Catching Up

Mmmm soup's on!

2011-09-17T18:09:00.007+10:00

Well, checking a few of the blog links showed that people seemed to have started posting already, so I guess I'm not going to worry about my timezone making me ahead of schedule. :) My partner is Terry from Starseed Jewelry (guess I better use the US spelling, since its her business name ;) ). Terry works in Polymer clay, which is a totally new medium for me. While I have seen some techniques that remind me of the look of some lampworking techniques, they are basically very different, and the charming rustic style of this bead soup in particular. Lori's goes to a lot of effort to pair us up, and one of her criteria is the aim to push us outside our comfort zone and in a different direction. The bead soup I received is quite a departure from what I usually work with, so it was an interesting challenge.

One of the suggested approaches for this exchange is to mix beads you already have with the Bead Soup you receive. At first glance, I didn't think that was likely to work for me. I didn't think the style of my own handmade glass beads was going to suit, and the Swarovski crystal and Bali Silver I normally use just didn't seem to 'speak to' the polymer clay beads I received. In search of inspiration, I rummaged through my jewellery cupboard (I think all crafters, and jewellery designers in particular are terrible hoarders) and looked for some materials that were a little more earthy, and had some interesting texture, that would work to the best advantage with Terri's beads. I stumbled across all kinds of things I didn't know I had.... elephants carved out of bone, copper spacer beads, chunky crystals and a range of small glass beads.

With all of that laid out before me, the next step was to work out what to string them on, and what sort of design I was going for. I have never worked with a clasp like that. I wanted to make a feature of it in the jewellery, and show off the beautiful colour and interesting texture, but I wasn't sure how to even attach them. I'm used to working with clasps with a loop and generally rely on softflex and silver crimps, but it looked like the toggle would need wire wrapping. I did consider fibre, and found some just the right colour, but the holes in some of the beads were not large enough.... Back to rummaging through my 'stash' and I discovered some brass wire, and my kit from a class in silver wire crochet from Glasstock in 2009. An idea started to emerge - I wanted something eclectic and textural, to match the variety of beads I was going to use. I had to google crochet to remind myself how to start off, but then it all came together. I crocheted 2 strands filled with beads, featuring Terri's focal front and centre, and twisted them together, wire wrapping the ends onto the funky clay toggle.

I was pleased with the result, and I hope you like it - it was a real challenge to move away from my 'norm' and do something different. The colour is a bit off in some of the pics, due to a fairly hurried photo shoot this afternoon, but hopefully you get the idea. Thanks Terri and Lori for the fun of this exchange - and the creative challenge!! I don't think I'll be temped away form glass any time soon though - I just love the high gloss finish and the smooth texture of glass.

Bead Soup Bead Party Teaser

2011-09-17T16:00:00.004+10:00

The first set of beads that my exchange partner sent me arrived unexpectedly yesterday. Talk about coming down to the wire! I was beginning to think the 2nd set, which she kindly sent to replace the beads that seemed to have decided to take a vacation on the way down under, were going to arrive first...

The show and tell part of this little Blog party is supposed to start on the 17th. Well... it is the 17th here, but so I don't jump the gun, I'm just going to post a little teaser pic for now, and then go and hit the torch. I'll post the finished jewellery tonight, which will be almost the 17th, US time. :)

The pic above shows the beads I was sent, but doesn't have a pic of the polymer clay toggle that was included also. I didn't get a pic of the beads before I started putting them together, and for Terri didn't include the Toggle in the photo she sent me to...

Check out the other participants blogs over the next few weeks - there is a complete list here. And don't forget to pop back and see the finished piece later!

Tape Melbourne!

2011-09-14T21:20:00.009+10:00

Yesterday, after a tiring but enjoyable day taking photos with a class full of year 10 students throughout Melbourne and St Kilda, I ended up back at Federation Square, where my husband had met me to attend a friend's exhibition opening. That morning, I had seen the exterior of a fascinating new art installation in Federation Square entitles 'Tape Melbourne', a huge, alien-esque sculpture suspended from the buildings, created entirely from packing tape. It looked fantastic from the outside, but on chatting with one of the creators, and the Project Manager, I learnt that they were hoping it would be declared safe enough to open to the public. Heading back with DH that afternoon, we were able to climb inside, after shedding shoes and anything sharp :). It was a lot of fun, an amazing experience to be inside. It gave when you moved, like a hammock - in fact, the narrow pathways grabbed you as you tried to crawl through. It was very comfortable, but made disconcerting squeaking noises when you moved - was that just the tape squeaking, or was it going to give way? It is transparent in parts, so it feels quite ephemeral, but its deceptively strong. It was a very interesting experience - so glad I was in there at the right time! Well worth checking out if you are in Melbourne!

The photos are from 3 sources - the interior shots were taken with my little canon 'point n shoot', the exterior shots are were taken with my DSLR Nikon D7000, and the night shots were downloaded from the Fed Square blog...

Bead Soup off the boil

2011-09-11T10:07:00.002+10:00

Unfortunately, due to the vagaries of international postage, my bead soup hasn't arrived yet. I will try and get some photos up of my most recent work so there is something for people to look at when they drop by for the big Blog Hop on the 17th..... fingers crossed, the beads will arrive by then and I can get something up. My partner and our exchange host have both offerred to send more, but I just know the original ones will arrive the day after they post something :). Keep your fingers crossed!

Bead Soup on the Boil

2011-08-19T10:32:00.003+10:00

While I was away, I saw some announcements online for the upcoming Bead Soup Blog party. I have been aware of this event for several years, and had often wished to be involved, but I never heard about it early enough to sign up. This year I did, but the sign up period was while I was in the air flying home from my trip! It's a conspiracy I swear :). Anyway, a friend organised my sign up while I was travelling, so this year, I'm involved. It was a real rush to get some new beads made and sent out in the short period between my return and the postal deadline, but I made it, and my beads are winging their way to the US as we speak. My exchange partner has also sent my bead soup mix, and I will post some pics as soon as it arrives. The basic premise of this exchange is to send a beautiful clasp, and a focal pendant-worthy bead, as well as some 'supporting' beads, that can all be put together to make a piece of jewellery, combined with extra pieces they might already have. So half the fun is the anticipation of not knowing what you are getting. My partner is a polymer clay artist I believe, so that will be new for me - Ive never made jewellery with polymer clay beads before.

Home Sweet Home

2011-08-10T22:27:00.002+10:00

I guess its a sign of a great trip that I didn't really have time or inclination to blog while I was away? Unlike other travels I undertake, my trips to the US are all about the people... and the glass, but definitely the people. Its great to see the country, and some places have been highlights, but I choose my itinerary based on who I will visit, or what classes I will attend, not on tourist attractions or scenery. This last trip was no exception. I visited dearly missed close friends and stayed with wonderful, brave people who took a chance on a random visiting Australian, and I had a fantastic time. The ISGB Gathering was an amazing way to wind things up. If I hadn't been flat out learning and having fun with a few hundred like minded glass peeps, I would have been quite homesick by the end of the trip, but there was very little time to pine for home. I brought home wonderful memories, and some amazing new pieces for my glass collection. Importantly, I also brought home new found enthusiasm and inspiration for my glass. I am intending to change direction slightly, and get a bit more focused and disciplined with my glass. I want to explore and develop more deeply some of my own original ideas I've produced, and then moved on from, over the years. And I intend to actively plan my beads more. Sharon Peters talk about inspiration and creativity was quite inspiring for me. I guess it wasn't anything I didn't already know, as a secondary art teacher, but I have resisted that approach for some reason, to my glass. So, now I have a new sketchbook for beads, and a bunch of photos of designs, patterns, colours etc to start off with for inspiration. I doubt I will use it religiously - its just not my style, but there are already plenty of ideas to be going on with in those pages - something I've been lacking for quite some time. So, I'm happy to be home, and looking forward to playing with some new ideas at the torch. But first I have to finish the remaining 100 blue and yellow beads I'm making for SCA tokens - it's going to be such a pleasure to use other colours when I'm done!!

Writing from Memphis

2011-07-12T11:37:00.004+10:00

I spent a few days last week in reading with a friend, as I mentioned last post. We had a great time - very busy, but we still had time to hang out and chat also. We went to see The Feeling at the 'Kew the Music' festival in Kew Gardens, which was a fantastic night. It was my birthday gift from my friend, and we took a picnic and drank Rose cider (highly appropriate, as one of our favourite Feeling songs is Rose') and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The Noisettes, who also played that night.... What an energetic performer!! Sophie Ellis-Bextor sang a song with The feeling on their new album.... The next day we took the train to Cardiff and spent the afternoon at Cardiff castle, and around the Bay near the Milennium centre and Roald Dahl Plass (in other words, Torchwood Country!!!). I flew into New York from the UK, and had a few brief few hours there with another friend, and we went to see 'Hair'. It was a great performance - all the singers were amazing, musically very tight, and full of energy. It was a little disappointing to not be able to clearly understand all the lyrics, but it was surprisingly easy to forgive, because it just sounded so good. At the end of the show they invited the audience on stage, and as I was sitting in the 2nd row, I was able to make it up there. So, less than 24 hours in New York and I got the opportunity to dance on a Broadway stage, albeit briefly, which was fantastic! I am currently in Memphis, attending and presenting at The Laptop Institute, an educational conference for 1:1 laptop programs in schools. I presented once today, and have two more to go tomorrow. Then I'm off to Raleigh, and am really on holidays, with no work related obligations at all!

The next adventure

2011-07-04T14:45:00.004+10:00

I have changed time zones so many times in the last day that it's very hard to keep track how long ago I left home. I think it's about 30 hours, give or take. I am heading to the US once again, to attend both education and glass related conferences. Heading to London first to visit a dear friend who has been away too long, and the most economical way to do that, was a round the world ticket via Asia and Germany. Expected to lurk around the airport in hong kong, but by a fortunate coincidence, my boss was on the same flight, and she kindly took me under her wing and showed me the abbreviated sights. We took a taxi up to the top of the peak, to see some amazing views of the city, and went to 'times square' for dinner. That was an adventure I itself. The restaurant we chose, because of the dumplings on the menu, specialized in a kind of hot pot soup, and you cook your dumplings in it. We didn't have time for that, so they brought us a noodle soup with some dumplings in it. The waiters English wasn't as god as we thought - I asked if they would be pork and he said yes, but they ended up being prawns. I am not a fan of seafood, but they were obviously very well made and I managed 2 before the fishiness overwhelmed me. I was very grateful for the chance to see a little of the city, it always frustrates me to be stuck in an airport in city you have never seen before.... Case in point, I'm writing this from Munich airport, waiting for the final leg of my trip to London. Aim traveling with my iPad and a borrowed netbook ( to present at the conference with) so I won't be able to edit any of the pics I post first - they'll all be 'nude' so to speak. :). Will add some pics of Hong Kong when I have had a chance to download them.

More reviews

2011-01-21T22:56:00.003+11:00

I know I am going to lose momentum/interest in this idea now I am home and busy again - so here is some thoughts about the other accommodation we stayed in during our NZ travels. After Tekapo we headed to Dunedin. There we stayed in our best value accommodation of the trip, Living Spaces, although I was shocked at first by how small the room was. However, we got to appreciate that we had everything we needed and it was very well designed to maximise the lack of space. The bathroom, built in a big glass cylinder, had fantastic water pressure, which redeemed the room when I was initially feeling a bit claustrophobic, compared to our wonderful large unit in Lake Tekapo. We didn't make use of them, but there was a range of shared facilities, like a 'theatre' you could book to watch DVDs and a shared kitchen. Overall, for the price, quite good value and I'd stay there again. Although, looking at their website, we payed quite a bit more than the advertised rate - (so much for bargains on wotif) but I guess it was peak period....

I can't remember where we stayed in Akaroa at the moment. I'll look it up at some stage :) but next stop after that was Hanmer Springs. The main draw card there of course is the hot springs, so a motel in walking distance to the centre of town is very handy. We stayed at Aspen Lodge Motel, and since it was our wedding anniversary, splurged on a spa room (in hindsight, a bit redundant in a spa town, LOL) and had a beautiful suite, with a separate lounge and its own balcony. The home made baked goods delivered when the room was cleaned were a lovely touch. And while you are in Hanmer Springs, make sure you try the Tapas at the Rustic Cafe - such good food, we ate there both nights (we needed 2 visits to try the full range of Tapas). While on the subject of dining, we discovered a fantastic restaurant in Dunedin, very reasonably priced, called Nova Cafe. It's right next door to the cinema, in the Octagon. You have to try the slow cooked lamb... and the caramelised banana creme brulee was amazing.

