Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Friday morning

230 beads…………that’s how many I had to clean after my mamoth session on Tuesday added to the results of all my play work last week. Yikes, I really should try not to let them pile up like that. Today I’m having my final bead making session for the magazine comp, at least I hope it will be, I may have to sneak out tomorrow and finish off if the beads don’t sit properly together. My work on this on Wednesday was, I feel, successful, but it’s adding to what I’ve already done that could potentially be a problem as I’m reet proper fussy when it comes to making up my really posh sets.

I had another fab teaching day with 2 lovely ladies yesterday, and that was my last bit of teaching until the new year, and of the course the last this month, which has been chocka full of teaching dates. Now all I need to do is get ready for the 2 fairs I have next weekend, and the 2 exhibitions I think I’m doing, that also start next Saturday, so have to have the pieces to deliver on Friday at the latest. I’ve been trying not to get stressed about my work during the run up to Christmas and this has been working well, but to be honest, it’s working too well, so well, that I’m so laid back I’m horizontal and have done almost nothing to prepare. I have a stash of beads I made last month waiting to be turned into jewellery, but all my time has been spent doing masses of teaching, making my weekly order and getting to grips with Double Helix glass as well as my efforts to enter the magazine comp. I would normally have been making up jewelley in every spare moment, and all evening, but I’ve been so tired or busy cleaning beads and preparing my studio and tidying up from teaching that by the time all that’s done I need to rest……..I think I’ll put it down to still being a bit under par from the huge doses of anaesthetic earlier this year and my continual healing, after all it does get a bit zingy around my scar from time to time, so stuff is obviously still happening on some level.  Right, I’m off to run the kiln and start making beadies again. TTFN.

Tuesday evening

I can’t remember what I was going to write about and I’m sat here wondering why I feel drained. The answer to the second question is probably because I have made 94 beads today, my bigest number yet in a single day so far, and it was heaven to have my huge pink Maxine kiln to get them all in so effortlessly, although I’m still working out the best way to arrange the mandrels inside. The bad news is I’ll have to clean them all later, grrrr.

Meanwhile, back in the bedroom, Mount Washpile has reared it’s ugly head once more, and this time has several foothills around it. The problem is that I’d rather be making beads and stuff than doing housework, ask anyone I know. (Rick has just indignantly pointed out that he’s been helping to gradually reduce the foothills :)) As for the shopping….well the last time I placed an order was the start of October, and we were so disgusted at how our food had been packed (for the second time in a row) that I haven’t placed another order and haven’t decided where to try next. Oh dear, I’d better get a handle on this as we all know what festival is looming next month.

Tomorrow I’m planning to have a proper bash at some beads for the Beads and Beyond magazine. I’ve been mulling over several ideas, and dinking around with new glass and ideas, but I think I’m going to expand on my usual style, as this is after all what I do best, so tonight I’ll be planning how I can acheive this.

Saturday night

It’s my birthday and I’ve had such a great day. We didn’t do much but I’ve been pampered from start to finish, apart from having to tidy the fridge to put in the remains of our Indian takeaway tonight. The day started with a fab pressy that Rick got me when he was in Minneapolis last month – I made him visit the Pandora shop to look at some big hole beads and a chain bracelet, so I can wear my own glass big hole beads together with his choice of beads to fill the spaces. What a perfect combination, now he can actually buy me jewellery! It’s been lovely to just have a rest today to be honest, as I’ve been working really hard but struggling not to get tired.

My experiments with Double Helix glass continued yesterday, where I made some gorgeous transparent red beads with streaks of my newly conquered Phyche glass, which I reduced to a lovely variety of shades of greeny-blue part shiny colour..ish…thing. I also experimented combining it with some of my CIM (Creation is Messy) colours to see what would happen, and got some interesting reactions where the CIM has concentrated the silver to the edge of the Phyche streaks, yum. The dinking around with my designs for the perfect set to enter Beads & Beyond continues and I only have just over 1 more week to achieve this. eeek.

Wednesday afternoon

All is going well on the Double Helix (DH) glass front. I’ve kind of got to grips with Terranova 2 (TNT), the very colourful striking glass that starts off very dark brown, and here’s a pic to keep you amused….

yay it worked this time…..Rick asked his mate Peter (now one of the lead developers for WordPress) and then sorted the problem the other night. The top row is TNT encased in Laucha clear, not too bubbly, the bottom is encased with Vetrofond Crystal Clear, bubble city, and the centre row is TNT on a mix of clear and transparent amethyst glass. The top 2 rows sold at the Big Bead Show, but the bottom row is available, I may even pop them in my shop…..

