I know it has been a long time since last blog update but its been a mad house here this last few weeks, work has been very busy with yet again long days at my torch, visitors have been coming to the barn to looking for beads and with all that going on I'm still trying to find time to build my dream of a new bead showroom. The old garage is so full of junk and tools, some of which I forgot we ever had and it's taking ages to get it empty, finding homes for everything is harder than we thought, but i guess when we get the skip a lot will find it's way in there.

   The building materials are getting here a bit at a time and I hope in the next month to have a week off work to get a good start on the project, it would be nice to have it open by christmas time.

   The summer has been a little kinder to us this last week, cooler days helping a great deal yet the pond and garden are still full of life, every day it seems something new arrives and the early morning bird song makes working a real pleasure.

   On the bead front its been good, had time to make lots of new focals and commissions which I always love doing. I'm about to strip the website shops here to add new sets and the seaglass beads as always seem to be going well over on the pebbledreams site www.pebbledreams.com . New beads will start on auction this evening and more tomorrow, at the same time I'm working hard on adding more beads to the displays here at the barn as more visitors are coming this week.

   I have been playing with a lot of encased beads this week, a couple of set will be listed on auction tonight. I'm leaving the shape a natural design rather than the normal tyre and they seem to be popular with customers here at the barn, so it will be interesting to see how they go. Its funny, some beads need to be seen in the flesh rather than in pictures online, the details don't always show up in a photograph. Tomorrow I'll post a picture of some here on my blog, yes I know, doing my blog two days running ! well, i'm getting moans from friends about my blog updats being so far apart so I guess its time I sorted it out.

   It's been a really mixed week here at the barn, ups and downs as always but for some reason the summer feel with its bright early mornings and bird song from what seems like every corner of the garden helps soften the blows. Thankfully there were more ups than downs and I've had a great week with the beads, including some really nice feedback from new customers, the best feeling in the world.

   I listed a few more of the silver rivet type beads in the small sizes, these beads really do look great when used in the right way, I've yet to see a piece with them included that I don't like, no, I'm not a big fan of all that sparkles as you all know, but there is something about these beads that brightens up any piece of jewellery.

   In the set shown here I wanted to get a real look of natural timber, a teak finish to the beads and I was very happy with the results. I think the extra effect the silver rivets give sets off the set and means that a very natural colour can be used in a very up market looking piece of jewellery, for me a perfect mixture. This set or on ebay and if your the winner of the auction please please can I get to see them after you use them, I really feel they could look special.

   I have a lot more of these type bead sets and will be adding a few more every week, also I'm building the stock up again here at the barn as we have visitors booked in over the next two months, so I always try to have a wide selection on show.

   Now, the downs for this week, please don't mention broadband, we have had so much trouble this past couple of weeks as a lot of you know, and thank you for all your offers of help, but touch wood, I think we are now at last back to normal.

   As for the football, well lets no mention it and just hope the lads can sort it all out this week, I guess being a England fan you just have to suffer !

   The last two days have been a delight for me, at last I had time to play with my favourite glass, seaglass. I love using this wonderful gift from the sea to make beads because each finished bead is so very unique in colour and texture.

   The pandora style beads work really well with seaglass, being large in size you get to see so much more of the surf formed textures, the tiny salt bubbles that form in the flame work their way throughout each bead and of course that lucky dip of colours. I found that after making hundreds of seaglass beads each piece of this stunning beach found glass has a life and will of it's own. I often get customers send me seaglass to make into beads for them and I'm happy to do that, but they have to understand a piece of bright turquoise or red glass will not always end up as a turquoise or red bead, indeed it's rare that the beads will take on the same colours of the piece used, maybe this is why I love using this wild free running glass.

   I do produce different types of seaglass beads, from tiny spacer beads up through lentil and hearts ending up with the large pandora style, I also have a few other thoughts and ideas which I'm working on and hope to be listing in www.pebbledreams.com very soon.

   I'm sorry its been so long since the last update but things have been mad here at the barn. Still the orders are coming in plus I've been playing with some new glass, well I say new but it has been on my rack so long I had to clear the dust from it before I could begin.

