New stock

I have finally managed to get some new stock onto my website there are 3 new bead sets well actually 2 new beads set and one focal bead! I am quite pleased with these. Been a bit slack lately with getting stuff into the shop but hopefully things will settle a bit now! Work is very busy in my other job at the moment. I have 5 weeks of 18 hours a week teaching and 1 day for admin, lesson prep and keeping up with my students in practice. Working part time is quite challenging for my poor time management skills but I am getting there.

I have had an email from the "One year on" people and judging is on 13th March with announcements from 1st April. To say I am now nervous is an understatement. I still think I have just given them something to have a laff at but that is just my lack of confidence. I have had some lovely comments and people have been really encouraging. I will have to wait and see I guess.

I am hoping that Spring may finally have sprung. The weather yesterday was positively gorgeous 16 degrees in Medway where I was teaching it was lovely.

Right I have a 3 year old to feed it is getting close to lunch so I best be off. I hope you all have a lovely weekend and I will see you very soon
TTFN x

A work in progress

....and this is the work in progress. I have chosen a 1mm waxed cotton cord in a purple with silver plated spacer beads. It will hopefully have an interchangeable system on it so beads can be mixed and matched according to outfit. Watch this space!!!

TTFN xx

Macrame necklace

This is my absolute favourite piece of jewellery. Why do I love it? A couple of reasons really. 1) I made it!!! It is macrame a very simple knot but very classy looking. 2) It is a piece that is interchangeable. I have the "Quick switch" posts so I can change my bead hanging from the necklace to match my outfit! I adore choker style beads and as it is black pretty much anything goes with it!

It has been in my mind for some time now to make this avaiable for sale but the "quick switch" system works out fairly expensive as it is sterling silver. I have just found a different system though that may reduce the cost and make this more appealing so I am now planning world domination with macrame chokers!!!!

Sunday again...

...the weekend goes so fast doesn't it. You blink and it is sunday evening again and I gotta go work tomorrow (boo!!!). Flippin school is doing my nut in this week had a week off and then this week the kids have a half day tuesday and thursday off. Wot the blazes am I supposed to do with Imogen!!! I have not even had notification from the school just a message from Imogen!!!!!

Anyway I had a fab day yesterday at Jolene's for her glassy play day. I think it went well certainly from a visitors perspective it went really well. I demo'd a bead and so did Keiara. Jo demo'd how she makes her twisties and shards. I thought about buying the blowpipe to make my own shards but knowing me I would suck instead of blow and swallow mouthfuls of molten glass (Ouch!!!)

I bought some shards from Jo so will play with them over the next week. I was going up the studio tonight but I still have a headache that is coming and going when it is bad it bloody hurts so I think a quiet evening is in order. Not only that I have 3 early starts and 3 full days teaching this week so I need to pace myself!

I will post pictures of Jo's play day and of my beads with shards later this week but for now I am gonna love you and leave you.
Happy sunday evening and here's to a good week..

TTFN x

Video of pulling stringer an pictures of Imogen!

As promised I have uploaded the photos of Imogen making beads yesterday! The beads she made are waiting to be cleaned which I will do tonight! I am having a bite of lunch so thought I would post the pictures for you all!!!
Imogen also did a video of me pulling stringer which I will load up on this page somewhere. It is not the way everyone pulls stringer but it is the way I do it. I have only just bought my first pack of premade stringer, up till now I always pulled my own! Once I have loaded it I will edit this post to let you know where it is!!!

Edit: You Tube video of me "Pulling Stringer"

Hope you are all having a good Friday, the weekend is tomorrow yay....

TTFN x

Thats the way the cookie crumbles...

...typical I get a day off and I can get on the torch and I make the most pants beads going. I mean I know I am no master but seriously there is a limit and today I reached it. First off I sanded, fired and finished off some Art Clay things that I have made for a commission. I then took Imogen with me up the shed to show her how to make beads cos she has been bugging me for ages. Now we don't always have the best relationship in the world I can be a bit hard on her and a bit impatient, long boring story but I was worried I might not have the patience to teach her but it seemed to go well. Bless her she really struggled with turning the mandrel all the time and co-ordinating winding glass on, she made 4 or 5 beads with major input from me but the last bead she made she shaped herself. I think she will have another go but I also think she was a bit sad not to have made good beads first go!!! She was also quite nervous of the flame and shocky glass so all in all not bad first go.
She decided to go off after making these few beads and left me to my own devices. So there I am with loads of glass and absolutely no ideas!!! God I am crap at this!!!! It is something lots of people go through cos I have been watching one thread in Frit Happens talking about exactly this. It has been quite a while since I felt this despondant so I guess it was due but it has made me really angry. I have been so good for the last 4 weeks, my mood swings have settled and the anger I was having problems with has settled as well so when I have a day like this I get quite upset cos it feels like a setback. I know it is not we all have good and bad days and this is definitely a bad one!!!
Tomorrow is a new day so hopefully it will be a better day! I will have pictures tomorrow as well so something to look forward to for you guys!!!

TTFNx

This is me!

In case you had not noticed but being the geek that I am I have started Twittering (follow the link on the right hand side of the blog!) Anyway the space for the picture is quite small so I thought I would take another shot of me with my camera phone that I can use on Twitter I am not in the least photogenic and hate my picture being taken but this is the least awful shot of me!!! So... hello this is me! How are you this Tuesday lunchtime? What are you doing? let the world know with Twitter!!!

TTFN x