Guess who's got new hammers!

They've come all the way from America and I love them!

There are actually two hammers with four different textures. The first one has wide ridges and gives this ripple effect:

The next one - and my favourite - has raised circles which give this lovely texture which reminds me of fabric.
Narrow ridges give this tree bark - or pouring rain effect.
The fourth one has little squares which give an effect like basket weave.
These are really sample pieces - just to see what the effects would be. I'm excited now to use them in more complex designs. Watch this space!
At last I've used one of my etched pieces (blogged about here). This reminds me of a tattoo - hence its name, Love Lies Bleeding.


And lastly, a new shaggy loop bracelet. This one is made with copper rings and glass magatamas in greens and purples and is called Lavender Garden.

Sarah and I are off to Devizes tomorrow to sell at a Craft Fair.

I hope you have a great bank holiday weekend and that the sun shines on us all.

Much love,
xx

Tagged!

I have been tagged by Kelly, so here's some facts about me:

8 Things I am looking Forward to.....

1. The next Harry Potter film. It should coincide with Martha's birthday.
   
2. The summer - let's hope it's better than the last two years.
3. My birthday. I love birthdays and don't have any hang-ups about my age.
   
4. Selling at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. It's going to be a mad four days - but it'll be great fun!
   
5. My chum, Mike, arriving for the weekend in a couple of hours.
   
6. Finishing doing up our house. We've still got loads of rooms to go, but the ones we've done are wonderful. I'm waiting for the whole house to look as good.
   
7. The next two episodes of ER. I can't believe it's finishing. I love it. I was a great Dr Green fan, but still watch every week. I blubbed for England after this week's ending with Neela going off to be with Ray.
   
8. My hubby being 50 next year. Not because he'll have reached that milestone, but because there will be a party and I'm a party animal. I LOVE to dance!
   

8 Things I Did Yesterday...

1. Had my beady chums over.
2. Watched ER.
3. Put a plaster on Brian's head when he came home injured from basketball.
   
4. Cuddled all my family. We're very big on cuddling.
   
5. Talked to Mike.
   
6. Made some jewellery.
   
7. Read my book club book. The one I should have finished weeks ago. There's another one I'm supposed to read before 5th June!
8. Ordered some findings. It's always more exciting to order beads, but without the findings I can't make them into anything!
   

8 Things I Wish I Could Do....

1. Eat what I want without having to worry about my weight.
   
2. Have more than 24 hours in a day.
   
3. Enjoy housework... as it is I hate it. There's always something much more interesting to do.
   
4. Swim better. I do a slow breast stroke but I don't really enjoy being in the water.
   
5. Gymnastics. I love to watch them and wonder what it must feel like.
   
6. Give my lovely, lovely friend, Sarah, the use of her hand back again.
   
7. Have my dad back.
   
8. Whistle with my fingers in my mouth.
   

8 Shows I Watch....

1. ER
2. Heroes
   
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Neighbours
5. The Mentalist
6. Lark Rise to Candleford - can't wait for the next series
7. Coast
8. Match of the Day!
   

Those are my 8's. My turn to tag....YOU! Come on, you know you want to! Here's the rules, just in case you want to follow them:
1) Mention the name of the person who tagged you.
2) Do the lists of 8.
3) Tag 8 bloggers of your choice.
4) Let them know that they have been tagged!

I'm not going to tag individual bloggers - as most of the ones I'd tag have already been done. So, if you'd like to answer these questions in your blog, leave a comment and I'll put a list at the end here.

Eve has taken up the tag challenge.

Much love and information,

xx

Jewellery Catch-Up

Phew! So, North Somerset Arts Week is over for another two years. I don't know how long it's going to take for me to recover - I'm SO tired. Tired but very happy. We had 400 visitors through the door (and trampling on Sarah's cream carpet) and they were all very complimentary and lots of them purchased from us which was fantastic considering how much choice there was - over 100 venues!

It's an age since I showed you any jewellery - some that was made has already sold - and lots of it I didn't get time to photograph. But, there's still plenty for you to see:

I've made quite a lot of this type of set, using lampwork beads from different artisans. Both of these feature beads by Tania Grey of Tan, Of Course. They are threaded onto leather with Sterling Silver beads and all the fittings are Sterling.
Continuing with lampwork, these wonderful etched beads are by Suzy Hannabuss of Moonlight Beads - aren't they great? I've teamed them with lots of Sterling Silver, including my favourite mirror ball beads, so this set has great twinkle.
I love this design so much, I've made it with three different coloured beads. The main part is made with top-drilled ivory pearls which give this lovely patten and then coloured pearls to add a zing.
One of my favourite stones - Picasso Jasper. I've put Sterling silver between the rondelles in this one to lighten it... I know from experience just how heavy these necklaces can be!
Another favourite - Spiderweb Agate - here coupled with Black Onyx and Sterling Silver.
And this is Feldspar - which is a new stone to me. I really like the veining on it though, so I think I'll be using it again. Here I've used it with Black Onyx and some lovely Sterling Silver rectangles to echo the shape of the feldspar.
And last, but not least, this marriage of turquoise and silver, which is a favourite combination. I've used both chips and rondelles here with Sterling leaves at the front of the necklace and textured tubes at the back. It comes with a choice of earrings because I couldn't make up my mind...

So, that's a quick selection of what I've been up to. I'll be back with some more soon.

Take care, all.

Much love.
xx

North Somserset Arts Week - a virtual tour of venue 73

Our welcome table with a few examples of the work on offer and our visitors book.

Firstly our felt artist: Sarah Quick with a super picture and some cards.
More of Sarah's felt including the cake shaped pin cushions which have been selling like... well, hot cakes!
Bags, hats and bangles in felt on the right and framed photographs by Denise Thomas on the left.
Denise Thomas's main display of photographs of all sizes. Many are local to North Somerset.
Fabulous fused glass by Sarah Aumayer of Mydsomer Studio.
Jewellery by yours truly and fused glass by Sarah Aumayer. If you study the photograph on the middle shelf you'll see that it's Julie Fountain of Lush Lampwork, pictured doing her thing!
Corner jewellery display. The bottom shelf and the mirror show off my Sterling silver squiggles. And yes, I have replenished the second shelf!
The main jewellery display. We're really pleased with the way this turned out. The glass shelves are taken from my cupboard, the supports are gift wrapped breeze blocks and bricks. The mirrors are all from IKEA.

Display of earrings and chain maille bracelets and watches. White shelves curtesy of IKEA... what would we do without them?
We're offering tea and coffee... would you care for a cup?

Toys and books to amuse our tiny visitors and discourage them from playing with the displays!
More fused glass by Sarah Aumayer.
And on your way out a last display of fused glass.

Please do sign our visitors' book and thank you for coming.

If you're in the area and would like to see it all in person - we're in Lower Langford - just off A38, near Churchill. And we're open 10-6 until Sunday.

Much love.
xx

End of the Road...

Sorry it's taken a while to finish up the blog about our trip to the USA. As soon as we got back I was headlong into the preparations for Arts Week... see next post.

The last full day in San Francisco saw us in China Town: even the lampposts are in tune!


I saw this lady on the cable car and thought she looked so wonderful I had to secretly take her photo.

And then to Alcatraz. It's a fascinating place and there is an excellent self guided tour.

Then all too soon it was time to come home. The bitter pill was sweetened by the fact that we got bumped up to Business Class! Talk about how the other half live. It was marvellous.

I can't believe that we were there this time a month ago. It was a superb trip - one that we'll all remember for the rest of our lives.

Hope you enjoyed coming along with us!

Much love
xx