Monday 31 August 2009

Cupcake Pendant Giveaway

Do you fancy a shot at winning this delicious-looking Cupcake pendant?

If so, all you need to do is tell me your favourite kind of real cake. You can do this by commenting or emailing me.

I'll draw a winner at random on Monday September 7th. The draw is open to anyone anywhere in the whole universe but only one entry per person please.

Cupcakes Galore!

Assorted Lampwork Glass Cupcake BeadsSo many Cupcake beads. I've really enjoyed making these lately - it's all the different colour and design combinations.

All those cherries .....

Lampwork Cupcake Beads With Cherries..... and all those sprinkles!

Lampwork Cupcake Beads With SprinklesIf you like Cupcakes, check back later today as I'll be doing a Cupcake giveaway!

Sunday 30 August 2009

"Do you mind?"

Buster & KnittingI think that if Buster could speak English, then that is what he'd have said to me at this moment. Buster is a big old cat. As you can see here, he fills my lap and then some. He likes to settle down on my lap while I'm knitting but he normally doesn't stay there for very long as I constantly annoy him (not deliberately, I must add) with my circular needles. Occasionally he turns around and glares at me with a peeved look on his face, perfectly illustrated in this photo.

'Oceans Heart' by Janine Byrom

Necklace By Janine ByromI just got an email from Janine over at Cherished Trinkets and attached was a photo of this super necklace that she's made with one of my heart beads. Vintage prettiness!

If you're a fan of vintage-style jewellery or Alice In Wonderland-themed wearables then do make sure you head on over to Janine's Etsy shop and have a browse.

Saturday 29 August 2009

Silkiness

Lavender Mists Silk YarnDue to my cold, I have no beads to show you so in the meantime I'm going to bore you with knitting stuff.

This wondrous yarn arrived today. It's one hundred percent silk and I bought it from Eirwen at KnitWitches Yarns. The colour is called 'Lavender Mists' and it's a dreamy blend of palest lavender and silvery white. The sheen is out of this world - it's almost like it was spun from lavender-coloured stars. Magical! It's going to be a scarf for me.

Right - I'm off to see if I've got any beadmaking ability. Catch you later!

Friday 28 August 2009

On The Mend

Trilobite SocksThanks for all your get-well-soon messages! I'm feeling much better. I've just got the standard cold symptoms now. The sickness was caused by Lemsip - it had an odd reaction with some other medication that I'm on. Not nice.

I've not been doing much - I came home from Cambridge on Wednesday and spent all of yesterday flaked out on the sofa. I just had no energy whatsoever.

I finished the socks that I was working on. Those are they up there. The pattern is Wendy D. Johnson's 'Trilobite' one from her fabulous Socks From The Toe Up book. They're knitted in Wild Fire Fibres Tempo in 'Aztec'.

Today I made the last few Cupcakes from the August batch. I had to wait for some glass to arrive from the States - why is it that my favourite colours are so hard to get hold of here in the UK? I guess I'm just awkward .....

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Not Too Good

Hello Beadpeople

I'm writing this from Chris's computer as I'm still in Cambridge. I started feeling all coldy and flu-like on Sunday and stayed here yesterday as I had zero energy for travelling. Yesterday evening I got worse and Dr Chris had to do the whole phoning-NHS-Direct thing. At midnight he went off to the medical centre to get me some tablets to stop me being sick ... and they did. Today I feel all weak and feeble so I shan't travel home until tomorrow now.

Just thought I'd let you know in case you were wondering where I'd got to.

Off for a Lemsip now .....

Friday 21 August 2009

Yarn Delivery

Wild Fire Fibres YarnOh how I love it when I answer the door to the postperson and they hand me a pink parcel. Pink parcels mean yarn from Wild Fire Fibres and that's always a good thing!

Look at these beauties - greens, purples, pinks. *Sigh*

I've just finished knitting the toe of the second half of a pair of socks that I'm working on. They're knitted with a WFF yarn in a wonderful mixture of earthy browns and grey blues. I'm hoping I'll have the finished pair to show you by the start of next week. I'm off to Cambridge tonight so I get Train Knitting Time. It's odd knitting in public. People look. Like really look. They're intrigued but they don't say anything. Half of me wishes they would. I like conversations with random strangers but people just don't seem to talk to each other much any more. Especially on the tube. Oh no. It's a mortal sin to speak to strangers on the tube and of course, you must never make eye contact with your fellow passengers either. Humans are odd sometimes .....

Alrighty then, I'm off to do the ironing. Have a good weekend!

Thursday 20 August 2009

'Big Red Heart' Focal

Lampwork Glass Heart BeadIt's big. It's red. It's a heart. Not just a clever name!

I'm going to have to make myself one of these. I quite fancy one on a long chain.

It's a very clean and simple-looking bead - one of those ones where the shape and colour does the talking as opposed to any surface design.

It'll be for sale in the normal place at 8.30pm tonight.

Wednesday 19 August 2009

Ooooh!

Polka Dot CaseTesco shopping can be mundane so imagine my joy when I happened upon this little red and white polka dot case. Isn't it just so sweet? I don't yet know what I'm going to keep in it. All I do know is that as soon as I saw it I knew I needed it in my life.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

'Romance' Heart Focal

Lampwork Glass Heart BeadThis glass gem is made from CiM's 'Pink Champagne' and it's decorated with tiny white dots, this time in a random configuration! Yes! She shoots, she scores .....