Today I spent a happy few hours playing with Pysche, another DH glass, this one is a reduction glass which means that I can get shimmery oil slick effects from it if I wish. So I’ve been noodling around with it seeing how it responds to clear dots and stringers. My main aim with all this, as well as hating to let anything defeat me, is to produce a stunning focal or set of beads to enter into the Beads and Beyond magazine competition. I believe I’m getting there by steps,  but we’ll see what the kiln fairy leaves me later tonight, and if it’s a goodun, I definitely won’t be sharing just yet.

But for your delectation and pleasure now I’d like to present the beads I was going to post last week……drum roll please..well, I have to make a fuss because I don’t usually post photos…..

Monday morning

Well helloooooo there. I probably shouldn’t be so chirpy as I am missing my jewellery class yet again – the place to go for me to have a fun afternoon chatting with like minded jewellery making obsessed ladies. And especially today they are having our Christmas class jewellery sale. Yes I’m a bit sad about this, but maybe it’s a good thing as I am still just sooooo wacked out. We really must get our car situation sorted out….anyone got an estate car for sale? anyone? anyone?

I just popped out to my studio, and man, it’s chilly out there, only 5 deg. C this morning, but I’m off out to make some handmade glass beads in a mini mo for my regular weekly order. Then tomorrow and Thursday I’m teaching yet again, I seem to be doing about 2 days a week at the moment, which is so much fun and a bit tiring but hey ho, it’s worth it.

The big question on everyone’s mind today is…who on earth is voting for John Sergeant in Strictly Come Dancing? It sure ain’t me, but he really should go now, I know he’s fun to watch how badly he does everything, but it now seems so unfair that the really fabulous contestants are being booted off the show a week earlier than they should and missing their potential to learn new dances and improve more. I suppose maybe we should be asking ourselves if the BBC are cheating and keeping him in to give the show controversy and generally rigging the polls to suit what they feel the show should be like? Or does he have a huge cake baking, blue rinse, daytime TV watching, lady fan base? Who knows.

Friday lunchtime

Already! The good news is that I haven’t cut myself again since Monday, well, I managed to spike my fingertip with an upright stringer, but it didn’t leave a hole this time, yay. I’ve had a few near misses, but nothing like last week, I think I must be going back to my usual state of ‘No burns or cuts’. In the 6 years I’ve been doing this I only have 3 burn scars and have only cut myself about 10 times, 6 of those last week, so you see why I was getting all annoyed, lol.

I’m actually procrastinating at the moment, this is happening a lot at the moment mainly because I’m so tired, I guess I’m still getting over the whole op thing, and probably overdoing it when I do feel like working. I should be getting ready for a small jewellery sale on Monday, but I think I probably won’t be able to go because the brakes are going on our car, and we don’t have a spare car anymore….the headgasket on our other car blew again back in April the evening before my very early morning appointment with my hip surgeon, leading us to be relayed home at midnight, then drive back to arrive at the hotel around 2:30 am for a 7:30 appointment the next morning, yeech. So much for the relaxing sleep the night before. But I digress.

So I thought I should start putting some eye candy up on my blog, and conveniently Rick has done some photos of the stock I took to the Big Bead Show and tweaked some of them. So here they are! or not…there will be a blip while I sort this out.

Monday afternoon

I don’t know what’s going on, but the last few days I’ve spent bead making I seem to have managed to cut my fingers twice a day, that’s 6 cuts on 3 days. Wot? I just don’t get it! And of course they’re the kind of light paper styli cuts that keep opening up slightly and stinging lots. Ouch. So what’s going on?

Well, I think I may be starting to panic a tad, oh yes, it’s that time of year again when offers of exhibitions and shows, all starting on the same date, all come slewing in at the last minute to tempt me to join in. Now if it was one event after the other it wouldn’t be too bad as I could make some new stock, display that, then while it’s out there make some more to top it up and so on. But of course it’s not, and here was I planning to start making up Christmas stock in September and October, but what happened? I had 3 bead fairs in 2 months, only 1 that I’d actually planned well in advance, and that kind of put things back. I’m also very pleased to be doing lots of bead making tuition and I can now reveal that I have a regular order now too. I wanted to do it for a while before mentioning it here, but it’s going well and giving me lots of practice although it does give me less time for my other activities.I think I may have to resort to making myself a timetable, or I should say do some project planning to make sure I get everything done. Oh well, I’d better get off and put some washing on and run the dishwasher…what an exciting life I lead!

