By Vicki - Beads, Jewellery, Designs and waffle...

Crave Photography

2010-10-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

Don't miss out on the chance to win a online session with Ande from Crave Photography head on over to The Material Lense to enter!!!!

We made to Japan!

2010-06-15T21:43:00.000-07:00

Yeh, so we are living in Tokyo now. verrrry surreal!!! I'm going to try keep writing on this blog about my photography and everything. But I'm so behind with telling you what going on, I don't know where to start. Everything that we are up to in Japan will be posted on our travel blog linked here
You can also keep up to date with ALL my photos on our new flickr page. I am using Flickr as a way to back up all my photos so feel free to have mooch...

I have the best friends EVER!

2010-06-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I have lots and lots and lots of photos to uploads.... but my god, I have done soooo much stuff in the last 3 weeks visiting everyone, getting stuff ready for Japan etc... and now I am just chilling til Sunday comes. I have been living with my best mate Jodi, this past week, we have had so much fun!!!! She doesn't have internet though... which is why I have a back log of photos to upload and Sooooooo much to tell you...
But quickly, me and fran had our leaving do last night, it was AMAZING... honestly!!! it was more than I could have ever asked or wished for. Jodi, Sara and Leah helped me make sure everything ran well and we just had an amazing time. I have only sorted a few photos out for now.... so I will be updaeing this post (hopefully tonight, but no promises ok?) so check back please... here are so awesome pictures of a truley awesome night!!! LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!!

Where has the time gone?!

2010-06-03T02:37:00.000-07:00

Right, Well can't stop ... just about leave to go visit fran family for the day in Liverpool... but I have lots and lots to catch you up on, but for now here are a few pictures I have taken over the last week. hope everyone is well xxx

Contemplation...

2010-05-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

hm... well, I'm sat on my matress at the moment, which is a in on the floor. We have to be out of this house next week so got some serious packing to do... I'm trying to chill out to it cuz I'm not coping very well with stress at moment. I am officially jobless, left the restaurant last night, didn't realise how upseting it would actually be!

So over the next few weeks there are going to be a lot of "this is the last time that ..." which I am finding myself saying ALL the time . Anyway, enough of that. I went on a photography coures the other day with Jodi and learnt so much :-D we really enjoyed it! though now I want to save my money up to by a flash gun for my camera - lol! Above is one of the photos I took and have edited. It was taken in Bolton and oh my god I love it in Black and White!!!

Right, better get back on with my packing, pretty sure you will be hearing from me alot over the next 3 weeks what with me not working... so :-D will see you soon xxx

What a Great Day with Jenny and Ryan!

2010-05-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

The other day, I went round to take pictures of my friend's like boy Ryan. He's 1 year old this week!!! We had such a great time just chilling out and not being in work, I took soooooo many photos!!! Ryan was a complete little poser... at first he wanted to know what my camera was and press the buttons but after about half an hour he was quite happy showing me his toys and playing and wasn't even bothered by it anymore! We took him to the park which was soooooo nice for us cuz it was super sunny!!Ow... and I took some bubbles along... he never seen them before - which was soooooooooo fun!!!

So here are some of my favourites!

FYI: I want to apologise to everyone who has followed my blog for my jewellery and lampwork beads ... when I get to Japan I am hoping to go on some master classes to do with Lampworking so there will be posts about that as and when... but I have taken an extreme liking to photography (which I only originally got into to take better photos of my jewellery and beads) I just want you guys to know... I will still be doing the jewellery and lampworking... but not as much as before - so this will be a blog about EVERYthing I do. Sorry to the people who arn't bothered about my photography, and thank you to everyone who has been supportive, postive and left lovely comments on my blog!!!!

LOTS OF LOVE

Vicki xxx

Happy 1st Birthday Ryan!!!

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - Faces & Flowers

2010-05-17T00:46:00.000-07:00

Here is my entry for the Faces & Flowers challenge over at I ♥ Faces today

Pop over to I Heart Faces to see more Faces & Flowers :-)

Happy Monday!

Meet Alice Biggs

2010-05-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

I have known Alice for a long time!!! She is one of my best friends, and I don't see her as much as I would like but when I do - it's like we haven't been apart. I met her when I was a member of the NYBB (National Youth Brass Band) when I was 15 so we would spend 2 weeks a year together and had such a laugh and then she came to uni in manchester!!! and if I'm in Manchester I always see her :-) we had such a fun day taking these photos, hoping to do some more :-D

Meet Jodi Swanton

2010-05-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

This is Jodi, one of my best friends in the whole world - i love her to bits!!! we had such a good day takin these photos - hope to do it again soon :-D Hope you like, comments are very welcome xxx

What a day!!!

2010-05-13T19:07:00.000-07:00

Well... I've had a great few days off ... AGAIN!!! :-D done sooooo much stuff... but today was AMAZING!!!! it was sooooooo good, I have 2 amazing, stunning, awesome friends who agreed to do some modeling for me today... here are just a few, I will post in a few days of the WHOLE shoot (well, maybe not the who thing cuz I took over 500 photos - hehe) Here they are Alice and Jodi - LOVE YOU!!!

If you don't like reptiles... look away now, If you like babies keep reading!

2010-05-06T16:38:00.001-07:00

Just about to go to bed, and thought I would post one of my photos from today, to cut a very long story short. We didn't go to get our visa on wednesday because we didn't feel 100% confident in what we had written, having now given a couple of extra days, we are both feeling very confident about it now... so we will be doing that a week on tuesday.

Sorry to put these in the same post...

I took photos of my friends baby today, she was so gorgeous and by the end I felt totally comfortable holding her... (at first I was very wary having not really had any experience with babies!) I loved it, its was great! She is called Macy Olivia and she is 9 weeks old, We only got one smile out of her but I caught it... Yippee, will be going round to do more next week hopefully and do some family shots too!

Just checking in...

2010-05-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

Phew... well that's been a very hard weekend at work, 3 days off now and lots to do! Tomorrow we are going to sort and finish of our Visa application, then Wednesday we are heading to London to go to the Japanese Embassy to actually apply for the working holiday visas which we are hoping to get - so wish us luck, (gasp - this was a long sentence!) and then thursday (this is very very exciting) a friend of a friend has had a baby, she is 8 weeks old, and I am going to go and photograph her! I'm so excited! I've got so many ideas for the shoot so WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!

Ok, so all my lampworking glass stuff has been put into storage - sniff sniff :-(! so you won't be seeing any more beads for a bit now. I haven't quite finished packing my jewellery making stuff yet so you might see some jewellery soon! I can't believe it, we will be in Japan this time in 6 weeks. Time is flying by now... so excited.

Right I'm off, you will hear from me soon, I'll leave you with a photo I took of Fran. Hope you like :-)

xxx

Random Day of Photos

2010-04-26T17:44:00.000-07:00

Lots and Lots of photos... First, flowers...

And then the cutest cat ever!!!

This beautiful cat came running over to me, meowing away, i came down to her level, and took a photo... bless her... she bolted back to hiding around the fence...! Still meowing... isn't this the cutest thing!!!

And then... I got my remote for my camera... so i thought I would try out a few self-portraits

I have got so much planned for the next two days... I've got lots of packing to do tomorrow as we are putting all our stuff in storage on Wednesday... and I've rounded up 3 girl friends and we are having a shoot... I have some great friend, letting me practice on them!!! :-)

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - Smiles

2010-04-26T03:55:00.000-07:00

http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

This is my first ever entry at I Heart Faces, it looks like so much fun, so I thought I'd join in... here is my entry for the "smile" challenge! This was my friend Hayley, we always have a laugh!! She's Great!

Check out more Smiles at I Heart Faces!

Yet Another Beautiful Day...

2010-04-23T01:42:00.000-07:00

It was really nice yesterday, the weather was gorgeous. Me a couple of friends did a bit of walking, some picture taking... I can honestly say I have never appreciated nature quite this much until I started looking at the world through this camera lens, its strange and quite surreal - But I love it!

These pictures are of a very good friend called Hayley, she has been off work for the past 2 weeks as she has quite badly hurt her hip... she is on crutches. Which made being in the fresh air so much better!! Another day of really progressing using my camera! I'm very happy!

When I get back from Japan... portraiture is something I want to pursue! :-D

Stunning Semi Precious Beads

2010-04-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

I got a little bit of jewellery making done yesterday, I really enjoyed it!!! Don't you just love it when you are using top quality materials... it always makes the finished product look that much better!!!

So, I'm going to let you into a few little secrets

In every piece of jewellery I make, I always use swarovski 4mm bicones crystals. Doesn't matter what I'm making, I either use the crystal clear ones, or choose a colour that will accent the piece.
I LOVE faceted semi precious gemstones, or natural shaped beads. Like in the necklace above, each of these "chip" beads are different, which I think always give your jewellery that "unique feel". You can click here to look at an amazing selection of semi precious beads.
I love to use silver to compliment the beads I use. I find that silver works well to accent the colours I use too. Like the necklace above I have used frosted silver beads as they work well with the lighter colours, but in the bracelet below because of the dark colours I have used the solid silver.

You know what's the best thing about these pieces of jewellery... They are for me! YAY!

Getting Dressed Up To Take Photos of the Sunset

2010-04-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

No joke... that's actually what we did! haha. We have been so many places, taking it in turns to take photos with the one camera I had. Now I have a new one she has my old one, and she loves it! and I love that we both can take photos of the same thing and kind of learn together... so we both finished work at 3:30, and I tell you that NEVER happens!!! So we wanted to make the most of it! We decided that we would both wear a nice dress and wear nice make up so that we could have a practice taking photos of each other whilst we were waiting for the exciting sun to set. We drove up there to find our spot of where we wanted to be to capture the sunset... then we went for a quick explore. I mean like 15 mins! We had a practice at taking some photos of the sun, getting different shot by changing the aperture. I took photos of Jodi for literally 5 mins at the most!!! and I got some photos that I really am proud of!!!

We dashed back to our "spot" in time for the sunset... I was such an idiot! we were waiting for ages... I thought it would set about 45mins before it actually did. hehe. I should of checked really should I?! We decided to go see what was in our surrounding, Jodi got a great shot of 2 sheep locking horns! I didn't even see it happen!!

It was extremely cold by this time and we watch the last 15mins from the car with the heating on full blast! I decided I would get out for the last 5 mins. I got a few good photos but felt like I was taking the same photos... over, and over and over and over. So The sun was literally 2 minutes from setting and I decided to put my 70-300mm lense on. I zoomed in to 300mm.

"Jodi! There is something infront of the sun"

but from this distance neither of us could make out what It was. So I just held down my shutter button taking as many photos as I could until the sun was gone - hehe. After, we zoomed into the photos it was very apparent that it was an oil rig right infront of the sun! Amazing! Not fantastic quality... but what do you expect from over 25 miles away!!!! I was well pleased!!!

