Pebbles workshop

Last Thursday saw me packing the car with beads, buttons, findings, tools and homemade biscuits.. a vital part of any workshop! You would have thought I was going to stay for a month the amount of bits and pieces that I had to take! Anyway, the journey up was uneventful... thankfully!...(see last post) and I arrived at Pebbles in time for breakfast and coffee... mmm!

Once the breakfast had been cleared it was time to set up the conservatory for the first workshop of the day. I prepared a little package of goodies for all the participants...

Some blurb about me; basic jewellery making techniques; a feedback form; pebbles brochure; business card; postcard in which to make notes; and a lovely little bag to put the finished jewellery into.....

The enormous table, that mum used to do her homework on, was then set... bead mat, pliers, wire and beads.... you couldn't ask for a better setting than that could you? Doors open and the sound of the sea gently lapping the shore.. FAB!

All set and ready to go...

After coffee and homemade cake and biscuits we began... I had a fantastic time and I know that all the ladies who came did too... 12 for the morning session and 7 in the evening, including two who had come in the morning who came back for more in the evening.

Heads down, hard at work..

Helping hands..

So many different colours and styles of jewellery were made... I found it truly inspirational and loved the interaction with people, inspiring them and watching their confidence grow.

Another date has now been put in the diary and that is September 22nd... I would love to see you if you are free that day... come and have some fun, get creative and eat cake!!!! Can you resist?

Email me for details.

Have a great day xx

Blossom and buttons

This week has been a week of frantic preparations and last minute deliveries for The Great Create this weekend. I feel like my head is exploding and cannot contain anymore information. Even holding a proper conversation at times is hard.. I tend to trail off at the end of sentences....................  without finishing them!! Know the feeling?? I found that popping off to the hairdressers for  bit of pampering works wonders!! However, when I got home, thinking that I would put the freshly washed washing on the line... I discovered that the little ball with the washing liquid in it ... you know the one.. was still sitting on top of the machine... I had 'washed' the clothes without the washing liquid.. DOH!  Oh well...

Anyway, I do feel that I am getting there now and will be relieved when it all starts on Saturday and I can start to do what I really love doing which is meeting all you lovely people and sharing my passion.

I was thrilled to receive this parcel this week.........

All those amazing colours and shapes... lots and lots and lots of  gorgeous bags of buttonny heaven!! 

I also had these brilliant boxes come this week. I store all my beads in these and now my buttons. It means that I can see instantly all the colours and .... they just look fab.

The other evening I decided that I should really have some business cards to hand out to people.. I have had the cards from Vista Print before, but I really wanted something that would express me and be a little more interesting. I remembered that I had 1000's of white luggage tags and surely I could do something with those. I printed labels with my name and address etc.. on them. Stuck them onto these tags and then decided that I could make them look even more interesting. So I spent a happy evening sticking buttons and ribbon onto the 'cards' and this is what I ended up with...... 

I am really pleased with them... I don't think these are likely to end up in the bin do you?

Would you like another sneek peek of some new jewellery designs for the weekend?  

This time the inspiration for the colours has come from all that gorgeous apple blossom that is exploding in all its pinky gloriousness at the moment

I think these beads look like space ships.. 

Putting the new buttons to use straight away..

I love this one... so flowery and girly..

More inspiration...

Ring 'o' ring 'o' roses....

Beautiful flowery earrings...

I am hoping that my 'jelly head' will sort itself out today. If not, I may just have to make the most of this gorgeous sunshine, make a cup of coffee and potter around my garden quietly muttering to myself... am I going mad?

Sending love and sympathy to those of you who, like me , have 'jelly head' syndrome today!! xxxx

Growing up

The time has come.... I really can't believe it. Harriet, my middle daughter, has reached the age at which she can legally drive. It was with a mixture of excitement, nervousness, sadness and trepidation that I took her for her very first drive in 'Peas'(so called because. not only is it bright green, it's registration has the letters PEAS in it.. how cool is that?)  her little car. We had two extra (brave) passengers - Harriet's sister and friend - as we set off to find a VERY quiet, secluded spot for the adventure of a life time... possibly our last!!

