A Week of Change

It has been an odd week, with the cancellation of our trip South - we have been given the gift of time - something that always seems to be in short supply lately, but feel a small sense of deflation - there will be no exciting trip, no meeting old and new friends and fellow bead lovers.

We will be home for Princess illy's eye surgery, which is a relief - but wont get to visit with Number One Son, The Engineer on our travels.

It's a week of mixed emotions...

However, I've still been busily finishing and cataloging new work and will put a whole lot onto the website over the next few days.  There's a Black and White Sampler coming that I'm really intrigued with...

I'm fascinated in the strength of colours that come through in this series - some are soft and some are strong...and of course, black and white is the strongest contrast of all...It would be fun to do one in pink and orange...maybe that's next??

There's also a Flow set coming that I was very intrigued with - a set using the transparency of black to combine it with purple, using silvered ivory (yes, ivory glass mixed with sterling silver) and lots of transparent glass - another one of my current favourites...

These beads feel silken and luscious to touch!

I've also been having fun taking photos using my extensive collection of old domestic crystal glass (Webb & Corbett is my favourite, though I love Waterford and Stuart too).

I took lots of photos on crystal of The Helen Drop Earrings and loaded them onto the website - there are so many colourways in this design that I only have a few made up at any time - if there is a colourway that you fancy that's not there, please just ask me!

Black and Crystal Aurora Borealis Helen Drop Earrings $40

I've also launched the new Facebook Page properly and have put a couple of beads on at a greatly reduced price for those who are interested - it seems a nice way to reward people who follow my work.  There's also a Giveaway on the page for Likers - I'll do the draw at the end of the month.

I'm also about to register on a blogging course - eek!  I feel quite challenged by this stuff, but as I've said before, I love technology and want to learn as much as I can.  I want to make the most of this gift of time and stir my grey matter a little!  The course is taught by Liv Lane, who uses a lot of guest tutors to teach their particular areas of expertise, one of whom is my old friend Andrea Schroeder of www.creativedreamincubator.com 

 It's going to be a fun week!

This Week 28th July 2012

It's counting my blessings day - time to add up all the times I said "thank you" to the Universe this week and to share a few of them.  Counting my blessings makes them bigger and stronger, their influence on my life greater - I hope they inspire you to do the same.

1.  One way and another I've spent quite a lot of time sitting at my computer this week, and I have been thinking about how this technology has changed life for the better.  I know it can make us "busier" if we let it, but it also expands our horizons beyond belief.  I'm old enough to remember when to find a picture of something, or to get some technical information I would have had to go to the library and spent half a day searching through books, and as often as not come away disappointed.

It's not that I don't love books...I can't imagine a life without them, it's just that searching for anything on the internet cuts the time and workload down and increases my options a hundredfold.  

2.  I love Facebook!  It keeps me in touch in so many ways - from sending messages to my niece who is getting married in Fiji this afternoon to having a chuckle over the lastest funny or an "aah" over a goofy animal picture.  And this week I've even managed to talk the Toy Boy into setting up a page for his toys - Golden Bay Toys.  Take a look - the toys are such fun.

3.  This is the final week of my Website Sale, and I've been blessed with a busy week.  Thank you for your wonderful support of my creative juice!  It's all over on Tuesday at midnight - if you see something that takes your fancy just enter "BUYBEADS" in the discount coupon box and you will have 20% deducted from the price.

4.  I'm exploring setting up an Etsy store - it seems such a simple and user-friendly option.  I've been thinking about doing this for ages, however I always seem to mull these things over and over - some would call it procrastination, but I prefer to call it the creative process! 

On a more personal note, Princess illy is doing OK - so far so good.  She is (reluctantly) taking pills and using eye drops four times daily and seems a bit more comfortable.  She's booked in to see the veterinary opthalmic specialist when he visits Nelson in a few weeks, but we're sincerely hoping that her eye will be better by then and the make the surgery unnecessary.

This Week 21st July 2012

I've been rushing around like a mad chook towards the end of this week - why is it that our lives get so "busy"?  Do we fill it up with more and more  of the little stuff so we can feel like we are living a full life?