   The summer seems to have left us this week with heavy rain and a couple of amazing storms making it ideal for evening trips to the beach. To walk on miles of deserted sand looking for seaglass, pebbles and amber is a great way to relax and is helping with my weight loss, meaning I have far more energy than this time last summer. I know sitting at my flame for hours each day is not the best when it come to exercise, so beach walks and the garden are becoming really important. The walks are getting longer and more enjoyable and I'm starting to feel a lot more better about myself, trying not to hide under baggy clothes so much.

   The pond is a feast of wildlife at the moment which means lots of photographs being taken, some of which I will place on photobucket soon. Here you can see the common blue damselfly, many of which visit all our ponds. Most of my lunch times are spent sitting by one of the ponds waiting and watching for a chance to catch some wildlife on my camera.

   On the bead front I just want to thank you all for your support in the last couple of months, the silver rivet sets are going well and to be honest I really enjoy doing them, even the summer colours. You may have seen there have been more pink sets and indeed more to come, think I have a thing for pink now, god whats going on, I'll be making more red beads next and then the flowers will appear, maybe summer fever !

   I'm pleased your all enjoying the focal beads, there were a few new ones listed last night in my ebay shop and more going in tonight, would be nice to see how some are used, so photographs are always welcome. The cored pieces of seaglass are selling well on the pebble site www.pebbledreams.com and more will be place on there tonight so keep an eye out.

   The new bead room conversion is slow, we are still trying to empty the old garage and finding new places to store the contents is not as easy as we thought, but we will get there and one day it will be finished and full of lampwork beads to look at and play with.

   Right, back to my flame and another long day ahead.

   This last week has been really busy with orders coming in thick and fast, ebay beads made and listed and pebbles and seaglass work in progress. At least with the early morning starts I'm welcomed to the barn by bird song and sunshine, only a few weeks ago it was ice and freezing temperatures.

   Everywhere is so green now with all the fruit trees in blossom and the first signs of shrubs flowering, the pond is fast becoming alive with it's own residents and bathing birds on the waterfall. The swifts and swallows are hunting high above the garden every day and the tiny wren seeks her flies and grubs with tail cocked.

   On the bead front I have had time to work on new ideas, the sterling silver rivet beads being some of them, I just thought that rather than make all the beads the size for pandora or troll bracelets why not make some sets smaller giving the opportunity of using these in normal jewellery with the silver finish on the holes a great addition to silver findings. I'm happy so far with the sets and I have a lot more to list this week starting tonight.

   Some of you may have seen the natural pebbles on the www.pebbledreams.com where I have started to list some of the silver lined pendant pebbles. There will be pieces of seaglass listed there also this coming week.

   We took our first real visit to the beach one evening in the week, the tide was out so I spent a couple of hours walking and gleaning any treasures that took my eye. The sea never fails to produce such a wide selection of gifts, it's as if she knows how they excite us, from the details found on tiny shells to that sweet sea smell we breath in from the seaweed left by the last high tide. I plan another trip this week and hope to share a few photographs with you.

   Well back to my flame this cuppa break over and beads to make, enjoy the sunshine and if you get chance walk the beaches and fill your lungs with that sweet sea air.

   The secret is out at last, yes its true, pink beads have made their way into my ebay shop and there may even be more in the next few days. Well, I thought it was time I listed a few pink sets to put on ebay, summer is trying her best to brighten up our lives and pink blossom is everywhere, so it's only right I dusted down the pink rods, forgotten for many years and placed them into my flame.

   I wanted soft looking beads that could work well with silver and that ment etching the beads. I used a great soft pink and thought a set of around 30 beads would be ideal for those who would use them for matching jewellery sets as in necklace, bracelet and earrings.

   I think the first two sets listed look great and I just know they will look fantastic when used. The shingle shape makes every bead unique and also it gives that natural feel.

   I will be listing these beads in different colours this week so keep an eye out.

  Well the three young blackbirds have flown the nest and spent a day fluttering around the pond with proud parents keeping them fed with goodies. This picture was the last time I saw them in the safty of that wonderful nest.

   The weather has been outstanding here in the fens and the barn temperature is getting towards that of the summer. Fish are spawning in the main pond and water plants are heading to the waters surface.

   On the bead front it's been a busy couple of days with late evenings being the norm for tunning off my flame. I have found time to try out a few new designs and they will be listed on ebay soon, As you may have seen some of the beads have gone from the sites and ebay shop but these are just being replaced with new beads.