Last stop of the trip was Kaikoura and ironically (we stayed there the longest), our most modest accommodation (although not the cheapest). The Bella Vista was a perfectly acceptable motel, with really nice service in the office (they let me on their computer to check in and print our boarding passes) but overcrowded rooms and very expensive Internet. We were tripping over the suitcases for 4 days. The motel was also quite a way out of the centre of town, so for the first time, we had to drive in every time we wanted a meal. Luckily, there is so much to do in Kaikoura, we didn't need to spend a lot of time sitting around our tiny room. And that's where I'll leave things for now - I'll review the attractions next post.

Reviews

2011-01-16T19:30:00.003+11:00

Since I've got back in the habit of posting here, I thought I might write some reviews of the various accommodation and attractions/tours we struck while travelling in New Zealand. Since our trip didn't really start till we flew into Christchurch from Auckland, I'm going to start with our accommodation in Lake Tekapo. We found all our accommodation using Wotif.com. You can now book a few months ahead on wotif, rather than just 2 weeks. I suspect that means the deals aren't quite as good as they used to be, but it's very handy to have one central site, with photos, ratings and discounted deals.

In Lake Tekapo, we stayed at Lakeview Tekapo. This is a very new business, with only 3 apartments, with the latest gadgets (pincodes instead of door keys), beautiful decor and a star viewing window above the bed. Our hosts were extremely friendly and helpful, and co-incidentally, used to own the Christchurch motel that we stayed in last year. While we enjoyed eating out at the great restaurants in Lake Tekapo, the rooms do have a well equipped kitchenette. We were thoroughly spoiled regarding our accommodation at this early stage of our trip - it set the bar pretty high! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this venue, or stay there again - it was fantastic.

A fun few days.

2011-01-09T08:08:00.005+11:00

Last Wednesday we spent quite a bit of time at the Otago Museum in Dunedin, where they have a great Butterfly house (pictured above). It was quite cold in Dunedin today, and I wasn't really dressed for it, so the warmth in the Butterfly house was quite welcome!

The Catlins

2011-01-05T13:08:00.004+11:00

Yesterday we spent the day on a self driving tour the of The Catlins - the coastal area at the very tip of south island. It's a beautiful area, and we were lucky enough to get up close and personal with a couple of rare Yellow Eyed Penguins, and some sea lions (or fur seals - not 100% sure which). It was exhausting, and we missed a site or two that could only be viewed at low tide (Cathedral caves will have to be on the agenda next time) but it was a fantastic day.

The view at Curio Bay, our first stop, where many of the rocks are actually fossilised trees!

A view of the fossilised forest - that diagonal line in the foreground is a fallen log.

A Yellow Eyed Penguin (the rarest in the world) on the rocks at Curio Bay

A Sealion on the beach at Surat Bay.

Purakaunui Falls

Nugget Point

Berry Heaven!

2011-01-03T17:16:00.004+11:00

We drove to Dunedin today. The weather isn't great - it rained lightly most of the day, but it was a beautiful drive. Along the way we stopped at a U-pick berry place and picked berries and had some wicked desserts for morning tea - Rasberry Crumble for Jason and Mixed Berry Shortcake for me!!

When we got to Dunedin we checked out the steepest street in the world - it was easier to walk up than I expected, but my muscles didn't stop quivering for ages afterwards! :)

Last day at Lake Tekapo

2011-01-02T20:12:00.005+11:00

Today we drove up to Mt Johns, where the Observatory is. We have been trying to do the skygazer tour the last 2 nights, but mother nature has not co-operated, and the cloud cover was too heavy. That will have to be something we do on another trip I guess, but today we at least got to experience the amazing view from the summit. The weather was not great - very windy and overcast, but still definitely worth a look. And tonight I had fun playing with the photo stitching software within PhotoShop and made some photo montage panoramas....

2011 in New Zealand!

2011-01-01T22:22:00.004+11:00

2011 is off to a fantastic start, as we are travelling in New Zealand and having a wonderful time. While we did fly into Auckland, the holiday didn't really start till we flew down to Christchurch on Friday, in the South island. We have been in Lake Tekapo for a couple of days, and the scenery is amazing. Today we went on a tour from Mount Cook with 'Glacier Explorers', which was fantastic - a boat trip onto Lake Tasman, at the head of the Tasman Glacier, on which float numerous Icebergs. It's mindblowing to think that 90% is below the water, and some of them have run aground, in over 200m of water at the 'shallow end' of the lake. We have another day or so here, then we move on to see other parts of South Island!

It's been awhile....

2010-10-14T14:10:00.002+11:00

It's funny how blogging seems to go in waves for me. Travelling always makes me post regularly, but in regular life I'm either too busy to post, or don't feel like anything interesting enough is happening to bother talking about... And I've been very slack lately in getting new glass work up and ready to sell, so haven't been updating about that lately. My goal is to get my Etsy store back up and running, as I have decided not to go on with the Abbotsford Convent market - sales were terrible the last 3 months I attended, so I have not been attending for the last 5 months or so.

One of the things I have been doing to fill my time (and fulfil the urge to be writing) is writing feature articles and reviews for Theatrepeople.com.au. I have only done a few so far, but now I've started reviewing as well, they should come out more frequently. In fact, I am off to a new theatre opening and show tomorrow night. Previous articles I have written are :

MLOC is Dreaming of a White Christmas

PEP is Singing Songs for a New World

Octave's New Island Home

The Bougainville Photoplay Project

Life...

2010-06-28T11:17:00.002+10:00

As seems to frequently be the case, I have been too busy with 'life' lately to have time or inclination to blog, and as 'life' has also interfered with my torch time, I haven't had anything to show anyway. In the last 6 months I have started a new job (which I'm loving, but it's taking a lot of my time) and had some health issues which have been getting in the way. I'm also completing an online course with Harvard Wide, which is really interesting - I'm enjoying it a lot, but it is one more demand on my time.

An Arthroscopy a few weeks ago has revealed I have no cartilage remaining in my left knee. Some fairly drastic suggestions for surgery have been bandied about, and I'm off to get a second opinion this afternoon. In the meantime, I've quit tennis, haven't taken the dogs to the park in ages (rough ground makes my knees hurt) and have also been avoiding the Wii workouts, as all those lunges and squats were also causing me a lot of pain. So, I'm not really in pain anymore, but I'm avoiding anything that might aggravate it.

On a more pleasant front, as of tomorrow I'm on holidays, and I am intending to focus on my glass in the next 2 weeks. I often say that, and it never seems to happen, but I'm hoping to stick to it this time. I haven't really torched since before Easter, and that was all historical recreations. I am really looking forward to producing some new contemporary work and building up some new stock to re-launch my Etsy store. I have decided to give up the Abbotsford market, as it has been very quiet since before Xmas. I am looking into a couple of other venue options, but now the global financial crisis has eased a little, I'm hoping I might be able to go back to mainly selling my work online.

I have also had a photography spread on my timeline beads, and a tutorial published in this months The Flow magazine, which is very exciting. I cant wait till my copies arrived so I can see how it came out - and they held one tutorial back to use later, so I will get published again in a future edition, which is great.

Overdue Update

2010-05-05T20:31:00.005+10:00

I have just realised how long it has been since I have updated my blog - especially as I have left it with the face cane project hanging.

On the next attempt, I made a face I was quite happy with, and managed to pull enough cane to go on and make 3 different versions, with a range of 'hairstyles' and colours backgrounds. After a battle with cutting the cane into slices (thank you to Nat in Sydney for sending me her cutters), I was able to make a selection of beads in the style of Roman Face Beads. I also updated my bead timeline, and finally presented it in a way I was happy with - as avisual display sewn onto a piece of black wool. Full documentation for both projects can be found on my website....

Making Progress - Step 2

2010-01-29T00:03:00.004+11:00

While I made time to torch shortly after my last post, and had another try at the face cane, I have been so busy getting ready for school to go back and starting a new job, that I haven't had time to post the results. The next day, I remade the nose cane, adding some length to help the overall proportions of the face. I re-used the other components I had, although I still think they are probably too small. But assembly is a difficult skill in itself, so I may as well use the pieces I have to practice.

I am much happier with this second effort. It is recognisably a face, and although his eyes are a bit beady and he has a serious monobrow happening (one eyebrow was actually the aim, but not perhaps so pronounced as this :) ). I decided to forgo the coloured background this time. It wasn't always used in the examples I am working from, and I'd like to concentrate on the face at this stage ( and not waste more colours while I am practicing). The images show the ends of 2 different pulls of the cane. There are some bubbles in one - I'll have to make sure I don't allow any trapped air when encasing each component.

My next step will be to remake all the components from scratch and try again. I will not draw the components out so small - particularly the eyes.

The Great Face Cane Adventure - Step 1

2010-01-11T13:02:00.004+11:00

Ok, so here are the pics of my first foray into making Roman style face cane. Looking at the individual components, I am really happy with the eyes and mouth, but the square shape of the nose was harder to keep straight.... I am also happy with the neat round shape of the hair and the blue background of the finished face. I think I pulled the components a bit too small. I also didnt allow enough layers of encasing between components, not realising how much it would reduce. I needed a few layers of white between the eyes and the eyebrow encasing, but I misread my notes - I wanted the nose lines to meet the brows, but the eyes should have had some 'padding' between them and the brow line, as everything has ended up way too close and bunched together. I think the mouth is smeared because it went on off centre and I was trying to nudge it over. While I was disapointed when I first saw the finished cane, I think I was probably a bit hard on myself - its not a bad first effort, as I've only made simple cane with stripes before, so this is both my first attempt at a more complicated shape (i.e the eyes) and of combining multiple cane together. Anyway, what I need now is the catchcry of lampworking - practice, practice, practice!

Glass Projects

2010-01-11T01:00:00.003+11:00

I have found blogging regularly when I'm not travelling has been a bit of a hardship in the last year - I'm either too busy to write, or so quiet there is nothing of interest happening to write about :). But I've been working pretty steadily on a number of glass projects for SCA Arts & Science competitions lately. I hadn't entered any Kingdom level competitions for ages, but luckily the topics recently have lent themselves to glass work. First there was the Rosary project, which I mentioned in my blog a few months ago. The documentation and photos are also up on my website. Then there was a viking jewellery category, and this weekend a competition for board games. Thanks to an SCA friend on Facebook, who drew the Viking Tafl games to my attention, I produced the game pieces pictured below.

I also have some plans for new projects, hopefully to be finished before Festival at Easter. I took the first steps on a major project today. I have planned for some time to work on making face cane for Roman portrait beads. I spent 4 hours today making components, eyes, nose etc and made my first Roman style face. I will post some pictures tomorrow. I'm not happy with the final result, but I can see some areas where I need to do things differently - I have some ideas to try tomorrow, but it's not a bad first effort I suppose. I thought I might blog along the learning curve I'll be undertaking as I attempt to master this new technique.

Holiday Plans

2009-12-18T17:56:00.006+11:00

I just realised I never did come back and add those photos, so I'll have to post some fishy pics with this entry. Today was my last day at my current school, and now I have a blissful 5 weeks to regroup, refresh and get organised for my new role next year. I am really looking forward to teaching Art full time again and working with a new staff to support elearning. I'm hoping to spend some time this holidays really working on some new glass related skills, so I hope to make some posts about my progress as I go along. I normally tend to be a bit hit and miss with new skills - I give them a whirl, and if they don't work, I leave it for a few months and try again. But, like my fish, I am going to have to actually practice my off mandrel work, and making more advanced murrine. I have several SCA projects I would like to work towards and I need to master these skills to get there, so that will be my focus. I have been addicted to making fish since I got home from the US, but I also learnt how to make off mandrel pendants, marbles and face cane and all those skills will take a concerted effort to really get a handle on. Sometimes I wish someone would hurry up and invent an instant transport device, so we could really have that theoretical global village we talk about. I am really missing far away friends at the moment, and it is quite painful to know it will be a couple of years at the soonest before I will likely see any of them again. Thank heavens for the intranet is all I can say!

The Daily Grind

2009-11-18T11:02:00.004+11:00

Week 7 of the new term, 8 weeks since I came home, and my US trip is beginning to be a very distant memory. It doesn't take long at all for the daily grind to take over and fill your thoughts. Since I got home I've been back at work, flat out busy as another colleague was having their turn on leave and I was working on our major project for the term. The group this term have proved to be quite a handful, which has also kept us busy. I have been spending my brief torch time mainly making fish and birds, enjoying playing with sculptural forms - thanks Deb! I really want to start working on some face murrine, but I need more than a couple of hours concurrently on the torch to get stuck into that. Once I have the Christmas markets out of the way, Ill devote some days to it on the holidays. The market has been pretty quiet lately, but I sold a bunch of jewellery at work yesterday, which was a pleasant surprise. Speaking of work, there are some changes on the horizon for me again. I'm turning full circle, and heading to my old Alma Mater to start a new position next year. I was a little torn about the decision, but I think it is the right thing for me at this time, and it's going to be fun heading back to my old stomping ground.