Monday afternoon

Phew, I’m glad this weekend is over. It was a very busy show on Saturday at Sandown, a huge event with masses of stalls and hundreds of visitors. Thank you to everyone who came to see us and say hello, and of course to everyone who bought my beads. My tray of new beads was decimated by the end of the show, I hope you all enjoy using them. I was so busy all day that it was only when I popped over to Tufnells late afternoon to collect my glass supplies that I realised how wet it was outside, yuch. Fortunately we didn’t have too far to drive to get home so were tucking into a well deserved curry and a bottle of wine by about 8 o’clock that evening, and today I’m sat here with my feet up having a second day of rest to get over the last 2 months solid of work. I now have to plan how I’m going to fit in the next 2 months work and sort Christmas at the same time, rather than leave it all until the last week before the event.

I have 3 tuition dates remaining this year, all of them for 1 person to attend a 1 day Beginners Beadmaking Course. The dates available are

Friday 7th Nov (yes…this week!)

Wednesday 12th Nov (next week)

Thursday 27th Nov

Email me to secure your place on one of these courses, the last dates available before next February! We are planning to replace the studio in January next year so I will not recommence teaching until February.

Friday lunchtime

Eek, it’s the Big Bead Show tomorrow at Sandown Park, Esher. It looks like it will be a biggie if last years stories are anything to go by, well, let’s hope so anyway, as numbers attending each bead fair do seem to be dwindling as there are so many to go to now. Of course I’m not ready, I never am for these things, and it’s not through lack of organisation but because as an artist there’s always more beads that could be made, you know, the ones in my head that haven’t made it on to the mandrel yet. It just doesn’t seem to matter how many beads you’ve made you always feel you could have and should have done more. It’s a dreadful feeling, and rather silly of course, but there we go. I do actually have lots of new beads, and a few more waiting to be cleaned and made up into sets today. I also have 99% of my extra stall bits ready, all of my packing and display ready, I just have to finish cleaning a few beads, wire up some more sets and sort some more of my popular bargain beads for you avid bargain hunters. Don’t forget that the very best new bead sets always get snaffled up very early on in the fair, so if you have anything particular in mind, come and see us first. Of course that doesn’t mean anything left after the first hour is not excellant! I believe every focal and bead set is perfect for someone special, they just haven’t necessarily come to see them yet.

So, I will have my usual mix of bead sets and focals in yummy colours, dichroic sets, silver foil lined bling sets (I think they’re gorge), dichroic pick ‘n’ mix, pots of bargain experiments and orphan beads priced from £1 to £3 each, cute pandas, penguin, snowmen and fish. I also have my supply of good quality sterling silver snake chains, sterling silver cables and beadable sterling silver bangles. I will also have some gold colour gift pillow boxes, perfect for giving away with your Christmas creations.

See you there!

P.S. My stand is Number 64, and it looks to be in the opposite corner from the main entrance and facing the back wall.

P.P.S.  I have Fruit Rocks from M&S in addition to my usual jelly beans!

Tues morning

Just a quick fly by to say hi (ooer that rhymes). I seem to be very busy, making beads for orders, teaching and getting ready for the Big Bead Show on the 1st Nov. Please note that this is a Saturday Bead Fair, not the usual Sunday affair. My personal targets for October seem to be slipping away without me achieving them, apart for one which was to try and master silver rich glass, which I’ve had a few hours at and have made wonderful progress, well, in one session at least.  I got all technical about it, went down to my studio armed with printed hints and tips and a tutorial, and a piece of paper to record my results and make notes on how I did it, where and what time it was put in the kiln….and guess what…no more poo on sticks! yay. Of course the second time I tried, but with a different technique and on ivory, all I got was tiny brown dots and very muted colours where I’d done a plunge dot. So now I need to work out how to get fabulous colours with encasing the stuff. Anyway, I must dash, I have a shed load of beads to make today, and they won’t make themselves you know…wags finger.

