Strawberrypalooza

Talk about falling behind with blogging. I've disgraced myself. I've not posted since last year. Awful behaviour.

Truth is, I've not made many beads so far this year. We had a new kitchen fitted a couple of months back. It was supposed to start at the end of February but at the last minute it got shifted back a week. The new installation was originally going to take two weeks but it eventually ended up taking over seven. We moved in almost sixteen years ago and have been threatening to do the kitchen since then but both Chris and I hate any kind of upheaval so we kept putting it off but it became so tatty and broken that we simply couldn't ignore it any longer. We were dreading it but everyone kept telling us it'd just be a couple of weeks of disruption and then it would all be done and shiny and new.

It was an absolute nightmare.

So many things went wrong and it became this never ending saga of bodges, fixes, delays, faults, mistakes, complaints, phone calls and emails. Out of those seven weeks we had a working sink for only one; the other six I was washing up in a bowl in the back garden. We got through prepper stockpile levels of bottled water. The kitchen is finally done, though. Almost. We've still not moved everything back in and there are some niggly little things that need putting right. I've also got to paint the woodwork. That wasn't in the plan and we did pay for the decorating to be done but the paintwork that was done was shocking so we told them to stop and we'd put it right and do the rest ourselves. We are pleased with the new kitchen and I'm sure that a couple of months down the line when it's all properly finished we'll love it but right now we're still a bit pissed off about it all, and every slightly wonky tile, crappy bit of grouting, badly-filled hole in the wall and not-quite-adjusted-right cupboard door makes us grimace. We can put some of these things right but we paid a lot of money to have them done right in the first place, you know? Still, we do not miss the 1990s red, orange and yellow hell kitchen of old, and I absolutely love the new sink and tap. Nigel very much likes his new dining area too, and he has his own motion sensor light above his bowls so he never has to eat in the dark again.

I went to visit my sister Emily in Northern Ireland at the end of March and it was nice to get away from all the kitchen drama for a few days. I do very much like it there. We did lots of walking and ate lovely things. If you ever find yourself in Kircubbin, do pop into Coan for one of their delicious cherry scones. My goodness, the Northern Irish buns and baked goods are out of this world.

So yeah, March and most of April was a write-off on the bead front. I got a few beads made here and there but nothing really worth blogging about.

However, after getting very excited at seeing the first British strawberries in Tesco (I'm a strawberry patriot and only buy British ones because they taste the best - you can shove your watery, flavourless out-of-season Spanish ones) I decided to make some glass ones. I'd not made strawberry beads for eons but I wanted to make these new ones as not beads. Instead I opted for working off the end of a mandrel so I could capture that classic strawberry shape that you can't quite achieve when the hole runs all the way through.

Strawberries on mandrels

Freshly cleaned strawberries

After cleaning the strawberries I made some stainless steel loops for them. That sounds like a simple task but flipping heck, my hands hurt afterwards. Stainless steel wire is hard to manipulate and I ended up with cuts from sharp wire ends and blisters from my pliers. I suffered for these strawberry buggers! When I had the loops made I epoxyed one into each strawberry. Again, a faff, but what do I do that isn't? I'm a professional grade faffer, me.

Curse those wire loops

The strawberries are now in my shop. They're available to order as individual strawberries, ready for you to attach a jump ring or whatever jewellery finding you fancy.

Little lampwork strawberry

They can also be purchased as earrings and pendants.

Strawberry earrings

The earrings have leverback earwires

Strawberry pendant

And if you'd like a ready-to-give gift, you can buy a strawberry pendant on a chain.

Strawberry necklace

Comes on an 18" sterling silver chain

I'll keep taking strawberry orders until I get bored of making them so if you fancy one, grab a strawberry while you can.

A couple of weeks ago I tidied up my website and I've simplified my shop and there are a few normal beads for sale in there. 

I have a load of Lonelies to clean and photograph. I'll try and get on that tomorrow so keep an eye on the shop for those in the next few days. I'll be splitting them into smaller strands as opposed to one or two big ones.

Right now the sun is shining here in Cambridge and I hope it's sunny wherever you are too. Fellow UK people, I wish you a happy May Day Bank Holiday. Will it rain, though? That's the question.

Languishing no more

I start to feel sorry for beads in my 'For Sale' box that have been sat there for ages waiting for a new home. It's like they're not getting to fulfil their potential and after months of them languishing in a dark box I take out the beads and turn them into jewellery.