On arriving at our destination Harriet and I swapped places, strapped ourselves in, double checked that the belts were in good working order.. and the lesson began. Considering that she has never been behind the wheel of a car before, except to pretend that she could drive, Harriet did really well. Finding the biting point and pulling away we were off, round and round the car park!! All was going well until Harriet felt that she was losing control, so what did she do??? Well, instead of gently braking she pressed a little harder on the accelerator.. this caused much screaming and hysterical laughing from the back of the car, and very high pitched instructions from me... getting more and more frantic as we headed towards the beautiful Devon bank!!  Stopping a few inches from the bank a little voice in the back was heard to say.."I saw my life flash before my eyes!!'.. we all fell about laughing.. with relief!!!

Needless to say we did all survive and Harriet has definitely got the bug!!

I know.. it all looks really calm and Harriet looks like she is in control....

Yay!! Look at me.. I can drive....

Ahem!!  Would you let this person out on the roads??? 

Anyway.. that's enough of that!! I don't think I'm really ready to accept that my small person is old enough to drive and will soon be running herself around.. I do love being a mummy and being needed. It's not easy to let go is it?

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I have had a really successful day today trying to find some things to use for my jewellery display at The Great Create. It feels like the look that I want is really coming together. 

I went to a local flower wholesaler and found these beautiful fake flowers, tin jug and small buckets. The hat boxes were from a shop in Totnes and are really beautiful. 

I am so pleased with my purchases today. I love the colours and textures.. I just had to show you.

Little things make me very happy!!

Wishing you an evening filled with many little happy moments xxx

Signs of life

Imagine my delight when I went to have a peek at the seeds I planted into snuggly warm duvets of moist soil last week to see that they have started to peep  their sleepy heads out in search of the sun....             

can you see them...look very carefully!!

I might actually have success this year - as long as the slugs don't get to them first. I then had a potter around the garden, cuppa in hand, marvelling at all the signs of new life emerging from the soil. Nature is so inspirational, its shapes, textures and colours are often where my ideas for new collections come from.  

This time of year brings hope of new things to come, even when the ground looks bare you know that there is so much going on underneath it in preparation. Its a good lesson to remember. I am in the process of writing a business plan, *yawns*, and looking for premises for a new creative business venture, it's very much in the seed stage at the moment, but hopefully it won't be too long before it emerges into something that brings much pleasure to many people. Watch this space for more information... 

Whilst I'm waiting, I have been busy yet again with some new jewellery designs - want a sneeky peek??

What a hard life I lead......

Back to more mundane things now like a trip to the supermarket before I am whisked off for the weekend...ok, not so mundane!

See you soon xxx

Beady Thursday

Don't you just love it when the post man arrives on the doorstep with a pile of parcels for you??? I get soo excited........ today was one of those days! Two parcels.... did I really order that much?

Here's a sneek at what was lurking inside.....aren't they delicious?

I especially like these ones...

and these....

and these...

and these.....

they really are delicious aren't they?

Well, that was it, once opened I was immediately inspired to make some new pieces of jewellery. Firstly, this one...

I really love the bright summery colours, they make me feel very happy. I used waxed cotton to string the beads on to, some, with larger holes, have been threaded directly onto the cotton, whilst the others I have either put onto a headpin or created my own headpins with a wire shape at the bottom. I really enjoy working with the wire and creating new shapes. I think that they really add a special touch to the necklace. In my usual style, I also made earrings and bracelet to match....

I also had an order from a lady who had previously bought one of my necklaces to make her another one the same but in "kingfisher" colours..

I think it turned out ok.

I have been thinking about setting up a website to sell my jewellery and other hand made bits, and now that I have new beads, I think that I had better do something about it. I am not really sure where to start but I am sure that it will all come together......in the end.

I had some really exciting news yesterday and that is that I have been selected to show my jewellery and demonstrate / hold workshops in jewellery making at The Great Create that is to be held at Greenway House, on the banks of the river Dart in Devon, over the bank holiday weekend in May. Aghh... so much to do and prepare, but, I feel fully justified in buying all those beads as I now have to make lots and lots so that I have product to sell. I would love to see you if you are near by, come and say "Hi" and have a go at making something for yourself - you'll love it...I promise.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring? I hope that your tomorrow is filled with happiness  and little treasures to thrill your hearts.

Bye for now xx