I am busy working away on my next Interlocking Crystals variation.

So far I have beaded just over half of the bangle and really need to get going now to finish the other other half before the end of January and in time for my February newsletter.

As always part of my beading involves lots of procrastination and browsing of the internet- I consider it vital inspiration time!

There are a few blogs and feed I follow regularly which, although not bead related, are interesting and inspiring.  One is Visual News where I recently discovered these incredible altered variations of work by Van Gogh. It made me look at his work in a whole new light.

I also love visiting Might Optical Illusions for daily bafflement, Skull-A-Day for ghoulish entertainment, Daily Art Muse and Polymer Clay Daily for inspiration and Colour Lovers blog for all sorts of colour delights.

I also follow lots of food and drink blogs including a fascinating one from 69 Colebrooke Road where I go to find out about a talk from Dave Wondrich who is widely regarded as a drinks expert and is the author of some great books on the history of drinks.

This talk was on punch and not only did we get to hear a fascinating talk from Dave but the best bit was we got to try some punches. We began with a Limmers punch which was light and refreshing and then moved onto a rum punch for some extra spice. When the talk was over we tried a couple more cocktails (including an amazing one with liquorice in) before heading home full of plans to bead again the next day.