Party, party, party...

So how are you all? Hope you're well and happy.

Well, the big news it that I'm now the mother of an 18 year old! Tom's birthday on 20th February was wonderful. We took him to the pub at lunchtime to buy his first legal round of drinks and then in the evening we had a big family party. It was great fun.

Here he is cutting his cake.
Also in this picture are Sarah, who is my partner in crime when selling jewellery, my fabulous hubby and my lovely, lovely Mum.

On the jewellery front, I've been hard at work finishing my project for my jewellery course. Here it is:
The basket is brass with copper foil woven in and out of it, the handle and rim are copper and the bail (more of that in a minute) is brass and copper. The necklet is silk.

This is the reverse - a piece of shiny brass.

The bail was the bit that caused me most headaches. I wanted to try making one of these woven bails, but, boy, are they fiddly!

Here are my attempts to get it looking neat...
The first attempt I made (somewhat foolishly) in Sterling Silver, I then switched to copper and then the final one is brass and copper.
To make them you form a skeleton of wire and then wrap hair thin wire round, in and out, round, in and out, to form the weaving. I'm glad I persevered and hope to make some more, I do think they're attractive.

It's been a busy couple of weeks with sales in offices, a great party last night and trying to build up stock. But I've loved every minute.

Right, that's it for now. Short and sweet just to keep you up to date. Will hopefully be back soon with more things to show you.

Take care, all, and have a great weekend.

Much love
xx

I made lampwork beads!!!

Not been very productive this week with one thing and another.

Firstly, a quick update on George. He is having some new treatment and which seems to be having good results. We're hoping to see him tomorrow morning, so I'll report back then.

Yesterday I had a wonderful day out with my chums, Kathy and Suzy. We went to visit Julie at Lushlampwork
We had such fun - and actually made a few beads!! Here's a pic:


I think the ones I made are the pink/purple one at the front, the amber one at the back and the turquoise/green one at the back on the right. And one of the plain ones.

I can see why people get hooked on this bead making malarkey! It was great fun. But, I'm going to stick with the jewellery and buy my lampwork beads... but I now have an even greater respect for those who make these amazing little works of art.

So here's a set which features the work of one of the best lampwork artists around.
This for my lovely friend, Anne, whose 50th party we are off to tomorrow. The lampwork is by the wonderfully talented Helen Brodt-Savage and I've teamed her beauties with Sterling Silver, Sand Opal Swaros and lovely deep blue pearls.


The second one is made with Tagua beads. I first saw these at Spring Fair and have been itching to get some ever since. A couple of weeks ago a new shop opened in Clevedon, mainly selling gifts, but with a small bead room at the back - and what had they got? Yep, my tagua beads. They are very light - also called Vegetable Ivory - and are the dried seed pod of a tropical rainforest palm tree . They come in a wonderful array of colours and shapes and don't break the bank. You'll be seeing more of these!
Here I've threaded them onto beading chain and teamed them with Thai Silver.



So, tomorrow we're off to see George in the morning, then to Tintern for Anne's party - which should be great fun as she's dusting off the disco that she and her husband, Pete, used to run back in the 70s! I shall be dancing all night to the hits of yesteryear!

I hope you have a great weekend.

Much love to you all.

A quickie...

Just a very quick note to post up another photo - Me, Mum and Patricia at the SS Great Britain. We all had a fantastic time getting to know each other.

Martha has gone off to Paris with school... the house is very quiet without her. She'll be back on Sunday, but it already feels like she's been gone an age. And they weren't allowed to take their phones, so I have no idea how she's getting on. Missing her like mad.

Have to dash as I'm doing an all-day jewellery party at Sarah's today - and tomorrow morning! Will let you know how it goes.

Reporting back

The party was great! We sold a good amount and had several people express an interest in holding a party, so all in all a result!

Mind you, it was hard work being the hostess and a seller. Opening the door, taking coats, making tea, pouring wine, chatting... AND explaining about the jewellery and taking the money... I was EXHAUSTED! But it was great fun and it was lovely to catch up with some of my chums.

Next Wednesday we have our first ever sale in an office. We're at Clerical Medical which is just over the other side of Clevedon, so not far for me to travel... Have no idea what to expect.

A busy week next week as I'm also having my hair done, going for physio on my knee, going to London to see Kathryn Williams and Niall MacColl (very excited about that) as well as the sale above and another event on Friday night.

One thing that happened last week, which you missed because I was so busy, was that my son turned 16. I can't believe it! He's so grown up already. And so handsome... here he is, judge for yourself:

This was taken last October - just outside Padstow.

Off to my book group in a bit, we've just read On Chesil Beach... if you've not read it, I'd thoroughly recommend it. Then, hopefully, this weekend we can do a bit more on turning the old kitchen into my workshop.

So, have a good weekend, all my lovely blog readers - and take care.