   I have been doing a lot more of my nature photography this last few weeks, it's my way of relaxing, having the odd morning or evening walking with my camera and it would be nice to share the odd picture with you all, i'm sure you will let me know if they get too boring haha !

   First of all I need to explain why the silence for the last few weeks, no I haven't been to bead prison for not making enough pink beads haha ! I've been really busy making a few really large orders which mean that next weekend I can start work on the new "Bead Room" and "Studio". We have been planning this project for the last six months and at last we have saved enough funds to start.

   We need a bead room, a place where customers can visit and sit in nice relaxed area to play with and select beads, a place where you can chat and exchange jewellery ideas and where there will be a much larger selection of our beads on sale and display. The second part of the project is a new studio where I can work but also give lessons in lampwork. I get asked so many times if I give lessons and I always point people towards other beadmakers who I know teach. Its been a couple of years since I last taught beadmaking and I feel it's time I again helped any of those who feel they could enjoy the art.

   So, I hope by the end of summer there will be a new bead haven for all our customes to visit and get to love lampwork beads.

   Now I want to share with you one of natures true wonders, we have a new family living in our greenhouse this spring, a family of blackbirds. I found the most amazing nest when I went in to tidy up ready to set seeds and get ready for the coming season. The three eggs were to turn into three fantastic chicks and over the last ten days it has been a real outstanding experience watching those three new lives grow, the hard work mum puts in to feed them and fact that no local cats have even a remote clue to them being there, even tho I feel like keeping guard at the door.

   On the bead front I have had some time to try out new ideas and hope to be listing pebbles in next few days on www.pebbledreams.com site. I want to thank all the visitors who came to the barn in the last couple of weeks, it was nice meeting new customers and old faces again too, it's always great seeing how my beads place a smile on their faces. 

   Well, it's here, spring as sprung at last and the weather is still heading towards warm here in the fens, daff's all out here and still the snow drops are in full flower. The ponds are coming alive with so much frogs spawn, little devils have been really busy.

   I started work in the garden yesterday with tayberries, loganberries and blackberries all being tied back and pruned ready for the coming summer. The fruit trees are all full of buds so I hope we get another good harvest this year.

   On the bead front, some of you may have seen the new pebble sets are being listed on the pebble site, www.pebbledreams.com I hope to list a good selection with a good variety of colours and designs.

   Some of the pebbles are fully encased to help show off the tiny details and some come with small matching pebble spacers to help get two pieces of jewellery from each set.

   Ok, back to the flame, cuppa time over and another long day ahead.

   Another nice week here at the barn, sunny spring mornings, warmer temperatures and more new beads being made. As some of you may have seen I've been adding new bead sets to the shops here on the site including some one off unique sets which to be honest didn't stay around for long, but more will be added.

   I've now started to stock the focal shop with three new beads being listed last night, the beads are made with some amazing new glass giving an outstanding colour finish.

   Some of the new focals will come complete with matching spacers as seen here in this picture. I hope this will help customers when using the focals in a single piece, if not just add them to your stock, at least you get the option.

   I have had some great feedback about the silk beads and more colours have been made, I just need to get the pictures clear before I list those, I hate the thought of customers not being happy with bead colours when they arrive, so I will try my best to get them right.

   If you see beads disappear from my ebay shop ( Beads Of Glass ), it is because they are being replaced by new sets or new pictures.

   Next week the pebbledream site www.pebbledreams.com will also be getting a fresh new spring clean with new pebbles and new seaglass beads.

   Now back off to my flame and I hope you all enjoy what looks to be a great sunny weekend.

   Its been a good week here at the barn with lots of new bead sets being made for the website shops. I hope some of you are enjoying the beads I'm listing and will find some interesting enough to use in your jewellery. I have had great feedback about the beads being listed on ebay for auction and more will be added this week so keep an eye out.

   I have started listing the silk beads here on the website and will add more colours as and when I make them, these beads are a fast becoming a favourite with many uses. They have a real soft look which remind me of silk hence the name.

   These beads are a big tyre size not spacer size, making them great to use on their own or with smaller size beads. I'm thinking of making these beads in a spacer size but we'll have to wait and see.

    Two new sets have been listed today for auction in my ebay shop (Beads Of Glass), one set of spree beads with some great sea dream swirls inside and the second set, shown below are a pillow set with more of a organic appearance.

