New Beads and Beyond AND Bead Magazine!

Look out for the new issues of both Beads and Beyond and Bead Magazine! I've got projects in both this month - lucky me! I am still sans internet so I will add some pics of my projects over the next few days if I can. Look at the gorgeous Swarovski flower necklace on the front cover of Band B by the lovely Shiney Rocks ladies - aren't they just beautiful?

My new bedding

Yum...

A couple of new bracelets...

Hello there! It's so nice to have internet....driving me a bit wild at the new place that we haven't got in installed yet but then, I haven't actually rung Virgin to tell them we're moving...so I have no one to blame but my own self! I had to wait in for a delivery from John Lewis this morning so I did a little bit of beading....got some gorgeous sari silk from the lovely Miss Fickle Media the other day so decided to put some of it to good use, along with lampwork beads from Diane of Sowzere and Mindy of Moogin. What do you think then?

Arabian Nights

Poppy Fields

What do you think? I just love my lampworks, as you know!

Tomorrow is back to (secondary) school day for me - I was in my primary yesterday, singing away with the wee ones - and of course, I am just now after being well all summer getting a stinking cold. Boo! I hate colds. And just before I start my Vocal Studies course at college too. Hopefully it'll be a quick one; I'll try and be good and get lots of sleep and have lots of fluids...best not wine though ;-)

Just one last thing before I go...loads of folk (Lorelei, Malin, Gaea, Jane Lock) have been blogging about copying later and I just wanted to throw my tuppence into the ring. These ladies have all written great posts about the subject and I absolutely agree with all of them! Obviously, copying someone else's design to sell without their permission is a BAD thing. That goes without saying! It's unethical and very unfair. But, I really feel I must say something about copying other folk's designs not always being a bad thing (as Gaea pointed out, it's one of the ways in which we learn the best). When I teach beading classes which I am lucky enough to do on about a fortnightly basis, whilst the colours I leave up to the students, I am teaching them something I have designed. I want them to copy me! I celebrate it - it's great! When I am lucky enough to be published in a beading mag, I am very happy for readers to copy my designs, bead for bead if they so wish - when you buy a beading magazine or a beading book, you are positively invited to copy the designs that the author/designer has come up with! It's a great thing to share with others. For some, learning a technique or a stitch is a great spring board into new territories where they can transform the technique into something entirely new. For others, they are happy creating other folks designs. This is NOT a bad thing! It doesn't make them less creative to my mind, just of a different sort. I don't think people should be made to feel bad for not being able to or wanting to design things themselves! It's fantastic to share something you love with others in this way, so they can make jewellery for themselves or to give as gifts to friends and family. Not to sell! But to share. Sharing is lovely.

So, those are my thoughts! I am interested to know everyone elses. Hope you are all having great weeks and not coming down with the lurgi like me!

Folksy Friday

One of my very favourite things in the WHOLE WORLD is a cup of Earl Grey tea - not too strong, a generous amount of milk, hopefully skimmed, but not too much. One of the lovely things we did for our wedding was to ask everybody to bring along a tea cup and a side or dinner plate which they had purchased from a charity shop, to eat their cake and drink their tea or coffee from. A twist on the traditional wedding china, which isn't really 'us'. And oh my, we have some absolutely beautiful pieces! Very vintage shabby-chic. I will share some photos of these with you another time but I thought that today's Folksy Friday should be 'cup of tea' themed. 

Petal Tea Cup Candle - Hannah Elizabeth

Tea Cup Necklace - Polly Put the Kettle On

Tea Cup Pin Cushion - Handmade in The Madhouse

Black Flower Tea Cup Ring - Aleximo Croissant

Tea Cup Candle with Saucer - Handmade in The Madhouse

I especially love the petal tea cup candle - these are the colours our new kitchen will be! Did I mention we are in the process of moving house? Three weeks after the wedding we got the keys and I start a new full time college course in two weeks whilst keeping working in schools teaching singing?! Oh, it's been a busy summer and I don't anticipate it stopping! All good things though.

Do you guys have a favourite drink? I bet loads of you are coffee drinkers! Not my bag although I absolutely love the smell of freshly ground coffe beans - delicious! But it's Earl Grey all the way for me. Enjoy your Fridays and the weekend to come - I'm going to be spending it moving more boxes into our new flat!

New Items in my Folksy Shop!

I've spent this afternoon photographing and uploading onto Folksy. I was going to have a go with Etsy as my shop there has very much lapsed (can it be lapsed if it never got off the ground to begin with?!) but I really struggle with the photo size. Mine are always (and I mean ALWAYS!) too big and I don't know how to make them smaller - ie under 2MB. They seem to either be huge or really poor quality. I'm having a bit of an experiment with emailing myself some photos at the moment but I fear it may be fruitless...we'll see! If anyone has any tips at shrinking photos on a MacBook, they will be gratefully received! I'll let you know how I get on, IF I get on. 

For the time being, here are my Folksy items...

Vanilla Mint 

World Between the Woods

Sky Wishes

Electric Wishes

Earth From Above

Into the Watery Deep

Hope you like, let me know what you think! Hope you're all having a grand old weekend. 

Folksy Friday

So, I've been thinking that perhaps some of you people who are nice enough to read my wee blog perhaps don't know what Folksy is when I say I have listed an item in my Folksy shop. Basically, it is a very similar site to Etsy but British rather than American. It's fully open to international buyers (although not to international sellers, it's a home grown operation and keen to stay that way I think) but is quite a bit smaller and thus easier not to get completely lost without a trace! It's nonetheless full of wonderful gems and amazing things that people from the British Isles have crafted away at.

Quite a lot of crafters over here participate in Folksy Friday (when they make a list of some of their favourite finds) and I have decided that it would be a nice thing to do here. I don't promise to be able to do it every Friday but I'll give it a go! I've decided to start off with a (Song)Bird theme. Here are some of my favourite birdie finds from Folksy in no particular order....

Blue Bird Cushion from Needles and Buttons

Bird Pin Cushion from Sew Realicoul

Cute Bird Pendant from baobabpress

Cardinal Watercolour by Eastwitching

Felt Bird by Annie Brown Designs

Hope you like these lovely birdies as much as I do!

Thank you cows

I don't quite know why but every time I see this advert I can't help but smile inside. 

It's such a happy image!


PS I know it's slightly odd to share this advert with you and no, I am not sponsored by Mueller or any yoghurt brand, I just love Mary galloping free on the beach accompanied by 80s soft rock! I'm a sentimental soul.