Neckwear & three cheers for UK art bead makers!

Shoreline

A sterling silver wire & leather necklace featuring not one, not two, but three sets of beads by UK glass artists Laura Sparling & Josephine Wadman. Laura's conch shells and Josephine's scallops & decorated rounds are partnered by a set of Laura's famous 'Kamino' beads together with a smattering of wood for added organic accent.

Coming soon... 'The Kinks' featuring beads by Julie Fountain of Lush Lampwork & a rather saucy pendant with beads by Emma Ralph. Three cheers for UK art bead makers!!!

Rocking the Rafters with Jewellery News!

I really enjoyed Rodrigo y Gabriella's set at Glastonbury last weekend - was it truly just a week ago? They also played there back in 2007 which was my first introduction to their music. Here they are playing 'Vikingman' - I LOVE Glastonbury crowds!

If you want to dance all day, these two will fill you with jumping beans. I'm performing my bi-annual Shack studio muck-out at the moment and Rodrigo y Gabriella are rocking the rafters for me!!

I've also been making jewellery using beads by Emma Ralph, Josephine Wadman, Laura Sparling & Julie Fountain. There's a saucy pendant, a funky leather & Lush Lampwork necklace which goes by the name of 'The Kinks' and some beach babe drapery which features beads by Josephine & Laura. When I finally pack my hoover away, I'll unearth the tripod & get clicking.

Laura Sparling's Lonelies Prize Draw

Would you like to win these beautiful, top quality 'lonelies' by the renowned UK art glass beadmaker, Laura Sparling? Then head on over to her blog, read this post & add a comment in order to enter her prize draw.

As they say, you've got to be in it to win it, so off you trot and may I wish you 'Good Luck!'

Sunday Part I: Schmooze Award

My dear friend & mentor, Jean Yates has very kindly honoured me with this award. Jean has taught me so many things & explained things to me which have never made sense until now - momentous things such as events in my childhood, being a mother & how to befriend bipolar. She is also a lady who knows what I'm talking about when I send her a letter addressed to 'Dear Shoes' which I eventually sign off with 'Love Hats'.

I'm hopeless at explanations which is why I continually drop links into my blog. These take you to other websites which are better equipped for these tasks. Follow this one today: Do you have the power to schmooze?

Queen Jean is the Empress of Schmooze. BJ (Before Jean) I would not have had the confidence to push along the Postcardian Quest to raise awareness of ovarian cancer. Indeed were it not for Jean & the amazing momentum she generated, I would have floundered and fallen to my knees within days! She produced contacts like bouquets & each and every one of them has a beautiful soul. Jean collects angels & they are her friends.

Let me now turn to the awards that I would like to pass on. Please allow me to quote from the award site. 'When it comes to blogging, schmoozing is your ticket to making new friends, getting yourself noticed and building a reputation.'

Emma Ralph
Hands up anyone who hasn't heard of Emma? No paws waving in the air? I thought not - I rest my case! Anybody who is anybody has heard of Emma. Emma keeps an enormous amount of jars of genius in her brain & amongst them is one labelled 'Schmoozability'. If she so desired, Emma could move a mountain. She is a force of nature.

Laura Sparling
If you've been unfortunate enough not to have seen or held a bead by Laura, please visit her gallery & goggle at her beads. Perfect precision - her work is astonishing. It is for this reason that people seek her advice and 'they come not single spies but in battalions', to quote Shakespeare (who, by the way, was speaking about sorrows & not espionage or warfare).

Laura must have one of the biggest mailbags in Bead Land because not only is she a Bead Maestro, but she's also a born teacher who writes in beautifully constructed sentences. Her Inbox must be packed to the rafters with people desperate to schmooze - that's what happens when you've built a reputation like Laura's.

I've known Emma & Laura for a long time. Recently I've had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of some more ladies who impress me with their intelligence, talents & integrity - surely these are prerequisites for schmoozing?

Sisters on Sojourn -Karen & Linda are two of my journalling heroines & their schmoozing is a work of art. They are the authors of 'Visual Chronicles' which just happens to be one of my Battle Books.

Jafabrit's Art Prams in trees, dolls which are not dolly, skunks, the theme from Austin Powers & a looooooooooong list of contacts. I like!!

Penelope Illustration One of the founders of Illustration Friday - need I say more? Actually I will say one more thing - I LOVE Penelope's work!

Clarice Bean is the ultimate schmoozer, but she doesn't have a blog so sadly I can't pass on an award to her. She confines her schmoozing to books & her website - nevertheless she is the belle of the schmoozing ball. In the words of my daughter, Clarice is 'awethome!'

Smoothing out the creases

Cherry Choker

For one reason & another, I haven't had many opportunities to flex my creative muscles recently. I'm not a good person to be around when this happens - I become twitchy, impatient & unable to sleep because I get stuck in overdrive.

Yesterday I struck gold because my son wanted to practice drawing some Marvel superheroes ( as well as an actor, he also wants to be a comic book artist & a game designer; preferably all at the same time!!) so I shut the study door on my computer & using Dan Jurgens' book for guidance,we spent the afternoon drawing in my beloved Shack. Drawing Captain America & Cyclops might not sound exciting, but spending 'Shack Time' with Tom & all the other super heroes was cool.

We have our best conversations in the Shack! Everyone does. People wander round to see what projects I've got on the go or look at books & then - wham!! They're sat in the rocking chair & we're talking about life, the universe & everything. My Shack nestles amongst trees & shrubs & has a panoramic view across the golf course to the other side of the valley, so it feels calm, restorative & peaceful. There's no noise except bird song & no clocks to watch. 'Shack Time' is good time!

Most of the knots & needles of tension which I'd collected over the week were relieved by Daredevil & Nightcrawler. Laura Sparling swabbed my petulance today because I played with some of her beads - yeee haaa!

Cherry is quite a big girl - she's about 3½ inches across. I need to take some more photographs of her because the dull background has interfered with the colours of the leaves - they are composed of shades of fresh green & olive in reality. I'll add that to my list of things to capture the next time the sun shines for my camera.

I'm celebrating because I'm back in the groove - I want another dose of beads - I'm a full blown addict today!

Oceanic Splendour!

Aegean Heart Pendant

This pendant is one of the pieces that I'm going to add to my website over the weekend.

Isn't Laura Sparling's heart bead stunning? It takes my breath away! I'm very lucky to have the opportunity to hold this focal bead in my hand & study it. This is a luxury bead!