I'm really loving my new camera!!! :-D

Taking Photos of Matt

2010-04-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

We had a right laugh out in the garden and we didn't even plan it. I was outside with my camera and Matt came out with his Euphonium, so I started taking photos of him, just messing around - I got alot of funny shots but only cuz he was just being silly! Here are the ones I am very happy with! He has now said that he wants me to take some serious shots for him, which will be very exciting so watch this space!!!

Oh My God so excited!!!

2010-04-17T01:21:00.000-07:00

So 2 days ago my amazingly exciting new camera came (which was equally as exciting for my friend Jodi, because she has bought my other camera off me!!!)!!! We went out yesterday, to Rivington Pike to watch the sun go down both looking like {self-proclaimed} camera geeks!!! Will have some more to post later but I will leave you with this picture which I absolutely LOVE of Jodi. Be back soon!

Spring hus Sprung

2010-04-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Well I've had a great day today, got lots of stuff done... emailed people, made beads, took photos, packed a little, blog-ed, flickr-ed, and done alot more random stuff and most of all I have been enjoying the sun!!!!

Here is my first proper edit of a flower I literally took a photo of this flower in my friends back garden!!!! lol

I'm taking back my life {and taking back my blog}

2010-04-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

Right well... since xmas I would say I have been working ~~my arse off~~ very hard!

I have achieved everything I wanted to achieve.... we now have under 8 six weeks until we move to Japan... and the only thing that we have sorted is our plane tickets and a place to keep our stuff while we are away. We have ALOT more to sort!!!!

So I am very pleased to say that we both now have enough money to go out there and live - and anything we make between now and leaving will be extra/spending money!!!! So I have cut down (again... I know!) to 4 days a week at the restaurant... meaning I have enough time to make money/get everything sorted/enough time to go round spending some quality time seeing everyone before we go!

I have been off today and I have been round my friends have a birthday dinner party for one of my other friends. Now i'm back home gunna sit down with Fran and write a "To Do" list, and hopefully work our way down it til all is ticked off!!!! You know what else I'm going to do tonight.... I'M GOING TO MAKE SOME BEADS!!!!! hhhhhh'oh yes, that's right!!! I'm feeling inspired and I really haven't been feeling it lately so I will let you know how that all goes!!!

I'm gunna leave you now with a photo I took the other day, I'd had a really great day with the lovely Sara - she had let me take photos of her which you can look at here. and then we went for a walk to somewhere where I could take a few photos of the sunset.

The only editing I did on this photo was straightening up the alignment of the horizon.... so this shot is practically "Straight Out Of the Camera"

I have neglected you!

2010-04-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry Blog world that I haven't written to you in over a month now!

We have finally booked our tickets to Japan, we fly on June 13th!!! I am so excited about it, but oh my god I am scared! I know I'm definitely excited about actually being there but there is the whole leaving family and friends behind, and then the actually getting on the plane!!! Yup yup yup, I think that is going to be the hardest thing... waiting for the plane... waiting to get on the plane... waiting to get to our seats... waiting for the plane doors to shut... waiting for the plane to take off... blah blah blah. If any of you know me, you will know that I get extremely anxious! And I'm not so great at dealing with anxiety...

Anyway I'm trying not to think about the negative... infact I am trying to have a whole new take on life... no negativity only positivity... finger crossed, we will see how that one goes!

I have been making a few beads here and there and a few bits of jewellery but really nothing to write about... I am doing so many hours at work waiting on and I am training to be a manager which is another thing to challenge me - I like it!

At the moment, any spare minutes I get outside of work I am searching the internet trying to find videos/tutorials/anything that can teach me the next thing I want to know about photography... I also have been a sucker for Flickr these past couple of weeks! I really want to be able to take good photos more than anything when we go to Japan... and maybe if that goes well, when I get back I could go on a few photography courses... I guess we will have to see.

Anyway I will leave you here with a few of my favorite photos from the thousands I have searched through on Flickr in the past couple off weeks.

1. I miei silenzi fanno rumore, 2. { easy like sunday morning } - explored, 3. 桜 Avenue, 4. Wallflower, 5. ♥ T I L T ♥, 6. Bright days ahead....., 7. ., 8. ttd, 9. Infanta, 10. Spring Breeze, 11. Untitled, 12. .a little family., 13. Upside Down, 14. { spring baby } +2 in comments, 15. Anemone

1. Forget me Not, 2. baby blues, 3. day three hundred and sixty five, 4. little harry potter fan, 5. The Easter Bunny, 6. { spring is in the air } + 3 in comments, 7. Carpe Lux, 8. Sea n' Double, 9. My daddy...my friend., 10. we'll all come together, no, it's never too soon., 11. A Green and Pink Nature Moment, 12. The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. ~ Dolly Parton, 13. Untitled, 14. looking for my pot-of-gold!, 15. Double Rainbow

1. ~, 2. mantooth002, 3. Hudson - 3 months, 4. marissa, 5. Untitled, 6. Play Ball!, 7. Untitled, 8. Almond Blossom - London 2010b, 9. Sunburst over Grand Tetons, 10. Happy Birthday PD!, 11. Display, 12. Bamburgh Sunrise, 13. Week 12: Backlighting, 14. Untitled, 15. Sihouette kiss

1. My Bria, 2. untitled-8070, 3. Untitled, 4. Turquoise Towmater, 5. by the sea, 6. Hello beautiful, where have you been?, 7. benj and maddie, 8. A Promise..., 9. If it feels so real why can't I see it?, 10. Snow Monkey - Jigokudani Yaenkoen Park - Nagano - Japan, 11. smile was all sunshine, 12. Untitled, 13. Untitled, 14. DSC_7224_s, 15. Waiting

1. Dolphin, 2. Spring blooms from last year!, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. Pink, 6. Heavens Light, 7. Goddess on a mountain top, 8. Purple, 9. Sunset Giraffe, 10. [17-31], 11. .67., 12. ♥♥, 13. This is It!, 14. everyday life in Venice, 15. Untitled

Happy Birthday to me...

2010-03-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

Well I went out with my friends for my 21st last night - best night ever! And today I have been playing with my photos and textures and here is what I have come up with!

So...

2010-02-25T01:57:00.000-08:00

Princess of Portland Street, Manchester

... Photography.... DSLR... Lenses... Shutter Speed... Aperture... Depth of Field... ISO... White Balance

. . . does this mean ANYTHING to you?!?

It made no sense to me if anything the words just confused me more.

One thing about me is... I only do the things that I am naturally good at, take badminton for instence... I suck at badminton therefore I DON'T PLAY! I make glass beads because I get enjoyment out of making them and I sense of pride at the finish product... same applies for my jewellery.
I get frustrated sometimes that I have an eye for design yet I have a poor ability to put that design idea down on paper.

So when it came to photographing my jewellery/beads I alwayed borrowed my mums camera... I'm not 100% on what it is, It's not a DSLR but its not a compact... somewhere in between I think. So when I decided to invest in a camera for myself, I wanted one that I would be able to get as much detail as possible from my work.
I ended up getting a Nikon D60 about 6 months ago. It drove me insane for the first month (I wanted to take it back but I had missed the refund time!) as I had no idea how to work it... I suddenly had all these options to change and I panicked and flicked the camera on the AUTO mode and unless I was shooting Macro it stayed on that setting! I slowly got used to my new camera and was happy on the Auto mode, But everyday I have been looking a pictures on Flickr and DeviantArt looking at the settings the camera was set to to take these shots.

I had been looking for a begginners course in dslr photography since I got the camera and I was looking on the Nikon Support website and it came up with a Training courses in Manchester. I booked myself on it and oh my goodness it was amazing! Everything I had read suddenly made sense I finally felt I knew how to control my camera and not let my camera control me! Though there is still soooooo much to learn about using my D60 i feel I am on a definate road to taking good photos... so YAY!!!!

How to Photography Absoluterly Everything & Digital Photography Masterclass both written by Tom Ang

My brother Matt bought my this Digital Photography Masterclass book for christmas I loved flicking through at the pictures but can't say it made too much sense to be honest! But now I can flick through and actually learn from it before I now understand the LINGO. I would defiantly recommend the Nikon Introduction to DSLR photography course and these 2 books I have above here!!! I feel so inspired!!!

Take time... to Make time... to Blog...

2010-02-23T03:06:00.000-08:00

I think "under the radar" would be the best way to describe me for the past couple of weeks! Ever so sorry about that, I have just been EXTRA busy with work and had nothing interesting to tell you

(no point boring you just for the sake of it hey!)

Well now I do have some very interesting things to tell you... I went on a Nikon training course called introduction to DSLR photography - was awesome! Will tell you more about that later but for now...

Off I go to get my kiln and torch fired up and get down to some serious bead making!!!

I haven't made any for 2 weeks now and I am getting serious withdrawal symptoms!

Look what the Kiln Fairy brought me...

2010-02-05T15:48:00.000-08:00

Well here are the lovely beads I found in my new kiln the next day :-)

What a great few days off I've had.

2010-02-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

Ok, So monday I made these beads and nothing else!!! WOOP

Tuesday... I got up reeeeeeally early to get to Sally's for a lesson at 8am which is 2n a half hours away. We had such a great day bead making, experimenting, chattin! I had such fun!!! :-) Thanks Sally!
I also picked up my new kiln!!!! here is a picture of it in its new home!!! I'm so happy with it!

I tidied up the WHOLE of the room where I make beads so I can find things when I need them... now the real task is to keep in tidy!!!
All my glass all neatly stacked up...

Where I make my beads..

and today was BEAD MAKING DAY!!!! I have made the most beads I have ever made in one day and I haven't even filled this thing up!!! I have made a load of implosion beads and some other beads that I am practicing after my lesson. The crazy thing is, I learn from watching people and not necessarily doing. So for about 3 hours yesterday I asked Sally just to show me her making beads and I can tell today after I have already improved... I am just that bit more confident with actually handling melted glass... I worry way to much so as of today... I DON'T WORRY and IT'S ALL COOL, haha. My kiln has got loads of lovely beads in and I will be able to show you tomorrow... but for now Good Night :-) x

Wedding Jewellery

2010-01-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

Ok, so you may have noticed I haven't been blogging much recently... but here is why. I have been preparing for a pretty big commision. I was asked to make jewellery for a ladies wedding, she has been great to work with, which has made it easy for me as It's my first wedding commision. I have loved every moment of it, and I have leant so much and really want to continue making bridal jewellery.
SO here is a LOAD of pictures of the Brides jewellery:

Beauté Necklace

This necklace is made with Sterling Silver, Natural AA Grade White Fresh Water Pearls, Swarovski Clear Crystals, Grade AAA Quartz. This necklace sits delicately around the collar bone with a 18" drop down the back (perfect for a backless wedding dress) ending in the beautifully faceted Grade AAA Quartz Briolette.

