I am a guest blogger on Art Jewelry Elements - Santa Claus is coming to town....tutorial.

 

I am a guest blogger on Art Jewelry Elements blog click the link and have a look.

 

Free tutorial on how to make lampwork glass bead Santa Claus.

 

 

 

Hot hot hot....

So its been a bit warm.  The sun has been shining, the skies have been blue, the breezes have been out of sight and I have been down the river with my dogs every morning, except Tuesday morning when my son had a wee accident on the farm and damaged his back, resulting in a trip to Accident and Emergency, some pretty potent pain killers and he is at home with me...driving me nuts already...not helped by the fact that its almost too hot to turn on the torch and the kiln.  I did try this evening, but having forgotten that I had taken a Piriton anti-histamine for the horse fly bite I got yesterday morning down at the river, I was nodding off in the heat of the studio...not a good plan!

This morning the horse fly bite has grown in size and I am rivalling my son for moaning about my bad back, my shoulder blade being twice its normal size and bright angry red and itching.  Its still too hot to torch, so I had a little look in the bead box this morning and found some Christmas and Halloween beads, not that I am trying to wish the summer away but more trying to think cold!

This Count Drag-ula I put up on one of the Facebook selling pages for lampwork beads and he immediately found a new home.  I am feeling the urge to create some dragons and dogs when the sun cools enough for me to not melt faster than the glass rod in the flame of the torch whilst in the studio.




Down hill ski-ing champion of the Polar Bear Ice Games 2014

This ski-ing Penguin is on eBay and looking for a new home.  Already number one of the salom down hill ski race in the Polar Bear Ice Games, he is working up to being the best down hill racing skier of the King Penguins.

 

This is the Christmas frog, a bit like the Christmas Grinch, he hates Christmas cheer, all that fresh frost on the river making it skiddy to hop from lily pad to lily pad..honestly anyone would think its a holiday.

He is still looking for a new home on one of the Facebook selling pages, click here for the link to the Lampwork Bead Market its free to join up to the page and lots of lovely beads to browse.

Right back to finding something constructive to do...might do some writing.....

 

English Gardens

A white picket gate

The smell of Summer rain

Butterflies and bees

 

 



Available on Ebay for auction

Cut grass and fading lilacs
Buddleia dances in the gentle breeze
Reds, purples, yellows and greens

Rambling Roses and

Waving Lupins

Wordless Wednesday....

Well almost wordless, ask the husband I can't keep quiet for a second!

 

 

Yesterday the sun shone and I went out in the garden and pruned back the roses and shrubs and made this sparkly bright silver foil encased flower bead, it just sang with the sunshine that was beaming through the window, today we are back to misty and chilly, but on the morning walk I did spy a few brave faces....

This tree is so ethereal looking in the misty morning.

No matter what the weather there is always time to play.  Gordy has  not been himself the last couple of days due to his routine being upset with visitors, he doesn't do change very well, but this morning he was making up for lost time and trying to get Defi to play ball with him.

Someone build an ark.....

Seriously this weather is really something.  I took this snap shot on my phone camera about an hour ago.  This is the house next to the river walk entrance, its one of my neighbours, I live just up this lane turn right and I am probably 200 yards further on.  It's about 5-10 mins to walk to this point from my house, depending on how many cars go past and whether or not I have to stop, most days I see no cars others it's a rush of upto 3!!  Honestly it is a quiet place to live.

 

So back to this photo.

 

 

The kissing gate - such a lovely name for a gate - is just left of the wooden gates into Brian's house (that's who lives here) and when I went through them at about 10 this morning the lane was full of puddles and the ditches were struggling but it wasn't underwater!  It takes me around an hour, give or take meeting anyone and chatting, to walk round the fields and orchards: this morning it might have been a bit longer as walking is now more of a trudge through swampy fields, I had better have a backside to be proud of come this summer the way I am having to work my bum muscles I don't need a gym membership by the time the walk has finished I am weight lifting at least my own body weight again as my clothes are that sodden and heavy...I digress...

 

So probably an hour and a bit had passed by the time I had completed the walk with now two very muddy and wet dogs that really hadn't noticed the rain and were happily charging through the mud and diving into the enormous ponds that were masquerading as puddles in the field....my next dog is going to hate the rain and refuse to go out!....so I got back to the beginning of the walk, which is also the end,  and was amazed at the disappearance of the lane what was even more shocking was when I had taken this photo I had to step out and walk through this and it turned out to be deeper than it looks coming half way up my calf (and welly boot) and managing to find the hole in said welly boot: left leg, and filter through to my bright pink thermal welly boot socks...I love my pink socks!