Hmmmm, Blogger seems to be having some issues, so I'll have to add some photos later.

San Francisco

2009-09-28T05:16:00.006+10:00

A wonderful few days to finish my time in the USA. Thursday I explored the Fisherman's Wharf area - had an amazing brunch, went on a Bay cruise to see the pylons of the GG Bridge only, damn fog, and Alcatraz and watched the sea lions on Pier 39. Friday I went to the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park - great museum, but the Planetarium show was amazing. The show was due to end the next day, after running fora year, so I was glad to have caught it. On Saturday I went on a 14 hour long bus tour out to Yosemite Park. Perfect weather and amazing scenery, it was a very suitable last activity before leaving the US of A.

I have had such an amazing trip. It has been an adventure, travelling for a month and it has been made special by all the amazing people I have stayed with and met along the way. It is an wonderful feeling, to be able to spend quality time with long time Internet friends and have confirmation that there is a real deep friendship there, that we aren't all deluding ourselves about the quality of our virtual relationships. I am going to miss everyone terribly - thank heavens for the Internet, email, forums and Facebook.

The Famous houses on Alamo Square

The Living Roof at the Academy of Sciences

Sunny Florida

2009-09-25T14:57:00.005+10:00

I had a wonderful time in Florida last week. I was staying in Bradenton, and went out on the water Jet Ski-ing twice, in the Bradenton/Sarasota area. I don't have much in the way of photos because most of my sightseeing ended up being from the water, but we did catch a lovely sunset my last night there that I will share. I also played tourist at the Kennedy Space Centre, attending the ATX - Astronaut Training Experience. While it had a couple of hokie moments, it was a lot of fun to let my inner geek out to play for awhile. I was assigned as Commander of our mission and had to land the shuttle...

I also watched Fay make an eye murrine, and talked and sketched the process for building up whole face cane, so that will be on the agenda to try when I get home.

Beads update

2009-09-23T00:06:00.003+10:00

I haven't had a lot in the way of glass to show lately, so I thought I'd post some pics of jewellery I made for the friends I have been staying with during my travels. I took a few quick pics just before I left...

Down on the Bayou

2009-09-21T04:40:00.007+10:00

I had a lovely time in Louisiana last week. It was fantastic to finally get to meet Deanna and Greg in person. I watched Greg make one of his amazingly complicated murrine marbles, and Deanna and I torched a couple of afternoons. I made my first 2 marbles... unfortunately they both broke though. One cracked in half as we put it in the kiln - its a clean break and I'm going to glue it together - it turned out pretty darn round! The other one exploded - I have the blisters to remember it by. :)

Deanna and I spent a day playing tourist - took a swamp tour on an airboat, and then walked through the French Quarter of New Orleans. We saw so many alligators we lost count, and the airboat was able to take us to areas that a normal boat wouldn't be able to get into. It was a great tour, I'd definitely recommend it. The marsh area, with Alligator.

An Alligator in the Bayou.

A 'crackhead'! That's a Marshmallow on his head - the guides feed them marshmallows because they aren't filling, so they keep coming back. They call them 'Swamp Crack'.

Jumping for Marshmallows.

'Mule' drawn carriages in New Orleans.

The Cathedral, New Orleans.

Buildings in the French Quarter.

Leaving, On a Jet Plane....

2009-09-13T00:46:00.005+10:00

Yesterday was my last full day in Phoenix with Lisa - I fly out to New Orleans at 11. Lisa has been a wonderful host and we have had a great time. We explored the Cave Creek area and played tourist in the shops up there, went to Tucson for a wholesale bead show, and went to a Bead Museum and a Candy Factory yesterday. We have eaten some wonderful food - both at home and out for lunch and generally spoilt ourselves.

I have just realised that with my last few posts being Glasstock related, I didn't post my last photos from Oregon. So, here is a few Oregon beach scenes and some pics from Arizona...

And for contrast, the Arizona desert....

Steep Learning Curve

2009-09-10T14:00:00.007+10:00

Glasstock was an amazing opportunity to learn from so many people - not just the instructors, but each and every participant had something to share, and everyone was so generous with sharing their knowledge and techniques. I tried to pick classes that were in areas that were totally new to me, and it was challenging and a lot of fun to try so many new techniques. I took an off mandrel pendant class with Otter, a fish sculpture class with Deb, mini blown vessels with Patty and I faceted some pre-prepared beads. I also got to try Boro for the first time, thanks to the help of the boro girls and boys who got me started. So here are my class and open torch pieces - I had such a lot of fun with them, and I cant wait to get back to the torch to work on them further.

My first 2 off mandrel pendants from Otter's class

The last pendant from class, and my first real implosion, which I did at open torch that night.

I made this one at open torch too - I was very happy with the shape.

A close up of my implosion pendant. Watching the boro boys make marbles paid off.

This was my last vessel for the class - after struggling with the previous 2, I made the walls thicker and managed not to blow a hole in the side.

The hummingbird I made in Deb's class. Originally I placed the beak too high - I had to point out I have no real idea what a hummingbird looks like :).

I was happy with this little guy as my first fish, but I don't like the way the Psyche glass has reduced, or the way it affected the purple. His lips look awesome, but the rest of him is getting etched when we get home!

Fishy number two

I made this fish at open torch the next night, while walking someone else through the process. Teaching someone else helped me remember the steps, although I did accidentally put my hummingbird tail on the fish, before I realised.... I just twisted it around the right way - no harm, no foul. :)

My first ever Boro - had no idea what the colours would do, and luckily the red struck in the kiln. We all thought staying on the mandrel for my first foray into boro was a good idea, but I actually found the pendant I made next easier. I was really happy with the construction - unfortunately the colour I thought was black for the back was not, so the dots got a bit lost in a similar colour. Still I was pretty stoked - I took a new skill and applied it to boro my first trip out of the gate. I have a lot of beginners luck - not sure my next effort will work so well. I'm not even sure I can melt Boro on my Piranha with 1 oxycon......

The grinding class was fun, but it showed up a lot of issues with my encasing - next time I'm planning on faceting anything, I will be more careful with every layer of glass! I'm going to look into lapidary clubs when I get back home - this is a great affect, but the grinders are NOT cheap. Ouch!

Glasstock 09

2009-09-09T03:26:00.006+10:00

What an amazing experience the last few days has been. It has been crammed so full of glass and friends I haven't had time for blogging, but all good things must come to an end, and Glasstock is over for another year. I realised when chatting with my husband online the other night that money isn't the only impediment to me returning - I also need to get leave during term time, which isn't always easy. I will be back though - I cannot believe how much I learnt and I was absolutely loving the way my mind was connecting the dots and thinking of ways to use boro techniques in soft glass, off mandrel techniques in beads etc. So much cross pollination. The open torches were so much more meaningful for me when I was practicing and confirming new techniques I had learnt that day, rather than just playing around like at the gathering - not that I torched at open torch then, I think it was more intimidating than the environment at Glasstock. Everyone kept saying it would be a life changing experience, but I didn't really expect the way it affected me. It really was a very special time, and I know that I will grow as a glass artist because of it. I cant wait to get back to the torch when I get home and see where it all takes me.

Beautiful Oregon & Beautiful People

2009-09-03T16:55:00.008+10:00

I arrived in Oregon yesterday. After a 14 hour flight to LAX and a 4 hour layover, I hopped on a flight to Portland. I was met by Maggie, a wonderful lady who had offered to put this stranger from Oz up for the night and drive me down the coast to Glasstock the next day. On the way home we had great lunch, and stopped at the Dahlia farm for some photo opportunities.

My room for the night was Maggie's adorable studio, which has an amazing view.

As does the hot tub I had a good soak in before bed. Ahhh, this is the life. After 31 hours up, with only catnaps on the plane, I was ready for a good 12 hours of sleep. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go.

Today we drove down the coast the Newport, stopping along the way to enjoy the scenery. We got some great views od the coast before the fog started to roll in.

We went to the opening party at Deb's, and then had a very late dinner from the local fish and chip shop. Not quite what I'm used to from the local place at home - the one thing I recognised off the menu was calamari... I didn't expect full tubes and whole octopus with tentacles, but it tasted good....

Off to bed now - Glasstock starts tomorrow!!!

Adventure Beckons...

2009-08-28T20:49:00.005+10:00

Months of planning and anticipation are finally coming to a head, and I am off on my month long trip around the US on Tuesday. The last week has been beyond hectic - realising I needed to write all my reports weeks early, worrying about a health scare and rushing between work and the hospital for tests, Jason going away for work and mum moving out of the house that she has had since long before I was born.... crazy. But I have survived, and this weekend is for me to get all my last minute things sorted, pack, and spend some quality time with Jason before I go.

First stop is Portland, Oregon, where after a few hour drive down the coast with a new 'online' glassy friend, I will be taking part in 'Glasstock', and Annual glass workshop which goes for 4 days and will have 70 attendees. Then its on to Phoenix, and some quality girl time with Lisa, (and Sondra!) a trip to a Tucson bead show and all sorts of 'fun in the sun' of Arizona. Then this lucky duck heads to New Orleans to stay with another dear online friend. I have to keep reminding myself that Deanna and I haven't actually ever met, as we have been friends for years now. It will be amazing to finally meet Deanna, Greg and Rebekah. I am fully intending to go into tourist mode in New Orleans (whilst hopefully still finding time to learn to make marbles!). The adventure continues, and from New Orleans I am off to Tampa, Florida, to stay with Fay. We have plans to jetski and swim with manatee (and make face murrine, another skill I'd love to come home with.) Finally, when I'm all torched out (as if!) I will head to San Fran, for 4 days as a tourist. I am staying with an old friend from Melbourne, and hopefully I will also catch up with some other beadmaking friends while I'm there.

Thanks goodness I have a week when I get back before term 4 starts!

As usual when I travel, I will be blogging regularly, and as I'll have my laptop this time, I'll be able to upload pics straight away too.

I have a lot of lovely new beads to share, but most of them are for gifts or trades, so I might post some pics when I get back. As I hate to make a post with no photos, I'll leave you with a recent pic of my fuzzbutts - Mojo seems to be convinced that Monty is his personal jungle gym.

2009-08-11T13:39:00.002+10:00

21 days and counting till I take off for the USA, and I am getting very excited. I have been feeling very out of sync in the studio lately, feeling like nothing was working, but the urge to get gifts/trade beads/stock for the market has meant Ive been in the studio almost every day for the last 4 days and I'm feeling like my groove is coming pack. As I am well aware, torching is NOT like riding a bike, repetition definitely helps in a big day and torching regularly is the best way to get over a hump. Now I'm feeling confident that I will be able to keep up at Glasstock and come home with a wealth of new ideas and skills to try. I am also excited that I have had some jewellery accepted at Philip Stokes Studio Glass Gallery and I may be undertaking a beginners glass blowing course there in November. I've decided to decide once I get back from overseas and see how much damage I have done to the finances. :) It's something I have wanted to do for awhile, though I doubt it will pull me away from making beads. I think that there could be a great cross pollination of ideas and skills though, so I am looking forward to it.

Canine Update

2009-07-27T14:25:00.005+10:00

Life rattles along at a great pace as usual, leaving little time for Blogging. The dogs are changing a lot - Monty basically looks like an adult now, although I do have a few pics of 'Teen' Monty to show as well. The boys are inseparable, Mojo is Monty's little shadow 24/7, when he isn't following Jason around the house. 'Daddy's boy' doesn't begin to cover it. :) I haven't had a lot of time for torching lately, but I did spend quite a bit of time working on some Medieval Rosaries for an SCA Arts & Sciences Competition. It was fairly tedious making so many small round beads, but the research was interesting, and the results looked good. I have my market again this week, and Jason is coming along to learn the ropes, so he can run it for me while I'm away OS next month. My trip is getting closer and closer - time to start some serious planning and to get really excited!! I will be taking my laptop to keep in touch with people, so I will be blogging regularly while I am travelling around the USA.

Show & Tell

2009-06-02T14:19:00.007+10:00

Sometimes I find life gets so hectic you don't have time to write about it... other times, life seems too mundane to bother writing about it. Not sure exactly why I've been absent the last few weeks - a little from column A, a little from column B...

So, I have some new Jewellery to show, and a new addition to the family to introduce... meet Mojo.

Monty has grown a lot, although we didn't realise quite how much until we saw him with the new puppy. They are getting along like a house on fire, which makes us a little superfluous!

I am still selling at the Abbotsford Convent artist market once a month, and I made a few new pieces for last months market. I'm afraid I wont have much in the way of new stock this week - the last few weeks have been way too hectic.