Beauté Earring

Like the necklace these earrings are made with Sterling Silver, Natural AA Grade White Fresh Water Pearls, Swarovski Clear Crystals, Grade AAA Quartz.

Beauté Bracelet

This bracelet is made with Natural AA Grade White Fresh Water Pearls, Swarovski Clear Crystals. This bracelet is made up of 3 seperate strands of crystals and pearls that have been entwined together finished off with a simple smart sterling silver toggle clasp.

Then here I have sent her a choice of hair vines and pins for her to try out when she has her hair appointment rehersal. All hair vines are made with Natural AA Grade White Fresh Water Pearls, Swarovski Clear Crystals.

Fern Hair Vine

Simply Hair Vine

Lush Hair Vine

Lush Hair Pins

So thats the bride... Now for the mother of the bride:

All of the Lilac Dreams's Jewellery have been made with Sterling Silver, Swarovski Crystals, Tanzanite Quartz and Lampwork beads made by myself.

Lilac Dreams Earrings

Lilac Dreams Bracelet

Lilac Dreams Necklace

And finally the Bridesmaid...

All of the Flower Fun's Jewellery has been made with Sterling Silver, Swarovski Crystals, Tanzanite Quartz and Lampwork beads made by myself.

Flower Fun Necklace

Flower Fun Bracelet

Flower Fun Earrings

So there you go... it has been keeping me busy. and I have loved every minute I would love feed back on what you guys think about the jewellery!!!

Quick Photo Post

2010-01-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

I'm off to Butlins for the weekend with the family... will be back on Monday with lots of things to tell you, but for now I will let the photos do the talking!!!

My Blog Wins a Sunshine Award!

2010-01-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

I was thrilled to her that a few days ago The girls over at The Scarlet Butterfly Company sent me this Sunshine Blog Award you can check their blog out here! The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity & creativity inspires others in the blog world. Which was so nice to read!!!

The rules for accepting the Sunshine award

~ Put the logo on your blog or within your post

~ Pass the award onto 12 bloggers ~

~ Link the nominees within your post ~

~ Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

~ Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

Can't believe I have to pick only 12... oh my goodness this is going to be hard... (gasp) here goes.. in alphabetical order...

Amari Jewellery
Beads By Laura
Chameleon Designs
Dora Schubert
Embellish Yourself
Follow Your Art
Florspace
Gemheaven
By Keiara
By LGD
Suzy Q Jewelry
Trinkets and Treasure

Head on over to these blog and take a look around as they really are my faves...!!!

On another note... I will be posting a bit post tomorrow of what I have been upto in the past week as I haven't blogged which is very unlike me! And I am going to be holding a PRIZE DRAW for a sterling silver necklace with one of my handmade lampwork beads as a pendant... what this space!!!!

My Moo Cards are here!!!!

2010-01-06T05:29:00.000-08:00

YAY - so colourful I love them!!!!

If you are looking to buy business cards you should definitely check them out here.

Here are a couple more commissions I have been making...

Right!!!!

Today's task : Bead Making - fill the kiln!

Tonight's Task : Match Website to new Buisness Cards (most people do it the otherway round but hey!!! haha)

Snow Day

2010-01-05T15:58:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010 everyone!

2010-01-05T00:53:00.000-08:00

I'm having a brand new start, 4 days a week at the restaurant and 3 days at home making beads jewellery and what ever else comes up :-) I have had such a lovely xmas/new years with family and friends and am ready for life to start getting back to normal!

Well... as normal as can be expected with 8inches of snow on the ground and a constant flow to snow falling on top of it. It looks very beautiful but it is becoming very disruptive. I am going to take a walk in a bit with my camera and see if I can get any artistic shots :-) Wish me luck! :-)

Christmas Commissions

2009-12-21T15:04:00.000-08:00

Just a few more left to do before xmas. I would really appreciate your thoughts on this jewellery as I have really enjoyed making the jewellery using my own beads and precious stones and metal!!! So Please either leave a comment on here or pop over to my Flickr Page to comment. Thank you in advance!!!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-20T18:53:00.000-08:00

I have just had a second to upload a couple of photos to show you (the snow is so beautiful at the moment!), I did a lot of hours at work last week, and when I wasn't working I was making beads and jewellery for commissions for Christmas.

I will leave you with some pictures of my latest commisions, and I have more to photograph tomorrow morning, so will probably post more pictures tomorrow.

Happy Holidays everyone!

List of Suppliers (Now on Links Page)

2009-12-09T16:46:00.000-08:00

After my last blog and only having one reply (thank you Mel!!!) I decided to get together ALL the suppliers website I have come across... there are a few!!! I have written them in a list at the bottom of the left column
<-----
Hope this is helpful to other jewellery makers, and anyone who wants or knows anymore links, just message me and I'll stick em on! :-)

Calling all Jewellery Makers.... Best Suppliers?

2009-12-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

If anyone is out there reading this and can think of a few good websites links that sell jewellery supplies (I mainly need STERLING SILVER beads/findings etc but any other links would be great) I would love to take a look at them please, in return I will share mine with you!!!! Some Jewellery artists are very secretive about who supplies them their materials, but I'm more than happy to share the link I have found (these links are the sites a find useful for buying Sterling Silver):

www.hilltribesilver.co.uk
www.thesilvercorporation.co.uk
www.eternalflow.co.uk
www.palmermetals.co.uk
www.shiana.com - I haven't yet bought from here... just purely because I want everything on the site and need to win the lottery to do that!!!
http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Dreambell-Jewelry-DIY__W0QQ_armrsZ1 - again, need to win the lottery!

Would really appreicate any more if you guys have any, would be helpful if they were UK based too... wonder what sort of responce I will get off this post...

I will wait in hope!!! :-D xxx

IT's CHRISTMAS (nearly)

2009-12-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

Happy December everyone!!!

I had a lovely week off - I made lots of beads, I have been practicing alot of techniques (I have pretty much double my lonlies/orphans box, hehe) and I think I have pretty much sussed "encasing" out as you can see in beads above - YAY! We went out on Wednesday night for Fran's Birthday with friends and we had such a great night! Then we went to Liverpool to see Fran's Parents and then went christmas shopping at the Liverpool One shopping center. It was so lovely getting to spend quality time with Fran, as usually we are so frantic with both our work, it has really made me appreciate everything we have (SOPPY I KNOW!!! its true though) and the friends and family we have around us. I do work a lot and I think I can get quite engrossed and maybe forget the good things- I think I will be going out a bit more now - just have fun!

Sorry about that soppy moment there - back to normal blogging Vicki now haha!

OK, Beads beads beads... I have made a couple more sets the one above and this one:

I absolutely love this set... I have made it with a Effetre's Light Sky Blue as a base encased in Effetre's Amethyst which I then wrapped with fine silver foil and then encased in a thin layer of Vetrofond Crystal Clear (which too be honest I'm still undecided whether I like it as a clear glass... it can scums up at the first site of the flame so I'm gunna keep going on my mission to find the best clear glass) To be honest these beads wern't too fun to make but the sight of them now they are finished are think is just soooooo worth it. and I am definitely going to make more of these... and I now have 24ct Gold Leaf to try out next... mmmm red and gold.....

Hehe, I have been thinking I did really enjoy the practicing my bead making a have been doing this week... I guess I thought if I make bead set then my bead making will just naturally get better but thats really not true... I really do need to practice. :-D I might have some orphans to give away for christmas, so Watch this space!

Be Mine - Wedding Jewellery By Vicki

2009-12-04T17:35:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping to have a new jewellery website up soon... well in the new year sometime.

My Wedding Jewellery collection is be called "Be Mine" so watch this space.

I LURVE being on holiday!

2009-12-01T04:38:00.000-08:00

Well I have been on holiday since Saturday, and I go back to work next Sunday, I feel fully revitalized and now I'm getting down to some serious bead making... So here goes!!!!

A few of these are commissions, so the next job to do is get everything else on the website! :-) Keep checking here, and then I can get back to my torch!!!

The Penguin Parade

2009-11-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

Well, Wow what a week, I am still catching up on sleep! I had the best time with my friends!!! any way... what do think to these penguins up there ^ My new little penguin parade... I absolutely loved making these little cuties!!! I am going to make some more right now :-D you can buy these for either £9 each or the whole family for £30 on my website... check it out!

The lucky thing is it's Frans Birthday next Thursday and we both have the week off as of Saturday ... so as much stuff as I have got to do, it will be really nice just to chill out for a bit, before I work as many hours as I can over xmas at the reastuarnt because come January there really isn't gunna be any hours going!

Another thing I am working on is some wedding jewellery here are a couple of bracelets I have made so far... let me know what you think.

Guess who has got their personal license!!!???!!!

2009-11-20T16:26:00.000-08:00

That's right, I took the qualificaition course on monday, didn't want to tell anyone til I knew I had got it... and I got 37 out of 40 correct so I'm well pleased with myself!!!

On Wednesday I went to suprise my bestest friend in the world ... she flew over from irealand!!! it was amazing her reaction... she couldn't quite believe that we had met her there it was brill... we went out on the wednesday night and then went shopping on thursday!!! we had a great great time!!! and I'm going back to see her tomorrow after I finish work at 4!!! I'm so excitable!!! I love having her here and I miss her so much when she is in ireland! The picture above is of me and maggie on wednsday night!

Here's a few pictures of a few commisions I've had for xmas... I need to get on with them as I actually have loads!!!!!!!! WOOP

My little Froggy Sitting on a Lily Pad Pendant

And a Sparkly Snowman for my mummy's phone!!!

Hope everyone is well... Hoping to get a load of beads done very soon ... but after Maggie has gone home i'm affraid!!! hehe!!!

Swirly Wirly - Scrolly Wolly...

2009-11-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

So another week... working hard at the restaurant... and doing as much beadies as I can, but as its getting colder the harder it is getting! In the room where I make my beads I have a patio door which leads out to the back yard... as I don't have any ventilation system installed I have to have the patio door open whilst I'm making my beads. Now... as it's getting dark around 4 o'clock I have the problem of moths.... daddy long legs and flies coming in because of the light... it's horrible... not only do they scare me when they fly at me... most of them fly through the top of the flame and die... which I hate so so so so so so so so sooooooo much!!! And it is absolutly freezing at night now so pretty much I want and have to start making my beads in the morning... must start getting up nice and early!!! Ohmy gosh... i waffle so much and have used so so so many "..."!!! sorry about that, anyway, this set above is on my website ready to purchase, so head over and have a look! :-) Hope everyone is well!

New Beads the ol' Website

2009-11-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

Bridal Whites Hue Bead Set - £17.50

Pink and Teal Floating Floral Focal - £9.00

That's a mouthful isn't it!

Check them out here.

Finally getting to grips with my camera

2009-11-04T05:28:00.001-08:00

YIPPEE!!!!

