Busy not Dead

Hello lovely Curling Stones for Lego People friends... is there anyone out there still?

I was really tempted to leave just the title up for comic effect, but I figured that was way too mean... I was glad my last post was about Curling Stones on Instagram, as if anyone does follow me  there you'll have realised that I am indeed in the land of the living, or at least the snoozing.

As fun as it is to post pictures on the go, sometimes I have the urge to write a bit more than just hashtags, sooo...

What did I get up to? Well first there was a glass course in all things sparkly with Trudi from the Glittering Prize, followed by a festival, well technically 3 festivals in a week... brilliant but oh so tiring!

First time glamping at a Festival after 30 years of tents and buses!

The second festival was Flame Off  where I blew glass with Josh and Ann from Hen Ogledd Glass, made some amazing class beads with the lovely Jenny from Raspberry Rings, had my first go at Metal Clay with Tracey at Craftworx, caught up with glassy friends and immersed myself in glass generally down in Uttoexeter.  (That first link by the way is to the 2018 Flame Off and if you fancy a nice day out I thoroughly recommend it).

Photos of things I made over the 2017 Flame Off Event

This was interspersed with LOTS of gigs, a reunion of sorts, an amazing glass course down at a studio south of Bristol.  Unfortunately I was really ill with lurgy but due to the way cancellation fees worked for both my course and hotel I decided to attend - best decision ever!

Work in Progress Photos

My course Working with Images in Glass has kicked off quite a spurt of making fused glass using these techniques as part of my alter ego over at Born of Fire - Beads & Glass.  I've been doing a lot of commissions, and as several of them are for Christmas presents I can't show them on the blog publicly, but these are a few of the ones that aren't Christmas Presents!

Finished pieces inspired by, or made on my course

I ticked off a bucket list item by seeing Marc Almond perform at Pride, had another trip to Wales, wrote my car off, enjoyed another festival, bought a car, hired a car, sold a car and continued to be busy with another Glass Festival, The International Festival of Glass in Stourbridge and a Glass Course with the lovely Gay from Gaysie May.

2017 International Festival of Glass in Stourbridge

I may write about the Festival another day, I was really blown away by the whole experience and next time, which will be 2019 as it's every two years, I'm definitely doing all 4 days.

Phew! No wonder there was no time for writing!  So that was me...

Say hi if you're here, and tell me how you are?

A Delirious Ramble and a Budget Blown

Just so we are clear; let me start by saying how thoroughly fed up I am.  I've just dragged my arse into the shower to try and freshen up from the most malingering bug/virus I've had since October 2009...

Somewhere in Wales - from my sick bed

Obviously I wasn't writing a blog in October 2009 or I might have told you about it at the time in between hacking up my lungs and wondering if there was enough oil in the tank to last the week.  If I had been writing a blog back then, this is the photo I would have shown you, taken from my sick bed during the year we spent living in the middle of nowhere, it was great - the place not the bug.  At least now I can drag myself a few yards to the corner shop to stock up on more meds; back then it was a 6 mile drive to the nearest corner shop!

What does this have to do with beads, or a blown budget you might be wondering?  Will she get to the point?  Almost there... bear with me!

Festival Nights

Today I should have been on my way in my little bus to a festival, one that I've been looking forward to since I didn't go to it this time last year - ticket bought back in December, and the fact it coincided with a certain significant birthday (the bus's not mine) was all the more sweet.  Making time to catch up with old friends, make new ones and just chill out in what has been a busy year so far.

So I've been chilling out, but not in the way I imagined, I'm literally chilling out, then boiling out and then repeat.

So beads & budgets, where am I going with this?  I'm not sure, other than having been able to sell my festival ticket at the last minute (I was hanging on with grim determination in the hope I would be better) I had some unexpected funds in the bank.  Add this to the rather large amount of diesel I now don't have to put into the bus, along with some spending money I won't be spending and a large amount of time where all I can muster the energy to do is look at the Internet... and guess which Rabbit Hole I fell down?

Photo by Samantha Marx

Yep the bead one!

It all started innocently enough with OHM's Bead of the Month announcement for October.

For those of you on planet Earth who haven't cottoned on yet, the wonderfully creative and quirky OHM team have been releasing Limited Edition Bead of the Month beads for a few months now...

OHM beads - Bead of the Month - August 2015 - Black Sheep

I have one already, have coveted a few more, and have just bought my second, the very wonderful Deadhead - a cross between a pumpkin and a Day of the Dead Sugar Skull, my kind of bead!

Of course once that was in my virtual shopping cart... I suddenly realised that if I was putting in an order, I might as well have a browse to see what else I fancied as I was shopping with one of the retailers who stock lots of my favourite brands... 2 locks and 2 more silver beads from Redbalifrog and some rubber X Jewellery links later (and some deleted Bali Clicks items where I'd gone a bit overboard and seriously overspent the overspend) and I was done.

