Back to basics

It has now been a month since I have made any beads :(  I've still not got my new workshop set up and I am really missing making beads. On my days off work I find myself drifting around the house not knowing what to do with myself. On a couple of occasions I have even resorted to *gasp* doing housework! What on earth did I used to do with myself before I started making beads? 

Typically I'm full of ideas for beads, this is always the way when I know I can't make anything. All I can do is write down all my ideas and hope that they look just as amazing when I eventually get to make them as they are in my head right now...

So anyway, this week's beads on Ebay are ones I made just before Christmas. I've really gone back to basics, making lots of lovely simple organic beads - no raised decorations, dots, moons or flowers...just luscious colours.

And then I made this set, which is the complete opposite! More Multicolour and lots of silver. I could imagine finding these little treasures at the bottom of the ocean!

So...next time I post, I hope to be up and running again...see you then!

I'm back...but with sad news :(

Some of you may remember Noel, our rescue cat - he was the inspiration for the cat beads in the charity auction on Ebay a few months back. Unfortunately, we recently had to make the horrible decision to have him put to sleep. Despite being a fairly young cat, he had quite a lot of health problems. He had reached a point where his suffering was only going to get worse and we just couldn't let it go on. Needless to say, we both miss him loads. He may have only been with us for 8 months, but he was a real character...and he couldn't have asked for a better home to live out his last days - he was an absolutely spoilt rotten cat! Here he is 'helping' me to list some beads on Ebay;

Bye bye lovely boy, we'll miss you :(

In other news...I finally have some new beads on Ebay! I've just moved house - again - and I haven't got my new workshop set up yet, so these are beads I made before the move. As you can see, I'm still playing with one of my favourite colours,the aptly named Multicolour.

I love this one and was very tempted to keep it, but decided to let it go to a new home :)

I've found another favourite glass - Dark Silver Plum. It looks like a dark, dark purple but when you give it special treatment in the flame, it goes a lovely metallic bronzy silvery purple. This moon bead is wrapped in DSP shards...shards being what you get when someone braver than me blows molten glass into a bubble and then breaks it!

I guess one of my New Year's Resolutions should be to have a go at blowing shards myself. How scary can it really be? Oh and looking at the beads I've just listed, maybe I should make some in brighter colours again - they're all looking very dark and moody this week!

Cold!

Cold and damp is all very well when you can snuggle up on the sofa with a cup of hot chocolate and a cat, but it's not so pleasant in the shedio at the moment. I've just had to take my thermal vest, gloves, hot water bottle and silly hat out of their summer hibernation and I've bought a lovely warm pair of pink thermal socks!

So once more I'm cheering myself up by making rainbows...

 

I love these twirly rainbow pebbles so much I'm veerrry tempted to keep them!

Now on Ebay...

Falling leaves and rainbows...

Well, it's now officially autumn...misty mornings, fallen leaves and bonfires...and of course, this being England; rain, gale force winds, freak heatwaves and sub zero temperatures! :D

Naturally, with the turn of the season my beads are especially nature inspired, although not particularly autumnal.

Packed full of silver, 'Frost Moon' is actually named for December's full moon, but as it is a suitably frosty bead, I think a little artistic licence is permitted!


I just love these pebbles. They are made with raku frit and silvered ivory stringer and melted into olive shapes and the result is deliciously organic.



Last but not least, a rainbow - still one of my favourite beads to make. This one has a pretty golstone ruffle, for added sparkle. Just the thing to brighten up a miserable day!



All can be found right now on Ebay.

Missing Mojo

Creative mojos are temperamental things. Take them for granted or don't pay them enough attention and they are liable to up and leave. I know this, because mine has been off sunning itself in Italy, while I've been cursing over my torch in damp and drizzly England, unable to make anything except boring blobs of glass. I got miserable and frustrated, wondering whether I'd ever be able to make a decent bead again.

There are a few ways of persuading an errant mojo to come home. In my case, I went back to some tried and tested old favourites, like my jewel nuggets. 'Nuria' is an Arabic word for fire, which I think is appropriate for these red, orange and yellow nuggets.




I've also tried a couple of tutorials, which made me try new things and challenge myself a little. I'm happy to say that it appears to have done the trick and my mojo has now safely returned. :)




'Akasha' is one of the results...I love the energetic swirliness of this bead! Akasha, Nuria and a few others are now listed on Ebay.