Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Saturday eve

I’ve just finished watching Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, the Radio Times only gave it 2 stars but I have to say it was more of a 3 star movie. I wanted to watch it mainly because I love the Greek Islands so much but loved the film. This whole thing of rating the films doesn’t always work, I’ve noticed the same film can get different ratings depending on who writes the review and the month it’s shown in.

When it comes to ratings though, there’s more entertainment to be had from these ‘celebrity does dancing/singing/ice skating’ when it comes to guessing what score the judges are going to give a performance. Maybe Rick and I should be having a wager to see who’se the best at sussing out the judges.

Ah it’s good to be able to make beads again during the day again, what with half term being over.

I had a couple of days out with my daughter last week, the aim of our trips, subconsciously is to have as much fun for as little money as possible. We were having roaring success last Friday, we packed sandwiches and headed off to Horsham for the ice skating which had come to town. Unfortunately when we arrived the ‘ice-rink’ was a tiddly rectangular thing with synthetic ice, ie. plastic, so we decided to give it a miss and went to munch our sarnies. After a bit of shopping we thought we’d check out Horsham museum in the Causeway, and boy, what a place! It was excellent, full of old bikes, Horshams first fire engine, lots of farm equipment, and all sorts of old bits and pieces. The museum was like the Tardis, small on the outside but huge on the inside, and FREE! woo hoo. Well, I was wittering on to my daughter about how cheap our day had been, then got stung for £10 parking in Sainsburys carpark. Rats. Rats. Rats.

Here’s a picture of the Causeway in Horsham, one of my favourite views, taken with my daughters very cheap digital camera.

Tuesday eve

Hi there. I’ve just come indoors from freezing my butt off outside, it suddenly got cold at 7pm. I had to go out to my studio and make some beads, couldn’t resist.

I had a lovely day at Spellcast Stained Glass Studio in Horsham today, with the group of Fusing beginners. I was only going to stay for a couple of hours but found myself there for the best part of the school day. Thank you very much Juli for letting me sit in, and hi to everyone I met today, especially Jo! (you know you want to melt glass!)

Thursday Evening

How cool is this? For anyone who doesn’t know what I look like, this is Southpark me!

I followed a link to this site where you can make any character, great fun.

By the way, I lurve ice cream!

Late Wednesday evening

Phew, we just got home half an hour ago after a fun filled day at the Mastering suite in Rochester (Cyclone Music Productions). We spent most of the day (10 hours) working on mastering the recording that Rick and I have been working on, and are still amazed at how much difference can be made to a recording at the mastering stage. It now sounds really lush and sweet!

Fortunately me for me (but not my purse), Creative Glass was around the corner and of course I had to go and spend some dosh………

The day has also given me the opportunity to work on course notes and details, while listening very intently to the music, so I will put more info up in the next couple of days.

Monday afternoon

AAhhhh, I feel strange man. I returned home from my first taste of Acupuncture this morning, and oh I feel weird. Good weird, a bit spaced out and amazed at how good it was. It remains to be seen whether the course I’m about to embark on will make any difference to me, but at least I get to lie still and relax during the day instead of having to work or do housework, LOL.

It’s half term this week so no beady making for me unfortunately, I suppose I could go out in the evening but just can’t face the cold! I’m still working on dates and details of my courses, things are starting to come together so more news soon I hope.

Sunday tea time

Well, we’ve just about finished the mixing for our CD we’re producing. Phew. I really thought we’d be up into the wee hours straining our ears for clicks, and trying to get everything sounding really lushhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I’m supposed to be getting dinner ready not blogging, tee hee. I’m getting very excited at the prospect of going to Rochester this week to master the recording. Not just because it’s good fun and a good experience, but probably more because it’s just around the corner from Creative Glass, where I’m going to nick off and buy some glass. I’m hoping to get some of the new Bullseye colours and maybe some more Dichroic glass sheet and some Effetre. Can’t wait!

Late Friday evening

Oooo I’m tired. It’s all happening at once here. We’ve just finished this evenings session of mixing music for the CD Rick and I are producing, the one we had evening recording sessions for in October. We’ve had 2 girlies singing sessions in the last fortnight and the men came and sang Tuesday evening this week. We’re now manically trying to fit in the mixing and it’s not as easy as I first thought. We’ve 3 pairs of speakers and they’re all different, giving different tones to the music!