 

Someone had better build this ark much more rain - and it is forecast - and we will be underwater.  The fields can't take any more water and are draining onto the lanes, the drains can't cope and the ditches have disappeared under the flooding.  The lane outside my house is slightly better than this one as it runs down hill but only just and being surrounded by fields that are over flowing into the lane, it isn't going to be long before we need to drag my son's kayak from the shed to leave the drive!

On a more cheerful note.

 

I was sorting through the beads yesterday ready to take to Kempton Race Course for the bead fair on Sunday (9th).  It will be my first bead fair of the year.  I am not doing so many this year concentrating more on internet selling and helping out with my husband as he sets up his new business.  I am happy about that really as the bead fairs are fun but a lot of work and can be expensive but I do enjoy going out and meeting other bead addicts.

 

So I will leave you with some pictures....

 



 

These ivory roses are currently on eBay just click the link and see what other beads are available there or click to visit my Etsy shop if you don't fancy the thrill of an auction.

I don't have nearly as many beads as I usually have for fairs, another reason to not do so many this year but there is still plenty of beads to see and own if you are around Kempton this coming Sunday :)

 

Right off for a cuppa and run around a bit more and dry off!

 

Laney x

Calorie free cake

 

My cooking skills are legendary, the tales of smoke alarms going off and the children arriving at the table for dinner amuse many a guest, those that dare brave the idea that I might cook...its ok though these days the hubby does all the cooking, and shopping, both of which I am remarkably useless at.  Family members love to reminisce about the time I cleaned the cooker/fat fryer/kettle and they blew up, or the time when I cooked a slug on the hob..by accident...and filled the kitchen with smoke, or the time I lost my temper and threw a buttered crumpet in the air where it stuck to the ceiling butter side up and refused to budge, the stain of the soaked in butter is still there to this very day and I can assure you that the ceiling has been painted several time in 20 yrs!  I moved out 18 yrs ago but the house was a tied cottage and owned by my friends family so I still get to hear about the 'buttered' crumpet stain!

 

But.  A revelation.  I have made cake that LOOKS good enough to eat, you can't eat it though, just like my 'proper' cooking it is totally inedible, but it looks fab....

 

 

 Sponge cake with pink icing

 Triple layer cake

  Wedding or Easter cake

 

 

You have to love glass!!  I have a couple of chocolate ones waiting for photographs, I love making cake...beads :)

 

All beads are available in my Izzybeads Etsy shop  just so you know!

 

Happy Saturday I am off to do something...

 

Laney x

I am in Bead Magazine with my Turtle bead

 

 

I am so rubbish at remembering to blog about how fabulous I am!  If this little chap didn't come home to me today I would have forgotten completely.

 

My latest tutorial on how to make this gorgeous little glass bead turtle was featured in Bead Magazine, here is a snap shot of my pages

 

 

You can get your copy of the magazine and read all about me its out now.

 

Laney x



Introducing the new singer of the Howling Hounds..........

Sky the Samoyed the new singer for the Howling Hounds.....

 

Sky is available to re home here at Izzybeads

 

The new singer for the Howling Hounds has been appointed. Coming from a classical music background having sung opera in Sydney Opera House in front of Royalty, Sky the Samoyed is now embracing a career as the lead singer of the Howling Hounds and really getting into heavy metal and rock music. Seen here (in the last picture) with Shiloh the guitarist I have a feeling that this band will be big!

Little Mog.....

Ok so I didn't post a blog post yesterday, but rules are meant to be broken right? but today I do have something new to show I did manage a couple of hours in my studio shed yesterday and it was lovely to fire up the torch for the first time in a week, fingers crossed I have finished with the virus and although still a bit snotty and my ears still feel like I am underwater, I am up and raring to go, so introducing, Little Mog.

 

 

Little Mog

Whose da mummy?

I know its supposed to be whose da daddy, but hey! its nearly Halloween and lets have some fun!

This is Little Mog and he is desperate to go Trick a Treating, wandering the streets like a grown up Tom Cat, but Little Mog is little, so little that his mum has said no, so Little Mog went to the bathroom in the big house that he lives in, opened up the airing cupboard door and took out a roll of toilet paper, then he rolled and rolled and rolled all the toilet paper around him, hoping to disguise himself and sneak out with his pet spider, Spiddy, Trick or Treat Little Mog....

 

I have my kiln on and my torch is raring to go again today, something about enforced rest and bone idleness to get those muses flowing, I have lots of ideas, I am thinking singing hounds....

 

Laney x



Shadow box treasures

 

I have been playing.

 

So what do you do with those beads that are designed to be decorative and ornamental?

 

You paint a great background and give that bead a great story.

 

Meet Ben, the kayaking hound, and yes, Ben is my son in the real world and Ben loves to kayak!

 

 

Izzybeads on Etsy

Laney x