Oh Dear... Shes done it again...

2009-11-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

What did I say about a month ago about me never being happy... well I'm sure I didn't say that exactly but I always have to change things, I don't like things being the same for too long, and I needed to update some beads on my website, so what did I go and do?!?! I know I'm a fool!

But from now on my website will hold beads for no longer than a couple of weeks and they will be transferred to my Etsy shop. At the moment I have only 6 bead set and 5 focals... a couple of new bits on there so please do check it out here.

Still not feeling good and am in the designated "ill persons" spot on the sofa luckily Wednesday and Thursday was my day off... so I am hoping that will give me enough time to recover to 100% to go back to work on Friday! Keep sending me those get well vibes!!!

Pink Live @ VMA 2009

2009-11-02T13:11:00.001-08:00

Music Code Provided by MusicVideolife.com

Sigh... back on the sofa with flu... yet again

2009-11-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

Well this is like the 3rd time I've had flu in like 5 months and I'm seriously getting fed up with it! I NEED A BODY TRANSPLANT PLEASE!!!! I can laugh about it really... It strarted when Matthew came home on monday with FLU and has been sat the sofa up until about an hour ago as he is all better now (well apart from the dreadful lingering cough!!!) and now me and Fran arn't well... I've just ordered a load of sterling silver beads/findings for my wedding jewellery which is exciting. It has taken me 5 days to decided what to spend my money on and I finally did it, between coughing, sneezeing etc!!! Will try to keep my brain working, cuz I hate been totally incapable of doing things!!!! Watch this space!!!

Laura shows us hows its done...

2009-11-02T10:11:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd share this with my fellow lampworkers, and maybe people are curious to how a glass bead is made. One thing with me is I really don't learn how to do things by just reading... If anything I need photos to accompany the writting... or I learn the best by seeing things done either in video or in real life!!! Like when I went for my lesson with Sally Carver for the day, I learnt so much, and that was literally by watching Sally work!

Drum Roll please........

I'm Back!!!

2009-10-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Kitty Pendant

Sorry for the lack of blogging recently... I am working 50hours (ish) a week at the restaurant and I'm sleeping like 8-10 hours a night so all in all not getting as much time as I would hope to make beads, make jewellery and blog all the time... if you haven't already, please read the post about my amazingly talented brother here.

I am very excited that I am working with a lady to make her wedding jewellery, for her, her mum and her bridesmaid, so tomorrow I will be picking and spending a bit of money on some sterling silver which I am very excited about... I am hoping to set up a website for wedding jewellery... Ooooh, I have so many ideas, so little time... I wonder how many off them I can pull off... Hehe.

Here are some Beadies....

Pink and Teal Encased Flower Beads - A sample of different style encased florals, for the ladies bridesmaid (her dress is Teal and she will be carrying a cerise pink bouquet of flowers)

Icy Silver Foiled Nuggets Bead Set

Encased Pink Flowers Bead Set

I'm a Very Proud Sister...

2009-10-30T15:49:00.001-07:00

Back in July my very talented little brother (age 18) played his euphonium at an extremely well known, posh conference called TED http://www.ted.com/.

On the first day he played his 10 min "stint" between Stephen Fry's and Gordon Browns Talks. He became friends with a singer called Imogen Heap who we have both been fans of for a good few year, check her out here: http://www.myspace.com/imogenheap In his first 10 min set he played the piece of music that had actually gotten him the gig at TED... I won't bore you with that story but check the performance out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5APf07w4J2c

It has only been on Youtube for 8 hours and already it has had 89 comments - good and bad... people are actually getting quite angry at each other for having such strong opinions!
Basically it is very different performance from what you would normally hear from a Euphonium, as it is a very beautiful sounding instrument and is normally considered as a classical instrument, so Matthew has totally taken it out of its comfort zone to create something totally different ... He is beat boxing and singing through his instrument to create chords... which I can tell you is not easy! it is a single note instrument so he really is pushing all the bunderies he can!!! Hope you enjoy it, and leave a comment
Im very proud of him, I think he is amazing!!!!!!!

xxxxxxxxxx

2009-10-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

Sneaky Peek...

2009-10-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

Above is a little sneak preview of a few glass chocolates... I am making lots more!

This pendant is about 4cm long... so the longest bead I've ever made... I love it, strung it straight on to a necklace for myself (how selfish of me !!! hehe) and will be making a few more and selling them on my focal beads page :-) I am working still super hard at the restaurant but will be getting up every morning to get a couple hours of bead making done!!! I'm getting withdrawl symptoms and I don't like it!

Get Down to it

2009-10-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm here and I did my crazy 7 days in a row, and did ever so well in tips so I am ever so ever so happy about that. I got home last night and made a few beads so I could get some new stuff up on the site this morning, so thats what I have been up to so far with my day off !!!

Absolutely gorgeous glass... It's Double Helix's Triton, I am in love with it! this bead set it Triton encased in clear

Two Cupcake beads... the one on the left is a cupcake for a friend at work, and the other in on the website.

And a Big Red Heart - definately getting there with the shape :-)
right off i go to tidy up and get down to some really good bead making!

Finally ... (again)

2009-10-08T03:01:00.000-07:00

Well, as you know I have a brand new camera which I love but haven't been able to do what I wanted in ways of taking pictures of my beads/jewellery on a white background... just purely because it has that many different settings I didn't know how or what to set to what and what to put it at --- ARGH!!! yes it has been somewhat frustrating on my part... I never do things I'm not good at, and I HATE HATE HATE it when I can't do something I really want to be good at... so anyway, Mum got this new light for her craft stuff and suggested I should try it with natural light and we have finally got somewhere :-) Now it isn't the final solution but at least I can now take pictures to use on here... my website and anywhere else I fancy showing off my beadies!!! so here goes...

Commission of Pastel Rainbow Hues

A flower bead on a ring... what do you think?

Meet the Friendly Bumble Bee (He doesn't sting!!!)

and a delicious cupcake with a cherry on top :-)

will be working lots but off next wednesday and thursday so will be getting as much beading in as I can :-) will keep you all posted :-)

A Little Torch Time Music

2009-10-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

Well... I have been off work this weekend with flu... oh it has been horrible, I hate not being able to do what I want to do!!! I just couldn't concentrate on anything! so no bead making at all! I didn't want to burn myself - I've got enough scars from last time I insisted on making beads when I was ill... I don't need any more! So I went into work today for some training/meeting as the restaurant is shut for a couple of days for a refurbishment! fingers crossed its going to be good!!! it was only a couple of hours of sorting though our files and talking about things that needed to be talked about so it wasn't tiring but I am knackered now!!! No plans for today or tomorrow just chilling out to get better before back to work on Wednesday!!!

So... what do you guys do when you are making beads? or making jewellery? or what ever you like to do... ?

Well when I used to make jewellery I would sprawl out on my living room floor with everything I could possibly need and I would watch 24!!!! or a crappy tv show that I would get into... but 24 was my favourite... though actually I never got much jewellery making done when 24 was on... its way too confusing when you dont give it 110% of your concertration! haha...

and when I started making beads, I realised I had to have my complete concertration on the flame ... obviously much more dangerous than beaded jewellery making! So when I began torching I was on a hot head torch which is just WAY to loud to listen to music or even listen to the tv... but now on my new set up I listen to tunes the whole time! singing along and having a really great time!!! so I thought I would share my playlist that I made called "Torch Time" I made it using Spotify... if you haven't come across this program you should google it and download it! as long as you are online you can isten to as much music as you want for free (not every piece of music in the whole world is on there... there is a few essientials missing but its free so who cares!!!!) here it is... hope you enjoy it as much as I do :-)

Torch Time: http://open.spotify.com/user/vixwhite/playlist/0D0ewYeOwzx4k65nZW1bZA

Hoping to get enough courage to get behind the torch tonight... but we will see!!!

Another Chilled out day...

2009-09-28T14:33:00.001-07:00

Well, Day off today and pretty much haven't done anything apart from sat on the sofa and enjoyed relaxing whilst flicking through the whole of www.deviantart.com if you haven't checked it out...you should!!!! I can't explain it... it just has a load of artist's with all there art work on... its brill!!! and then tonight I have made another web template to add to the little collection... haven't had any feedback on them as yet... so I will wait your thoughts... I am still trying to work out how to use my super amazing camera... so I'm afraid still no beadie pictures... hope to get to grips with it tomorrow though!!! FINGERS CROSSED

Web Templates

2009-09-27T04:31:00.001-07:00

Hey, Well I decided to try to get my designs by vicki website up pretty soon, so I can start making websites for people, so last night I decided I wanted to create a few pre-made templates for people to buy... here are the two I have made so far... I want to make 10 as a starting point to get the website a bit more filled out. (waffle waffle waffle... sorry if I don't make sense my head is all over the place...)

Sweetie Shop Web Template

Stitch Flowers Web Template

At The moment the template will show up with the Wix adverts along the bottom and sides, but once the template have been purchased they will no longer be there :-) let me know what you think, I've got loads more ideas!!!

Also, just so you guys know, The illistration images I have used are freebies on Sanqunetti Design, Judy Sanqunetti does everything in terms on designs!!! I think I might purchase some of here cute birdie images :-) they are so cute! and then the photos on the template I have used from Stock.Xchng.

Right... on the bead front... I have made 5 more sculpture beadies... but at the moment I am not 100% sure how to get a white background using my new snazzy camera... I think I need to have a play for an hour or so on my next day off!!... ow that's tomorrow YIPPEE :-)
xxxx

Cupcake and Strawberry beads as promised!!!

2009-09-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

I was gutted because when I had taken my super amazing new camera to take photos over the last couple of days one of my friends had shown me how to do a few things with it that I had no idea... I think he kinda knows what he was doing... and he set it all to Manual... Focus... White Balance etc... EVERYTHING!!! and I came to taking some photos of these beadies and the camera just wouldn't focus at all... :-s SO I email the support at Nikon in Europe... and they got back to me within an hour... and now its all fixed and back to being easy to use :-) YAY!!! At the mo I have 3 beads in my kiln... one turtle (hoping its going to be ok... it was quite big and it cracked a little... I fused it back together so fingers crossed!!!) a bee and a flower... I'm enjoying this sculpting stuff :-)

My Maggie Came to Manchester!!!

2009-09-24T02:08:00.000-07:00

Well I have had like the best week off work ever... you've heard about what I got up to over my long weekend, well Tuesday and Wednesday I have been in Manchester spending time with my bestest friend ever!!! We went to school together, so I have known here for 8 years, and She is now studying to become a doctor in Ireland, so I don't get to see here much as she is studying super hard!!! She bought her boyfriend over to meet us all, who was lovely and I'm very happy for her! We have had a really great time. We went for a curry with some more old school friends on Tuesday night and then had a chiese buffet on the wednesday lunch with a load more of friends! The Necklace above I made for Maggie!

