Happy New Year

Gong Xi Fa Cai!
I wonder what the Year of the Dragon will bring?  Health, happiness and good fortune to you all I hope.
It's been a busy old time here in Takaka with lots of summer visitors, but never so busy that there's not a place to enjoy a relaxing cuppa in the shade.
The workroom is warm (sometimes a little too warm!)and buzzing and I've really enjoyed catching up with a few of you.
I seem to be having a "purple patch" at the moment, playing with purples, amethysts and blues - mostly started by the blue/purple chakra lotus flowers necklace still sitting on my bench waiting to be completed!  There's a green cherry blossoms necklace in there, too and a purple Tiger Beads necklace and the beginnings of an amethyst chakra lotus flowers necklace too...along with some other bits and pieces that are awaiting the perfect accompaniements!

And there's a tray of red and black beads that need attention...are we hooking into a theme here?  Do I actually need to complete some works?

I'll leave you with a little treasure that I found on the beach this morning

Aren't they precious?  I'm guessing that the croquembouche was made by an adult?

Here They Are

OK - so here they are...not quite what I expected in some cases, but that's the way it is with glass - expect the unexpected!

From left to right
1. Olive Green Riverstones Bead
2. Ink Blue Lazy Daisies Bead - I had forgotten how hard it is to capture this colour on camera. This is the one with the Periwinkle Blue core - but it's almost invisible! It is a gorgeous colour - quite transparent - almost a royal purple. The centres of the daisies are raised and made with twisted cane. A pretty bead, but not the effect I was looking for.
3. This is a landscape bead - it's a local beach - Wharariki - where you walk a track through bush and farmland to a really expansive beach of huge pale gray sand dunes. There are enormous rock formations at the water's edge. I'm going to mount this one with silver wire scrollwork.
4. Small True Red Raku Heart - I love the way the glass frit (crushed glass) has spread on this one.
5. Small Aqua Flow Bead - I'm pleased with this one - the glass has really moved around and taken its own course. There's a good play of light through the transparent glass in this one - can you see it?
6. This is the other one I was quite excited about - I've used a very pale handmade opaque green, and love the way it has moved with the lime and bottle greens. There are little pools of transparency throughout the bead. I will play with this glass again.
7. Ink Blue Riverstones Bead - once again, it's hard to capture this colour with the camera - purples always go either darker or bluer for me - darker today. Any camera tips gratefully accepted :). Lots of lovely tranpsarency in this one too, which really highlights this gorgeous colour - a transparent royal purple.

So...there you go...that's most of an afternoon's play to get to this stage!