I can't settle at making beads and it's because I'm a little bit sad that my beloved Vittorio Vespa is going tomorrow.
Since my Dad had his motorcycle accident last year I've lost my confidence with my Vespa. It's just every time I go out on Vittorio and every time I'm out in the car with Dad I see umpteen things that make me think 'I don't want to be on the roads'. You know that scary advert that's occasionally on television where the driver is sat at the junction and he pulls out without seeing the motorcyclist? Well, that scenario happens far too much in real life. I've had it happen to me several times and although I've managed to brake in time, it still shakes you up.
And it's not just unobservant drivers that have put me off, either. If I've been unfortunate enough to be riding past the local secondary school at home-time, there are often groups of deranged teenagers walking in the road, running across the road in a crazy lemming-type fashion or just mucking about at the side of the road lobbing things at passing vehicles. A lady at the bus stop the other week was telling me about how her son ended up in hospital after he smashed his bike into a lamppost when he swerved to avoid a teenage idiot who jumped in front of his bike 'for a laugh'.
Everyone that I've spoken to about this seems to totally understand and several people have said how scary the roads and driving have become over the last few years. Others have said 'Oh well maybe now you can get yourself a little car!'. No, I can't and I won't be. The only way I'll ever own a car is if I win the lottery and end up getting a chauffeur and seeing as that will never happen because I don't do the lottery I'll make do with buses and walking.
As much as I love my Vittorio it seems a shame to have him sat in the garage doing nothing. I've been deliberating about parting with Vittorio for several weeks now. When I was feeling particularly confident the other week I went to put my crash helmet on and the fastener on it was broken. I took that as a sign and decided that maybe I should sell him. So tomorrow a man is coming to collect him. I'll be very sorry to see him go.
Ciao, Vittorio - I will miss you.
Yep - more Fusion beads, this time in my favourite colour. Lovely, lovely purple. These ones are on eBay too.
Normal glass rods are about 6-7mm in diameter. Pre-pulled stringers that you buy from glass suppliers are about 3mm diameter and the green stringer in the photo is one of those. Yes - those four thin white strands are my ridiculously thin stringer!
These beads are currently up for auction on eBay. The annoying thing is I've just noticed a typo in the item listing and now there are bids on the beads I can't put it right. Gah! I hate spelling mistakes and things and it's sooooo annoying that I can't correct it.
Yes, this is totally different to my usual beads but sometimes it's nice to go a little bit mad with the glass and make something out of the ordinary!
An ivory tapered bicone decorated with caramel-coloured stringerwork.
'Anemone' beads in very delicate colours. This angle captures their feathery quality quite well.
Even more implosions, this time in pale grey and periwinkle blue. Very delicate.
I could photograph these beads until I'm blue in the face but I'll never capture the 3D-ness of what's happening inside them. They need to be seen in real life. It's like a tiny explosion of pink and lilac glass caught in an orb of crystal. So pretty!
All in all it's a quiet weekend here - I would have got more beads made today if I hadn't done a really stupid thing this morning. I went and put the heater and kiln on in the shed and an hour or so later I settled down and made my first bead but as I went to put it in the warm kiln I realised that although I'd switched the kiln on I hadn't pressed the start button. So the bead froze to death and I had to wait for the kiln to heat up. What a plank I am . . . . . 
Rich amber and creamy ivory always look nice together but the addition of fine silver seems to give them that little extra bit of loveliness.
I thought it was crazy when I saw Cadbury's Mini Eggs and Creme Eggs for sale in our local Tesco Express the day after Boxing Day, but tonight I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked down an aisle in Tesco that was full of proper normal-sized Easter Eggs! What?! We've only just finished with the Christmas festivities. Don't get me wrong, I like chocolate as much as the next chocoholic but this is just plain silly. I was that shocked I whipped my camera phone out and took this photo!
I was going to etch these clear tabs as I was a bit concerned about the detail on one side being seen from the other. But on reflection I quite like the hectic effect that this has. Busy beads!
I'm still enjoying making the tabs! I decided to get a bit more complicated with these ones, though. Here I've used enamels, hand-pulled murrini and ridiculously fine stringer.
According to about six different weather reports we were due to have snow yesterday. Did it happen? No. That annoying woman on BBC Breakfast yesterday said we'd have about four centimetres. Okay, I know that's not exactly loads of snow but it would have been enough to make me jump about and do an 'It's Snowing!' dance. 
. . . . . and yes, they're purple. Swirls of lovely, funky purple on beads which I've shaped into comfy-to-wear tabs. I like the two shades here but I can imagine these working with maybe three or four colours per bead. Any colour combination suggestions will be gratefully received!