Just to finish off, here is a bit of video footage showing the initial introduction of Monty & Mojo...

Growing Up

2009-04-30T11:27:00.005+10:00

My little furbaby is starting to look like a real dog. Just when he grows out of the cute puppy stage, we will have a new one to 'awww' over. Monty's prospective little brother is about 3 weeks old and has just opened his eyes. It will be great when there are two of them, and they don't need quite such undivided attention from us. Monty is definitely an attention leech. :) I have a few new beads waiting to photograph, and its market week this weekend. The beads for this new bracelet were inspired by Fox Glacier, that I was lucky enough to visit in January.

More new work...

2009-04-18T22:01:00.004+10:00

I spent some time today updating my Etsy and Artfire accounts. I really want to get some momentum behind them, and I realise that I need to do a lot more on the promotions front. Participating in the forums for the sales venues is apparently a good start, so I've been getting my feet wet today.

Anyway, I intend to post quite a bit of new stock over the next couple of days - here is a bead set and a bracelet that went up today...

Spring has sprung...

2009-04-18T11:55:00.007+10:00

... well, in my glass it has - and all my American glassy friends are talking about the slightly warmer weather (although some are still getting snow!). But I made some purple 3D flowers last week which have just gone up on Etsy, which are definitely spring-like.

Unfortunately, we are a long way from springtime here in Melbourne, although we have had some lovely Autumn weather lately. I only have 2 days before I am back at work, so I might have to make some more time to torch this weekend - I think some more flowers might be on the agenda.

Artists Spotlight on 'Heather's Ramblings'

2009-04-15T19:26:00.002+10:00

My good friend Heather has included me in her weekly Artists Spotlight on her blog Heather's Ramblings . Heather is another glass beadmaker, jewellery designer etc and also writes a blog on skincare where you can get all your questions answered! I wanted to return the linky love with a heads up to Heather's Artfire store, where she has a range of beautiful goods, from lampworked beads to hand died silk ribbon, including this lovely necklace, Purple Fantasy.

Ups & downs

2009-04-13T00:51:00.004+10:00

I've been on holidays this week, so life is at a less hectic pace at the moment. I've even managed to torch several times in the last few days, and I'm intending to tomorrow as well. I'll also make some time to take some photos of some new pieces, so I'll have new work to post later in the week. I made a set of 3D flowers today that I'm quite happy with....

The last few days have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I've spent a bit of time with a very close friend of mine, which has been a joy. Not so joyful is the fact that she is moving to the UK for a couple of years on wed, so we've been packing for her, having farewell drinks etc. It's been quite weird, to have so much fun, and then feel so miserable at the end of it. I don't want to pull her down, it is such an exciting trip for her to undertake, but its hard to feel entirely positive about it when I know how terribly I am going to miss her.

It reminds me of when one of my bridesmaids moved interstate 10 years or so ago... I was so distressed to have my closest friend move so far away, and while we can pick up where we left off when we get together, there is years in between each brief visit. I think a part of my mind is assuming its that final - that I'll hardly ever see her again. But I know she will be home in a few years, with some wonderful experiences under her belt - that is my wish for her anyway.

Growing like a weed...

2009-03-16T14:57:00.003+11:00

It's been about 6 weeks since I said I'd keep the puppy pics to a minimum. I think that shows a fair measure of restraint, so it's time for a Monty dose. He's grown a lot, almost doubled his weight, and instead of being a round fluffball, he looks really lanky at the moment - hasn't grown into the new long legs yet.... Getting grotty at the park....

Which means bath time!

Oh, the indignity of it all....

All beautiful again. :)

New pretties...

2009-03-08T19:45:00.007+11:00

My artists market market was on again last week, so I spent a bit of time at the torch and got a few new pieces of jewellery made. They will be available at either my Etsy or Artfire stores in the near future. The market was a bit quiet compared to the first month, but its still a great opportunity to promote my beads and jewellery, and my 'Flaming Hot Beadmaking Classes'.

'6 Degrees of Separation', Web 2.0 style...

2009-02-21T12:22:00.008+11:00

I am well aware of the power of Web 2.0 - some of my closest friends were 'friends' online for years before I met them (and some of them I've still yet to meet face-to-face). I sell my beads online, and I collaborate and network with educators all over the world. But this morning I had an experience that drove home to me just how interconnected the new Global Village can really be.

I received a comment on my last post from Red Rock Creations. She seems to have found my Blog randomly, either browsing through Blogger, or perhaps through the One World, One Heart event - I'm not exactly sure. Having liked the beads I posted here, she has followed the links in my sidebar to my new Artfire store. One of my floral implosion beads has caught her eye, and she has Twittered about the technique. SquareOneBeads is one of Red Rock Creations many followers on Twitter (she has over 1000) and recognises my work. We have been friends for several years, through our association on 2 Glass Bead Forums. We met f2f in 2007 at the ISGB Gathering. SquareOneBeads lets me know on the forum that someone has Twittered about my beads. That's the first I knew she used Twitter, so I search for her username and 'follow' her, and am then able to find Red Rock Creations on Twitter, 'follow' her, and see the original post. Wow.

This whole experience has really made my day. I find it incredibly cool how all of my online social networks came together in this way. And there is a lot to learn from this experience, about connectivity, networking, the lack of anonymity online, and the reality that even in the huge realm of the Internet, someone we know may be 'listening'. So play nice!

Artfire Launch

2009-02-19T22:14:00.006+11:00

A little while ago I posted about starting an Artfire account. I spent some time adding a few items to my 'Studio' this evening - pop over and check it out. Here are some new organic focal beads, some of which are up in my new Artfire studio.

And we have a winner!

2009-02-13T13:35:00.002+11:00

I used a Random Number Generator to pick a winner for my OWOH giveaway, and it came up with number 20, so I counted the 20th comment, and it goes to Myth Maker! Congratulations! Thanks everyone for playing, and I hope that at least some of you will keep reading, and keep up with my latest glass creations.

There but for the grace of God...

2009-02-09T13:24:00.003+11:00

Victoria faces a terrible tragedy today. This weekend (and it continues even now) devastating bushfires have caused terrible loss to life and property across country Victoria. My heart goes out to all those affected - those who have lost homes and loved ones, those who have lost their livelihood and those who have fought the fires, or supported the victims. The current death toll is at 111, with authorities expecting it to rise substantially. Complete townships have been wiped out by the fire.

I could not work out how to load the code on my own blog, but a live map from the CFA RSS feed can be found on the Lifehacker blog. Donations can be given via the secure Red Cross website.

Having lived in a bushfire danger zone (I still do really, some may remember the photos I posted 2 years ago of helicopters dumping water opposite my house) and having relatives evacuated this weekend, this hits very close to home. I am working with my students on understanding and exploring this traumatic event, and I am finding it quite difficult to watch the visuals and listen to the audio we are providing for them.

My SCA group will be holding a Fighter Auction Tourney next Monday night, which will be a fun way to raise some money - are any groups you are part of planning any fundraising?

Life's Good

2009-02-06T23:07:00.006+11:00

One week down, into the new school year. With how stressed and 'over it all' I was at the end of last year, it's a bit of a surprise to be able to say I had a fantastic first week back. I defy anyone who says teachers get too many holidays to sit in front of a class of year 9's for a term and not be ready to kill for their term break. But holidays did what they are supposed to, and I am refreshed and ready to tackle a new year. One that is off to a very good start. The kids have been great, the program is going well and we were successful in our application for a rather large grant for ICT. Work life is good.

On the glassy front, I have 2 new venues - the market, and I signed up for an Artfire account today. I was hesitant to commit to a new site, but it seems to have potential, and I was determined not to miss the bandwagon again, like I did with JustBeads and Etsy. So, I'm torching more, which is great, and I'm hoping to attend some classes in the US later in the year.

1.5" Lentil - both sides of the same bead.

And at home, there is a little bundle of fur and energy who alternates between amazing us with his smarts (and cuteness) and trying to tear me limb from limb. We have a slight problem with over excitement leading to puppy fangs embedded in skin.....

I have an appointment in the morning, and the staff have requested puppy pics, so the easiest thing is to post them here. I promise to make an effort not to over indulge in the puppy pics in future... I promise.

Success at last...

2009-02-04T21:00:00.003+11:00

It is such a relief that the market last weekend was a success. I'm not driven by sales, as my husband says, glass is a self funded hobby for me, so as long as I can afford to feed my addiction and melt more glass I'm happy. But the downturn in economies everywhere, but particularly the USA, where most of my online customers were from, has online sales drying up to less than a trickle. And as laid back as I am about sales, there are only so many glass beads I can use myself, so having an outlet for them has really increased my impetus to torch and make beads.

I think that having a regular outlet is going to encourage a burst of creativity from me, and the market itself is a fantastic atmosphere, full of creative people producing beautiful things.

Having a face-to-face venue has also meant I need to make some jewellery again - something I haven't done for awhile. So, here are some pics of new bracelets I have made - they are available from the market or through my website - just drop me a line on my website at http://www.solarflarecreations.com.au/

One World, One Heart - Give Away

2009-02-03T20:47:00.006+11:00

My Jewellery designing friend Lisa told me about the One World One Heart project. A great range of creative bloggers are offering a give-away this month as a way to 'meet' new readers and discover new blogs. All the participant blogs can be found at the link above. So, here is my contribution. As a welcome to new readers to my blog, the 3 bead set below, handmade by me, is up for grabs. Make a pendant and earrings, or a bracelet - it's up to the lucky winner. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by 11.59pm, Feb 11th, and a winner will be randomly drawn and notified by email (make sure you leave your blog address/email so I can contact you!).

It's getting hot in here....

2009-01-30T19:55:00.006+11:00

Wow, who would have thought that living in Melbourne we would have to cope with a heatwave like the one we have seen this week? The hottest period on record, and the 2nd hottest day ever recorded. 3 days reaching over 43 degrees Celsius, and today was 45.1.

Of course, those were the 3 days that teachers had to go back to work this week, in preparation for school starting. Days of struggling to concentrate in meetings and professional learning sessions, while we sweltered, even in the few spaces with air conditioning.

It's also the week I wanted to spend every possible moment at the torch, as I will be selling at a juried artists market on Sunday, and have been working on new stock. Torching in 40+ heat is no fun, especially when my studio is a tiny cupboard upstairs... As the 'cool change' has come tonight, so we are expecting 30 odd tomorrow instead of 40, I'm hoping I will get one more chance to torch in the morning.

It's been a tough week to have a tiny puppy in the house, although he would have been just as hot at his previous home, since we are getting our weather from Adelaide anyway. Luckily we have air conditioning, but going outside has been a bit of an ordeal with his fur, and he has had a few impromptu baths to cool off.

The Full Monty

2009-01-26T23:10:00.003+11:00

Our new arrival is finally here - and it is amazing how much laughter a puppy can cause in a home. Despite the hard work and frequent frustration, little Monty is certainly a joy to have around. And you have to admit, Kees puppies are pretty darned cute - only a hard heart could resist this face......

Another hotel room...

2009-01-23T22:53:00.005+11:00

I've had a mixture of relaxation and busyness this week. Spent the first few days after we got home vegging out and washing clothes. Didn't get much of the planned school work or puppy planning done that I intended - I became the queen of procrastination... Later in the week, I unexpectedly got accepted for a juried art market that is on next Sunday, so suddenly I have a LOT to do in a short period of time. I spent 2 days torching - need to get a couple more done, then I will be making jewellery and getting a display together. I'm hoping it will be a good venue to promote my beadmaking classes, as well as sell beads and jewellery. I need to get my school planning finished before wed too... Eek!

I have also spent a bit of time editing photos this week, so I will post some random favourites over the next few weeks, that I haven't posted yet. Right now I am in a hotel room in SA, as we are picking up our puppy and making the 8 hour drive home with him tomorrow. Be prepared for numerous puppy pics... :)

Home Sweet Home

2009-01-17T17:44:00.005+11:00

Goodbye Queenstown, Hello Melbourne. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight, and especially to having my own pillow. I'll be spending some time this weekend downloading all my photos onto my computer at home, and once I can see them properly, I'll post some favourites over the next few weeks.

We spent Friday relaxing - the weather wasn't great, so we hung around town, played mini-golf (I kicked DH's butt at every hole!) and went to the bird sanctuary at Te Anua. On Friday we drove back to Queenstown. We bumped into one of the guys from the dive tour on the way, so we gave him a lift to Queenstown as well. We decided to take ourselves back to the Deer Park - it has the best views over the lake in both directions and the animals are a lot of fun. We saw some animals we had missed last week - like the Himalayan Thar, pictured below. Friday night, for our last evening in NZ, we were intending to have dinner at skyline, at the top of the Gondola ride over Queenstown. The weather turned nasty though, so we cancelled and had an amazing meal at 'Flame' instead.

