Nice Picture

I've just taken this photograph of last night's beads and I wanted to post it here. I just think it's a nice picture.

'Mojito'

I've just put these frosty green lovelies on the Freshly Baked Beads page. There are another four sets too and they're all waiting for new homes .....

Beadlings

I've just added an array of 'Beadlings' to the Beads To Order page.  These little lovelies measure 9mm diameter and would be great for making earrings and dainty bracelets.

These spotty glass gems come in strands of a dozen for £12.00 or you can order five strands for £50.00.  

I've also added some Beadling Mixes to the Freshly Baked Beads page. These sets contain ten pairs of Beadlings and cost £20.00 each.

Are you ready to order?

Or do you need a bit longer?  Can I get you some drinks?

If you'd like to take a look at my beady menu please click here.

Also, you might like to know that you can now select Insured And Trackable Postage as a side order.

Please excuse me - I'm off to bake some more beads.

Enjoy your meal ..... I mean, Sunday.

Bead-On-A-Key Winner

Thank you for all your giveaway entries.  I've just used Random.org to select a number betwixt one and sixty-three to choose the winner of the Bead-On-A-Key and that winning number is ...

... number six!  I make that @HelenStellen so many congratulations to you, Helen. Your key will be winging its way to you next week.

Thank you to everyone who entered the draw; I'll do another one soon.

Have a great Friday night!

'SpaceScape'

These galactic-looking beads contain swirling swathes of several shades of blue, a touch of ivory and lots of fine silver to give a starry effect. They are encased in crystal clear for depth and sparkle. 

If you fancy giving these cosmic blue 'SpaceScape' beads a home they can be found in the usual place.

Have a lovely evening!

'Lichen' by Elizabeth O'Connor

Through the wonders of Twitter I am the proud owner of this beautiful painting by Elizabeth O'Connor of Gallery6.  Elizabeth likes my key beads and I like her paintings.  Apryl suggested that we do a trade (Apryl loves her crafty trades and I can't blame her; I would love it if Tesco accepted beads as a form of payment) and so we did.

Elizabeth (she's probably frowning at me now for calling her that so from now on I will refer to her as 'Liz') creates expressive, abstract paintings using mixed media.  Some of her canvasses remind me of nebulae and interplanetary mists and others are like moody colour storms and crashing waves of paint.  Lovely stuff.

Liz asked me what colours I'd like the painting to be and I asked for fern and olive greens and shades of grey.  I had already picked out the perfect spot in the living room for the painting and those colours match our lounge. (Are you surprised?  Were you imagining a sea of red and white polka dots?  No, that's the kitchen.)

A few days later the postman delivered the canvas and I fell in love with it as soon as I unwrapped it.  The colours are perfect and the painting has all these wonderful little details.  I just sit and look at it sometimes; I get properly lost in all the swirls and silvery touches.  It's just beautiful.

I think I will commission Liz to do another painting when we eventually get round to decorating our bedroom.  If you'd like to pretty up your house with an Elizabeth O'Connor original too her website can be found here.  Make sure you have a look at the Gallery section - the 'Acid Pop' painting is particularly pretty.

A huge 'thank you' to Liz for my gorgeous piece of art and also to Apryl for suggesting the trade.

Prize Draw: Bead-On-A-Key

I can't believe how quickly this year is whooshing by - it's been ages since I last did a prize draw so I thought I'd better arrange a giveaway.

The prize is this bead-on-a-key.  It would look great threaded on a long chain or length of ribbon or if you don't fancy wearing it you could just keep it as a twiddly ornament thing.  

The bead is periwinkle blue dusted with purple enamel and decorated with white spots.  It moves up and down and spins round and round the antique Victorian key.

The key is 60mm long.

If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning this key bead all you need to do is enter my prize draw. The rules of the giveaway are as follows :

♦ The draw is open to anyone anywhere in the world.

♦ It's one entry per person.

♦ To enter the draw you need to leave a comment on this blog post.  No email entries this time, I'm afraid, but please bear in mind that you do not need a Blogger account to comment on this here blog.

♦ When you comment please leave a name of some kind, be it your actual one, a nickname or your blog user name - just something rather than an anonymous comment. If you have a popular name please leave some kind of initials. Last time I had lots of Kates and Helens enter and that got a bit confusing! Something like 'Laura S' would be great.

♦ Entries need to be in by 7.00pm (UK time) on Friday 8th July when I will pick the winner using a random number generator.

♦ I'd really appreciate it if you could mention and link to this prize draw on Twitter, Facebook or your blog.  You don't have to and you don't get an extra entry BUT you will receive a virtual handshake or hug from me (or both if you like) if you're kind enough to do so.  (Tell you what, I'll even throw in a cyber-kiss-on-the-cheek if you want one!)

I hope that all makes sense.

Good luck!