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!

Relishing Sunday

I told you that I bought a big bucket of ripe tomatoes last week - well I made them into relish today.  It was a perfect Sunday, just pottering around with the lovely smell of cooking relish permeating the house.

I'm a bit of a sucker for kitchen equipment - I have lots of old and new gear and love a new toy, but one of the most useful things I have in my kitchen is the grottiest.  An old friend showed me  how to funnel jam and relish into the jars - just cut the top off an old plastic vinegar bottle.  I made this gorgeous item years ago and it's lived in the cupboard coming out on special preserving days.  It doesn't win any prizes for glamour, but it sure as hell wins the practicality prizes!

I made 4 times the quantity of the recipe in the old Edmonds Cookbook - an old Kiwi standard!

It made 24 jars - that's enough for a jar every three weeks or so for a year and a good few to give away.

 

TOMATO RELISH

1.5 kg tomatoes, blanched, skinned and quartered (I skip the blanching, skinning and anything fussy)

4 onions, quartered (I actually like mine chopped a bit finer than this

2 tablespoons salt

2 cups brown sugar (there's no way around this - you need to use real sugar - it acts as a preservative.  You can, however, use raw sugar, but there's little difference)

2 1/4 cups malt vinegar

3 chillies

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon curry powder

3 or more tablespoons maize cornflour (so it's OK for wheat free friends)

Another 1/2 cup malt vinegar

Put tomatoes and onions into a non-metallic bowl.  Sprinkle with salt and leave for 12 hours.  Drain off all liquid formed.  Put vegetables, sugar, first measure of vinegar and chillies into preserving pan.  Boil gently for one and a half hours, stirring frequently.  Mix mustard, curry and cornflour with second measure of vinegar and mix to a smooth paste.  Stir into relish.  Boil for a good 5 minutes.  Pack into sterilized jars.  Makes about 4 x 350ml jars.

illy & Mojo had a sleep-in and didn't get out of bed till almost 1 o'clock.  So of course the bed remained unmade until they'd finished with it.  They refused even to open their eyes for this photo.

We went into town late in the afternoon and hung the last sign.  Apologies for the awful photo, quite apart from the fact that you can see my finger, you can't see the gorgeous copper roses that the Toy Boy made to adorn the top.

Full Moon Blues

I'm not sure what's going on here at the moment, but I can't seem to shake a bug that I picked up in Invercargill.  I often find that the full moon brings a lot of these things to the surface, don't you?

I thought I'd dealt with my bug pretty conclusively on the last day of the Craft Shows when we went to A & E at Invercargill Hopsital and I was prescribed some horse-sized antibiotic pills.  

Now, that's an experience I could talk about at length - four hours in a public hospital Accident and Emergency waiting room sure are an education.  Although I was feeling lousy, I had to tell myself how lucky I am, and how benevolently life has treated me.

However, I digress...we had a lovely rest as we drove north - the sun shone for us, the newborn lambs frolicked the spring flowers nodded...it was idyllic and by the time we got home three days later I was feeling much better.

It was still a relief to get home to Golden Bay - we had a wonderful house-sitter and the furballs were happy and full of fun, and the garden had turned on spring.

It's been great to get back to work - does that sound strange?  I found myself really missing the torch while we were away - I think it comes from talking to people about the work, but not doing it!

However I find myself looking for sunny spots to lie down in.

Perhaps once the full moon has finished her phase I will feel better?

Skirt Love

 

"Magenta Purple"

I have fallen in love with the skirts of Anna Konya.  She has been designing her gorgeous gypsy-inspired clothing since the '60's and they have become real collectors items in the States.

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"Sedona Sunset"

They're made up of metres and metres of (mostly) cotton fabric and the colours are "bent" with  metres and metres of ribbon.  The waist is elasticised and there are apparently voluminous pockets hidden in the folds, so they are practical pieces that are meant to be worn every day.

There are gyspy shirts to match, too.

With the US Dollar so low at the moment, it's all very tempting, but I think I will have to wait and make a special birthday gift request!

illy & Mojo were doing a bit of "formation sleeping" in front of the fire tonight.  Purrfect!

Pandora Beads

You know that I am in love with glass beads and jewellery, and I'm often moved to make myself a little something!

Years ago the Toy Boy gave me a Pandora bracelet and I've mucked around with it for ages and I think I've finally found a style that suits me.

I've made a series of what are known as "white heart" beads - opaque white glass overlaid with bright transparent colours in the chakra colours. These beads have the big hole that is needed to go over the thick snake chain of the Pandora style bracelets - there are lots of brands of these, Troll beads and Love Links are the ones that come immediately to my mind.

I haven't cored my beads with silver - there shouldn't be a need with handmade glass beads that are properly annealed, so they move around the sections within the bracelet and tap together in a very satisfying way!

I have always made a few of these beads - they're not on the website, but here's a photo of the selection I have in the studio at the moment.  If something there interests you, just drop me a line - they are NZ$25 each.

Don't you think that silver charms between the glass beads would look wonderful? Perhaps I will have to start dropping hints!

For those of you in New Zealand, stay warm this mid winter weekend - there's snow on the hills and it's bitterly cold here!

illy and Mojo took one look at the morning and decided to stay by the fire!

Spring is here!

Just this week there are lots of wonderful signs that spring is here!

There are spring bulbs flowering, the magnolias, camellias and daphne are out and there is a sprinkling of calves and lambs about.

It's a beautiful day here - a day to be glad that you're alive.

I've been very involved in "busy work" lately - the days have been jam-packed and every minute seems to be accounted for a week in advance, so I did a terrible thing!

I took the day off!!!

Today I've planted the Christmas lilies, done a little cleaning, played with my camera, read my book in the sunshine...and not much else.

I was supposed to be somewhere else today, but I decided that I needed a quiet day at home - and it has been bliss!

I think that days off like mine should be compulsory on a monthly basis, and I may launch a petition...

I hope that you've enjoyed your day as much as I've enjoyed mine.