This week is going to be a bit busy, as I have to get some work done before heading back to the grind in a week and a half, and next week we will have a new addition arriving - of the four footed variety. So, some puppy proofing to be done this week, and then I'm sure the last few days before school goes back will totally revolve around the little fluffball, so I had better get some work done (and some beads made - I'm thinking of a Glacier theme...) before he gets here.

Almost time...

2009-01-15T12:25:00.006+11:00

...to think about heading home. It's been an awesome trip, and we only have a couple of days to go. We drove to Te Anua the day before yesterday, and it was a fairly easy drive, with some nice scenery on the way. Its funny how the bar gets higher - it's really a lovely drive, but the scenery when we drove out to Glenorchy at the end of the lake the day before was so amazing, everything else looks ho-hum by comparison. :)

Yesterday we wen to Milford Sound. It was very cloudy in the morning, but fined up to be quite a nice day. It was very disappointing, as we were on a dive trip for DH, and he discovered once geared up and in the water that he was not fully recovered and couldn't dove after all. We still had a great day, but it's pretty rough to be that close and miss out - especially when he had to watch everyone else diving. :( Unfortunately the dive company couldn't offer any type of refund at all, so it made for an expensive cruise. Hopefully I can work something out with travel insurance when we get home.

We saw the funniest thing at the spot above in the last photo - tiny little fish in the rock pool under the waterfall, that climb the cliff face. I didn't believe it at first, but they are seriously wiggling their way up the sheer rock face. Most bizarre thing I have ever seen. No pics though - didn't want to get the camera wet, so you will just have to take my word for it!

On top of the world

2009-01-11T20:27:00.008+11:00

We have had a great couple of days here in Queenstown so far. Yesterday we took it fairly easy and organised a 'Deer safari' through the Deer park and to see some LOTR locations. It was a very enjoyable trip, but as is often the case with these tourists jaunts, we found out we could have saved our $150 and driven ourselves to the Deer Park for $20 per car. *sigh* Oh well, then we wouldn't have had the commentary, or seen the movie scenes in the bus, and it was interesting to see the scene, then look out the window at where it was shot. Very weird to see a dilapidated Korean Fort on a NZ hillside though (or a Middle Earth hillside for that matter). Apparently it was used for a Disney movie, 'The Rescue' in the 90's.

We did see a great range of wildlife up close and personal - Pigs, Donkeys, Miniature Horses, Red Deer, Elk, Llama, Alpaca, Bison and Yak and it was a lot of fun photographing and feeding them, with some amazing scenery to boot....

Today we had a lovely sleep-in, then headed off to go white-water rafting on the Shotover River. It was an awesome trip, although at only a couple of hours on the water, it felt a lot shorter than the full day trips we have done in the past. Probably more manageable in the middle of a busy trip like ours, as it can be pretty exhausting.

After rafting, we had a pizza by the lake and watched a street performer, which was highly entertaining dinner theatre :) .

A Bad Combination....

2009-01-09T15:32:00.004+11:00

I felt so ill when I woke up this morning that I was actually hoping for bad weather so our jetboat trip would be cancelled. A few hours later, some panadol and anti-inflammatories later, I felt almost human, and able to stick it out if I had to, but I have to admit, I was relieved when the river levels were too high for the particular trip we were booked on, and we were able to obtain a refund.

We decided to stop at Puzzle World on the way out of Wanaka. Its well worth a stop, lots of interesting stuff to see, and the Great Maze was a lot of fun. But, unfortunately, the combination of running a temperature, the weird perspective in the illusion rooms, and a very curvy drive through the highest mountain pass in New Zealand caused me to experience motion sickness the likes of which I haven't felt in years. The last time I can remember feeling this queasy was from a ride at the Royal Melbourne Show a number of years ago. It took hours to get over, and I'm still not feeling 100%.

Despite lousy weather (it rained most of the way), it was still a spectacular drive, and I got some lovely photos of the wild lupins by the road. Now we have 4 days in Queenstown to enjoy - it is a very busy place - not like the other places we have been so far, which have been fairly quiet. We are also lucky enough to have an outstanding view from our hotel room (see below).

Lazy days

2009-01-08T16:59:00.004+11:00

We have had a relaxing, lazy day today. It is our 15th wedding anniversary today, but unfortunately both of us are sick, so we weren't feeling up to anything to exciting today. We had lunch in town, and then went on an afternoon cruise around Lake Wanaka. The cruise went to Stephenson's island, and we walked up to the top for some amazing views, and an interesting talk about the local flora and fauna from our Captain. Hopefully we are feeling better tomorrow, as we are off Jetboating in the morning, then we head to Queenstown for a few days.

The perfect run couldn't last...

2009-01-07T18:28:00.005+11:00

The rain that started once we returned from the heli-hike yesterday didnt stop - it continued all night, and most of today too. While we still saw some spectacular scenery today, driving on unfamiliar, mountain roads in the pouring rain can be a little stressful. At one stage, according to the map, we were driving along the coast, but we had no idea. All we could see beyond the road was a wall of white cloud. All that rain did make for some impressive waterfalls and rivers along the way though, and once we left glacier country, into the more open valleys near Wanaka, the weather started to clear and we got some wonderful views over the lakes. To look at the photos you would assume it was the ocean, the water is that magnificent turquoise colour that looks like it belongs around a tropical island.

This is an amazingly beautiful country, and such a variety of landscapes in such a small space. Tomorrow will be a chance to recharge the batteries, and hopefully for DH's health to improve, as he is feeling lousy at the moment. Our hotel has heated pool, hot tub, steam room etc, so quite a bit of incentive to laze around instead of our usual madcap pace.

Fox Glacier

2009-01-06T16:14:00.006+11:00

Wow, what an amazing morning. We were so lucky today - we took our Heli-hike onto the glacier, but all of the tours after ours were cancelled due to the weather. We enjoyed our full 3 hours on the ice though, and it was fantastic. Wonderful scenery, a totally different world. A little taste of what it might be like to go to Antarctica, I guess. It was exhausting, and the weather started to close in after a few hours - the mountains disappeared and we flew home through the low clouds, but I am so thankful we got to have that experience - it was awe inspiring for sure. I'm also thankful it was kept down to the planned 3 hours - one group a few weeks ago had to stay on the ice overnight, as the chopper couldn't get back in due to a change in the weather!

I have access to USB ports for my portable hardrive today, so I've managed to upload a few photos - make sure you check the last few posts to see them.

Awe Inspiring...

2009-01-05T17:12:00.006+11:00

...That's the only words I can use to describe the scenery we have seen in the last couple of days. I am getting frustrated though, that I can't post photos as I go to show you - but I will definitely add them later, either when I get USB access on a computer, or worse case scenario, when I get home. So, if you like the sound of the posts, check back in 2 weeks for the accompanying photos.

Yesterday we caught the Tranz Alpine train across from Christchurch to Greymouth. The scenery was fantastic - I can only imagine what it looks like in winter, covered in snow. Without the snow, the landscape is actually quite bleak and forbidding in parts, but still amazingly beautiful. And, it definitely felt like I was taking a train across Middle Earth (I don't understand why Frodo and Sam went to all the effort of walking when there was a perfectly good rail line available! :) ). Once we arrived, we collected out hire car and drove 100km North to see the Pancake Rocks, and a seal colony at Westport. The drive took a lot longer than the distance would suggest, as we had to stop around every bend to take photographs. It really is an amazing stretch of coastline. It was a great day, but quite exhausting. I hit the hay early, assuring DH the TV wouldn't bother me. Apparently within 30 sec of that statement, he had to turn up the TV due to my snoring. Oops. But anyone who knows me is aware how tired I must have been to fall asleep so fast. I drove back from the Seal Colony, and it was a difficult drive - windy coastal roads and the setting sun in my eyes.

This morning we headed South from Greymouth to Fox Glacier. On the way we stopped to see a Hot Glass workshop in Hokatika and we walked up to the face of the Glacier at Franz Joseph. Most of the walk is undertaken over the rocks and pebbles of the river bank, with several small river crossings. I was glad I had my smurf feet, oops, my crocs, on, as getting across with dry feet proved impossible. Wow, who'd have thunk glacial melt would be that cold... A minor miracle occurred and I managed the return trip without any major ankle damage, despite rolling it a couple of times, but the view was worth the walk. Tomorrow we are going on a Heli-hike up Fox Glacier, so we will get an even closer view.

What an amazing trip this is proving to be and we are only on day 5....

...

Geekmobile Rocks!

2009-01-03T17:16:00.006+11:00

We went on the Segway tour with Graeme from Urban Wheels today, and it was fantastic. DH may have jokingly referred to it as the 'Geekmobile' when we first saw the brochure, but it is a very cool way to get around. Besides, I've never denied being a bit of a geek!

Graeme was friendly and helpful, and we got a chance to practice before heading off on the tour. Using the Segway is a great way to cover more ground in a tour, while still being out in the environment, and the it is basically just a lot of fun to ride. Of course, being out in the midst of things can have its negatives - like when the weather turns nasty. While it did rain a few times, it didn't dampen our enthusiasm at all, and we ducked under convenient cover, like the thick canopy of an amazing old tree, a couple of times to sit out the worst of it. We got back just in time though - by the time we had finished parking the machines and had a brief chat it was bucketing down and hailing outside. We got soaked just crossing the road, and ended up getting a taxi back to our motel and having Thai delivered for dinner.

Actually, in my enthusiasm I jumped ahead of myself - we actually spent the morning at a craft market at the Arts Centre, and exploring the centre itself, which is filled with small 'stores' for various arts and crafts - woodworking, leatherwork, textiles, beads etc. Most of the spaces had workshops space where artisans could be observed, but some, like the bead store, were purely commercial. The bead store was huge - larger than anything similar in Melbourne, but disappointing in that, although it had some finished jewellery on display, it all featured Venetian glass. While I'm sure the Jewellery makers were locals, it was a shame that more NZ lampwork artists weren't featured - I only saw beads by one NZ artists on display.

We also visited Canterbury Museum and in particular, the exhibition for the NZ Glass Invitational. The exhibition was really interesting. Only a few exhibits (15 artists, from memory?) but all very different and featuring some lovely pieces.

We have an early start tomorrow - our transfer to the train station is at 7am. Then we take the Tranz-Alpine train across the island to Greymouth on the west coast.

Arriving in Christchurch

2009-01-02T17:20:00.008+11:00

We arrived in Christchurch yesterday and walked into town to see the 'city', well, what there is of one. Christchurch is a picturesque town, but hardly a bustling metropolis. We were pretty tired after only a few hours sleep the night before, so we grabbed some dinner and had an early night. before we crashed, however, a few phone calls organised a fantastic day for today. We went by shuttle bus to a small coastal village about 80km's away called Akaroa. A lot of the cruise boats depart from there, and there is a lot of wildlife in the bay. The shuttle stopped several times to allow us to photograph the dramatic scenery - steep hills that were once the walls of the volcano that is now the bay at Akaroa. We had some lovely fish and chips for lunch, and then went on a 2 hour nature cruise with Akaroa Dolphins. The cruise was fantastic. While we were driving in, the sky was quite overcast, but it had burned off by 12:45, when we left. Blue sky, sparkling water... what more could you ask for? Well, dolphins please, if you don't mind... We were lucky enough to see several small pods of the tiny, rare Hector's Dolphin throughout the afternoon. They rode the bow wave of the boat, and even did a few leaps in front of us. I think I even managed to catch a photo of one mid leap, (it was quite hard to anticipate when they would come to the surface, never mind when they would choose to jump). I'm not able to connect my portable hard drive to this computer, so I will add photos later. We also saw fur seals, and one lonely little blue penguin, and the scenery alone was worth the trip. On the way back to the bus meeting point we stopped at Andrew Firth's glass studio - frustratingly billed a blown glass, when it was actually lampwork, but some lovely work. I bought a beautiful pendant - a version of a Maori symbol often seen carved in Jade and Bone. Tomorrow we are having a quieter day in Christchurch - a local tour on a Segway (yes, we are doing to tour just so we can ride one!) and some other local sites.

This time tomorrow...

2008-12-31T17:06:00.003+11:00

...we will be in Christchurch! It's 15 years since we have been to New Zealand, and that was to North Island, so I'm really looking forward to the chance to explore the South Island this time. As I did for previous travels, I am intending to blog and post photos as we go.

The scenery is going to be magnificent, so I'm especially looking forward to the photography opportunities.

Have a Happy New Year everyone!!