I've had dramas with a sick wee cat this weekend and had a mercy dash over the hill to our favourite veterinary hospital in Nelson.  That's the trouble with having been a vet nurse for a few years (in another life) - I know enough to know that I know very little.  Miss illy has problems with her one remaining eye - we have our fingers crossed that she will be OK.

Before all of this happened I was counting my blessings for the week - for some reason I've been noticing the physicality of my daily life - what makes me feel good and trying to practice that.

1.  I've come to realise that yoga is a very important part of my well-ness regime.  I've always enjoyed informal yoga and used to do a class which I loved with a local guy.  No-one since has been able to replicate that calm experience till I found out about a woman called Shiva Rea through my friend Andrea Schroeder - creativity goddess at ABCcreativity.  I have the DVD Shiva Rea : Daily Energy - Vinyasa Flow Yoga which I have used so much that I must have almost worn it out!  I love the format of selecting an opening salute/warmup, a 20 minute session, then an entry into post practice meditation. 

You can also do longer sessions, but I find that I mostly use the half hour routines.  I have also bought her Flow Yoga for Beginners to check out my postures so I know that I'm getting the maximum benefit from the stretches and not doing any harm to my body.  I gather that lots of lampworkers have issues with sore bodies brought on by the intensity of the work, and I'm so grateful that I have learnt how to deal with this.
2.  I've always enjoyed gardening, and used to do dainty stuff with a small fork at other places we have lived and was quite overwhelmed when we first moved here with the sheer scale and energy required to tame this wilderness.  However, I've come to realise that gardening here has become another important part of my exercise and well-ness regime.  "Every cloud..." as they say... Today I have aching hamstrings and a huge ivy hedge mulched and in the trailer ready to go to the landfill.  Look at the gorgeous little stone wall we found underneath all that rampant growth!  We had no idea that little treasure was there!

I'm working towards having a small rose garden and I'm picturing a lavender hedge against these stones.  Look at all that ivy still clinging to the fence!
3.  I'm really trying to look backwards at all we have achieved since we have been here, and not forward to the work yet to be done.  Pulling this property into shape is a huge project and it will be so worthwhile - the location is simply stunning!
4. Today I am playing in my newly located office - I have moved into the sun and the view - I can see the ocean out one large window and the trees from the smaller side window.  What a difference that makes!  I don't know why I didn't do this years ago!  Now I make excuses to come and sit here, rather than trying to move my laptop all over the place in an effort to find some sun!  Sitting beside me I have a lovely little collection of glass earrings and a crystal necklace to put on the website soon.

I hope your week has gone well - have you thought about what has made you smile lately?

Follow the link to take a look at some other inspiring weeks through Liv Lane's Bliss List Links.

P.S. - It's the last week of the Website Sale - pop over and take a look - you get 20% discount on absolutely everything by entering the code BUYBEADS in the coupon code box till the 31st July!

This Week 14th July 2012

Pohara Beach in July!

Some weeks have their challenges, and others seem to sail through fairly unscathed.  This has been a relatively unscathed week - I've been toiling at my bench and finalized some pieces I'm rather proud of and have also had some lovely time to play and sort out my somewhat chaotic life!

 

1.  I had a day at home this week and moved my home office from a draughty corridor to a sunny spot in a window.  Why didn't I do this years ago?  It's so nice to "go" to my office rather than pass it every time I go to my bedroom, and it's just a so much nicer space all round.

2.  I always walk on the beach in the very early morning with a group of friends.  We rip up that beach like terriers and I'm puffing like a train by the time we get home.  My dear friend Tracey and I went for the other sort of walk during the beautiful sunny afternoon hours - it was truly  gorgeous!  There were little children playing (it's school holidays here), but it was so calm and peaceful - a real lift and a gift mid-week.

3.  It seems to have been a week for my old Dad.  He turned 86 last Sunday and we took him out for grown-ups afternoon tea (that means red wine and antipasto platter)  at Jellyfish Cafe in Mapua.  It was another of those glorious sunny winter's days...

