs about to see if they ‘clunk’ into a position. It was with a great deal of effort that she said she was disabled, something that I won’t call myself. I can walk, but I need a stick (when I go out), and yes my leg does keep jaming quite a lot at the moment, and no, the hydrotherapy that I’ve been dutifully going to every week for the last 6 months doesn’t seem to be curing the locking which seems to be happening with frighteningly increasing regularity, as does the sharp twang that shoots down from my hip to my knee when I try to walk with a correct posture. Hmmmm. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my condition dealt with on a drama before, strange really when it’s not a rare thing, although there is more drama to be had from a heart attack!

What I will say about it is that it’s a pain in the leg, it’s getting worse (oh dear), and the fact that walking for too long or standing on my feet cooking or doing housework or gardening for more than an hour tires me far too much. It gets really annoying after a while. I have so much I want to do, house, garden and work wise, and it just gets in the way and prevents me from doing half as much as everyone else. grrrrr. I should add at this point that I’m not blogging this for tea and sympathy, although some choclit wouldn’t go amiss! I can walk and live a fairly normal life, I just can’t do as much as other people or as much as I used to or I’d like to.
I suppose the up side of it is that everytime I think maybe I should get a part time job (or maybe return to Engineering) to help the house finances a bit more, I realise that I’d be so tired whizzing to work, then looking after my daughter after school and trying to keep some semblence of order in the house (that’s already very hard, you should see our wash basket..it’s overflowing) that there would be NO energy left for Lampworking or jewellery making, let alone the marketing side. What a shame….not..ha ha! and of course what a perfect sit down job is Lampworking! Well Hurrah!
So…if you’re wondering why I still haven’t got my shop up, or done a few other bits to my website, it’s due to exhaustion, and the enforced resting that I have to do most evenings instead of siting at my desk working on my website. It also explains why I seem to know so much about various TV programs……by the way, less than 2 weeks to LOST second series. I can always find something good from my problems!
Have a good weekend!

Hi there, I hope you all had a lovely Easter holiday. I just realised I haven’t blogged for over a week, been to busy.

We’ve been busy doing this and that, but the highlight last week was a trip to RHS Wisley gardens, where we go a couple of times a year and meet up with my parents. This time there was a lovely seasonal Spring walk to follow, which took you past the best of the daffodils, tulips, Hellibores and all the gorgeous spring blossom. So much to see and unfortunately never enough time to complete the walk, I think we only did about a third of the trail.

Woops, now there I was, happily trying to make an implosion pendant that wouldn’t for the life off it implode enough, when Rick comes racing down the garden in the rain to say bye (he’s gone out). Instead of a nice byeeeee, I get ranted at for beading with the door open….it started raining cats and cats and dogs behind my back, very hard, and I’ve managed to flood the floor of my studio and submerge the few garden tools I keep in there too. I also got the digital controller for my kiln wet. Woops.
What a sad ending to my first lampy sesh this school holiday, all I got is one measly small bead and then I cracked my pendant. I then got a poopy loopy, but the good news is I managed to repair the pendant and the loop, and cracked my punty off OK. What’s a girl to do?

Back to the house for a cuppa and a bit of choclit I think!

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.

Tuesday Evening

Hi there. Not much glass stuff going on my way at the moment, the Easter holiday is here and I’m spending time with my daughter and trying to recover from the weekend.

My parents 50th party went very well, but I was on my feet for about 15 hours and am soooooooooo tired now. My big surprise for my parents was their anniversary cake, my mum said she wasn’t going to bother but you can’t have a golden wedding without a special cake. I had so many moments over the last fortnight when I’ve wanted to ring my mum and ask her about the cake and it’s decoration. So I just bothered my mother in law instead!

As for the flowers for the day, well my dad did those.  He’s so good at flower arranging and did a wonderful display of parrot tulips mixed with cuttings from one of their neighbours shrubs.  He also did beautiful posies of roses in plain Habitat tumbers to double up as weights for the orange and yellow helium balloons.  All of this with the tulip serviettes we chose from the RHS and the room looked very colourful.  Must be where I get it from!
 

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……

Tuesday afternoon

Look what I made at my class last week.

I had a go at last at Cuttlefish casting. I’ve never really been that enamoured of the pieces that I’ve seen done that way in the past, but I saw someone elses work and was inspired to have a go. The thing that’s so funky about this is that you can prepare your mould, carve your design and cast it all in the space of a couple of hours unlike normal Lost Wax Casting which takes a couple of days from start to finish.

I love this shape so much that I might make a rubber mould of it so I can reproduce it using the tradditional lost wax method.

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.

It’s back, every night this week, repeats of the first series leading to the new second series.  Oh yes it’s Green Wing.  Need I say more.  Bliss!

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!

Friday morning

Hello there. Did you miss me????? It’s been a very unproductive week that started with Monday off due to an Inset day. I had my first proper Acupuncture session Monday, well weird!

After that it all went downhill with me brewing a cold at the torch on Tuesday, sleeping all morning on Wednesday, and doing nothing all day yesterday. Now it seems I may have Conjunctivitis, why I mon (this has to be said in a Newcastle accent). So definately no torching for me at the moment.

The big news this week however is that Rick and I officially launched the new GBUK website that we have been working on. For a little peekie go to GBUK.org All this work on other stuff is why I still haven’t got anything up for sale here…………..

Wednesday

Just catching up with paperwork and stuff today, yawn. I made beads yesterday, not one of my best sessions. It was 1.5deg C in there yesterday, not as cold as Monday which was -2degC (brrrrrr). I’ve been challeging myself in my beads this month, seeing how far I’ve progressed and attempting things that I haven’t previously been able to do well. I’ve been very pleased with my efforts, but yesterdays beads suck. Oh well, I feel some some more beads on leather coming on!