Wrapping up Christmas

2008-12-26T23:48:00.003+11:00

We had a lovely relaxed Christmas this year. More than usual, that's for sure, as we are generally hosting at least one meal for family. This year we were out visiting for lunch and dinner, so other than a day of baking on Christmas Eve, so I could take some mince pies and shortbread, there wasn't much to do. It was wonderful to spend Christmas morning with our nieces and see the oldest enjoying the whole process so much. I've never seen anyone get so excited (and so frustrated) having to wait to pull the cracker. It looks like we are in the final stages of organising to get a new Keeshond puppy. That was the easy part - the impossible job is going to be deciding on a second dog. We thought we might downsize for the second, rather than having 2 kees. But DH has his heart set on a Boston Terrier, while I'm open to other possibilities (and not all that keen on the whole 'they are so ugly they are cute' approach...). I'm leaning towards a Griffon Bruxellois but I'd need to learn a lot more about them. Actually, I know I really just want another Keeshond - the breeder has 2, do you think I can convince my other half to just take both? Either way, looks like we will have a little fluffball by the time I go back to work.

Tis the Season

2008-12-21T21:48:00.004+11:00

Only 4 days till Christmas! I love this time of year, although it's feeling a little less festive as we don't have a tree up this year. Just us at home - we are going out for all the Christmas meals this year, and as we are going away shortly after Christmas, it didn't seem worth it. I'm missing it though - I'm tempted to cave and put it up, but seems a bit late now...

I got into the spirit this week though, making a mountain of chocolate fudge to give to colleagues at work as gifts. And I wrapped all out gifts today, so that put me in the Christmas spirit as well. Maybe I should have some spiced mead tonight - we always say it's like drinking a Christmas pudding.

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas - I'll be blogging all about my adventures in New Zealand after New Years.

New Beads

2008-12-14T22:08:00.004+11:00

I had a great day today - a very girly day shopping, lunching and trying new make-up looks. Still coughing fit to burst with any exertion or laughter, but I'm feeling a lot better. I have only one more week of work and then I'm looking forward to a nice long break.

I've been putting some new beads up on Etsy this week, although I haven't made it to the torch yet. I'm not sure a coughing fit is a good idea while working with an open flame. Here is 'Passionate Pink' and 'Surfer Girl'.

What a month... or two

2008-12-10T19:28:00.006+11:00

The last few months have gone by in a blur. I have done back to back shows, both of which went really well, been sick more than I care for and gone through the madcap period of report writing at school. I've been too busy or too exhausted to feel like blogging through that time though.

Calamity Jane with Babirra was a success, and lots of fun. It was nice to do a full musical for the first time since 2005. To keep me crazy busy, I was also in the PEP variety show I'm Perfect, I'll Change You, That's Love just a few weeks later. That was a much smaller cast, 11 of us providing duets, solos and ensemble numbers. The one weekend season was well attended and all the audiences seemed to enjoy themselves. Going back to large scale musicals was a great experience, but its great to have a more intimate cast, and be able to share the limelight between us a bit more in the smaller shows. I've done a lot of variety shows in the last few years, and I really enjoy that style of performing. And to my great surprise this week, I got a bit of kudos for one of those performances. The Lyrebird Award nominations came out this week, and I received a Judges Commendation for Best Female Performer in a Variety Show, for my work in Laugh Out Loud at the start of this year. Actually, all of the 4 shows I've been in this year have been nominated for something, which is exciting for all the companies.

I have spent the last week crashed out on the couch with what started as Bronchitis, but is threatening to become something worse. I cannot believe how much time I have spent doing nothing, because any effort caused me to cough so hard my ribs are sore.

I've barely torched, but the few sets I have made have been going up on Etsy this week. Online sales are pretty much non-existent at the moment, I'm not sure where I should go with my beads at the moment. I need to torch to keep expanding my skills, but making beads with no outlet for them is a problem. Something I'm really going to have to think about over the holidays. Here's a preview of one of my new sets - a lovely etched set of copper green and the dreaded EDP...

Animoto Video

2008-12-01T14:49:00.001+11:00

It seems like a good time of the year to reflect on past work, so here is a full length animoto video of my beads from the last year or so. Ive been playing around with the site, trialling it for use with my students.

Saying Goodbye...

2008-10-31T21:20:00.006+11:00

It's been a tough week. On Wednesday we lost our beautiful Merlin. It came totally out of the blue - one day he has a bit of a cough, then suddenly he is riddled with lung cancer. I was really hoping we would not have to go through this again for a couple of years, after losing Mystic just last year, and Misere.

I have been on the 'City Experience' with my year 9's all week. It's been exhausting, and stressful at times, but on the plus side, I've been too busy during the day, and too tired at night to really dwell on it. But we both keep forgetting momentarily, and getting up to let him outside, or keeping leftovers for him. I made pancakes last night, and they weren't very good - Merlin always had to have the first 'test' one out of the pan.

Merlin has been with us for almost our whole married life - he leaves a big hole in my heart.

The Big Fluffball after a brush.

Telling us off...

His favourite pose

Julie, Julia & Me...

2008-10-10T07:57:00.004+11:00

Despite being absolutely crazy busy at the moment (I have been at rehearsals till midnight every day this week, for starters), I have been doing a little reading for entertainment lately. This week I read a book called Julie & Julia, by Julie Powell. I bought it because the premise appealed to me - someone working her way through every recipe in a french cookbook in a year. I didn't realise until a few chapters in that it's a true story (I went searching and found the original blog it is based on).

It's a great book, entertaining and humorous, but the thing I found most interesting was that basic idea. I think it's a brilliant idea. I'm pretty frustrated I didn't think of it myself. :) I can see myself involved in such a project, although I doubt I'd be committed or crazy enough to try and get it done in a year, to eat at 10 every night because the recipes are so complex, and quite frankly, I really do not need the extra layer of 'butter fat' Julie says she gained. The idea really appeals to me though - something to keep yourself inspired and committed to a project, a great way to have something to blog about every day - and I love to cook new recipes.

But, it's been done. *sigh* Just changing to a different nationality cookbook probably isn't sufficiently original... Maybe I could apply the concept to another medium, one of my many other interest... I could work my way through Passing the Flame instead perhaps. A new bead design or skill every week (because as I said, I'm not crazy enough to do it every day). I'm going to have to think about this...

But, no time at the moment for these ideas. Calamity Jane opens tonight. It will be such a relief to perform in front of an audience, finally. I have never been in another show that does a run through in the theatre, every night the week the show opens. It's great to be prepared, and the show is so tight because of it, but I am absolutely exhausted and can't wait to sleep in on Saturday morning.

Bring On Christmas...

2008-09-08T13:36:00.003+10:00

I know we all usually start complaining around this time of year, that Christmas is hitting the stores earlier and earlier. So why on earth would I be saying bring it on, in September? Well, because when Christmas does get here, it will mean the crazy months of Sept, Oct and Nov are all behind me. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get through the next couple of months without going stark raving mad (or 'crazier' - better get in before anyone else does...). This week we have interim reports due, and I have a heap of major projects at work - big grant applications and the like to get finished. I've got Bronchitis at the moment, which is wearing me down, and I'm going to be helping out in the kitchen at a feast on Saturday. Calamity Jane is on in early October, so I am rehearsing 3 times a week, and by this time next month, it will be every night, in anticipation of opening night on the 10th. Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I have also just been cast in the upcoming PEP show, which is on a month later - so just 2 months to put together a show, whilst Calamity is racing for the finish line. Just as I get those 2 nailed down, it will probably be time for end of year reports. At least that will mean the end is nearly in sight. I am really going to be looking forward to the Christmas vacation this year. Hopefully Jason and I will be heading to New Zealand after Christmas, so I will hold onto that thought when I get the urge to throttle a few students in December....

There's no accounting for taste...

2008-08-29T09:21:00.004+10:00

I have a favourite set of beads in my stock at the moment. I made them quite a long time ago, but I loved them immediately. The glass was a bullseye odd lot, a beautiful shimmering teal. And the focal has the added sparkle of dichroic glass throughout. They have a raised floral decoration, a technique I acquired at the Anastasia class I attended in Chicago last year. Not a difficult technique at all, but I think it's very effective, and looking at these beads reminds me of that wonderful trip.

These beads were also featured in my artists profile in the beading magazine - in fact, they had the largest photo. I can see that the design might be a little challenging to work into jewellery, but they are lovely beads and I'm very pleased with them.

And yet, they just wont sell. They were up on JB several times when I first made them. Recently they have been on Etsy for several weeks. I've decided to give them one more go on Just Beads, so that's where you will find them at the moment.

So, is it true? Is there really no accounting for taste? Is my affection for these beads misguided? Or perhaps they are just destined to be mine - maybe I should go with the flow and make them into jewellery for myself.

We shall see...

Sharing the Love

2008-08-23T19:53:00.008+10:00

This week my lovely, talented friend Lisa tagged me as the recipient of a blogging 'award'. Apparently now it is my turn to 'tag' another 7 or so worthy blogs. My taste in blogs, like my music, is quite eclectic, so they might be a random bunch! Here goes...

Drape's Takes is a great blog by educational technologist Darren Draper, a teacher in North America. Always interesting, and often thought provoking, it's a blog I've been disappointed to be a bit behind in reading lately.

Common Craft. Perhaps 1 in 10 posts in this blog are really relevant to me, but it's worth it to be the first to see their amazing instructional 'In Plain English' videos about Web 2.0. If any of your friends or family don't get the 'blogging thing', point them here.

Gal Lori is one of several blogs written by talented beadmaker Lori Greenberg. I particularly love the gems of wisdom from her kids.

Real Tart is written by a British ex-pat author now living in New South Wales. He hasn't been blogging for the last few months, but he is back again now, and his posts are always good for a chuckle.

Otter's Odds 'n Ends. I guess some people will think this is a strange nomination to make, as Otter doesn't blog anymore. But the posts on this blog have frequently moved me to tears, so it is well worth scrolling back through and reading them, despite the time lapse.

Jennie's Palette is the blog for my talented friend Jennie, who paints nudes, and recently had her first solo exhibition.

And two that definitely don't need a plug from me:

Confession of a Pioneer Woman. A humorous glimpse into a world that couldn't be more different from mine....
The Impatient Blogger, crafty woman extraordinaire, Margot Potter.

Here’s how it works:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog

2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you

3) Nominate at least 7 (more or less) other blogs

4) Add links to those blogs on your blog

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

New Beads...

2008-08-17T16:09:00.003+10:00

I am alternating between posting new beads on Etsy and Just Beads. Keeping my options open and hopefully reaching a wider audience. I have a few new sets up this week - click the photos for links...

Space Poppies

2008-08-13T21:07:00.003+10:00

I am strangely pleased with this set. I love the coral glass - the variations of colour you get with any of the Moretti Coral's (and there are so many variations) but it's the decoration I'm really happy with. I have no idea why, but they make me think of aliens or something sci fi. I told my friend Lisa that, and she came up with the name Space Poppies... works for me. :) They are available in my etsy store.

Getting Results...

2008-08-12T15:12:00.003+10:00

Well, after the excitement of the snow on Sunday, life is very much back to usual this week. Back to the daily grind which includes work, rehearsals, and my daily workout on my Wii Fit. I have lost 4 kg since I started using it. I am hoping they will bring out some new software soon, as some of the activities are getting repetitive, but on the whole, it's great. The scoring system for everything, even Yoga poses, appeals to my competitive side, even if it's only myself I am competing against. I am especially proud of my perfect score in heading a soccer ball :) , but Jason beats me hands down in the slalom skiing. I am only 3 points off a perfect score in the advanced step aerobics, which combined with the rhythm boxing is my main aerobic workout.

I am also hoping to get some positive results with bead sales in the coming week. I put an orphan focal auction up on Just Beads yesterday, and I have several new sets that will be up there and on Etsy in the coming week.

A Sight Rarely Seen...

2008-08-10T21:21:00.006+10:00

I am glad I wasn't feeling well enough to go to rehearsals this morning. I have had a lingering cold all week and I keep waking up with a nasty sore throat. Heading out in the pouring rain (with worse to come) and icy cold to attend a read-through of the script did not seem a great way to pave my way to a full recovery, and ensure I kept my voice for another week. So, I sent off a text message and snuggled in to enjoy another hour of warmth in bed.

After I had been up for awhile, for some reason I looked out through the curtains to see a very strange sight. Well, unusual, certainly, even if it is the middle of winter. It was snowing, quite steadily. They might call my neck of the woods 'The Dandenong Mountains', but there isn't anything terribly mountainous about them, and we very rarely get snow, even at the peak. And where I live (quite a bit lower) - well I haven't seen it in the 5 years or so since we moved here.

The ground was too warm for the snow to do more than melt as soon as it hit the ground, but it was still fun to stand on the verandah and watch it fall, surprisingly fast. And once I had retreated inside, away from the cold (I thought a mug of Chilli Hot Chocolate was in order!) I noticed that the snow was accumulating on the hills across the valley, so it even started to look like it was really snowing.

