Webnesday

The first thing I do each and every morning is visit my favourite websites and blogs. I sit here with a cup of tea and click away seeing what's new and what everyone else is up to.

I've decided that I'm going to share five of my web finds with you every Wednesday in a feature that I'm going to call 'Webnesday'. Get it? (Don't try and say that word as it probably won't work - it's more of a visual thing.)

1. Pursuing The Art Of Curiosity

Firstly I'd like to draw your attention to Jennifer Dangerfield and her wonderful blog 'Pursuing The Art Of Curiosity'. I have known Jennifer (on a virtual basis) for years - we've never met but we have sent each other countless emails and she works the most amazing wonders with my beads. The 'Cherry' choker above is just one example of that. Jennifer has recently returned to blogging after a long hiatus. I'm delighted about this as I have missed her. Please click here to read Jennifer's blog and click here to visit her website which includes a gallery of her fabulous jewellery.

2. So What's New Today?

Next up is 'So What's New Today' which is a blog by Tina Scott. I have known Tina for about five years now and she is one of the nicest people in the world. I have met her in actual real life, in fact I stayed at her house for a couple of days during which time I threw up all over her kitchen floor, the thought of which still makes me cringe to this day. But because of her one-of-the-nicest-people-in-the-world status she looked after me brilliantly and never mentions the kitchen floor incident. Seriously, I still blush about that whenever I think about it - my face is hot pink right now! But anyway, I digress. Tina is a fellow beadmaker but at the moment she is really concentrating on honing her photography skills and she is blogging the results of her online photography courses. Her photos are fab! Just look at that 'Orange Tulip' one up there. Please click here to visit Tina's blog and click here to have a look at her Flickr Photostream.

3. Artist's Palette Yarns

Now for a web shop. You know I like yarn. You know I like socks. That means I like sock yarn and I know that some of you do too. I'm aware that a few of you have been inspired to take up sock-knitting because of me and my sock-knitting obsession and for that I apologise. Not to you but to your other halves. I know that Chris thinks of my sock-knitting as quirky and very Laura but sometimes he just cannot hide his Sock Shock when I put on a completed pair. The other day I finished knitting a pair of green socks, put them on and then set about getting dinner ready. When he glanced over and saw my feet he let out an 'Argh!', recoiled and guffawed. Thinking back I was wearing lime green socks with a purple dress so I guess a lot of his shock stemmed from that wacky colour pairing. But anyway, if you do knit socks then you may or may not know of Artist's Palette Yarns. They have an amazing selection of hand-dyed luxury goodness and their sock yarns are particularly delicious. I am currently knitting a pair of pumpkin-coloured socks with their Smoothie Sock yarn. Please click here to have a browse.

4. Howard The Drummer

I don't want to make 'Webnesday' all about blogs, beads, socks and jewellery. Sometimes you stumble across a great YouTube video that you just want to share. Take a look at this one. This is a four year old boy playing the drums. I know. If someone asked me if I'd seen the cute-four-year-old-boy-playing-drums video I'd normally pull the same face that I pull when someone emails me a bunch of photos of tiny fluffy kittens posing harmoniously next to big dogs. Normally I detest that kind of thing but seriously, the video of Howard the four year old drummer is pretty amazing! Take a look at it here.

5. Emma Kennedy

And finally a link to a very funny lady - Emma Kennedy. My book-on-the-go at the moment is her hilarious 'The Tent, The Bucket & Me' which is Emma's recollections of camping holidays with her parents in the '70s. It is highly amusing, as is her website. If you have time take a look at her family photos in her Galleries section as the captions that accompany them are very funny!

And that concludes today's Webnesday feature. I'll be back soon with photos of those green socks that shocked Chris .....

Globbles

These are a bit of a break from my normal round beads. In case you haven't noticed I do like making round beads! A lot of people ask me why I don't do many pressed beads. Truth is I just LOVE round beads. Beads want to be round. When the glass is molten it pulls to the centre of its mass (ooooh, get me getting all technical and scientifical) and makes itself round. Now don't get me wrong, I like other bead shapes and I do like pressed beads - it's just that I prefer making round ones!

These beads started off round but I flattened and shaped them here and there to create a nuggety-pebbley-rocky kind of shape. I made a set of un-decorated beads shaped in this way yonks ago but I decided to give these patterened ones the nuggety-pebbley-rocky treatment. I love the effect so much that I'm definitely going to make more and I've given the shape a name. I can't keep calling them nuggety-pebbley-rocky beads so I'm going to call them 'Globbles'.

I've got another blog award! Jennifer has given me a 'Rockin' Girl Blogger' badge - wahey! Thanks Jennifer. I shall pass this on to five other RGBs - I'll be back later with a list.

My 'Schmooze Award' Post

A huge thank you to Jennifer Dangerfield for giving me a 'Schmooze Award'!

To read more about the 'Power of Schmooze', please click here.

As a reciever of this award I'm supposed to pass it on to five other people. I will have a good old think about it and I'll get back to you soon with who those five will be . . . .

Greetings!

Hello!

This is all a little bit strange. I've read other people's blogs for a long time but I never intended to have one of my own. I do have a sort-of-blog on my website but I'm always aware of the fact that people normally visit my website in order to see what I've been up to bead-wise and they might not actually want to read my non-bead thoughts. Saying that, I know that some of my website visitors do like my random non-bead thoughts because they tell me they do and will often email me with matching random non-bead thoughts!

So why start a blog now?

Well, my wondeful friend Jennifer, who has a highly entertaining and captivating blog herself, has kindly awarded me a 'Schmooze Award'. This has finally made me get my arse in gear and has inspired me to create a blog upon which I can display my 'Schmooze Award'.

I will still post non-bead thoughts on my website but I will use this blog to post even more non-bead thoughts. Hey - I might even throw in a few bead-related thoughts from time to time too!

So many thoughts . . . . . .

I'm off now to find out how to add my award logo. I may well post again later . . .