In Stock

I'm getting organised for Christmas on the bead front.

In doing so, I'm trying to build up some stock. This is so there will be beads and jewellery available and ready to post without you having to order things and wait for me to make them.

I've had a little shop shift-about-sort-out and I've created an 'In Stock' category where all the ready-to-go items can be found.

In this section right now are two strands of 'Cool' beads (£23.00 per strand) and ten Acorn & Oak Leaf necklaces, including five of the 'Burnt Sugar' ones at the top of this post.

I'll be adding to this section on a regular basis so do keep an eye on it.

And now I must away to the post box ...

All Change

I've finally finished building my new website. Yayhurray!

I've worked on it solidly for the past two days and I've just finished adjusting the blog to match and I'm really pleased with the way everything looks.

The new website means that I can update it very easily; I no longer have to use two lots of software and an array of swearwords to change anything. (My old website really was very tired and very old-fashioned.)  It also means that you no longer have to email me to buy beads because there is a shopping cart that does PayPal payments. In the very near future you will also be able to buy my PDF tutorials and they will be sent to you straight away automatically.

The annoyingly annoying thing about my recent techno-breakdown is the fact that my mailing list was on my laptop. Which is dead. So very very dead. And I have no idea if I can recover any data from it. So I've set up a proper mailing list with MailChimp which you can sign up to via my website. Even if you were on my mailing list you will need to sign up to this one to be kept informed about beads. I know, I know, I'm sorry and it's awfully irksome but these technical accidents happen. So yes, please sign up to my shiny new mailing list here.

My website has a slideshow and images which require Flash so if you look at it on an iPhone or iPad it might not display correctly. You can get around this by using a browser such as Puffin which does allow you to view Flash on Apple products. Bonus!

So yep, I think that's enough website waffle for now.

To summarise:

• All beads will now be sold in my website shop, not Folksy
• You'll need to re-sign up to my mailing list
• I'll still notify you of new beads via emails and my blog
• Thank you for putting up with me

Now, please do head on over to the new-look Beads By Laura and have a look around!

Bestest wishes,

Clear & White

You don't get much simpler than clear and white.  It's just so crisp, fresh and pretty.  I can imagine that these beads would be great for bridal jewellery and even Christmassy winter accessories.

Clear and white beads are now available to order on the Beads To Order page of my website.  I'm hoping to add a few more sets to the online 'catalogue' at some point this weekend.

I'm off down to the shed now to melt some glass.  Have a great Saturday wherever you are and whatever you're up to!

Beads To Order

Hello Beadpeeps!

Just thought I'd let you know that I've decided to make a selection of my beads available to order.  At the moment there are ten sets to choose from and I will expand the choice in time.  Let's just see how this goes.  You can use the shopping cart buttons to place your order but if you don't use PayPal you can always email me your order and we can sort payment by cheque or EFT.

Please visit my Beads To Order page for all the details.

Again, I am really sorry for not posting recently.  It's still mad here.  I do try and tweet daily so if you're on Twitter do follow me and say hi.

Have a good evening!

New Look

My eyes are all skew-whiff and my mind is a tad scrambled but I'm happy to say that the website revamp is now complete. Please click here to have a look.

Chris did the banner and footer - he's a bit of a clever computer geek, you see. I told him that I would like red and white as my colours and he came up with the groovy glassy-looking logo which I am just loving!

Chris and I hope you like the new look too.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Bead Buying

I think I'm just about there with working out my new bead-selling schedule.

I will be adding Freshly Baked Beads to my website on Wednesdays at 8.00pm UK time. I'm hoping that the regular once-a-week sales will be more convenient for you.

I've also re-opened my Etsy shop and am slowly stocking it with pretty spacer beads (like those ones up there) and focal beads. It'll also be the place to buy my Lonelies, smaller bead sets and bargain beads. UK people, please don't let the US Dollar thing on Etsy put you off - PayPal will do all the currency conversion for you. You can also use XE for quick currency conversions. There is no shipping to calculate as postage is free no matter whereabouts in the world you are.

Thank you for all your input about bead selling and buying - it's been a great help.

Slowly Un-Funking

Thanks for all the 'welcome back' comments on the Easter Giveaway post. They're very much appreciated.

There is a reason as to why my bead production levels have been virtually sub-zero recently but it's far too boring and yawny to explain so I'll just say that I've been getting back into making beads this weekend and I will have a few for sale on my website tonight. They're nothing exciting but hey, they're beads. That heart focal up there is one of tonight's offerings.

Just so you know, from now on all 'normal' Freshly Baked Beads will be sold on my website and any lonelies, jewellery and spare Cupcake beads will be available over in my Etsy shop. Why Etsy? Because number one, I like it, number two, I can add things whenever which means I spread the bead love about a bit and number three, it enables me to reach a wider audience with my work. And I know things are priced in US dollars but if you pay by PayPal it does all the conversion for you.

I'm going to go off and knit now before I work on the site update. I've got two Christmas present projects on the go at the moment and they're coming along nicely. And it may surprise you to hear that they're not socks .....

Virtual Re-decorating

I've just finished giving my website a little facelift. A few weeks ago I asked Mark at Fault 151 if he could design me a banner for my website and he came up with a fantastic spacey-looking one - the one that's at the top of this very blog. I love it! It's everything I like. It's spacey, sparkly, starry and shiny. Thanks Mark!

The website content is pretty much the same as it was - just a few small changes. I've added a 'Bead Forecast' to the homepage which is where I'll post details of upcoming beads sales and eBay auctions. I've also made the decision to stop selling jewellery. I may make the occasional piece for sale but I just don't have the time to create enough jewellery to warrant an entire webpage. I'll leave that to all you talented jewellery designers and I'll stick to making beads for you to turn into wearable loveliness!

The only things I have left to do with the site are the Bead Gallery and the Customer Gallery. I'll add the photos for those over the course of the next few days.

How do all you people who work at a computer all day do it?! I've been working on the site since 4pm this afternoon and my eyes feel all fuzzy and wrong. In fact, I think they need to go to sleep . . . . .

Blueberry Liquorice Swirls

Yep - that's the name that I went for, as suggested by Lynne. Well done, Lynne! Please can you send me an email with your full name and address and I'll get some beads in the post to you.

Big thank yous to everyone who entered the bead naming contest. There were so many fab names there and it was really difficult to pick a winner. It was fun though and I reckon I'll do another name-that-bead thing soon!

I've been tarting up my website today. Please click here if you'd like to take a look at the newly re-decorated Beads By Laura.