As well as that I’ve been working on getting my shop page ready to sell some pendants and beads. We started compiling the page and sorting the style this evening. So hopefully in the next few days I should have some goodies for you to buy. Watch this space……..

Weds lunchtime

Hello peeps! Is that the time already? The sky outside today is so lovely and blue, it makes me want to fling the windows wide open, the trouble is it’s still a bit chilly.

I made beads again yesterday, woohoo. It was 4.5 degC in my studio when I started, so spring is on the way. I’m having fun playing with new ideas and colours, and trying out old techiniques to see how I’ve progressed. If you’re lucky I’ll post some pictures later. I always feel inspired to come up with new bead designs in the spring, maybe it’s because the mundane production stuff has eased off. But where would we be without the simpler bead designs? I always find it easier to design jewellery with my plainer beads, and leave the complicated and intricate work to you expert beadworkers. I’m off to grab a sarnie. bye.

Friday afternoon, already

Where has the week gone?  I managed 2 sessions at the torch this week, and both were very enjoyable.  I was in valentines paradise making pink hearts on the mandrel, and a few off mandrel, that means I made them on the end of the glass rod and had to punty up and attach hanging loops.  Fortunately I didn’t have too many poopy loopys (naff ones) and only one kamikaze pendant that decided to slip down the mandrel and land smack or should I say sizzle-ouch on my forefinger.  I also had more success cracking my punties off too (yes you did read correctly), the glass terminology cracks me up, if you’ll pardon the pun.

I’m going to make a special effort to put some of these hearts up for sale on this site next week, photography permitting.  Have a good weekend, whatever you indulge in.

Monday

So here I am, kiln on and warmed up, mandrels dipped, radio installed, ready to roll (1.8 deg C in the studio by the way), and I’m feeling like a Michelin Man.  I’ve got thermals on, and so many layers of tops that I’m having trouble moving my arms.  I think I’d better go take something off or I’m not going to be able to do my dots very acurately!  At least I’m not in sub zero like some of our fellow beadmakers in The States.

I’m off now to make beads for the first time this year, and that huge grin has just returned to my face. 

Friday evening

At last, I’m done!  It was with much trepidation that I attempted to file my online tax return last night.  Actually it went relatively smoothly, so I had half a Fursty Ferret to celebrate and caught up on Wednesday nights Desperate Housewives and split my sides laughing at this weeks ER. Talking of telly, what an amazing advert Honda have out at the moment.  It makes us laugh every time we see it.

I’ve had several enquiries regarding my courses, so keep them coming if you’re interested.  I’ve found a perfect venue for my bead and wire courses, and would now be interested to hear when you would like to attend them e.g. weekday mornings 10 – 1 or Saturday mornings 10 – 1, or maybe you prefer an evening class type of approach.

The lampworking will be in my studio on a one or two to one basis and will be a 6 hour day.  I’m planning to book Mondays and Tuesdays term time for this.

More details on my courses will follow very soon.  Have a great weekend.

Weds morning

Hi there, another week has passed and I’m still stuck indoors!  I’m definately going to be good and do my accounts as I go along this year.  I’ve had a real procrastination problem this last couple of weeks, there’s always something more interesting to do than my accounts (of course).  At least my virus is practically gone, I’m almost feeling like myself again.

I made the mistake of changing my screensaver yesterday to my own pictures slideshow.  Now I’m distracted by a marvelous array of my own memories – trips to Hampton Court flower show, jewellery and ancient glass beads at the British Museum and the Ashmolean in Oxford, my own glass beads, Chihully at Kew, and the list goes on.  Of course it’s making it even harder to get on with the job in hand! 

Weds evening

Almost there.  Boy this accounting stuff has given me a headache.  I’ve spent the last week plowing through my business accounts trying not to get in a muddle and being hampered by a virus.  I’m so fed up with paperwork and can’t wait to get back to my torch now.  I’ve definately decided to be more disciplined about doing my accounts and costings as I go along this next year.  So much so that I’m looking at buying a jewellery design program to help me stock take and cost jobs properly.  Just got to find a UK one!