Me and Maggie in the Indian
I was click happy and took about 20 photos in like 15 seconds or something like that, I thought this one was lovely, Maggie you pretty thing!Me and maggieFran came to meet us :-)

Made some beads last night ... a cupcake bead and a strawberry bead, hehe, watch this space... I am going to go clean and photograph them now... I want to fill my kiln today as I am back to work tomorrow ... no one wants to go back to work after a holiday do they, so sob sob!!!

Sight Seeing in Liverpool and...

2009-09-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

A View from the Albert Docks.

Pretty cool building... just happened to be a Costa Coffee.

We thought we would try out the motion mode... fast shutter speed!!! WOOP!... and my turn!

Yellow Submarine, The Beatles! Fran drinking a pint in The Cavern!

and again.. on Inside mode... or something like that!

and me in The Cavern.

Both of us.

me and my new hair!!! love it!

another photo taken with the inside mode on... not sure it would be classed as a "good" photo by professional photographers... but we liked it!

We decided to go to Wagamams, Japanese!!! it was bloody gorgeous! and we both did alright with the old chock sticks!!!

me enjoying a Ebi Katsu (Fried battered Prawns to you and me)... yummmmmy!

and finally a view of the Albert Docks from the top of Liverpool One.

So we have had such a wonderful long weekend. We have kept busy the whole time! But no beads to report at all... but that's OK... got lots of ideas stored up!

Friday we went into Manchester to see Fran's sister and brother in law, it was a lovely to see them and a really great day. They arrived back safe and sound in Vancouver today! Lucky things! Ow, then we watched Derren Brown... I was so excited at the fact that he was going to sick us all to our sofas... but it didn't work on any of us! I was gutted as I so wanted it to work. Did any of you guys get stuck? I haven't yet spoken to anyone who did yet so hope there were a few of you.

Then Saturday we were up earlyish to see Mum, Dad, Nan and Arthur off on their holidays in Scotland, we watched a few movies whilst I dyed my hair. had a fantastic afternoon nap (I sooo wanna do that more often! hehe) and then off we went for a curry. We got back and stayed up til 6am whilst the UFC was on, Fran was so excited to be watching, as he thought he was going to miss it. I re designed my whole website (as you have already seen) then we slept for a few hours then got up and ready to go out, and walked to the Middlebrook shopping center to pick up my AMAZING anniversary present!!! It is amazing... it was a brand new brilliant camera!!! Which is why I wanted to go somewhere to take some photos! It is incredible... I tried taking a few photos of my beads this morning, and there is a whole totally different level of detail and clarity! I love it!

and then today we went to Liverpool and Fran showed me the sights (See Above)

And tomorrow my bestest friend in the whole world is coming to Manchester for the day and I'm gunna go see her!!! So excited can't wait!!! I haven't seen her for over a year

So I guess I won't have any more beads to show until... erm... Thursday! Watch this space :-)

Hope everyone is well

Vicki xxx

Happy 2 year Anniversary Us!!!

2009-09-20T02:50:00.000-07:00

Well, two years ago today I met my now boyfriend for a drink in Font Bar on Oxford Road, Manchester... I had known him through work for a couple of months. And to be honest... since then we have pretty much been inseparable... We have had a tough 2 years, what with me being ill for the majority of the first year, and then getting a flat together... then moving back home to live with the rents. But we are so happy together... who knows where we will be in just another years time! (keep reading... you'll understand in a bit!)

So... last night we went for a nice Indian meal which was lovely, and we came back and we stayed up and watched the whole of the UFC, (I was so suprised I was still awake come 5:30am!!!) So... this is what happened... I re-designed my Beads By Vicki Website... take a look let me know what you think!!!

So, those of you know me... I get bored quickly... from the age of about 10 I would change my room around at least once every 2 months... and as I go older the obssesion began with changing my hair colour. So here are a few things that I have changed in my life at the moment

1. Dyed the ends of my hair bright pink (photo to follow later)
2. Totally re-vamped my website (and with the new design comes new beads!)
3. ... the scariest and most exciting thing of all... there is a very big possibility that Fran and I will be going out to Japan for 6 months as soon as we have the money!!!

So I think you are pretty much up to date now... the sun is shining... we are chillin' and everything is goooood!!!!!!!

xxx

It's all about being off work for a week!!!

2009-09-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

Crous Polka Dot Heart Pendant - I'm so totally in love with this necklace, that I'm afraid I will not be parting with it... I am happy to say... this is necklace is mine... all mine!!!! hehe

Well, first things first I want to apologies to everyone who follows my general waffle for not leaving a post for so long, I have been working very hard at the restaurant trying to do as many hours as I can possibly do, leading up to this very very exciting week off!!! So It's mine and Fran's 2 year anniversary this Sunday which is very lovely... I have got him a lovely pressie... but I have managed to keep it a secret from him, so I can't tell you guys till I have given it to him!!!! but I am so proud of myself (haha!) as I have never managed to keep it a secret from him what I have got him! He has absolutely NO idea, Yippee!!!! I think we are going somewhere and doing something on the weekend but we don't know what as yet! haha! We will do something though, something nice, but not too expensive. Anyway, so in between working my arse off running around a bloody restaurant attending to EVERY bodies need for the past few weeks, I have managed to do a bit of bead making, and I have made a few bits of jewellery with the beads... here are a few piccies

These beads I made with Double Helix's Silver Glass called "Triton". I originally saw this type of bead over at Beads By Clair Scott's Flickr Page her beads are absolutely beautiful!!! She just doesn't seem to make a "bad bead"!!! I asked her what glass she had used to make a set of hers that I absolutely loved and she was nice enough to share with me, I spent a good few hours playing with the glass before I got close to getting the reactions she got from the glass... but I feel I am defiantly getting closer to getting brilliant effects from this glass! which is very exciting!

This was another set I made with the same glass but wrapped round a stunning bright eye catching lilac colour and then the pearlescent effects from the silver glass has been captured in crystal clear glass. The effects range from a light green colour to a stunning deep blue

A couple more hearts, I am loving the shape I am getting the more I make them. I love making them too! The Pink Heart I have used CiM's transparent Pink called "Blush" and then covered it in Mica Powder "Diamond" and it has given this absolutely perfectly cute heart a perfectly beautiful sparkle!!!

he This was a bead I was messing around with, it is a Pysche base with Triton Drizzled on and swirled around, then I was playing with reducing the glass to see the different effects had got, I literally worked on this one bead for about half and hour, reducing... then reversing the effect and then reducing etc etc. When I sat down to make my lilac polka dot heart pendant I thought I would turn this bead into a pendant. Which I gave to my friend at work who gives me lifts all the time!!!!

Because tomorrow is my first day off I am going to tidy and sort out absolutely everything, the bedroom, the bathroom, the spare room, and finally all my jewellery stuff which is in a proper mess and I can't find anything!!! Which will make my time off much much easier!!!
I'm sure you will be hearing lots and lots from me over the next week! :-)
Lots of Love
Vicki xxx

SEPTEMBER SALE - 20% OFF!!!

2009-09-03T14:47:00.000-07:00

Grab a bargain with 20% OFF Many Selected Items!!! Click on the Image above!
I am celebrating getting a new set up to make my glass beads with... and I love it soooooo much that I thought I'd share the joy exclusively with my wonderful Etsy customers!
TAKE ADVANTAGE!!!! :-D

Vicki xxx

only as good as the tools you use...

2009-09-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

I thought it was a saying... but was told I was very wrong!!! anyway, I just can't bealive that upgrading thi brilliant torch has made my bead making soooooooo much better... its kinda crazy!!! here are a few photos.

2009-08-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

Please excuse the TERRIBLE photo... I just wanted to show one of the beads I have made on my brand now torch!!! Promise I will replace the photo tomorrow if the sun comes out!!!
I have had such a mindboggleing day... the torch is so so so so amazing, and I just want to do everything, so I have been making odd beads all day just having a play really... but tomorrow I will try to stick to one idea and make a few bead sets and some more hearts!!! I LOVE MY NEW SET UP!!!! I love it love it LOVE IT!!!!!!! The bead above is made with a green and yellow twistie base, and baby pink and rubino pink flowers... it is the first bead I have made using the rubino properly... I didn't burn it... not even once!!! LOVE MY NEW TORCH.... :-D

I'm a very very very happy beady maker :-) Will post photos tomorrow !

Bring it on...

2009-08-31T02:37:00.000-07:00

I HAVE MY NEW TORCH!!! I haven't yet tried it out, because I didn't want anything to go wrong in the small time I had to try it out around going to work... but I am off today and tomorrow !!! So I am going to be able to have a proper play!!!!!!!! I'm so so so excited!!! will show pictures of how I get on... Also, Today I am going to start to make a new jewellery site for me called Jewellery By Vicki, to link in my Beads By Vicki, and Designs by Vicki, which I am hoping to get up and running in the next couple of weeks!!! :-)

Where have I been?

2009-08-27T05:49:00.001-07:00

Arabian Nights Bead Set - £28.00

Encased Mystic Swirls Bead Set - £28.00

Little Gems Bead Set - £32.00

Well, I have been working very hard, to be honest since my lesson with Sally last monday, I am absolutely longing for my new torch which I purchased yesterday... Eeeek!!!! Kinda sat there using my hot head, when I know that I am going to get such better and quicker results on the new torch, just seems kinda pointless... but I don't want to stop. haha. I made a set for my friend this week, and made it into a bracelet for her, which we were both very pleased with (not the best photo, and also tweeked it after the photo was taken to make it a little smaller for a prefect fit!)

Anyway, my torch should be gettin here in the next couple of days, which I will be able to get set up soon!!!!! not sure of next weeks rota at the restaurant but hopefully it shouldn't be too different from this week! fingers crossed I will have Monday and Tuesday off!
Also, just wanted to say I am absolutely LOVIN paramore at the moment!!! BIG TIME!!! if you don't know who they are check out their myspace and listen to some of their tunes, their new album "Brand New Eyes" is hitting the UK on the 28th September 2009, and OH MY GOD I'm excited!!! Other news I am going to see Tim Minchen next week which on the whole I am excited about (not feeling so good about the fact I'm gunna be sat down... with loads of other people... but I'm sure I'll get over it and have a good night!) Also, Loving Regina Spektor since glastonbury, and am hoping to get a recording to me doing a few cover versions ("Laughing With"... and "Samson") of her songs! and also loving Newton Faulkner (since glasto again!) watch a live feed from his blog where he was just answering questions and playing a few bit, felt so personal!!!! But I really want to make some beads for his dreads and send them to him!!! that would be just tooo cool! :-) hehe

Pictures as promised...

2009-08-19T04:17:00.000-07:00

Apologies...