4.  I had an oxygen bottle issue this week - my old regulators which have done 9 years of solid service - mostly outdoors - finally coughed and spluttered and needed a trip to the repairers. Now my Dad was an engineer and taught welding in his later years at Polytech and had accumulated an impressive and precious collection of antique welding equipment.  We've had a lot of it stored at our place and when the emergency struck (I WAS mid creative flow...) the Toy Boy rummaged around and found this lovely old regulator for me to use...

It works a treat and is actually much nicer to use than any other I have tried!  Gives and lovely clean, even flow - some of them pulse, some choke...My old one was pretty nice, but this old sweetie, though she doesn't look glamorous, certainly does a lovely job!

Do you know by now that I LOVE old things? I would generally rather re-use most things than buy new, so this totally reenforces all I think about old things and quality!

5.  Speaking of old things, in my clean up on my day at home, I found some old URBIS Design magazines from about 10 years ago, when I was studying interior design.  And, you know, good design is always good design!  Some of the technology advertising was a hoot - cutting edge cellphones with clumsy plug in cameras, mega expensive CD players, and some of it was still pretty sexist, surprisingly.  I'm still flicking through them and found these "medals" (brooches?) which were quite inspiring...

6.  And finally, one of my friends posted this picture on Facebook this morning - it's just so right on so many levels!

Winter tropical escape on a plate

So how was your week?  Did you stop to think about the good stuff?

 

The website sale continues - simply by using the code BUYBEADS in the box at the checkout you received 20% discount on anything on the site.  Sale ends 31st July.

This Week 6th July 2012

How was your week?  It seems that Mother Nature has been busy creating havoc in lots of parts of the world, with storms and bushfires in the United States and floods in Australia.  I hope you were all safe.

1.   Just apropos of nothing I got an envelope full of love and glitter from one of my sisters!  A hug in the post!  Photographing the envelope, complete with its stamp made me think how little we use the regular postal service these days, but how very special it is to get really personal mail.  I have made a “note to self” (a regular occurrence) to send more personal mail!

2.      I’m excited about the Website Sale – I’m offering 20% discount on absolutely everything on my website – it’s been fun to hear from old friends and new.  You have until the end of the month to shop, but it’s probably a good idea to get in before the pieces you have your eye on are gone.

      A little reminder of how to do it...Just sign up for my email newsletter on the "News" page , then select your pieces, proceed to the checkout and enter BUYBEADS in the discount code box.  Simple!

3.     I’ve finished some lovely work this week – I made the Chakra Lotus Flower Necklace and bracelets that I showed you earlier in the week, and I have finished a red and grey necklace for someone and am in the middle of the design process of another two necklaces for people – one orange and red and the other of brown based CanCans.  This is when I think I have the best job in the world!

 .4.  There has been the most amazing full moon this week.  I love a full moon – I know that some people find them unsettling, but I feel enlivened and in touch with the elements when the moon shows all her glory.

5.   I had a small brainstorming session this week with the fabulous local artist, Robin Slow.  I just love his work – he paints using kokowai (paints mixed from ground local stone used in traditional Maori art), soot and acrylic paint and his beautiful earthy toned artworks have a distinctly Maori flavor. 

Here’s a little taster, but if you want to see more go to www.kokowaiartist.co.nz

I’ve been looking at symbols, talismans and amulets lately and thinking about the things that are of my world and that I understand.  I learnt so much in that short time!

This is the symbol for Aroha - the Maori word for love

6.    The poinsettia plant that grows outside our bedroom window is flowering madly, despite being hacked down at ground level last summer because it scratches against the wall when it blows around.  It was planted as a pot plant after Christmas one year and just grew and grew, till now it becomes a large shrub every year.  I’m not a big fan of them, but how can you not love something so vigorous?

Inspired by Liv Lane's Bliss List.

This Week 30th June 2012

I'm enjoying this new habit of rounding up the week - looking through it and picking out the best bits, and this week has surely had some high spots!
1.  I'm enjoying finishing some work that's been hanging around waiting for my final design decisions - these chakra lotus flowers are almost there - just the clasps and final sizing adjustments to be made and they will be ready to have their portraits taken and enter the world.

