Never gets boring

Black, white and clear - possibly the three best glass 'colours' (or not) in all the world. In my opinion.

This bunch of nine beads are all different. Some are encased, some aren't. I had an absolute ball creating them! I never tire of making monochrome beads. These would look wonderful on a charm bracelet, don't you think?

My favourite one is the cased white bead with the black polka dots. Maybe someday I'll make a set of those ..... when I have hours to spare. Jet black dots have to be melted in soooo slowly you wouldn't believe. If you rush it you'll just end up with a feathery ugly mess. Worth the extra time spent, though.

It's a rainy day here. the guinea pigs are grumpy because they're stuck in their hutch. Martha has squeaked at me every time I've opened the back door today. She'll cheer up and forgive me when I take their lettuce, carrot and apple out to them later!

Lonely Heart

This poor little heart trio wants a home. She's the only one left from the four sets I had for sale the other day. I've just been taking photos of the trio in the sunshine so you can really see the pink prettiness. (NOW SOLD! Thanks Mel.)

Shiny shiny polka dots

I love polka dots. I mean I actually really do love them!

I was in a gift shop in Abingdon buying a pressie for a friend the other week and I got into a conversation about polka dots with the shop assistant. She loves them too and we agreed that they're definitely happy and smile-inducing.

Two timeless colour combinations here - classic black and white and yummy turquoise on chocolate. The latter two colours together always remind me of Chris's flat as he has lots of brown and turquoise things. Although, it has to be said, more and more red and white things are sneaking into his flat. Can't think how or why .....

Heart Trios

I did have these hearts up for sale as one group but I decided to split them into trios. They're available over at my website as I type.

Cor blimey - what a warm few days we've had! Doesn't really make for a comfortable lampworking experience, I can tell you.

I thought I'd show you a photo of the socks that I made for my Grandma's birthday. My Uncle paid for the yarn and I got to knit the socks. Bonus!

The socks are knitted with Wild Fire Fibres Manyana in Ocean View and the pattern is Wendy D. Johnson's 'Rivulets' one. Really pretty - will be making more of these.

Millvina Dean

It was sad to read the news yesterday that Millvina Dean has died. She was the last survivor of the sinking of RMS Titanic.

I grew up in Southampton which is rich in maritime history and it is especially famous for its links with the Titanic. When I was at school I took part in a drama production called 'The Titanic Experience'. It was a bit of a success and we did three versions of it over the years and we eventually ended up performing it at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. I remember the show fondly and it was so wonderful to be part of it.

Millvina lived in Southampton and she came to see the show a couple of times. She was a lovely lady and very interesting to talk to. She was only a small baby when she was on board the Titanic. Millvina was placed in a sack and passed to her mother who was waiting in a lifeboat. Her father went down with the ship. So sad.

The 1994 newspaper photo above shows me and some other members of the cast with Millvina. Yes, that's a sixteen year old me on the right. I would have loved to have been wearing Andrea's swanky costume but alas, I played the part of Third Class Passenger Narrator. If you click the photo you can read the article that went with it.