Thursday morning

How sad am I? I think I must be the geek here, actually I already know I’m a bit of a geek. The reason I know is because when I was sat watching Jamie’s Ministry of Food and he went down the mine for a look see, all I could do was try and see what gas detectors they were using! That would be because I used to be a design engineer working on mainly portable gas detectors in the dim and distant past, oh well, I suppose we all have one of those. Unfortunately I couldn’t see what they were using because everything was coated in a layer of black coal dust, even Jamie! and there was me thinking that he’d smeared it on his face for effect, so as he’d look the part. Actually come to think of it he did look rather different with his eyes peering out. But boy, what an awful place to work, I have so much admiration for those that do, and such sadness when I think about how things used to be hundreds of years ago when children were forced to work down there and other equally awful places.

We all whinge about Health and Safety, and how we’re getting wrapped in cotton wool, and I’d have to agree that it’s all gone way too far, but thank goodness that people started thinking about these things. Jobs and pastimes have got so much safer, the really nasty chemicals we could easily use are restricted, this in itself has to be a good thing, and many people work really hard on safety systems that come into play in an emergency, this is something else I was involved with, Emergency Shut Down systems (or ESD) for oil rigs and gas refineries. Actually I have to confess that most of my time in industry was spent working in Health and Safety, so I am a supporter, but not of the extreme silly stuff.

Kids should be kids, and grow up playing on the street, riding bikes around, and getting into silly scrapes, isn’t that what growing up is about? There’s going to be some pretty boring tales or lack of childhood tales to tell grandchildren if we carry on protecting everyone from what should be everyday experiances.

Ah well, I better get back to the grindstone, it was 6.9 deg C in my studio when I popped out to switch on the kiln, lets hope it warms up a bit today or I’ll have to get the union in….

Monday teatime

The start of another week and I really must have a day off! Unfortunately I’m actually having to cook dinner every night this week as Rick has swanned off to the other side of the world and left us to fend for ourselves. He’s been cooking almost every night for the last 4 months, initially because I was recouperating, and for the last month because I’ve been working so hard making beads, teaching and selling at shows, that I’ve been too tired in the evening to cook. I have to interject here that I haven’t been a complete lush recently as I’ve made my more than my fair share of lunches, and we’re not just talking sarnies here, but salads and stuff, and I cooked a little on holiday too.

So where has he gone and why? Well, he’s popped over to Minneapolis with a work colleague to meet with a bunch of other programmers and be geeky in a room together at this do called a geekfest…actually I lie, it’s called a Backnet Plugfest. They all sit in a room and make their controllers ‘talk’ to each other, then after a set time they get up, move around the room and start over with another geek…..woops, programmer. A bit like nerdy speedating. Don’t you just love it 😉

My day has been peachy, instead of going to class, I stayed home to see himself off then spent the morning cleaning my beads, I managed the handsome sum of 200 today, woo hoo, and you know how much I hate cleaning beads. Tomorrow I may just attack the wash pile, it may just be one of those weeks.

Wednesday teatime

Here we are again, a week later. Harrow was good, even though I was tired by the time I got there. I had been pushing it working everyday for the 2 weeks in the run up to the fair, and now I’m extremely pooped, but hey, I did it! Thank you to everyone who came to say hello and also those who bought my beads, especially to Elizabeth, my first customer of the day. So this week I’ve been trying to relax a bit which I’m finding difficult to do as there are so many jobs that I have at the moment, although that’s nothing new, there’s always something to do when you run your own business, and I thought October would be quiet. I have 2 days tuition this week and another hectic weekend ahead of me.

Wednesday teatime

As of last night I now have a table at the Harrow Bead fair this Sunday. Yipee. This has to be my favourite fair, not sure why really, but somehow it seems like ‘The’ bead fair of the year, maybe because it was one of the first. So I’m beavering away this week getting ready for it, well, not so much beavering, but working steadily and not too hard like last week, as we were both shattered after last weekend….partly because I worked soooo hard in the run up, then Rick continued with replacing the fence down the side of our house, then we had a party in the evening which we were both involved with helping, got to bed at 2:00am then up at 6:30 am for the Hatfield Bead Fair………oooooo no sleep. I’m teaching again this Saturday too. Phew I’m really going to need a rest next week.