There's a Turquoise based Chakra Lotus Flowers Bracelet here and one entirely in "Fire" colours

2.  There's something very luxurious about being able to tidy up - laying things out, touching them and dreaming of what they might become.  I've always had a love of touchstones and amulets - perhaps that's where this drifting and sifting might take me?  I find the sight of a tray of ordered glass so seductive!

Where are the hot colours?  On the bench being used!

3.  I've really enjoyed going down the Pinterest rabbit hole this week, following this train of thought that's been lurking.  I'm always quite happy with my own company and have enjoyed the clear mind space to play...

Enjoying being a hermit this week

4.  On the other hand, I loved our Matariki/midwinter feast at Ratanui Lodge last Saturday night.  The beautiful group of women I walk with in the mornings and their partners got together for an evening of delicious food, scrummy wines, elegant surroundings, superb service and the very  best of company.  Thanks guys, you do it so well!

The Lodge is full of the most elegant antiques

This was the dessert table - for after we had eaten our rich little Christmas puddings!

 

5.  It's wonderful to have all my walking friends home from their travels and a treat to hear the stories they brought back.

I hope your week has been wonderful too!  Spare five minutes to think about the best bits - it makes the world a happier place.

This Week 16th June 2012

We're being bears this week and hibernating - there's been snow on the hills and a first for me, I had ice on the windscreen of my car this morning.  Yeah, I know, all you tough southerners and folk from cold winter climates are telling me to harden up!  Winter in Golden Bay is very mild and the beaches are looking truly spectacular!

I've had a great week - there's lots of creative juice flowing in the studio and into my journals.
1.  I was really inspired by a blog that I visited from Liv Lane's Weekly Little Bliss List Links (and for the life of me I can't remember where, the blogger's name or her blog name - apologies), who had entered a challenge to decorate one index card every day.  It got me thinking so I pulled out a wee notebook sent to me by my dear friend Kim and decided that I would fill in a page every day - just to remind myself to pick up a pen, paintbrush, whatever...and ink the page.  I'm enjoying the process...

2.  I bought myself a little treat this week from Healthpost - Royal Honey Nectar Moisturising Facelift.  This magic potion is made in a tiny area I lived in for 3 years called Tapawera - right up the top of the Motueka River Valley.  It's been developed by the local beekeper from bee venom and is apparently Botox in a jar.  Kate is reported to have used the Face Mask in preparation for THE wedding.  Anyhow, it's really nice to use - feels pretty natural and I can really feel my skin tighten up.  I put my normal moisturiser on over it.  However, no-one's commented that I look twenty years younger...yet :).

3.  We have a new venture in Golden Bay called Village Milk .  A local farmer is selling milk from his cows via a vending machine at his gate.  It's A2 unpasteurized - that means that the cows naturally produce milk with certain beneficial fats - they're checked fastidiously so the milk can be guaranteed healthy and can therefore be sold unpasteurized.  Read up more on their site if you're interested in the science of it - it's fascinating. It seems that lots of local people are as into authentic consumption as we are - it has become so popular that we often find a small queue at the vending machine.  It's lovely to see our alternative little community helping one another out with the technology of it too!  I met a friend there last night who recommended V8 juice bottles as the perfect receptacle - even better than the bottles available in the bottle vending machine - as we have.

Wild bird seed and dripping

Melt the dripping and add the seed.  Pour into plastic containers (so you can run a knife around them to release the pudding)

Put them out in the garden and watch the birds come from far and wide - it can take a little while for them to realise that it's there.

4.  I've been making "birdie puddings" this week.  I make them every year at this time for the poor wee birds who have so little to eat right now.  I figure it's my way of making up for the occasional victim of the fur babies.

5.  The Toy Boy - who has braved ice and snow to take the toys to The Nelson Market this morning - made me up a fresh batch of bead boards this week.  I'm so lucky to have his help with the little finishing touches.  Now all I have to do is stamp them all!

6.  This week I've been playing with red, black and grey - I  have three necklaces on the go in these colours and some pink Swarovski pearls combined with some silver and a transparent glass heart...and I've been working on a new version of the Chakra Beads...the studio is the cosiest place in town!