Now to sit back and wait for the pitter patter of tiny packages hitting the mat... although sadly, despite my love of jewellery, I really wish I was hearing the pitter patter of tiny raindrops on my bus windows instead.

Come join in with the misery...

What have you looked forward to for ages, only for it not to happen?

The World of Mars and Skewiff Scheduling

Well thought I'd better pop in and let everyone know what I'm up to at the moment as my blogging schedule is a little skewiff!

Side Stage View from Humber Street Sesh

I've been a busy bee in August; hanging out with my husband and friends when they all played a festival - they had sofas in front of their stage... and cover (it rained a lot in the afternoon) so guess where I stayed for most of the day!

Wales... for once in this pic it wasn't raining!

I did a bit of Pandora shopping before heading off on a whirlwind trip to Wales to catch up with family, celebrate a special Grandmother's birthday and generally chill out, with good food & drink and more bad weather unfortunately.  I also came home with some very special pieces of jewellery... but I'll save that story for later!

New Glass!

In other news - I bought some more glass and I've had my 2nd lampworking lesson - only 2 years after my 1st one! 

Pootling along by myself for the last few months, I decided it was time for some expert guidance in getting shot of some bad habits and attempting to learn some good new ones.

My own torch!

I've also taken the plunge and bought my own torch, after much umming and ahhing and driving friends and family insane with my constant, Shall I? Shan't I? questioning.  And, er, that is where the rest of my time has gone this month... I've been creating a little space for myself in my kitchen so I can make beads at home!

Alex Cramariuc - Elements Silver Set

Oh and I've also been gazing adoringly at my new bracelet made up of Alex Cramariuc Elements Silver Set... I did mention that Alex was the one designer that might break my New Years Bead Resolutions Budget and I was right, worth every single penny though!

So that's what I've been up to so far, I have a few things planned for the blog but my scheduling will remain a little skewiff whilst things settle down and I concentrate on not setting fire to the kitchen, or me, or the visiting cats, or anyone who tries to make a cup of tea at the same time... More on my progress later!

So that's me, what have you been up to?

Silver & Mud - How to wear great jewellery in a field

Having spent a wonderful few days at Bearded Theory Festival in the beautiful setting of Kedleston Hall, near Quarndon in Derbyshire, all in the name of music, friends and yes, just a little bit of mud, I was mindful of capturing a little splash of silver to bring back to Curling Stones.

As much as I love Trollbeads, a potentially muddy field where you need to keep your valuables with you at all times and lack of bathing for 3-4 days is not really conducive to full on Troll mode.  I had thought to wear a leather bracelet, then I remembered all the elements that it might have the opportunity to soak up during the festivities and I decided against it.  

However I never go anywhere without my rings, I favour big chunks of silver, or white gold, with or without stones and as I love to indulge my passion for rings - this year I decided to ask people if I could take some photos of their hands, and the occasional ear or even an arm to bring some snapshots back to you of what appeals to me about other people's jewellery.

First spotted was the amazing thumb ring of my friend who had popped in for a cuppa, well it was the least we could offer him after he'd kindly saved a spot for us as we were going to be a bit late to the party!

Also popping in for a coffee was another neighbour and friend, in fact this lovely lady gifted us a kettle many years ago, a "sister kettle" to hers, after my photo of her kettle below won us four free tickets to another festival in a sunny/muddy field in Devon.

Both kettles are still going strong 8 years later... although maybe not quite as shiny... the original above and the copy 8 years later below!

And so the weekend was off to a great start, more tea is always called for - then time for another wander...

These rings were a great surprise, not because of the actual rings themselves but because they belong to a lovely lady who almost didn't make the festival, my opening words on spotting her earlier were "oh what a fab surprise, I didn't think you could make it" which I think she must have heard 100+ times that weekend...

Jewellery could be found in many places, there were a lot of photos I didn't take, as I was there after all to have fun and not just on a blogging mission, more a blogging meander.  A lot of rings came to me and I was lucky enough to get a quick snap in.

As the weather turned a little chilly on Saturday it was the peek of some silver in amongst all that wool.

I love the photo below and what a fabulous collection of rings, also impressed that someone still has a perfect manicure after a several days in a field.

Not everyone had a ring to show, and boots can be just as colourful, I love the filigree ring in the centre of the photo, if it's not a chunk then this style works for me too.

Or you can go for a more secure form of jewellery, no problem in keeping your valuables on you with this design...

Next on my travels and last jewellery photo of Saturday night belonged to another friend

As I discovered, a few people I photographed are also keen jewellery fans, it was sometimes necessary to take another photo as the rings had multiplied in the space of 24 hours, check out the new rings below!

I wasn't completely immune to this either, I went for a walk to get some pizza (goats cheese and red onion in case you were curious) and came back with a new ring myself. 

