Stained Glass In Rouen
posted on Friday, 28 December 2007
I'm still in France and having a great time!
On Christmas Eve we visited Amiens for the Christmas market where I consumed lots of Vin Chaud along with Croque Monsieur avec frites. At 7pm we stood in the freezing cold and watched a fantastic light show at the Cathedral- well worth the cold wait.
Today we visited Rouen which is an absolutely beautiful town. As well as its large cathedral and clock tower we also visited the wonderful modern Joan of Arc Church. This is a great structure with some very inspiring stained glass windows- look out for a future project based on them!
Rouen is full of tiny streets with little shops housing art restorers, dress-makers, porcelain painters, cobbers and much more- will definitely have to return for a longer visit in the future. We also managed to catch the end of their Christmas market which seemed a lot less commercial than the one in Amiens- so I'll sure we'll be back next year!
Geometric 3-4-3
posted on Thursday, 27 December 2007
I've finally managed to finish this piece. I started the inspiration piece over a year ago and it's been hanging around waiting for me to finish it ever since.
I liked the original piece but felt it was too similar to what I'd already done so changed it by mixing in two different sized triangles.
More Geometric Experiments
posted on Thursday, 20 December 2007
I'm back in the swing with my geometric work now and have been working on finishing some old samples and building on ideas.
These three pendants are based on some previous samples, as well as when I played around a year ago beginning my Rolodex Bracelet- which of course I've never finished!
For the colours I'm being inspired by Rangoli and Diwali.
At Last Some Geometry In My Life
posted on Monday, 17 December 2007
I've been busy finishing my latest bracelet in my Geometric Beadwork Series and hopefully it'll be done in the next week or so. I've also been working on trying to finish all my other half finished pieces in the series so look out for them cropping up in the next few weeks.
In the meantime here are two bracelets I've beaded for a future issue of Bead Magazine.
It's been great having so much feedback from people about the work, and fanatstic to see some of the work it has inspired, along with items inspired by my other work. Here are some examples:
Bagouse came 5th in a challenge run by the Island of Beads website. The site is in French so you may need Babelfish to help you translate it.
Dora Gyongyei in Hungary was inspired by my Cubed Cubes series of work to make a bracelet.
Stefeni at Beadefulpins made a bracelet inspired by my Spiky Necklace- look back at her previous blog posts to see it's beginnings.
Emma at Glitter Glow Beading beaded a bracelet of mine that appeared in a recent issue of Bead
I'm very busy getting ready for Christmas, working on the next issue of Bead and preparing to head over to France again.
Back To Work And Procrastinating!
posted on Monday, 03 December 2007
OK, so today I'm back at my desk and dealing with the 4 weeks worth of emails and post that's threatening to take over. So obviously I'm dealing with it by surfing the net- like all good procrastinators do!
I've found lots of lovely stuff to look at and thought you might be interested in some of it:
First and foremost the excellent travel blog by Umbreen - how we miss her at bead group!
Lisa Galibardy's fabulous funky jewellery
I'm trying to narrow down my selection, I think I've got it down to the silver stag, black unicorn and rain man necklaces- but the list frequently changes!
A very interesting thread on the subject of giving away free content
Although focused on comics/ blogs it relate well to the world of beadwork and designers in other areas.
Gwen Fisher's article on 'Inspiration from an octahedron'
As a fan of geometric beadwork I found this fascinating.
Tatty Devine
Always fabulous jewellery. Just a few of my favourites are:
Horse and carriage necklace
Dinosaur necklace
Lady and dog brooch
Price ticket brooch
Swing girl necklace (especially appropriate now I'm doing trapeze- she even has my pony-tail!)
Trapeze necklace
The jewellery on Hannah Zakari and if you look carefully you'll find yet another tempting stag pendant!
Cowgirl Curios for lots of bits and bobs you didn't know you couldn't live without until you see them.
Have fun looking at the links and at some point I'll update my blog to fill out the missing two weeks and let you know what I've been up to!
Still On My Travels
posted on Saturday, 17 November 2007
Still travelling around but now we're just settled in Florida enjoying finding bead shops, buying prom dresses and having too many pancakes, hash browns and brownies.
We visited the Ringling Museum today. We've been to the grounds before but the museum was under constructions so it was great to see it all this time- especially now I'm a trapeze artist in my spare time- in fact I need to watch those brownies or my next trapeze lesson won't be much fun!
I return to London soon- just in time to head off to Istanbul for the International Bead and Beadwork Conference being held there- and then return to London in time for Bead Magazine's new Bead show on the 1st December.
At some point I'll fit some beading in- I brought some with me, planning to spend lots of time lazing by the pool doing it, but of course never have enough time- but am crocheting a new scarf instead!
Today I've decided to treat you to a picture from the Midnight Buffet on the cruise- which I'm very proud to say I did not indulge in!
Important Life Skills
posted on Saturday, 10 November 2007
Who says holidays can't be educational?
It's the last day of our cruise today and already I've learnt how to make a variety of towel animals!
Travelling The World
posted on Friday, 09 November 2007
I'm out and about on my travels at the moment.
So far I've sea-trekked, visited Hell and held turtles in Grand Cayman, been horse-riding in Cozumel, toured around and enjoyed an airboat tour in Belize and explored the beautiful paradise that is Honduras-which you can see in the photo- hands up who's missing grey London?!?!
Cuff Coming On Nicely
posted on Saturday, 20 October 2007
Bead group today and I actually managed to do some beading!
My new cuff is coming along nicely. I've done all of the beading around the Turquoise stones, now I'm working on filling in all the background beads.
Step By Step Beads have added the details of the winners of the 2007 Jewelry Arts awards to their website. You can click on the link and download the PDF to see the winning entries.
I've had so much great feedback from getting my two 1sts and a 2nd place (with three pieces from my Geometric Beadwork Series) - it really has been overwhelming, so thanks to everyone who's emailed me- glad to know you all like the work- and I am busy working away on the instructions so watch this space- though it may be a while!
Skirt All Finished And Knitting & Stitching Show
posted on Thursday, 18 October 2007
Just back from a few days exploring the delights of Northern France and managed to finish my crochet skirt while I was there.
Now am just deciding whether to line it or not, decisions, decisons...
Just before I went I had a great couple of days at the Knitting & Stitching show.
I always love attending the show as it's a great opportunity to buy lots of lovely items, view exhibitions and catch up with beaders and suppliers I only seem to see at this show!
I was again restrained and didn't buy any beads- but I more than made up for it with my spending on yarn.
I love doing lots of little classes at the show as you can be introduced to a new technique without having to commit a lot of time or money. This year I did some lovely Japanese twisted thread embroidery and also spent an enjoyable hour making a felt flower brooch.
Bead Fair Fun
posted on Sunday, 07 October 2007
Went to Harrow Bead fair today- was quite restrained- not like me!
I just bought some silk 'neck wires' and cube beads.
I always enjoy going to the fair, even just to see all the beautiful lampwork for sale- it's so nice to see it all in person rather than just on websites.
It's the Knitting and Stitching show this week so saving my pennies for that- hope to see you there!