After a brief 15 min or so, the snow had turned to rain (and later, to hail) but it was fun while it lasted. What is is about snow falling that is so magical? I'd assume its because we never see it here, but I've heard of people who live in areas where it is common who still love to watch it fall. I found myself laughing for absolutely no reason while I watched. Ironically, Jason was in sunny Queensland while this was happening, but I took some video as proof of my own little winter wonderland today.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-08-03T00:12:00.004+10:00

Wow, it's hard to believe we are three weeks into a new term, and I've been too crazy busy to blog even once.

I'm pleased to say I have continued to work out almost every day on the Wii Fit (Ive only missed 4 days in 5 weeks). I am really pleased I made that purchase... as a toy, I guess it's very expensive, but as a investment in my fitness, its' well worth the cost. About the same as a years gym membership, but I have never managed to go to the gym 6 days a week, even in the first flush of enthusiasm. And it is producing results.

I have also been continuing my tennis lessons, although the actual games didn't materialise. Unfortunately I don't have a team this season, so I am an emergency player and haven't been needed yet. The downside is, I payed my $110 membership fees so I could play - the upside is, more time to practice before having to face competition. I'm enjoying my lessons - I love learning to play, but I have a tendency to get very frustrated with myself if I don't perform to the standard I would like, so I doubt I'd still be feeling quite so positive after playing (and most probably losing :) ) my first real games. And it's quite entertaining to realise how contrary I am - unlike most players, my forehand sucks, but my backhand (to quote my coach) is 'poetry'. LOL Apparently it's highly amusing to see me run around a perfectly placed forehand ball so I can hit it backhand. *grin*

Rehearsals for Calamity Jane are going strong. It's going to be a great show. Gemma has worn the role of Calamity like a glove since the first rehearsal, and sounds amazing. The lengths to which we are being encouraged to take character development, even in the ensemble, will add a great deal of depth and the production team have some interesting ideas for direction and design. If you are a Melbournite, come along to the Whitehorse centre in Oct and see Calam in action!

I have managed to get some torching in this week, so I'll have some funky new sets to show later this week. They will be going up in my etsy store.

Tomorrow I am off to the opening of my friend Jennie's first solo art show. Check out her blog or website to see her contemporary figurative paintings.

I promise to have pics of shiny glass goodies next post!!

All Good Things...

2008-07-11T20:41:00.003+10:00

...must come to the proverbial end. Unfortunately, this includes school holidays. :( It doesn't seem fair that even though we have had an unusually long term, we don't get a compensatory longer holiday. *pout* It has been relaxing however. I've been using the Wii Fit everyday and am actually making some progress, which is great. Its lot of fun too.... I haven't torched as much as I probably should have, but this break was all about recharging the batteries, and for some reason, that wasn't going to be at the torch this time round. I have a student tomorrow though - an official start to the new 'Flaming Hot Beadmaking Classes'. Next week is going to be crazy busy - not only am I back at work with a busy new term to get underway, but I have Calamity Jane rehearsals twice a week, and my first tennis game on wed. Plus my usual lesson. So next week, I'm out almost every night - that means I won't have time to get stressed, right? Right? *sigh*

Sweet & Sour

2008-07-03T11:32:00.004+10:00

'Sweet & Sour' is the name of my new bead set up on Just Beads today, not the state of my life at the moment . :) Life has been pretty good this week. I'm on holidays, which was desperately needed - it's been a long and stressful term, and I finally got to meet my new niece yesterday. I've had a nasty cough for well over a month, and haven't wanted to risk passing it on, but I made up for it with lots of cuddle time yesterday.

I also started rehearsals for my new show, 'Calamity Jane' with Babirra Theatre Company on Monday night - I think it's going to be great. The director is a professional performer (he's in Guys and Dolls at the moment) so I'm guessing his expectations will be high, which means a tight show. The MD seems very particular too, which I appreciate, and they already have a full design and model for the set, which looks awesome.

Jason and I have also been on a bit of a shopping spree this week. He bought himself a GPS unit for the car, and I got a Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit. I bought it as an exercise unit, but we have had fun playing the games all week too - and I've lost over 1 kg in 6 days, so that's a good start.

Now that I have finished uploading the new bead auction, I must get some work for school done though - I can't slack off everyday!

Almost Holidays

2008-06-27T00:12:00.002+10:00

1 more day to go and then I get 2 weeks of comparative peace (no students at least, even though I have a pile of admin work to do). Jason and I are thinking of heading away for a few days, but as its the middle of winter, nothing has sounded terribly appealing so far. We are thinking of spending the money a hotel or B&B would have cost, and doing day trips into the city - maybe go and see Wicked one evening, go to the markets or do a food tour or something during the day - basically play tourist in our own city.

So, I just need to survive one more day without murdering any of my students, and then I can spend some time having fun, and the rest at the torch stocking up on new bead sets! Speaking of which, here is my latest offerring on Etsy, Mauve Garden.

Back in the Market

2008-06-24T11:14:00.003+10:00

I have been waiting for the magazine article to come out to launch back into internet sales, hoping to use my website as my main venue, rather than auction sites etc. My wonderful brother has been working hard to help me get my online shop working, but as there have been some unforseen delays I was given the idea (thanks Suzy!) of using an Etsy 'mini' on my webpage as a sales portal. So, for now, my new beads are going up in my Etsy store, and they can be seen there, or the top 15 are visible on my webpage. I'm also going to pop the small Etsy window back in my blog sidebar.

Here are a couple of new sets which are up on Etsy at the moment (edited to add: Well they were, the purple ones have sold already!)...

It's Finally here...

2008-06-16T22:05:00.003+10:00

My Artists's Profile in the Creative Beading magazine finally came out this week. It is very exciting, not only to have work published for the 2nd time this year, but to have a 4 page magazine spread is more than I could have hoped for. The article looks great, I am thrilled with how it has turned out. Depsite finding some of their editorial decisions a little odd, its still a great article, and I cant stop grinning whenever I think about it. My new online shop should be up and running in the next week or so too, so guess I better get torching!!

General Ramblings...

2008-06-07T22:59:00.004+10:00

It's a bit of a shame when you are too buy living life to blog about it. :) Life continues to be hectic - I think it's a permanent state of affairs now, and I just need to adjust.

I have managed to fit in a tiny amount of torching, since the kiln was fixed, but I don't have a whole lot to show for it yet. I did take some quick snaps yesterday - not my proper photos, but as it's so long since I've posted any, I will put some up over the next few days. I think today I'll start with a floral focal I have made this week. Florals aren't really my thing, but I'm quite happy with this one. And I love the shape. It's hard to describe - its the shape I generally use for my aquarium beads. I start with a large barrel bead, and use my BBQ style lentil mashers to slightly press it in 2 directions - which makes a sort of square, but with curved sides.

On a totally different note, a dear friend sent me a cute email this week, filled with photos of baby pandas. Very cute pics, which I had originally seen a few years ago (I think all those babies are probably quite grown up now). But they reminded me of a video I found when I was originally exploring the site for this Panda breeding centre in China. Check out this video - it's a series of outtakes from a news report at the centre. Very funny, and very cute - you'll find the link over on the right of the page, under the image...

In need of a good laugh...

2008-05-27T23:49:00.004+10:00

Tonight was a very good night to be off to a comedy club. Usually I wouldn't be too thrilled about heading into town on a weeknight, but my lovely friend Jennifer got us great cheap tickets to see the comedian Jimeoin, and he was only on one night. But despite being in a rush after getting caught late at work, it was very good timing.

I came home stressed, in a major way. Planning the reporting structure for the new education project I am currently working on has proved problematic, and the deadline is getting closer and closer. I came home with a tension headache, a rare occurrence, and generally in a pretty filthy mood. Stress will do that to you.

So, the timing of my midweek outing seemed fortuitous after all. We headed off to the Comic's Lounge in North Melbourne. Unfortunately, dinner was a little disappointing, so we weren't off to a great start. The support lineup for the evening wasn't inspiring confidence either, as I had heard one of the comedians before, and his humour wasn't to my taste. Filthy language, with no high quality humour to redeem the routine. Luckily, tonight he seemed to raise the bar, and had me laughing aloud.

Aussie's seem to have a huge soft spot for the Irish. And somehow we seem to attract a lot of Irish comedians. I have only seen live comedy a handful of times, and almost every time, I would find an Irish comedian on the bill. Tonight we had 2, the headliner, and another comedian who was a more recent arrival to our fair shores. He was the MC for the evening, and despite being a little stilted occasionally, was good value in the laughs department. The final support act, a young Indonesian guy, made me uncomfortable much more than he made me laugh. He seemed to be under the impression that because he was Asian, it was acceptable to make any number of very non-PC, racist jokes about Asians.

Jimeoin was on last, naturally, and his set was worth the wait. he had me in hysterics on several occasions, and after a week off sick with a cough, amongst other things, I was soon regretting having forgotten my asthma inhaler. It was a great night and just what I need to release the tensions I had acquired during the day. I think we all need to periodically let loose with some genuine belly laughs - it's good for the soul! :)

I'll leave you with a snippit of Jimeoin thanks to the magic of youtube. Laugh it up!

Back in the Land of the Living...almost.

2008-05-26T13:38:00.003+10:00

I feel like I fell off the planet for awhile last week. It's been a very long time since I let illness knock me for a six like that. Basically my throat felt a bit tight on Monday night, and then it was all suddenly very downhill from there. I had the rest of the week off, and my impression of a vegetable continued throughout most of the weekend, although I did finally find some time to torch. I literally only left the house to go to the Dr's on Wednesday night, so heading out to work today felt quite weird. I was worried about the freezing cold I've heard about all week, so I rugged up, even dragging a scarf out for the first time this winter. And I sweltered all day - what the heck is it with Melbourne's weather? Not that I'm complaining, as at least I didn't freeze on yard duty at recess and lunchtime.

Hopefully I will have some new bead pics up later in the week. Now my kiln is back up and working, I'm trying to build up some new stock to have in my new online store (to be unveiled shortly!) when the magazine profile comes out.

Approaching normal...

2008-05-12T18:35:00.002+10:00

Another show is under my belt now, and life is starting to return to normal. Jason is home (yay!) and I am looking forward to some relaxing evenings spent at home this week. Not yet though - tonight is open night at school, so we are talking about a 14 hour day or there-abouts. I am just having a dinner break before the hordes arrive. I am the official photographer this evening, so I get to flit about and see what everyone is up to. :)

Hopefully my kiln will be fixed tomorrow. I haven't had time to drive to Clayton to pick up the digital controller, but Jason is going to get it tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be up and running by wed. I really need to torch - it's been weeks and weeks. And the magazine release date is getting closer - I'd like to have some new stock ready by then. In my new online shop - yep, that's coming soon too, I'll post a link when it's done ( a big thanks to my DB for helping with the shop in a big way!).

I'm also looking forward to my tennis lesson this week. I have only had one group lesson since before the holidays, and the competition starts in July, so I really need some practice. I'd post a pic of me with my new racket, but I don't want to blind you. It's fleuro orange. I kid you not, I swear it glows in the dark. Maybe it will give me an unfair advantage, as my opponents are temporarily stunned by the intensity of my racket? Hmm, unlikely, but one can always hope....

As promised...

2008-05-05T22:42:00.003+10:00

Here is a pic of my masquerade mask...

It was lots of fun playing with my facepaints and glitter again. I wish I had more excuses to use them. Actually, I really wish I had an excuse to buy the palette of pearl colours that Grimas has available. *swoon* They look like fun!! Actually they are cheaper than I remembered..maybe I will treat myself.

Anyway, life is still down to work and rehearsals at the moment. Hopefully next week Ill get some torching done and have some glassy goodness to share.

Carry on a conversation

2008-05-03T16:26:00.004+10:00

Life has been hectic again lately. Maybe it's just as well - I'm too busy at the moment to lament the fact that I am home alone and my kiln is still not working. But, some good news on that front at least - my digital controller has been fixed, I just need to find time to pick it up, then get it reinstalled. I foolishly got the electrician to show Jase how to put it back together, instead of me. So now I have to wait a week. It's a moot point anyway - there is now way I will have time to torch this week.

Tonight I am off to a Masquerade party - Happy Birthday Nyree!, and instead of making my mask, as I had planned, I've decided to play with my lovely theatre face paints and paint it on. I'll post some pics next week. Maybe :) .

Then basically its rehearsals every day this week till we open on Thursday, and then all the performances of course. So, no free time for this little black duck. Poor Merlin wont know what has hit him this week, with no one home during the day, or at night.