2009-08-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

I'm really sorry, I haven't managed to take any photos today... well, I did on my digital camera but non of them were good at all... and for some reason it didn't get the colours right ... so I PROMISE PROMISE PROMISE I will take photos in the morning using my mum's camera and post them STRAIGHT away on here... hope you can forgive me :-)

Yesterday... what a day!

2009-08-18T05:24:00.000-07:00

Well I have no pictures to show right now as they were in the kiln when I left , should get them tomorrow! It was such a fantastic day!!! I learned soooo much, the majority of the day I watch Sal do demonstrations, which is exactly what I wanted, as I learn mainly by watching people work... It doesn't matter how much I read up on techniques, I don't seem to be able to do them until I see it being done or see steps in pictures. So even though I was knackered last night, i HAD to go on my torch when I got home!
I made a set of 8 beads, which are simply encased ekho... I did it, I got greens, blues AND purples. :-) I also made an encased floral focal bead using Lauscha Clear glass which Sal very kindly gave me a few rods to play with. It didn't burn or scum one little bit... not even on my hothead! crazy really, and because it wasn't burning I didn't actually mind waiting for it to melt in (I usually get very bored with waiting for the glass to melt in on my hothead! if I burn the glass, and I throw it straight in my bucket of vermiculite in rage that I have totally wasted my time!) I think that it is the best bead I have made by FAR!!!

I think just watching Sal work has helped my lampworking remarkably!!! I just felt like I could do it!!! no problem!!! crazy really! I also made a few heart focals too...

Will post photos later on today!!!! :-) and then will post photos of my lesson beads when I get them in the post! :-)

Under New Managment

2009-08-16T05:18:00.000-07:00

So this week has been a strange one to be honest... not much bead making gone on (SOB SOB!!!) but have worked a fair few hours. The restaurant I work at is under new management and already in just under a week it is starting to feel like a lovely place to work! I have really enjoyed it!

I do have some very exciting news... me and Fran went to see a mortgage adviser at the beginning of the week, just to see if and what we could borrow... and how much we have to save etc. and We were pleasantly surprised!!! we are hoping to move in about 6-9months tops. Hoping to move not to far away from where we are now, what with our jobs etc... but who knows... we could go anywhere :-)

I'm off the Hinckley tomorrow bright and early... gotta catch the first train of the day at 6:40!!!
I'm off to see Sally Carver for a lesson, and I am hoping to get a few tips on silver glass, and other more advanced techniques!!! as much as she can possibly teach me in the day!!! so I imagine I will be well and truley K-nackered!!! but will hopefully have some exciting beadies to show!!!!

Been Busy...

2009-08-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty excited as I have a lesson with Sal next monday... its gunna be a very early start though!!! 6:40am my train is at! Its worth it though! I have been at work quite a bit this last week, trying to save up for my lesson, so haven't done too much bead making, but here are a few things ive done, they are on the website right now!!! :-) and a picture of my first big hole bead!!! need to get the stuff to make silver core beads!

Result of playing pretend...

2009-08-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

Well can't stop, it have taken me allllllll morning to clean, photograph and list all the beads I made yesterday, I have two half sets which I haven't photographed because I am going to make more to go with them today... all beads are already listed on my website... and will be listed on my etsy page when I get a second!!!

Pretending to be a professional :-)

2009-08-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

Pah!!!! well I literally haven't stopped... and I guess as I am writing on my blog... maybe I am just about to wind down, midnight! wow. I've got a lot of stuff done! So I got up at about half 10 (which was lovely to sleep in til then!) and then got my beads that I had made last night out of the kiln and cleaned them... Took photos of everything that needed its photo taken... then I filled my kiln!!! Think I did about 5-6 hours today behind the torch... but honestly my kiln is actually bursting!!! its only tiny poor thing! One things for sure If I wanted to do this professionally I would defiantly have to get myself a new kiln... I've been dreaming of having this very nice and big PINK kiln!!!! very exciting!!!
So anyway, here are the photos that have been taken from today and also I have updated my jewellery page on Bead By Vicki so you might wanna have a pop over there :-)

Bed Time soon cuz we are all up early, Fran is off to work at 6:15 and I'm up too to get my days worth of lampworking in... then we are heading off to the cinema :-) exciting!

Mum's Birthday Pressie

2009-08-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd show you (quickly before I get on with my day of lampworking) the necklace I made for my mum's birthday! I have listed a couple of new things (including this necklace as a made to order item) in my website and my etsy.

Life as a Lampwork artist

2009-08-04T02:28:00.000-07:00

Well today is my first day trying the out the artists life style...
My hours were cut at work and a few people had been left with non, so I decided to give a few hour away this week to have a taste of being a professional lampwork artist!!!
I am off til Friday night and I have decided when Fran goes to work... I will be sat behind my torch til he gets home... obviously with an lunch break... but before I start I have a few beads to go clean up, then take photos of and then get them up on my site... so I reckon I will hopefully get about 7-8 hours of bead making in today which I'm veeeeerrrryyyy excited about... that is as long as there is another space in my cute little kiln. Think I'm going to have to get thinner mandrels so I can fit more of them in!!! :-)

Will post pictures of the bead later on today.

Wish me luck! :-)

Designs By Vicki nearly ready to launch... comments welcomed please

2009-07-31T08:38:00.000-07:00

I reckon I have a few more hours working on it left, getting the right packages etc... and obviously the adverts will be gone when I launch it, but would really like to know what you guys think... would love any feedback you can give me pleeeeeeeeeeaaaassssseeeeeeeeeeee :-) xxx

Wow soooooo much has happened since my last blog!!!

2009-07-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

Weeellll!!!! We went to Helpringham to visit my lovely lovely family and to go to the Heckington Agricultural Show where I was sharing a stall with a lovely lady called Becky who also make Lampwork beads and jewellery. She did the Saturday and I did the Sunday. We slept in the garden in tents, it was lovely. We got to the fair at 7:30am!!! I was panicing, hoping that I had bought everything with me etc. Mum and Fran were absolutly fantastic helping me set up and helping me throughout the day!!! :-) We got set up and had a great day!!! Talked to lots of people and swapped a lovely wall hanging with the lady from the next stall and she had a load of my beads. Her website is currently under construction but as soon as it is ready I will post it on here as her stuff is beautiful! She says that she is going to use some of my beads to melt into a bowl. So I am very very excited to see what that turns out like :-)

Here is me and Fran my Stall!!! :-) After the fair We went to my Mums cousins 30th Birthday Party, it was so lovely to see all the family, and we had a great great (and got a little drunk) hehe, haven't drank for ageeeessss! I think i remember telling the bar staff their My life story... haha!! Oh dear... yep, I was THAT drunk!

Also, All the members who are on Frit Happens (my fav forum ever... I pretty much check that before I check my email - not good haha) and Etsy now have a FHF team which is bloody brilliant!!! A few people have done a LOT of work to get this going and I would like to thank them, as it has definatly upped the traffic to my etsy shop!!! FOR SURE!!!! Here are a few treasuries I am featured in right at this moment :-) how exciting!

All the Pictures are clickable and will take you to each of the treasuries on Etsy, and you can view peoples comments of the treasury. I think a certain few people are enjoying the suspence of waiting for the treasury to open!!! hehe, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE... and thank you, you lovely people!

Another Exciting thing to have happened is My Sun Rise Jewellery site is now featured on the actually MR SITE webpage!!! I was so excited when I saw it!!! It should drive a lot more traffic to my site, which is very exciting - Oooow, I am a very excited person at the moment... everything seems to be going in the right direction :-)
This picture is also clickable and I am shown on the 3rd page. Please feel free to take a look :-)

I'm tying to think what else has happened... (that is if I haven't lost all of you cuz this post is so bloody long... at least I know one person will be reading!!! HIYA NAN!!! *WAVE* hehe) Well I have sold I few bit of jewellery and I have given quite a few of my hours away at work next week, and I have 3 days off in a row... I am going to see if I can treat my lampworking as when... for example as soon as fran leaves for work... that is when I start beading... and when he gets home... I stop. I know it will be great cuz I wanna spend every spare second I get behind the torch... so I think it will be a case of "Ow... do I have to stop now?!" hehe, but this way I will actually get to see FRAN!!! WOOP!!!

Ooow, I knew there was something I hadn't told you. and the reason I haven't been bloggin I have been working hard on a website for My Brother, let me know what you think so far please. any comments welcome!
Photo also clickable... It is no where near finished yet (thats tomorrow job!) and it won't have the adverts in the end... so look at it with an open mind!!!

And keep your eyes peeled for my new website... Designs By Vicki...
PHEW... thats was like 6 posts in 1!!! sorry guys... sure there is something I have missed. but please please please excusing spelling/typing/grammar mystakes cuz I just don't have the time to type this long AND read back!!! hehe. Bed time for me. then making beads all day tomorrow :-) WOOP

Goodnight x

The Kiln is full... now sleep!

2009-07-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

Well... that's it people. I have filled my kiln and used every single mandrel I have!!! the bead door is nearly bursting open!!! I can't believe it is 4:50am... well I am looking forward to a few hours of sleep then I'm back up to sort everything for the stall, before we leave to go to Helpringham in 12 hours time... ah, so little time... so much to do... must sleep now. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

New Look Blog!!!

2009-07-24T15:56:00.001-07:00

Well I made the header earlier today, because I had been thinking that I haven't really been doing anything for Sun Rise Jewellery (I do so much other stuff now), as I am totally addicted to Glass now and it has taken over my life. So not much time to make jewellery you know! hehe.
Anyways, hope you like it... thought it was a funny title too :-p

I'm in the process of doing an all night-er as we leave tomorrow to stay with family and then am doing this fair, I am gunna fill my kiln!!! and i'm not going to bed til its full!!! NO WAY!!!! I'm feeling good at the mo, and i'm good to keep going!!! and I'm totally hooked on Frit Happens, because everyone is being lovely and helping with my silver glass predicament... I bought some Reichenbach Silver Brown which is this horrible colour brown glass which when reduced it gives absolutly stunning bright blues and purples!!!

I made this set last night and they have been in etching solution, I am going to make them in to a bracelet and a pendant to go on a chain for my mums cousins birthday. We are going to the party after the fair!! can't wait... I bought a dress a while ago (which I probably shouldn't of bought, but I love it!) and haven't had any time to wear it so that is exciting! anyway, my kiln isn't full yet so must get back to it... wish me luck, its gunna be a loooooooonnnnnng night !!!