'Rainy Day' bracelet

'Rainy Day' earrings

I've had some polka dotty 'Rainy Day' beads and some spotty 'Iceberg' ones sat doing nothing for far too long so last week I made them into bracelets and earrings.

'Iceberg' bracelet

'Iceberg' earrings

These pieces are currently available in my shop.

More Petalplosions

I've received really great feedback about the Petalplosions (thank you!) so I've made another batch of them. They can be purchased as pairs of beads and also as earrings.

French earwires

Leverback earwires

The earrings come with French earwires as standard but a leverback upgrade is available.

Please click here to visit my shop.

When a Whirly-Go-Round becomes a Vortex

These beads are what were once my Whirly-Go-Round beads but with so much more twist they no longer qualify as Whirly-Go-Rounds and are now 'Vortex' beads instead.

These blueberry-coloured ones are made with Effetre Blue 220, Lavender Blue/Pastel Ink Blue 247, Light Violet 041 and Super Clear 006. The beads have a nice depth to them which is hard to catch in a photo.

Earrings with French earwires

Pendant

I've turned the Vortex beads into earrings and pendants. The earrings come with French earwires but if you prefer more secure leverback fittings I can add those for an extra £2.00 per pair.

Earrings with leverback earwires

All of these can be purchased in my shop.

In other news...

I walked up to the Impington mill yesterday.

I like to wander past it every now and then and whenever I do I vow to attend the next open day so I can have a proper look inside and around it, but I've still never been. Maybe this year will be the year?

I've been doing a lot of walking this month. My foot has finally got better after that bout of plantar fasciitis and I've been enjoying my daily walks. I normally do about three miles and I do a longer one on a Saturday or Sunday. Granted, the January weather doesn't make for what most people would consider ideal walking conditions, but I like it. I love being out in the cold air and even when it's raining. Of all the weathers wind annoys me the most but when you're out walking in it it can be really invigorating. On my walk back from the mill yesterday I was walking into quite a strong wind so I had to put more effort in and I arrived home rosy-cheeked with my hair all over the place, looking like Neanderthal woman.

I've been reading a lovely book called Trees in Winter by Richard Shimell.

Richard is a printmaker and I've followed him on Instagram for a while now. He makes the most beautiful linocut prints of trees. The book is part about his craft and part memoir and it's full of Richard's wonderful tree images. His accounts of walking and just taking in nature, particularly the trees, really chime with me. You can see Richard's work on his website, his Instagram, and his book is available on Amazon.

I'm off down to the shed now. I've got an idea that I want to try out but as with many of my bead ideas it may well end up fizzling away to a nothingness so we shall see.

Have a good Monday and I'll see you soon.

Bead creations and Christmas cats

I made some more Stormy Seas jewellery. There are a couple of bracelets...

...and I also made a few pairs of earrings. 

The beads are only about 9mm diameter so the earrings are lightweight and easy to wear.

The Stormy Seas bracelets and earrings can be purchased in my shop. I can no longer guarantee delivery in time for Christmas but I will continue to post orders as I receive them and on days that Royal Mail are doing their thing, so feel free to buy beady things and they'll be with you when they're with you.

In other news, I made a couple of catnip mice, one for Nigel and one for Enca, my sister Sally's cat.

They're made with wool felt and their tails are Icelandic lopi wool. I grow and dry catnip for Nigel every year but I normally just put some in an old odd sock of mine and tie the end up and he's more than happy with his nipsock. This year I decided that I should actually make a mouse to stuff with catnip. I don't know why because this involves sewing, which I loathe. I found a catnip mouse pattern on the PDSA website and I spent far too long sewing these two. I've hidden Nigel's away and I wrapped and posted Enca's with the other presents I was sending to my sister. The parcel of presents arrived with her yesterday and during the night Enca decided she was opening her Christmas present early and by 'opening' I mean ripping apart the wrapping, biting the ears, tail and arse off the mouse and leaving toy stuffing, catnip and ripped bits of felt all over the dining room floor. What a catnip-crazed maniac!

Utter carnage

Meanwhile, Nigel is taking his usual interest in the Christmas tree. 

He absolutely loves it and always tries to climb it. This year Chris has made a reinforced base for the tree stand to avoid it toppling over if Nigel gets too enthusiastic with it.