On top of all that, I am trying to get back into both my blog writing and reading - especially in the education blogosphere. As a timely aid to that end, there is a 31 day commenting challenge on at the moment. It was started for edubloggers, but has sort of spilled out into the wider community, so feel free to participate if you are interested in becoming a better blogging citizen.

Twilight Zone moments...

2008-04-25T10:10:00.003+10:00

Things have been quiet around here lately. Well, as far as having interesting things to talk about goes. In actuality its been crazy at my place for the last few weeks. Jason has been working almost everyday, which is unusual in itself (and has meant I've actually had to cook dinner every now and again! *gasp*), and I have been crazy busy with work and rehearsals. Only 2 weeks till we open, which after last nights rehearsal, is a very scary thought. Add in all Jason's SCA training, some tennis lesson (yes, I've taken up tennis), an overnight Professional Development training and the odd day of weekend work for Jason as well, and we have been the proverbial ships passing in the night. My kiln has also been broken for 3 weeks, so no new pretties to show off (and the timing sucks, as the magazine article comes out in a couple of weeks). By now you are probably wondering why the twilight zone was mentioned in the post title. I had the strangest couple of coincidences occur at the PD yesterday. Seriously weird.

There were about 74 teachers at this workshop, and in the afternoon, we were asked to pair and share something we had been working on. A young lady asks me if I'm working with anyone, and she explains that she was a student at the school I teach at. So, I check her name badge, to see where she teaches at, and lo and behold - she works at the school that I went to. Weird. So, we then wasted a good 10 minutes wandering down memory lane and seeing what teachers were still around.

At the end of the day, on the way home, I'm waiting in the car park to get my keys from the attendant. Another lady is waiting also - one that I had sat next to twice that day. She grabs her keys and walks off, I follow shortly after. "Your car is the last on the right" he says. As I walk through the car park, I see my car ahead, and realise its on the left, not the right. I think disparaging thoughts about the attendant and his ability to identify left and right, heading towards 'my' car. Only to see the door open, and the other lady hop in. *huh?* She points across the car park "Yours is over there". On the right. We had the same model and colour. And that is actually pretty unusual, as its not silver, or white or something, but an odd reddish tan colour, which I've only ever seen on that model car. As she drives out past me, I notice her car is also missing the rubber strip on the door, as is mine. Just weird.

Just to continue the theme of coincidences, I stopped in a fast food place on the way home to use the loo, and another car of the same make and model was parked behind me. Honestly, they are not that common...

Where to put the beads?

2008-04-01T11:10:00.005+11:00

The Flaming Hot topic for this week is asking 'What does your website do for you?'. That's interesting timing, as I am in a quandary at the moment about my options regarding my best online selling venue.

My website has not worked particularly hard for me so far. I have received a few queries from it, particularly for my historical beads, but no sales from the jewellery available there.

Because I don't make beads full time, it's sometimes difficult to divide my work between the various venues, as I don't make enough to keep them all stocked. So, I chose a while ago not to sell loose beads on my website, as Just Beads was working better for me. Unfortunately, it has not been selling well at all this year, and I haven't had anything up there for awhile - I've been paying auction fees for nothing. So, do I put the sets I have up on my website, or in my Etsy store? Or do I make it into jewellery and sell it to friends and colleagues? That used to work well for me, but I have dropped the jewellery making way back, as I didn't have enough beads for both.

Next month I am going to be the featured artist in one of Australia's major beading magazines. I am hoping that will get a lot more local attention to my website (currently 99% of my customers are from the USA), so I am leaning towards putting the bead sets up there. Perhaps I should get a proper online store organised before then? Do you think people are more likely to buy if they can just click a button, rather than email you?

So, while my website might not have been earning it's keep so far, I'm hopeful that things can improve? What other suggestions do people have? Any feedback on my current site?

Solar Flare Creations

On a slightly different note, as I havent posted any eye candy in a while, here is a photo of a bracelet I made for a friends birthday last week.

Inspiring Entertainment

2008-03-03T13:53:00.002+11:00

Last Friday night I went to see the latest show by new Melbourne theatre company PEP Productions. This is the third show of theirs that I have seen (well, actually, it's their third show :) ) and yet again they hit a home run, in my opinion. As someone who also performs in Musical Theatre, I can be a critical audience member. I notice the details like performers who pull your attention, people who don't hold a freeze, errors with lyrics or dance steps etc. I just cant help myself.

Having said that, I must go on to say that very little of that nature caught my attention. In fact, I would go as far as to say it was one of the best amateur shows I have ever seen. Overall, the cast performed in a very professional way, and while there will always be variances in the quality of individual performances, I was consistently impressed by the energy, enthusiasm and attention to detail of the entire cast. The sound quality was excellent - both in the vocal performances, and the technical quality.

While I personally enjoy performing in concert/cabaret style shows as much as full musicals, I know that it can often be difficult to fully express a character when a song is taken out of context. That is one of the areas that I found PEP performed extremely well. In every number, the cast was committed to the current character and performing with 100% of their energy.

Whilst there were some numbers that did not personally appeal to my taste, I was not disappointed in the performance quality of any of them.

Thanks to the cast of 'A PEP Perspective' for helping me spend a highly entertaining evening (and forgetting a very stressful day).

It's Nice to Be Noticed...

2008-02-26T13:28:00.003+11:00

I've been in a bit of a creative slump lately, as I've mentioned. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be ending any time soon. As Festival is only a month away, I will need to get started on some historical beads to sell on Market day, and a new project for the Arts & Sciences competition. So, hopefully that will get me started again at the torch. In the meantime, I wanted to reflect on my first publication... yep, I have some beads in print!

I was very excited to be included in the annual 'Women in Glass' edition of The Flow magazine, although I have to admit my enthusiasm waned slightly when I realised that all entries were accepted, if their photos were of good quality. I am still looking forward to seeing my work in print (hopefully my free copy is winging its way towards me as we speak) but obviously it means more to be individually selected. Which is the point of this post...

Last week one of my forum friends recognised the work of quite a few of my circle of friends in the new banner advertisement on Lampwork Etc for 'The Flow'. So even though I was one one of hundreds accepted for that edition of the magazine - from those hundreds they chose to use my beads for an advertisement. So, that gives me even more of a buzz than the magazine - Is that silly?

(Mine are the flame beads!)

My Funny Valentine's... Day

2008-02-17T10:42:00.008+11:00

Thursday was an interesting day here. Actually, this whole week has been a little topsy turvy, especially at work. I've only had 2 normal days of school this week, due to interschool sports, industrial action and the school swimming carnival. So, Thursday was the Strike Day. I have recently rejoined the union, after returning to the classroom, so it's been a few years since I've been out on strike. And for some unfathomable reason, I've never been to the rally. I'm not sure why - it makes no sense to me now. Not much point losing a days pay if you don't get 'counted' per se - it's the media coverage of the rally that gets peoples attention.

Anyway, for whatever reason, it was my first strike rally (although not the first time I had marched on Parliament House - but that's another story). All I can say is Wow. The atmosphere at something like that is really amazing. The adrenalin must have given me energy - I was running all over Vodaphone arena catching up with colleagues from previous schools, and I didn't feel a thing (until the next day, when I could barely walk downstairs *gulp*). Anyway, 10,000 people together, with a common goal, is quite an amazing thing.

10,000 people - and another 600 in the foyer who couldn't fit in - amazing!

The rally ends on the steps of Parliament House...

After the rally, and some lunch, I took some time to wander around the city, as I havent been in town for years, and spent a frustrating hour in Allan's music choosing new audition material. *ugh*. Then it was time to head home on the train, via Museum station.

I just love this image of the shot tower under the glass roof....

That evening, Jason and I drove down to Mornington to watch the sunset on the beach, and have Fish & Chips for dinner. We used to do that years ago, when we were engaged. We weren't sure the weather was going to cooperate, but in the end it was lovely. My new 'go anywhere' digital camera (saves me lugging the SLR around everywhere) didn't cope terribly well with the darkness, so these are a little blurry, but the colours are lovely. What I wouldn't give to be able to get that gradient of colour on a bead...

Mmmm, fresh Fish and Chips on the beach.

The changing colours - a lovely end to a hectic day.

A Long Time Coming...

2008-02-13T09:42:00.000+11:00

Today is an important day in Australian history - or I believe we will look back and see it as such. Today, in the first day of Parliament for the year, our government made an official apology to the 'Stolen Generations', Indigenous people who were taken from their families throughout the 20th Century. The broadcast can be viewed at the Live Broadcasting site and the report 'Bringing Them Home' is also available. Some personal Oral Histories of members of the Stolen Generation can be found at The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission site.

Hopefully, this day will mark a significant improvement in relations between Indigenous people and the rest of Australia, as long as it becomes more than just words, and that the statements and promises made today are fulfilled. The speeches were very moving, but will only be useful if they prove to me more than just words of political expediency.

Spring is in air...

2008-02-08T21:03:00.000+11:00

...well, it's on its way in the US anyway. As most of my sales are online to customers in the United States, I usually try and use colours that match their upcoming season. That, and the inclusion of some lucsious pinks in my recent glass order, has had me on a bit of a pink fix this week. So, new auctions today are 'Strawberry Ice-cream' and 'Pink Petal Power'.

Bringing back memories...

2008-02-06T14:39:00.000+11:00

This YouTube video was posted on one of the bead forums this morning. I found it highly entertaining - not just for the content, but because of the memories it evoked.

When I was in High School, at the end of my final year, my Drama class went on a tour of northern Victoria. We travelled to country schools, performing our play to the students, sleeping in the gym at night and cooking dinner in the Home Eco rooms. It was a fun week.

When we had free time, we tended to undertake similar activities to those on the video - although on a much smaller scale, of course. One day we froze in the entrance foyer windows of the local Swimming Pool, and another day we pretended to run a Tai Chi class in the park.

The funniest activity I recall, however, was at the laundromat. A group of us had agreed, that if another customer came into the laundromat that we were using, then the group would freeze, aprt from one person (in this case, me) who would ignore them. So, we are all involved in doing our laundry, and a young guy approached the laundromat. Instantly, everyone freezes, and I continue on my way, walking around them, putting more coins in their machines where necessary, but in no way engaging with my co-conspirators or the young man. He stood there in bewilderment for awhile, obviously expecting everyone to move eventually, but after several minutes of what must have appeared as eery stillness (we were really quite good at this) he ran outside to get his friend. Of course, when he returned, dragging the friend with him, everyone was moving as usual, and we found the ensuiing argument quite amusing. Teenagers do have an evil sense of humour :)

Anyway, I found that video great fun, and a reminder of a time when if someone in my vicinity yelled out 'Dead Ant', I would drop to my back on the floor, waving my arms and legs in the air, regardless of my location and (almost) oblivious to the stares of onlookers. Aaahhh, good times!

'Spearmint Pastille's'

2008-02-04T22:10:00.000+11:00

Well, just to keep the momentum up, these sparklies are up for grabs on JB in the morning. 'Spearmint Pastilles' were made using one of my new cattwalk presses I won in the fundraising auction at the ISGB Gathering last year. Just click to go to the auction.

Getting back in the groove!

2008-02-04T07:53:00.000+11:00

Well, I sat down at the torch to play with the fabric ideas last night. As I didn't go to bed till 4 am on saturday night, my torch session didn't last long, but at least I had some play time. I'll post some photos later in the week. I also started working on some Angels for a custom order I need to get done this week. I also spent a lot of time yesterday photographing beads, editing photos and posting auctions, ready for this week. So stay tuned for a range of new sets from me up on Just Beads this week. Starting up the week, two new sets - 'Red Frenzy' and 'Bonbon Delights'.

Maybe it's all about me...?

2008-01-30T21:53:00.000+11:00

As I have mentioned, I have been in a bit of a creative rut lately. I'm struggling when I try and torch, and my intention to get a backlog of sets to auction while I get back into the swing of things at work hasn't panned out. I have at least had some other creative outlets lately. After a gap of almost 2 years, I have a concert coming up with my theatre company. We perform this Friday and Saturday, so this week has been full of rehearsals and such, and there has been no time to torch.

I went shopping the other day, and bought several new tops for work. While I was ironing and getting everything ready, I started to think about the patterns and colours, and wondered if perhaps what I need to get out of my slump was to stop thinking of auctions, and make jewellery for me. I very rarely make something for me, with the intention of keeping it. I sometimes start wearing something I had intended to sell, but I almost never plan beads or jewellery just for me. It's actually one of my worst flaws when it comes to marketing my work - I have very few of my own creations to wear.

So, I took some photographic 'swatches' of the designs on some of my tops. Taken out of context like this, I think they are very interesting - hopefully interesting enough to spark some creativity and return my muse.

So, what do you think? Will they get the creative juices flowing?