Tropica Bead Set

2009-07-24T04:14:00.000-07:00

Tropica Bead Set... can't stop gunna get back to my torch... just thought I'd share these with you. They are listed on my website and on etsy.
Hope you like them :-)

Reducing Psyche

2009-07-23T05:12:00.000-07:00

Well I did say yesterday about thinking that I have manged to make silver glass work for me... I love this set I made but I was hoping for more purpley tones. I have asked the lovely people over at Frit Happens and I'm sure they will be able to let me know either what I did wrong... or something else. Here are the rods I used to make the beads... DH Psyche, Effetre Ivory and Effetre Clear.
can you belive that those three rods made these glass
amazing really! don't get me wrong I love this set, but also want to be able to more with the glass!!! So fingers crossed this is the begining of somthing loveleeeee!
Also had a quick read of Amy Trescott's Surface- Decorated Floral Heart tutorial and made this heart from it
I am really pleased with how it went... I have whipped it on a black cord and have round my neck at this moment... I will defiantly be making more of these today i different colours and hopefully I bit more presise

Introducing... MATTHEW WHITE!

2009-07-22T15:06:00.001-07:00

D71_7738, originally uploaded by TED Conference.

Well ... I did promise didn't I!!!
I spoke to Matt today, he says he is having the best time at the TED Confrence (which he corrected me as I said it was in Cambridge... I'm wrong, it is in Oxford -see now thats why I'm not there!!! hehe), I think its dead funny cuz the phone hasn't stopped ringing today - it's Matthew just HAVING to tell us the next thing that has just happened! obviously my mum beats me to the phone everytime :-p so I am always shouting PUT HIM ON SPEAKER PHONE - I WANT TO HEAR TOOOO!!! hehe. He playseda couple of peieces yesterday with Steaven Fry before him and the PM Gordon Brown after... they all had reserved seat in the front row together whilst they were waiting to do "their stint" as far as I know he spent the rest of the day mingling with the other people "performing and giving lectures" etc.
Every night there has been a free bar party, but I know that cuz Matt was playing this morning I think he only went to the one last night for a bit, then got an early night! He played this morning, and met Imogen Heap who we are big BIG fans of... if you haven't heard of her check out her myspace here, listen to HIDE AND SEEK its amazing... I remember watching The OC a few years ago, and it were playing on a memorial scene, I looked it up and played it over and over for months!!!
Anyway, another phone call we got later this evening. A blonde haired lady went up to him and told him she had enjoyed his playing. I don't imagine how Matt had been so cool about it, he said he thanked her, and reaised who she was... He checked with someone near by and the person confirmed that it was nun other than CAMERON DIAZ!!!!! can you belive that! Well we have 2 more days of this, he is back on Friday and he isn't doing anymore performing so I imagine that he will be making the most of the free bar (good lad!)!!!

He has always been amazing at the Euphonium, he has played since he was 7 years old (music runs in the family... mum and dad play, I played up until I got ill last year) He has been in the Young Musicain Brass Final, in the Radio 2 Brass Finals and so much more. and I am so happy that finally something amazing is happening for him, he deserves it more than anyone I know... he is simply the most hard working nicest guy you could want meet... I know it is soppy but I am so proud to call him my brother!!!

Oh my god...

2009-07-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure that I have just reduced some gorgeous Double Helix Psyche!!! I have made 5 beads, and I am soooooooo happy with them... I'm so impatient I keep open to the kiln door to look at them!!! Here is a protype picture of the Psyche Glass... I actually got blues and greens out of the beads I have just made!
I really hope its not a fluke... I'm gunna have a try with another type of silver glass (Cuz i just finished off the last of the Psyche :-( Boohoo... ) fingers crossed... if it goes well I think I'm gunna have to make a rather large silver glass purchase from Tufnells!!! Oh dear, another thing to feed my expensive addiction :-p after all folks... thats exactly what it is!!! I am a Glass Addict!!!!

Rainbow Hue Bead Set...

2009-07-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

Right well can't stop just thought I'd post these new beads... I have sold the Blue Hue set which originally gave me the idea to make a rainbow set so if these ones sell well too... I think I will have to make them a signature bead set... a made to order set :-) Hope you like them... I will blog tonight about my day and all about my amazing brother who is amazing by the way ;-)

Enough photos :-) hehe, got a bit "snap happy"!!!

My Super Doper Talended Brother!!!

2009-07-21T11:00:00.001-07:00

SO1_MatthewWhite_D72_6539, originally uploaded by TED Confrence

Well... What can I say, he played between Steven Fry's and Gordon Brown's Talk to 700 aprox people at the TED confrence in Cambrige earlier this afternoon!!! He is awesome... I'm so excited my mind really isn't the right frame of mind to blog blog blog... promise will write tonight after I have found out more :-D Yay, well done Matt!!!!!! xxxxxxxxx

Simple but so effective!

2009-07-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

Well like I said I have been having problems concentrating on anything, and I sat at the torch for a good few hours the other day, and everything I produced went in the bin! not only that I burnt myself a total of FIVE times!!!! so I decided to make simple beads... to be honest I literally could make these bead with my eyes closed (hm... maybe thats why I burnt myself so many times... lol)
When I got these beads out of the kiln this morning and I looked at them and decided to etch them... I absolutely love them, and will be making soooooo many more of these and they are just to die for!!!

What do you guys reckon? I think I am gunna make some rainbow ones, and see what happens!!!

Just can't concerntrate...

2009-07-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged for a bit... so much has gone on but I don't think that anything has actually sunk in at all... Very strange, don't know whether you guys know but I have had a few problems with my meds recently without going into too much detail and boring you they have made me feel very dull and very... well... BLAH and not me! I can't concentrate at all... like one day last week at work... I droped about 6 knives within an hour. It was like I had lost the ability to balance a knife in the middle of an empty plate (felt pretty stupid by the 6th one - everyone at work just took the mick out of me and thought It was pretty funny). Anyway... I suppose I have done a few things since last time I blogged... so here goes.

Bronze Suprise Bead Set

This set was a total suprise... I used different shades of blues pinks and purples (my fave colours at the mo, can you tell?!) I pulled a stringer of purple to do some purple decoration on the beads... I think i must have reached for the EDP instead of the bog standard purple colour... well I bought this EDP a couple of weeks ago... its not cheap glass and its called EDP which is short for "Evil Devitrifying Purple" you can get so many colours from this glass (so I have been told - so far I have been pretty terrified of the glass and haven't touched it) but when I looked in my kiln (for a sneeky peek - hehe) the normal purple I thought I had used had changed to the bronzey colour you can see on 3 of the beads!!! YUM!!!!

Purple Haze Bead Set

Royal Impressions Bead Set

These two beads sets I will use to make jewellery with... I don't know what yet, but will put pictures up when I have finished!

Play Mates Bracelet

Bronze Suprise Bracelet

Here are a few beadsets I have made into bracelets for this Heckington Show I am doing with weekend, oww it is hard work, but luckily I'm going slow... and enjoying myself!

Teal Torment Jewellery Set

and here is a jewellery set a made also with one of my bead set and a few swarovski crystals which seem to compliment the glass art very well!!!

At the moment, I'm having a dress rehearsal for my stall at the show, lol I have it all set out on the dining table. I have a few more things to sort out then, then I can pack it all away and be ready for it... I am still very nervous though!!! AGH!!!!

3rd day off

2009-07-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well after not really feeling like making beads... my kiln is now full!!!!! YAY!!!! Few... thank goodness for that...!!! I started off the day and made about 10 beads... and they all went in the vermiculite! cuz they well CRAP! so that wasn't a good start to the day, so I decided to make easy beads.... I am very pleased with them. Can't wait to wake up in the morning, see them!!! YAY!

A little bit of inspiration...

2009-07-14T04:27:00.000-07:00

So I had a little bit of bead making time yesterday (when the internet went down!!!) I wasn't really feeling it though. But this morning when I got only the cutest set of beads out of my kiln it has certainly inspired me to make more beads today!!! I made this set with only 3 colours, baby pink, baby blue and ivory. I actually really enjoyed making them... and they are alot more fuller than my usual sets which I really like!!

Also, last night I got all my jewellery sprawled out all over the living room floor and it turns out I have about 5 times more stock than I thought I had... so I am alot more happy about doing this craft show in less than a couple of weeks!!!

I'm gunna make a few more sets like this as well... very simple but so effective... Love em!
Anyway the first thing I'm gunna do is hoover up all the tiny shards of glass on the floor, because its getting a bit of a mess and would hate anyone to hurt their feet!!!!

Have a good tuesday !!!

3 days off!

2009-07-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been very fortunate to get 3 days off in a row!!!
I'm am physical knackered though, as this weekend has been one of the busiest weekends at the restaurant and although it ran as smoothly as It could of done, we only had 5 floor staff on which means we were all working our arses off for it!!! Luckily the tips were good, which made it all worth it!!!
I am quite excited about my bead making progress as I sent my first commissioned bead set off to the States last week, I made a bracelet with my beads some silver and swarovskis for a friend from work, who has bought a dress around the bracelet to wear for a wedding she is going to.
I've sold a few bead sets, and a focal bead off my website. And also, trying to make sure I have enough stock to take with me to the Helpringham Show which is 2 weeks yesterday...!!! oh dear, I shouldn't be writting on here, I should be getting on with it all, hehe.
I am also looking into doing a years course at dudley college in Birmingham at the International Glass Center september 2010. I have heard it is an intense course... which is quite exciting!!! I know I work well under pressure with things I enjoy!!!

This morning, I have had a bit of practice with the silver glass I have after some help from some of them lovely people off frit happens they are always so so helpful!!! had a bit of luck... but not anything to show!!! lol!!! will only show you guys when I have got the hang of it properly... anyway!!! Tonight, Tomorrow and Wednesday gunna be making lots of beads... making beads I know I can make!!! and making most of that into jewellery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be taking a picture of everything I make for the show... so don't worry... soon this blog will be FLOODED with pictures of beady things... WATCH THIS PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Afternoon!

2009-07-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon! I have a horrible horrible cricked neck!!! its rubbish, it better go soon cuz I've got things to do!!! Right, well yesterday was very progressive which is always good! I made my first set of actual ROUND beads... not doughnut shaped round beads... my dad keep telling me to make marbles, lol, and I have been practicing for a couple of weeks, and I have finally cracked it, so I made some supper special beads!!! These beads are made with CIM Tuxedo black, and then I have drapped Double Helix's Psyche around the bead, which is a silver rich glass, so when it is reduced it gives a very silvery/metalic look. I haven't quite got the hang of reducing glass, and I don't even know where to begin when it comes to striking glass! I have called this bead set Psyched Out... because of using the Psyche Glass :-) I love Psyche but it so expesive, i can't afford to waste it so it only comes out when I know exactly what I'm doing! Each bead has a capri blue swarovski cryals between them which really sets off the beautiful blue from the silver glass.
At least I have made this reducing work a little... fingers crossed it can only get better from here!!!

Also yesterday I finished off this set which I have called Jewellery Box.
Anyway, I'm off to make some more now!! of course! :-)

Comment are working!!!