My life seems to be pretty much back to normal now, it was officially 4 months on Saturday since I became a bionic hippy, and I can’t believe how good I feel, so much better already than the last 3 years, and I have the next 8 months to really get over the experiance. I haven’t used my stick at all for over a week, yay, and have been walking to the school unaided, which is all a bit wierd for me at the moment as I’ve been using a stick for the last 15 years. I have to really concentrate on how I walk, as bad habits formed in my endeavor to walk without pain, and I’m having physiotherapy to help me reach my foot again, it’s funny needing to have someone else tie up my shoelaces! and of course once lace ups are on they have to stay on all day. But hey, I feel good.

I have a couple of dates available for one person on each of the following beadmaking courses –

1 day beginners…………….Saturday 27th September

2 day beginners…………….Thurs 2nd to Fri 3rd October

Send me an email now to secure your place on one of these courses.

Other news…..I’m rushing around getting ready for the bead fair this Sunday at Hatfield House.  I sold so many beads at the Stourbridge bead Fair in August and haven’t had the time to make many more because of the school holidays, but I am busy making some of my new jewel toned silver foil lined beads and some more pandas. I also hope to make some new simple dichroic beads for you to use in your creations. I am sorting out some more of my bargain beads, these can be experiments and poor little orphans that can’t find a home in a set and will be taking along my selection of high quality chains and cables. Do come and say hello on Sunday.

Tuesday night

Yoo hoo I’m back….well, I’m home but working in the Surrey Guild gallery in Millford this week. It’s been such a busy summer, with one event after another, like the Stourbridge bead fair one weekend, 3 days home to unpack then repack to go away again for a family wedding then a short holiday. It’s been all go but fun and exhausting, and I have had no hip pain in my new bionic hip, although some pain in my origianlly bad hip, rats. I’m hoping this will reduce as dependance on overusing it reduces. So what’s new? Not a lot really yet, as I am still unable to enjoy my torch because of the days out this week, although I’m hoping to get some torch time on Thursday as I’ve managed to swap one of my days. I’m getting reved up for the Bead Fair at Hatfield House on 21st September, less than 2 weeks (well, I should be but I’m unable to do anything for this yet) and I have also booked the Big Bead Show at Esher on 1st November (6 weeks away).

These bookings are all very well, but will they happen, will I be able to torch on Thursday or will we have been sucked into a black hole by then?  If you haven’t heard what’s happening tomorrow then look up Large hadron Collider. It amazes me how people are allowed to do this if it’s really so risky. Of course they say it’s not, then laugh manically, but who’s to know? I guess we’ll all know, or not by Thursday. lol.

Tuesday midday

Phew I’m wacked! Today is post International Festival of Glass and more importantly post Stourbridge bead fair which this year was an exhausting 3 day affair, but well worth every minute and great fun. Hi to all my friends, customers and forum mates who dropped by to say hello, you all made our weekend such a good one. We should really have rested every evening after the fair, but what’s the point of going all that way and not going out with your friends in the evening? I think the best meal (in terms of taste) was on our first evening when we visited Ruby Cantonese around the corner from the Ruskin Centre, with Di East, Paddy Bush and Ruzica Ruane and her son (sorry, I can’t remember your name). We also revisited a pub where you get 2 meals for 1 with Francesca Cerreta and Caroline McMillan (waves!) and then the penultimate evening visited the Crooked House pub with Julie Anne Denton, Di East and Vic and Ian Bamforth, 2 glass blowers from the Red House Cone. It’s so nice to be able to spend time with glassy friends and make new friends.

I think it’s fair to say a good time was had by all, including our daughter who we took with us for the first time, I think 4 days babysitting was a bit too much after all the time she spent away when I was in hospital! I will try and get some photos up later, it’s not like I don’t have many to choose from, Rick took over 400 this weekend…lol.

Wednesday lunchtime

It is truely a momentous day for me today, especially as I start typing it’s 12:25, about the time I was brought out of theatre exactly 3 months ago. I have to take stock and look at my journey through the last 13 weeks, I remember the fear and apprehension as I padded down to surgery in my oh so sexy foam slippers and backless gown. I remember lazily waking up all numb and spaced out only moments after I initially closed my eyes. I’m grateful that I didn’t live during the butchery years when they were exploring surgery, and anaesthetics hadn’t been invented. I look back over my few days in hospital, my tentative first steps and the numerous days of exercising, my progression from totally helpless patient to feeling really great, as I do today. Obviously my right leg is still weak, and will probably need another 9 months to get completely over it, as I have 15 years worth of weakness to overcome, but for the moment I think it’s about as good as it was before the op in terms of weakness, and pain free so that has to be good. And of course it’s so much better than before as I now have more movement in my hip than I’ve had for years, I can almost touch my right foot now, and can actually wiggle when I walk as a gal is supposed to. I don’t think I’ll ever have as much bootie as Shakira but maybe I could try?

