It's been another busy day here. Nicky came to visit and we had a lovely lunch and a good old natter and catch-up. I do miss her being just around the corner.
Look at this! My fab friend Nicky is giving away - yes, giving away - this totally gorgeous handmade 'Hoopla' necklace. To be in with a chance of nabbing this sterling silver beauty all you need to do is visit her blog and do what she says. Easy peasy!
I came home from Cambridge today to a slew of letters and packages. I love getting post! Amongst my mail was a little package from Nicky. It was this beautiful button bag and cute 'Cakeify' cupcake brooch from Asking For Trouble.
It's been a fab Tuesday. Last night Nicky travelled up from Southampton and we spent the evening (and early hours of the morning) having a good old natter. She brought all her wonderful silver jewellery with her for me to have a look at and to ooh-and-aah over. Such prettiness!
Then after a couple of hours mooching around the shops we went to the Thorntons Café where Nicky had the slice of rather naughty-looking chocolate gateau at the top of this post and I had a piece of chocolate caramel shortbread. And a hot chocolate. With whipped cream. And they gave us each a chocolate truffle too. Cocoa overload! Nicky snapped this shot of me licking melted chocolate off my fingers.
Oooh, I've had a hectic couple of days! I went to London on Tuesday and I had a good old wander around the British Museum. I've never been there before but I've always fancied going. So many interesting things to see - the famous Elgin Marbles, the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies and fabulous Japanese stuff. There's also loads of ancient jewellery. The Greek gold jewellery was beautiful and there were some Egyptian carnelian and stone beads that were seven thousand years old!
..... and isn't it a beauty? I asked Nicky to make this for me. Not long after she started silversmithing she made herself a pretty little daisy ring and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to have one. So Nicky made this one for me and she's set a really beautiful, sparkly amethyst in the centre. I love the way that the petals reflect the colour of the stone. Sheer loveliness!
These 'Cosmic' beads are some of the few I've made in the past couple of days. There's been a lack of glass-melting action this week and bead production will probably decrease a bit more over the next month or so. The house is sold and it's all gone a bit manic. We've got a cash buyer (a good thing) and the house we're moving to in Abingdon is empty so it's all moving very fast. There's such a lot to do. Emptying the loft which contains thirty years of junk is the thing I'm dreading most. A free weekend would be a handy thing but tomorrow Dad and I are in Abingdon for a friend's 60th birthday do and the following weekend is Dylan's Christening. So cupboard clearing, junk slinging, packing away and boxing up is going to eat into my working hours. I predict stressful times ahead . . . . .
Well, I'm off to the shed now to see if I have any kind of beadmaking power. I hate the way that my mood affects my work. If I'm in a good mood I can sit and make beads for hours but if I'm worried or stressed it all goes wrong. Fingers crossed it's a good day . . . . .
Nicky bought this beautiful olive wood box for me while she was on holiday. She said that it's to keep my beads in until they get packed up and sent to their new homes. Normally I just keep my lampwork beads next to my computer but now thanks to Nicky they have a lovely place to stay - aw!
It's actually called a Lisianthus but I reckon 'Squirly Flower' describes it better! I bought myself these flowers earlier and I think I actually like them more in bud than in bloom.
My shed is like a sauna. I managed to make four beads yesterday and then I had to stop as I was wilting. It doesn't take a lot of heat to make me wilt - I'm a delicate flower, me! Ha! ;o)
It's so warm today I didn't even attempt the making of the beads. Nicky came over this morning and gave me a copy of Step By Step Wire Jewelry which features her fantastic 'Round In Circles' bracelet tutorial. She used some of my beads in her design and it's really nice for me to see them in print. I took the step-by-step photographs for Nicky's tutorial and as a thank you she made me this wonderful silver pendant. Isn't it fab? I love it - it's very me. The magazine will be in the shops next week so if you get a chance to grab a copy, do. Nicky's tutorial is great!
So it's been another bead-free weekend for me. Feels odd. I feel naughty for not being down the shed making stuff. Plus I'll be in Cambridge next weekend so that'll be three weekends off in a row!
I've not been sat doing nothing, though. I've just done an hour of Yoga on the Wii Fit and no, I still can't master that balancing on one leg thing. I'm becoming quite fond of Dirk though as he's been much nicer to me lately. Today he told me I had 'beautiful form', bless him! My friends Helen and James came over for dinner last night and we spent the whole evening playing with Wii Fit. Annoyingly they have perfect BMIs, leaving me feeling like a fat hedge-pig. But I'm quite pleased with myself as I'm losing weight quite steadily. I want to drop a dress size and I'm getting there slowly through a combination of at least fifty minutes on Wii Fit every day and diet. Yes, the 'D' word. Can't believe it. I always swore to myself that I'd never do a diet of any kind and here I am being all Bridget Jones about my weight - counting naffing calories, not eating lovely puddings, abandoning my beloved chocolate, drinking two litres of uninteresting water a day, having one sugar in my tea instead of two and putting skimmed milk on my boring Shredded Wheat. I would kill for a slice of lemon meringue pie with a splodge of extra thick cream - apples and bananas just don't compare! 