So that was almost my festival over as far as the jewellery photos went, the last day was gloriously sunny and we even had to use the suntan lotion we laughingly had thrown into the huge pile of stuff we take when we camp. 

To the left are some rings that had been hidden by gloves the previous day, the owner having now shed her many layers and spotted enjoying a bit of late afternoon sun...  You can tell I was also a bit tired at this point as I didn't get a large close up of that beautiful ring on her little finger, suffice to say you can take my word that this is a stunning ring, one of my favourites of the weekend.  

In order to take a photo, when I explained that I blog about jewellery, I kept my explanations brief - "I write a blog, it's about jewellery, would you mind if I took a quick shot of your hands/ear for the blog?" as I didn't want to take up too much of peoples time.  I always showed the person a photo of their jewellery, if they were interested, to see if they were happy with the picture.  

My final photo was taken just as the last but one band were playing on the main stage.  The lady concerned was traveling with a friend of mine and I asked if I could take a shot of her hands, a question I had asked many people over the course of the weekend.

The last person was interested in my new phone as she was in the market for one and I showed her the photos I usually take for the blog, imagine my surprise when she immediately identified random bead shots as Trollbeads.  Turns out her sister is a fan too!

It was a pleasure to finish on this pair of hands, the jewellery being worn has great sentimental value and in particular the second ring in the photo which she has had since she was a little girl.  When the band broke on the ring it cost many times over what the original ring cost to get it fixed but worth every penny.  Reminded me of the time I crawled around in the rain and dirt under my car to recover my favourite thumb ring rather than risk losing or driving over it by moving my car.

So that was the end of my jewellery shots, just the rest of the festival to enjoy... don't mind if I do!

Retired Pink Prism Bracelet (Is it Spring yet?)

I had yet to use both my retired pink prisms on a bracelet after securing my 2nd one at an amazing price.  I added some other new beads, the Silver Trace, Green - Turquoise glass bead and the beautiful teal bubble bead from my last blog post and off I went!

 

This was the result of some bead play... and it has been dubbed my Spring Bracelet after a friend remarked on this when I showed her the photos.  Ironically this mix of colours is something I wouldn't naturally put together, it was made using beads not on my main current bracelets so my choices were rather limited.  I find this is really good as a creative process, as although it sometimes makes me frustrated, I end up making combinations I would *never* make otherwise, usually after many attempts!

I did wonder if I would wear this bracelet as it is; as the colourway is really not my normal colour scheme, however after a test run wearing the bracelet at work yesterday, I've converted myself and *love* the mix of colours now!

I think it helps that most of the beads have a great translucent quality, and I had some really lovely silver beads left over to use with this.

My green armadillo bead is so huge that it's hard to use it as anything but a focal bead, but I think this is the only the second bracelet that I've used it on that I'm really happy with, if you missed it the first time around here is the first bracelet I made just after buying it from my slightly surreal "on the way home from a festival" journey.

Do you believe in Fate? (It's a small world)

Today I've been enjoying another day off whilst recovering from our time away in Wales and Devon; I like to blog with a coffee and this was the inspiration for showcasing my finished bracelet and my new beads... featuring my funky flower cup which is made of fine bone china and just the perfect way to start a blog post.

      

I enjoy reading about trollbeads and particularly what other people do with them; last month I enjoyed a blog post (below) from the official Trollbeads site about a group of Beaverbrooks staff who visited Trollbeads HQ and what they did there.

Beaverbrooks staff visit Trollbead HQ

A few weeks later this led me to another new blogger, Michael Nand, who was one of the staff who took part in the visit, I found his blog through twitter and an old tweet from @mytrollbeads leading me to www.mikestrollbeads.blogspot.co.uk  I've enjoyed following Mike's blog so far and in particular loved this favourite post where I had to comment and tell him how much I appreciated the piece.

At the time I thought nothing more of it, I bookmarked the site so I could go back to it later and carried on blogging and getting ready for our trip away.

Our trip consisted of lots of travelling about, catching up with friends all over Wales, saying Bon Voyage to mates who are moving to Canada, long walks, city breaks, lunch on rooftop terraced restaurants, chilled out countryside calm and feisty festival frolics (in the mud and sunshine)... so on our return trip back to Yorkshire it was fair to say I had a case of "festival brain".  Which basically means I wasn't thinking straight or yet capable of joining up the dots.

My live-in geek wanted to shop for something called an "insert relative geek name in here" thingymajig to do musically related stuff on his iPad, and enquired if I fancied a stop at Cribbs Causeway, which always makes me think it should be a wooden sea structure in Ireland (I think this even when I don't have festival brain).  I had no idea where or what it was but agreed thinking I could catch a snooze whilst he went and looked at tech.  It was a very hot day and I didn't really want to stay in the car but we were loaded up with kit post festival so we didn't fancy leaving it unattended.