Hopefully I’ll be back at the torch next week……4 days and counting!

Saturday lunchtime

Oh dear, I still haven’t torched for a while now.  I have other mandrels in the fire (if you’ll pardon the pun) and MUST finish my tax return.  My time has been spent trying to tidy up paperwork and my workspaces (that includes the house!), and planning for my beadmaking year ahead.

If you’ve read my news on the front page you will have seen that I’m getting ready to commence teaching in my studio.  I will be starting with Lampworking and Bead and Wire as 2 separate courses but have other ideas for interesting bead and jewellery courses which I will be running sometime in the future.  Lampworking will have to run in my studio, but Bead and Wire can come to you if you wish!

I will be adding information on my courses very shortly, so please come back to see.

Late Weds evening 

Noooooooooooooooo.  I don’t really think that answered any questions at all.  So we turned the lights off and snuggled down on the settee with a 2 hour supply of coffee and chocolate to enjoy the last 2 episodes..well, did you really think we’d be controlled enough to watch it tommorrow….nah.

It confirmed some of my suspisions but didn’t answer much at all.  Still, We only have to wait until the spring to carry on with season 2.  They have such attention to detail, did you spot all the passenger swapovers in the terminal, and all the references to ‘the numbers’?

Gotta….go….to…sleep……zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wednesday evening

Tonight’s the night!  The final 2 episodes of Lost, back to back.  Unfortunately we’re so tired we’re probably taping the final one to watch tommorrow, but I bet we’re too weak willed to resist watching it.  I love drama and films where you can discuss the plot and peoples actions for a long time.  Twelve Monkeys was one of those films.  I’d better trot off and do the rest of my chores before the fun begins.  Have a good evening.

Monday evening

I think I have post Christmas blues.  I’m dying to get out to my torch and make some beads, but alas there’s so much else to do at the moment.  I spent the day tidying up for my sparkie friend, and researching ventilation and other bits on the net.  I’ve found this superdooper site called The Art Glass Forums where they appear to specialise in safety, or at least they have several of the well informed safety bods here.  Very useful and of special interest to me having worked in Health and Safety for several years with Gas Detection and Safety Systems.

Friday evening…..

Hello my beady buddies, or not so beady buddies (hi Peter, thanks for the link from your front page).

It’s already 6th January, and I haven’t yet made it out to my studio.  I have my lovely tax to do next week, but the good news is that I have a wonderful electrician friend coming to do my studio electrics on Monday, at last I can stop using candles and the clockwork radio (LOL).  Rick cybergeek extaordinaire (CE, haven’t used that name in a while) is very capable of doing the wiring thang but with the change in the law he’s not allowed anymore.  I knew he should have moved my studio 2 years ago!

I’ve had a lovely trip down memory lane this week, seeing 4 of my old haunt pubs on telly.  Three of them were on Thursday in ‘Three men in a boat’ with Griff Rhys Jones, namely The Barleymow at Clifton Hampdon, The Head of the River in Oxford, and The Old Anchor Inn on St Helens Wharf in Abingdon where I used to live (in Abingdon, not the pub….. or the wharf!).

The last was The Eagle and Child in Oxford, where I used to sit in the booths where Tolkein, CS Lewis and their friends used to meet and discuss their latest books.  Oh well, I shall sit and dream of Oxfords spires.

So where is it then?  It appears to be anywhere but here, where I live.  I can’t say I’m disappointed, well maybe just a little bit, I love the look of the snow, but am terrified of falling over….what a wus.

Back in the land of Lost, what a corker.  We watched both episodes again last night, doh, and now it looks like we have to wait two weeks for the season finale.  The up side is that C4 are doing a 6 hour back to back fest called Lost in Lost so at least we get to see the first episodes that we missed before we got hooked, yipee.

I’m not sure when I shall get to play with glass again, it may be next year, but hey, that’s next week.  It’s funny how the phrase ‘next year’ sounds such an age away normally, but as we race to the new year it’s only just around the corner.  I suppose we have to endure the look back at the year we’re leaving stuff now and listen to the usual list celebrities who’ve died this year, how jolly.

Best wishes for a Happy New Year.