2009-07-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

So I was checking out my blog a few days ago, and I was thinking to myself... I'm pretty sure no one is reading my blog!!! As I have had NO comments in months! Then the lovely Eve from www.jemsdirect.co.uk commented on one of my photos on my flickr and let me know that she couldn't leave a comment. So i have fixed it and now you guys can comment away so that I know you are reading :-) hehe WOOP!

xxxx

Lavender Lillies

2009-07-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

I had a successful day yesterday before work, I made 19 beads in total, 3 of them were practice beads but the rest turned out good.
I based these beads on a set I was commissioned to make for a lady in the US through etsy, they turned out so well that I think i'll be making lots and lots more of these as they seem very very popular.

Here are the ones I made, which i have listed on my website today... If you want to keep up to date with all the photos of my beads etc, please check out my flickr page, as I put ALL of my photos on there, rather than updating all the photos on here :-)

Of to bed now... nunight xxx

Getting back into jewellery making...

2009-07-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

So I was up til 3am last night... I am very excited as I am not in work til 4 tomorrow, and it is my 6th day in a row... and im still alive!!! YES!!! hehe, not off properly til WEDNESDAY, but then i actually have two days off!!! WOOP WOOP! well any way, I have been confirmed for this fair so i got started on making a few bit of jewellery... really enjoyed it hence why i stayed up to 3 last night!!!! anyway, I made 2 necklaces and 2 bracelets... WITH MY BEADS - YAY! here are the piccies on the necklaces... hope you like them...Also, I made my references beads (the first lot of plain round beads that I had made with every colour glass I had) into a necklace, I threaded them onto a silver plated necklace and wor it for glastonbury. I have had so many good comments about it, that I decided I am going to make it a MADE TO ORDER necklace on my site... and the colours may change but not too much, and every necklace will have 43 beads on it. Here is a picture or MY ONE :-D
So I have tomorrow til 4 to made beads and jewellery YAY!!!!!

Helpringham Show

2009-07-04T01:50:00.000-07:00

I have confirmed a stall at Helpringham Show in the Crafts Tent on 26th July, It is my first stall and I am relying on the people of FRIT HAPPENS to tell me how much to take, and what to take!!!

If you are nearby, the show is open the whole weekend and the tickets are £7 a day, with lots of things to see and do! So between now and then, I will be frantically making beads, and using them to make jewellery to take with me to the fair, I am very excited about it! Contact me if there is anything already on my site that you would like to purchase at the fair and I will make sure I bring them along with me.

:-)

GLASTONBURY 2009

2009-06-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

***(Click on the photos to enlarge)***

Hiya Guys,

Well... what can I say? Honestly... the past 5 days have been unbelievable... indescribable...!!!

I can defiantly FOR SURE say that we are going back again!!! hopefully we will be back as soon as next year... fingers crossed.

So... hopefully I will be able to fit as much info and pics in to do justice to this amazing festival... but I'm not the best at describing things, so I will keep it as short and sweet as I can! (Let the photos do the talking!!!I'm sorry in advance... i know i'm going to waffle... dont feel the need to read all of it!!!)

SOOOOO...

Wednesday - Day 1

We left at 7:45am on Wednesday morning, we got the train and had to change 3 times, but the journey was great and fast... we joined a load of other Glasto go-ers at Taunton Train Station.

At Castle Cary train station... we joined the worlds longest queue for the shuttle bus to take us to the festival... just over 4 hours we waited for our turn to take the bus to Glastonbury, 4 very long hours in the heat, with not much water and no food!!! We did not expect that queue... and neither did the organizers! Apparently there were 90,000 people on site on the first night.
We got there and got set up on the top of a hill with an amazing view over the whole of the festival!!! Well worth the struggle up there - to be fair fran stuggled the last bit by him self insisting on taking both the suitcases up the grassy hill! We sure arn't taking suitcases next time!!! This is just after 8pm... so it had taken over 12 hours to get there are set up!

Check out that view!!!

We did some exploring that night of what was around, everything was pretty overwhelming, round every corner something ELSE was amazing... didn't want to go too far away from our tent just incase we couldn't find our way back, so we headed back to our tent... so many more tents were pitched near by since we had put ours up. we had just enough space to put a picnic rug outside our tent and enjoy the view before going to sleep!

Thursday - Day 2

Opened the tent the next morning and was confronted by what felt like a million tents!!! There was a bunch of posh london student types (SKINS WANNABES!) who had made a circle of there tents... and somehow our tent was in their "circle" ! Crazy!
(I'm actually gunna stop waffleing now... here are some photos)

So we had done a lot of walking about and exploring as many sites as we could see.. we popped in to a smallish tent where some bands that we had never heard of before were playing. Fran had mentioned before we went that they have secret unannounced gigs through out the festival. And written on a chalk board outside this small tent read;

"10:00 - Very Special Guests"

So we decided we would stay to see who it was and then make the decision to either stay or head onto something else. We popped off to the loo and got caught in hurendous rain and then a couple of full on folk lightning thunderstorms!!! it was crazy!!!! Everyone was running for the nearest shelter or pushing their way through to the music tents so me and fran got our rain coats on, got the umbrella out and just stayed in one place til it all calmed down... it was pretty surreal, everyone screaming and shouting (in a good way!!!).

We headed back to the small tent as soon as we could and caught the end of a great band called Will and the Band, a very cool young reggae group. When they finished it was announced that Newton Faulkner was the special guest!!! I was so excited we ended up in the second row back. Fran stood there with his mouth open watching him play his guitar and sing he is very very good to watch!!! was a great start to the Festival Music!

Friday - Day 3

We got up early (i'd been awake since 5am... it was raining and unfortunatly our tent wasn't fully waterproof... my sleeping bag was soaked through!!!) to get breakfast before the first band was on at 11am. It was still raining... but spirits were high!

We heard:

Bjorn Again - An ABBA tribute band - WOO!

Gabrielle Cilmi
Regina Spektor - you need to check her out if you haven't already - incredible!

The Wombats
Super Grass - Another SECRET GIG!!! Wahoo!!!

Lily Allen - My joint fave of the whole weekend

Lady Gaga - had to get a space for The Ting Tings... wasn't fused about her at all
The Ting Tings - fantastic
Jason Marz - this guy is gunna be big!

obviously watching all those bands... we didn't have much more time to do anything else!

Saturday - Day 4

We did a lot more exploring on Saturday, the art work was so so amazing (I have been very inspired by alot of it... im gunna see what happens when i next make beads... i've got quite a few ideas)

Fran wanted to watch Rolf Harris. but unfortunatly he played on the jazz stage... quite a small stage compared to the main ones... not many other bands were playing at this stage so EVERYONE headed towards Rolf Harris... it got pretty crazy... not only were there thousands of people squashed in... there were about 3 tractors that wanted to get through... so wasn't the best and we headed of just as he began to sing "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Mate".
We went to the Park stage because fran really wanted to watch the Easy Star all Stars - doing a reggae version of some Radio Head songs, it was briliant and the sun was so hot, I fell asleep on the hil... it was lovely. We walked over to see Lisa Hannigan who was great, and we ended up at a stage that didn't even have the programme in the PROGRAMME! haha. and there was the Future Heads doing a secret gig... which meant we had seen 3 secret gigs!!! incredible!!!

We tryed to watch Newton Faulkner again but it was so crowded... we couldn't even see him... we were so lucky to see his secret gig!!!

Kasabian playing, whilst the Sun Sets behind the Pyramid Stage.
We caught a bit of pendulum and that was pretty good and soooooo busy!
Then saw Franz Ferdinand !!!

We had a walk round some pretty crazy places... called Trash City (pictures above in the day light), Shangri-la and Arcadia, it was a total crazy place to be at night... night clubs, raves, burlesque clubs!

This is a picture of something, so unreal... it was something straight out of a film... the whole thing is made of metal and in the middle there is a round stage where there is a dj and few musicians were... hard core drum and bass music that vibrates through your whole body, and the flare/fire that you can see flared up in time with the bass, you could feel the heat on your face. All around it were people dressed in punk uv floresent pvc crazy outfits doing crazy dancing. To top all that off there are two people hanging of rope dancing in the air!!! INSANE... never seen anything like it before !!! and my describtion just doesn't do it justice!

Sunday - Day 5

The last day... we were both so knackered. Fran named it "drink everything that is left Sunday" he was quite a bit tipsy at about 1 o clock. We had watch The Easy Stars All Stars Band... who did a reggae set on their versions on The Beatles Sargent Pepper's Lonely Heart Band. Brilliant

Then Status Quo. (to be honest i only knew one of their songs... but they were good)
Mike, Fran's mate was working for one of the bands on the sunday, so we met up with him for the Noisettes and Blur.

Blur - honestly amazing!!!! I wasn't too fussed about watching them but Fran really really wanted to ... so we went, and they were incredible... the feeling of being in the crowd singing every word of their songs, was just a crazy feeling... The emotion of the whole performance was electric... Damen also half way through "Out of time" knelt down in the middle of the stage and cried. It was incredible... i was nearly in tears!!! Fran really wants them to get back together to do another album!!!

Monday - Going Home Day

We woke up at 4:30am this morning to get a lift back to Manchester with Mike, and got home about midday. I'm knackered now!!! not back to work til wednesday so me and fran are gunna try do some recordings tomorrow...
will have to let you guys know how that goes.

Hope you have enjoyed the photos... and skipped over all that bloody waffle!!!!

Glastonbury here I come!!!!!

2009-06-23T01:31:00.000-07:00

So basically... i have been soooooooo busy since my last post!!! I have done so much!!! I have been working very hard at my restaurant job, i have been making beads, and practicing different techniques... and also designing a few webpages.

I have been working closely with Helen from Blue Fairy Designs, to create a totally new fresh looking website that suites her to display her beautiful glass creations.

Check it out here We have a great time working with each, and I am very excited as her website only went live yesterday, and I have already been asked to make another one with someone else! Yippe!!!

I have had my first sale on my website,

and also my first commision and sale on my etsy site.

I have also been featured on an etsy treasury which is very exciting, please check out my etsy site... hope you like :-D

And now... today, I'm going to get on with tidying and packing... because tomorrow I am off to GLASTONBURY!!!!!!!!!!! WAHOO!!! I'm so so so sooooo excited!!!! I will definatly be posting when I get back!!!!!!!!!!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Everything up for sale in my shop!!!!

2009-05-30T02:58:00.001-07:00

Spring Rainbow Bead Set - £18

Sand Storms Bead Set - £12.50

Forgotten Dreams Bead Set - £45

Lillyela Bead Set - £18

Tea Party Bead Set - £21

Mystery Key Bead Set - £15

Bottle Green Daisies Bead Set - £18

Black Polka Dots Bead Set - £15

You will find these on my website in my shop, or in my etsy shop along with some others! Please contact me if you have any questions.
Hope you all have a lovely sunny Saturday... for me ... it is time to go to work!!!
xxx