Whilst I melted in the car outside the shopping centre, (apparently it's not a wooden sea structure in Ireland), he went to the Apple shop.  Some time later he came out and just as I'd started up the engine he mentioned there was a Beaverbrooks inside with a trollbead section... I was very hot and longed for the air conditioning to be on again, however I just couldn't resist having a peek!

I started looking at beads and was asked by a lovely lady (whose name escapes me because I had festival brain) if I needed any help, we chatted for a while as I was browsing and I was impressed by her knowledge of beads on my current bracelet.  It's always nice to talk to staff who are into Trollbeads and who have good knowledge of the product, and she tactfully left me to browse in peace as I was looking through their lovely selection of glass beads, a few of which caught my eye.

Another member of staff, called Adam, came to chat a little later.  It was whilst talking to Adam (again festival brain but his name was on my subsequent till receipt), he told me how much he loved trollbeads but forgot to wear his bracelet that morning and that he'd recently been to Trollbeads HQ... as the festival brain fog started to clear slightly, I said "Really? I've just read about that!" whilst he went on to explain that 6 staff  had gone from this particular branch... neurons fired all over the place and I (half) realised where I was.  At this point I got a bit excited about where I was and looked at the store again, further into the conversation as he was saying who exactly had gone to Trollbeads HQ, a whole shower of pennies started to drop when I realised that the blog I'd enjoyed reading, was written by another member of staff from the store, and that the post I'd commented on was based on some of the staff I was seeing there.

I'm not sure I made much sense after this as excited Mars + festival brain + trollbeads = babble!


I did however muster myself together enough to buy 3 new beads.   A big fat juicy green armadillo was the first bead to catch my eye, it was very plump and a lovely green colour.  Perfect for the dress I had worn on Sunday at the festival!

Normally I'm not a big fan of the flower beads, (although I have two already) but the flowers on indigo was just perfect and I couldn't stop looking at it; being drawn to a particular bead I find is a good way to make a decision on whether or not to take it home.

Finally my third choice was a purple wave, I've not bought any of the wave beads yet, and it was on my wish list as I was looking for more purple beads to add to my collection.  Selection made, I left behind a lovely Golden Cave that had some very pink tones in it and a fair few others I would have been equally as happy with.

Today with my coffee in my funky flower cup, I made a lovely purple/blue, green and silver bracelet to wear for the day.  Whilst I was writing this piece and cross referencing my sources I also realised that I'd +1'd Michael's post on Google choosing the very image that Michael had taken of one of his creations that made use of the Green Armadillo above... now how's that for fate!

Festival Beads

So last weekend saw me in a (muddy) field enjoying the delights of Beautiful Days, a festival by The Levellers, set in the surrounds of Escot Park.  For me this has been an annual treat for the last 7 years and this was my 8th festival in this little patch of Devon.  2012 was also the 10th Anniversary of the festival.

Although I wouldn't wear my trollbeads normally under such circumstances (too scared of losing or damaging them and never being able to recover them again in sloppy mud!) I did choose the bracelet I would have worn, from the comfort of my B&B bedroom and away from the fray of the field...

I did look for trollbeads whilst I was there as I had the idea of showcasing a collection of festival bracelets worn by others, but if there were any fellow fans we probably all shared the same caution... in hindsight (a wonderful thing) I should have taken shots of the wonderful beads and bracelets that were on show for a rare non Trollbead related blog post.  Maybe next year?

Friday's beads ~ Friday was the day after it had rained incessantly all through Thursday night (we went to the pub rather than on site) and we awoke to more rain; it was a very damp day!  So I chose a very bright and cheerful pink, red and green dress.  My lovely green ooak made an appearance on all 3 days, mostly because it matched beautifully with my wellies!  The sun made a late appearance and we all were a bit red after Day 1, with some folk managing to match the colour of their wrist bands.

Saturday's beads ~ I realised that I don't have any pinks in my collection of trollbeads which is a shame as Saturday's outfit of pinks and purples really could have done with some... so instead I chose to complement the bit of blue in my outfit with turquoise and some more green (to match my wellies). Luckily on Saturday, although there was still a lot of mud underfoot we were blessed with more sunshine!

Sunday's beads ~ Must have been loving my wellies on Sunday as I decided to go with a pale green dress to match!  I reused some of yesterday's beads and added a few bubbles into the mix along with Silver Mountain.  The mud was really drying out today but still sticky in places and we did have a few showers.

My bead choices are often limited as I can't get some of my beads onto my leather bracelet as the metal ends are too fat (or my beads are too skinny in the middle)... one of the 2 smaller ends is also bigger than the other just to confuse things.  I had a few unsettling moments trying to get one of the bubbles off this bracelet when I changed it again to try on some new beads found in Bristol on the way back from the festival (but that's a whole new blog post).