Yesterday the man from Direct Mobility came and took away my recouperation appliances, so the house is also now looking less like an OAPs house and is back to normal, so hurrah for that. I really feel that from now on life should go back to normal and I’m going to try my hardest to get my leg strong so that I can ditch the walking stick completely. Rick has been an absolute rock, he’s cooked all the evening meals for the last 3 months, and last night gave me such a funny card to mark the 3 month milestone. Thank you Rick, you rock!

So tonight we’ll be cracking open the Champagne, well, sparkling Pinot Noir as I prefer this, and toast good health and medical science.

Wednesday afternoon

Wow I’ve been away from here a long time. So what’s been happening? Well it’s school holidays for a start, so life is upside down at the moment, but since we last spoke we’ve had Ardingly bead fair, a lovely day with lots of friendly faces coming to say hi and lots of bead shopping, yes me too! I couldn’t resist some amazing and simple boro beads from Purple Beech Designs, I bought some of the teardrops in various colours. Of course I had to rest for a few days after the exertion of preparing for this, then we went away to France for a week with Ricks family. There will be more about ‘The Great Downton Getaway’ in later posts. Now I’m trying to recover from the journey home and the last few days of our holiday which were very busy physically for me.

The good news is that I was 12 weeks post op yesterday, this being another milestone for me being allowed to do a few more things, but the last milestone is my 3 month date on 20th August, when I will be able to stop all my hip precautions and start to lead a completely normal life again (I hope). This is the date I’m really looking forward to. Also this week I have 2 days teaching, my first course until I resume working full time in September, obviously I can’t really teach many days in August due to my daughter being on holiday and family commitments on general.

My next event is the Stourbridge Bead Fair, formerly the GBUK Bead Fair. This is a 3 day bead fair at the Bonded Warehouse in Stourbridge running over the Bank Holiday weekend and is again part of the International festival of Glass (IFG), an amazing and exciting celebration of all things glassy. Actually I’m only going for the Gaffers’ Ale and another hand blown and cut 1 pint beer glass (hee hee) to add to the other 3 in the cupboard.

I am also very pleased to be taking part in ‘The Tempest’ glass bead exhibition on the theme of Shakesperes’ play. This exhibition of handmade glass beads and small sculptures is in the Coffee shop at the Ruskin Glass Centre, details are on my events page together with details of the bead fair. There is a fab website to accompany the exhibition, follow this link for a sneaky peak at my bead (which looks even better in the flesh)! I may also have a couple of my prototype beads for sale in the coffee shop, if I decide to sell them there, if not then they’ll be available on my stall at the beadfair.

Tuesday morning

9 weeks today, and what can I say, things have been going extremely well, and I’m feeling more like I’m getting back to where I was before the op in terms of my range of movement (well, it’s better actually), apart from getting incredibly tired very easily. I had a few busy days last week and at the weekend and today it’s all caught up with me, I’m so tired, which is a real nuisance as I was planning to make beads today and tomorrow before the school holidays start on Thursday and for the bead fair at Ardingly this Sunday.

Instead I will be trawling through my many bead boxes putting sets together from my oversize stash to bring you as yet unseen beads, some which I made with the purpose of using in my jewellery designs but haven’t and also more of my older beads that I never put into sets. I’m also sorting out some more bargain beads for my bargain pots and reducing some focals and bead sets. I suppose you could say I’m having a summer clearance but it’s not really that fancy or grand. I’m determined that I’ll be ready in good time the day before and I’m doing my best to get megga organised, famous last words. It’s always those little bits that take the time, they’re unseen but make a difference to presentation.

So what else will be new? My daughter told me to make my favourite animal, so I’ve designed a panda bead and have made a few for Sunday, also I will have a few more fish beads in new designs, maybe more if I have enough energy to make some tomorrow, but I’m not going to moan about it.