The inevitable 'It's Hot!' post

Oh yes. It's mighty hot. Like too hot.

I don't do hot. I wasn't designed for it. I get very stressed (just ask Chris about my sandwich shop strop on Saturday) and I tend to do everything at a quarter of the normal speed in an attempt to stay as cool as I can.

Yesterday's train journey home from Cambridge was horrid. I was prepared for the mugginess and general sauna-type conditions of the London Underground and I made sure I had a bottle of water with me before I descended the steps at Kings Cross. But within about five minutes of stepping onto the tube train I got that horrible woozy, sounds-like-you're-in-a-swimming-pool, eyes-have-gone-blobby, just-about-to-faint feeling. I drank my whole bottle of water and got off the train at the next stop for some fresh(er) air. When I eventually got to Paddington I downed another bottle of water and an orange juice and I started to feel a bit better. I got on the train home but the flipping thing overheated and broke down at Reading. So did the passengers. There was a tonne of jostling, hot angry people trying to figure out where they had to go to catch a train to get them to wherever they had to be. Ah, the joy of trains.

It's mega warm again today but it's not really sunny. The thermometer currently says it's 32.4°C out there. As you can imagine, I'm not melting glass. Instead I've been to Tesco where I contemplated buying a paddling pool. For me. Yes, I'm thirty one years old but I tell you, I was so close to putting that paddling pool in my trolley. The thought of lounging about in all that cool water was very inviting but then I got a mental image of myself not fitting into the pool and kind of being splayed out in it, legs, arms and head dangling over the edges. And of course, paddling pools also involve swimsuits. Those factors quickly changed my mind so I left the pool on the shelf. I think it was for the best.

Tell you what though, I'm seriously considering a severe haircut. I still haven't been to a hairdresser which means that it's almost a year since my hair had any kind of professional help. Yesterday, what with all the stress, sweat and humidity, I looked like Brian May. And that's not good. May takes curly hairness to a whole new level.

(That's not me, that actually is Brian May but my hair was looking something like that.)

Must. Find. Salon. Quick!

'Poppies'

Here are the beads that I was excited about earlier!

On the train home from Cambridge last time I looked up from my book and outside were the most amazing fields of beautiful poppies. Just carpets of red as far as the eye could see. I knew right there and then that I would have to make some poppy beads.

So here they are. I was going for that kind of painterly, Impressionistic look. I wanted to convey the fragile, floatiness that poppies have. I decided on a clear base bead as I love the way the red shows through from one side of the bead to the other.

I'm really chuffed with them - they pretty much match the bead vision I had in my mind.

These will be for sale on my website at 8.30pm tonight.

Oooh oooh oooh!

I've got that I've-got-some-exciting-beads-cooking-in-the-kiln feeling!

Just had to share that with you. I'll share pictures of said beads later today .....

Call For Cupcakes

Hey Beadheads! I've a quick favour to ask of you. If you've made anything with any of my Cupcake beads, please could you possibly email me some photos of your work?

Thank you!

Want to melt glass with me?

I taught some lessons at the start of the year and I said that they would be the only ones I would be teaching in 2009.

I said this because Chris and I were supposed to be getting a place together - I mean, we should be living together right now if we had got our arses in gear and done what we said we were going to do. But we didn't. It's tricky trying to sort out all that serious grown-up stuff when you only see each other every weekend. And the fact that we're not actual serious grown-ups doesn't help either. So, we're going to do the moving-in thing at the start of 2010 instead. And we will - we've bought a casserole dish together now for the Chris & Laura Box so we'll have to see it through ..... ;o)

Anyway, all that aside, I thought that once our Summer (ha ha) is over, I would begin teaching again. It's a tad warm to be melting glass next to a torch and kiln when it's hot and muggy outside. I do that and it's not great. So with that in mind I will be teaching every Tuesday from September 1st through to and including November 24th.

The lessons will be shorter than last time. The one-to-one lessons will run for five hours from 10.00am to 3.00pm. We can change those times if it suits you better. I'll provide tea, coffee and biscuits but unless you're up for a cheese and salad cream sandwich for lunch (my fave) you may want to bring a packed lunch with you. I do appreciate that not everyone likes cheese and salad cream sandwiches.

I will teach you what you want to learn, be it basic beginner beadmaking or more advanced techniques such as stringer application and encasing etc. You will be making beads on my Carlisle Mini CC torch in my light and airy conservatory ‘studio’ in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. I’ll also provide lesson notes and lots of beadmaking books for you to look at.

Each lesson will cost £130.00. I will need a 50% deposit (non-refundable) at the time of booking to secure your place with the balance payable on the day of your lesson. I accept payment by PayPal or cheque. Please email me for further information, to book a class or to enquire about available dates.

Thank you!