Adjusting that blue tit bauble

Nigel's off to the vet this evening. He's got to have a blood test to check his thyroid levels. He was at the upper end of the normal range when he had a blood test back in the summer so this is a follow-up to see what's what. He's twelve now and the older he gets the more I worry about him. I spend more time stressing and fretting about the cat than I do anything else in my life! I'm sure other pet owners can relate.

I'm going to go and tidy the spare room now. Half of it is home to my jewellery making and bead packing desk, all my packaging supplies and my yarn stash. It's all getting a bit out of hand and very messy in there and I cannot move without knocking something over or something falling on top of me.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Earring-a-rama

I got some pairs of earrings made on Saturday. These range from £11.00 to £13.00 per pair and they are available to purchase on my website.

All earwires and findings are sterling silver.

I'm off down to the shed now, armed with some screws and a screwdriver in order to fix its door. The shed has reached a certain age and it's gradually falling apart which is something I can very much identify with.

Have a good Monday!

Why have one shop when you can have two?

I'm not a huge fan of Etsy. Its fees are too high and I have issues with some of their policies and biases. However, I'm at a point where I'm selling very little and I need to get my work seen. Instagram algorithms don't help with this unless you're willing to become a videographer who spends seventeen hours a day creating Instagram content and I refuse to do that. Also, PayPal seems to be playing silly buggers with my website checkout for some of my customers, and Etsy has many alternative payment options, so I've reluctantly reopened my Etsy shop. However, I'm keeping it to just UK sales at the moment. I'm keeping my website shop open too so right now I'm Laura Twoshops.

I'll add new items to both platforms for the foreseeable and I shall just see how it goes for the next few months.

Newly added items include this 'Sweetness' bracelet:

I made some matching earrings for it. I have two pairs of these.

There's also this very groovy 'Retro' tassel necklace.

All of these can be found in my web shop and my Etsy shop.

In crochet news...

In the previous post I mentioned that I was crocheting a shawl as a pattern test for another crocheter. The shawl is all done and is currently blocking.  I'll post a photo of the finished item when the pattern is released, which I think will be towards the end of the month. In the meantime, here's an in-progress shot of the shawl.

The yarn is Scheepjes Stone Washed in the shade Coral. The yarn reminds me of when I stir salad cream into Heinz spaghetti hoops. (Yes, I do actually do that and I've done it since I was a child and yes it sounds vile but no, in actual fact it's a taste sensation.)

I'm currently working on the border of another blanket which is made up of fifty-four of these mosaic crochet squares.

The pattern is the Terrazzo Afghan by Tinna Thórudóttir Thorvaldsdóttir. I bloody love Tinna's work. She's an absolute genius.

I'll post a photo of the blanket when it's done.

See you later!

Rings in rings in rings

After my trip to the cemetery on Saturday I walked into the city centre, popped into a record shop, paid a visit to Fitzbillies for a couple of their famous and ridiculously delicious Chelsea buns, then caught the bus back home. At some point in that very small window of being out and surrounded by other people, I caught some kind of lurg. Four lateral flow tests say it's not Covid but I'm constantly coughing, sneezing and my energy levels are very low. Pre-Covid era I'd not had a cold for years so maybe it's just a bog standard one of those and I've forgotten what they feel like? Whatever, I've been next-to useless this week so not much beadmaking has happened.

However, I cannot ever bear to be doing nothing for long and if my hands aren't making something I get kind of edgy. I spent Monday in bed with a temperature but I wanted to be making something so I fished out my box of jump rings, grabbed two pairs of pliers and sat in bed making a chain maille bracelet.

'Byzantine' weave bracelet

The next day I lounged about downstairs and made two more bracelets and some earrings.

'Byzantine' weave bracelet with patina

'Shaggy Loops' earrings

I've said before with regards to crochet, I'm very much a process maker. I get so much enjoyment out of the process of creating things that I tend to make stuff just for the sake of making it. This is fine but it means I end up with all these finished things – blankets, socks, doilies, jewellery – that I don't need and am never going to use.

So I've resurrected the chain maille jewellery page of my shop and put some of the items I've made for sale on there. Maybe there's someone out there who would like to give a bracelet or earrings a new home?

I've tracked down the winner of the last prize draw and I've figured out a foolproof way for how I'm going to run the monthly draws from now on. More details on that soon.