How about you?  Have you had a good week?  How about making a (mental or actual) list of six things that warmed your week...

20 Days to go...

...'till the shortest day.

Luculia Flowers in the garden - we need smell-o-cam!

It's already winter and I still haven't finished my autumn cleanup chores.
But it's a day for counting blessings...

I've been sorting through all of my bead stash for stocktaking and have put all of my gorgeous bead jars into the shop part of the workroom to sell from.  I get lots of people sharing their beading ideas with me and seeking my input and advice - there are lots of really creative people out there!

Part of the sorting out process has been labeling, pricing and coordinating all of the bits and pieces.  I'm almost finished with the Swarovski Crystals - just the last few jars to clean and labels to go.

I need to order another box of the little plastic jars so I can display the findings, too and get some hooks so I can hang little bags of findings up - if you're into fine detail this is fun for a while...

All of this means that the (lovely clean, tidy) bench has had little use in the past few days and I'm itching to get on with the business of melting glass.
 The last play I had was with plain clear class and white - I'm loving the crispness of the two together.

I felt a bit overwhelmed with winter and rote chores last week, but this week I'm loving winter - we've got into that part where it's freezing at night but we have glorious days.  Pure Golden Bay weather!

I'm enjoying wearing my Doc Martens again - these red ones are still my favourites.

The winter garden flowers are blooming - there's always a gap between the end of the autumn and true winter.  The winter sweet is making a whole corner by our bedroom simply radiate perfume - the flowers aren't much to look at the perfume has to be smelled to be believed!  The pink luculia has sprung its first flowers and they are always beautiful - they're another one we need smell-cam for!

In true colourful and vibrant Golden Bay style, this Saturday morning has been a blast!  We've had our monthly (weekly in summer) market here and there have been people dressed in fantabulous hats promoting their new theatre production, there's been a peaceful protest in the main street (it started outside our door ) against the use of 1080.  There's been music and buskers and all the usual locals hanging out and smiling together in the winter sunshine.
I think I really do live in paradise!

TAKE what you NEED

After a week of grey "porridge" weather we have woken to a glorious morning!

I've been thinking about how I bang on about the weather, but it really does affect me.

  I'm OK about getting my head down and bum up and working away when it's grey and horrible, but I feel infinitely more cheerful when the sun shines.'

I've found this really cool new time-wasting device called "Pinterest " - you  may have heard of it ;).

I can spend hours looking at all of the pretty things and getting inspired while pretending to watch TV with the Toy Boy.  He also pretends to watch TV with his lap-top on his lap, but he cruises cars and machinery and blokey stuff.

I was inspired this week by a picture of a simple sign, and decided - for once - to act upon my inspiration.

I pinned this on a little noticeboard between the workroom and the Organic Grocery Store it's been really uplifting to watch people stumble upon it.  Even if they don't physically take a "gift" , they smile.  I wonder how many "gifts" will have gone when I get in this morning?

 There has also been lots of work going on to stock the Stitchbird's new store in Wellington.

 Being back into my work is good! 

{Share your bliss! Scatter your joy in a comment below or link up at LivLane.com!}

Counting my Blessings

How was your week?  

Did you have blissful moments?

Have you stopped and thought about the things you are grateful for lately? 

It's so enriching to do this all the time - just noting the wonderful events and abundance that surround us as we go through our days can give a whole new perspective on the world.

Wishing you all a BLISS-FULL week!

My Little Bliss List

My Little Bliss List is in my sidebar if you want to check it out.

What makes your bliss?  Have you thought about it today? 

Little Bliss List

I've just found a new (to me) blog written by Liv Lane and am finding it quite inspiring.  One of the challenges she set was to write a small Bliss List - a list of your joys of the week.

I've always enjoyed writing my lists of Gratitudes but have decided to change it and broaden it to 

The Little Bliss List.

What are the things that light up your life?

Take a few minutes and think about them - they will bring a smile to your face!

Last night our neighbour arrived with this box of perfect apricots from Central Otago and invited us to choose some.  They were the perfect taste of hot summer days!