Utter pendant material, methinks. It'll be for sale in the usual place at 8.30pm tonight along with a few other beads.

Monday 17 August 2009

Next Batch

Cute Cupcake BeadI'm now taking orders for next month's Cupcakes.

Please
click here for all the details.

There will indeed be new 'normal' beads this week. I'll make sure I keep you posted!

Friday 14 August 2009

Etsy Faves : Lego



Because I just love Lego. Click on the images for details.

Wednesday 12 August 2009

Done!

Lace KnittingRemember that lace knitting I showed you a couple of months back? Yeah, that lace knitting. The knitting that was doing my head in and I could only work on it in absolute peace and quiet. Well, it's finished!

I am so pleased with how it's turned out. I blocked it last night - blocking is a process that totally brings lace knitting to life. You wash the crumpled piece of knitting and then pin it out on a board to dry and the lace just unfurls itself and you gaze at it lovingly and go 'Ah! I actually made that!' and you feel an enormous sense of achievement.

Lace KnittingMuch swearing happened during the knitting of this - many expletives are woven into the fabric. I also unpicked and re-knit parts of it countless times. At one point I was knitting two rows and then unpicking three but I got there in the end.

Lace KnittingThe yarn is just b-e-a-utiful and it feels so soft. It came from Vikki at Wild Fire Fibres. If you're a knitter and you haven't worked with Vikki's yarn yet, do get yourself over to her Etsy shop and choose something. You won't be disappointed! The stole pattern is by Val Campion and is based on the ancient Shetland 'Print O' The Wave' lace pattern and it's available for free. Just click here and scroll down the page to see it.

I have lots of other projects on the needles. A top for me, a pair of socks (oh what a surprise!) and a couple of stealth Christmas Present Box pieces. I'll show you what I can as and when .....

Thursday 6 August 2009

'Sea Breeze'

Lampwork Glass BeadsI made this strand of beads with potential pendants in mind. Lots of groovy shapes to play with. Just imagine two rounds with a disc in between, or a round on top of the wide end of the cone. Whoever purchases this set of beads is going to have lots of jewellery-designing fun!

Lampwork Glass BeadsThe colours are very sea-like, hence the name. Teal green teamed with periwinkle, turquoise and touches of purple. Okay, purple's not strictly oceanic but it works!

Lampwork Glass BeadsThe heart was supposed to have random dots. I made the basic shape and added the dots in what I thought was a haphazard manner. It wasn't until I was melting the dots in that I noticed they're in a symmetrical pattern. Oh my brain frustrates me sometimes! It just won't let me do irregular.

Whatever, this is one fun strand of beads and it'll be for sale on my website tonight.

Wednesday 5 August 2009

'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah'

Lampwork Glass BeadsCrazy name, I know, but these bright and cheery beads told me that they wanted to be called that. Who was I to argue?!

Luminobead Earrings

Earrings By Melanie PoxonThese groovy earrings featuring my Luminobeads were made by Melanie Poxon of Kookie Designs. I just love the bright blue wire - very funky! Please click here to see more of Mel's work.

Don't forget, I always love to see what happens to my beads once they reach their new homes so if you have pictures of jewellery that you've made with my beads, please do send them my way.

Tuesday 4 August 2009

'A Fiori'

Lampwork Glass Beads By Laura SparlingI do like pink and green together. It's one of those colour combinations that just works. You can use various hues - hot pink and lime green, candy pink and mint green, deep magenta and dark bottle green and so on, and the colours will just sing together.

Lampwork Glass Beads By Laura SparlingI made the dusky pink beads in this set first and then set about finding a green that would work nicely with them. I decided upon this wonderful soft sage green, created by layering glasses. The beads are decorated with tiny white flowers with raised lavender centres. The name 'A Fiori' means 'flowery' in Italian.

The photographs could have been better but there's not much you can do when the August sky is grey and dreary. Flippin' weather - one minute it's sunny and the next it's pouring down. I don't want a heatwave but some August sunshine would be nice!

These beads will be for sale on my website tonight.

Monday 3 August 2009

Pig Palace

New Guinea Pig StyI bought my guinea pigs a swank new house on Saturday. Their old one was starting to get a bit manky and parts of the wood were starting to rot. Also, Martha and Jemima, the two younglings, are growing at a rapid rate and the old hutch was starting to become a tad cramped.

So they now have this wonderful guinea pig sty which is very spacious and best of all, the whole roof lifts up for easy cleaning and it makes catching the furry squeakers a much easier task too!

And yes, that's Jemima and Edith sat either side of the steps that lead up to their mansion. People always seem to find this amusing but my guinea pigs are free range. The whole garden is guinea pig proof with discreet bits of mesh and netting here and there to stop them escaping. I open the hutch door in the morning and they come and go as they please throughout the day and then in the evening I put their dinner in their house (fresh lettuce, carrot and apple every day) and they all head home and I shut them up for the night. Honestly, guinea pigs are the best pets - they don't bite, they don't smell and they're oh-so-sweet and very amusing to watch. Each one has their own little personality. I've kept guinea pigs since I was about eight and I'll be keeping them for many years to come!

Sunday 2 August 2009

Hello

I am here, I've just not got much to say at the moment. I've made a start on the Cupcake orders and I'll have some normal beads to show you tomorrow.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!