   I have to say I love making this type of bead, not so much the pressed shapes but the stone effects mixed with the cool etched transparent colours I often use. I find the etching of the beads adds so much more texture and gives a real soft feel to the beads. 

   Yet another busy weekend working but this time I spent most of the time playing with glass and boy did I enjoy it. After removing a lot of the bead sets from the shops here on the website I have been making fresh new sets to replace them. I wanted to give the shops a real good spring clean and yes, I know its about time, I guess I need more hours in the day to keep on top of things.

   I have been playing with a lot of what I call, mirror glass, glass that can be used to produce mirror effects like some of the glass produced by Double Helix. This glass is fast becoming popular with a lot of bead makers and I have had a stock for a while now without trying them out.

   These tyre beads were made this weekend and as some of you will know I already make the "Devil's Mirror" beads which have a matt finish. These beads have a really silver gloss finish and are a real fun bead, they are a good size bead being around 9mm by 12mm, a handy size for most jewellery making.

   These beads can now be obtained in the beads shop here on the wesite, also more sets will be added tomorrow.

   It has been another busy week at the barn and yet again we had snow and freezing conditions to cope with, The orders keep coming in and the ebay auctions are getting really popular with not just focal beads but also sets being listed.

   Ok, yes I did make some pebble beads with flower designs on and yes there are more to list, but hey, with this winter going on so long even I need to play with brighter colours a bit more. Looking out the window of the barn I see the snow drops flowering and just maybe the hint of spring in the air with is giving me thoughts of early spring flowers I guess this is where these beads are coming from, or do I just need help ? Rob Johnson making beads with flowers on, are you joking !

  As you can see the set isn't that bright but they do make a refreshing change and I have had some nice feedback from customers. I'm not sure I will start making this kind of bead on a regular basis but to be honest I did enjoy the results, nice clean design and neat little flowers.

   Some of you may have seen some of the bead sets listed in my ebay shop are also a little bright for me but I hope some of you will find them interesting enough to use in your jewellery.

   I will show you some more new beads on here in the next couple of days, you never know they may even be pink, or is that taking it too far haha !

   It's the end of another week here in the barn and to say it has been busy would be an understatement, the new year so far as been very positive as far as sales go and I' just about finding time still to try out all my ideas.

   Thank you for your feedback on the drop beads and I'm glad I started to list more, some beads never seem to see the light of day being kept in the barn, so I think I did right.  I have made more to list on ebay and hope some of you enjoy them.

   The "Red Romance" drop beads that are shown here are listed on auction. They are very long as you can see and would look fantastic with the addition of silver findings. They are made from the same deep red glass that I use for my hearts, a more romantic red rather than bright red.

   Talking of hearts, they have been a selling really well and most colours have been getting great feedback. Of course with Valentines so near it may be a little late for using them in Valentine pieces but they will remain for sale in my ebay shop (Beads Of Glass), all year round.

   There are some focal beads that finish on auction today so why not pop and take a look, you may well be interested in one. The seaglass hearts are making a big splash which I thought they might, so more will be listed in next few days.

   If you see some of the sets removed from the bead shops here on this site, don't worry I'm just replacing them with new designs. 

   At last I have been making the amazing new seaglass hearts and they are becoming a great favourite with customers already, just two weeks since they appeared on the pebbledream site ( www.pebbledreams.com ). I Hope to add more at least twice a week and I'm trying my best to list a wide selection of colours too.

   It's very difficult to put into words the special feeling I get working with seaglass as I have explained before and to be able to produce these very unique little hearts makes me feel very honoured. They are a first and yet again this pushes me forward again, on from the normal seaglass beads and into another option, but most of all it gives customers a chance to use more seaglass in their work and this can only be good.

   So now we have seaglass tyre beads, silver cored beads and hearts, whats next, mmmmmm that would be telling and you know me by now, the next idea will just appear as these hearts did.

   There as been a lot going on in my ebay shop this week  ( Beads Of Glass ), with more new focal beads going both on auction and in the shop as "Buy It Now". More drop beads have been listed and more beads are being listed later today and more in the next few days also.

   Before I go I want to thank all those of you who have sent emails with kind words about my beads, also all the new customers who have been so pleased with their focal beads. It's always nice to get great feedback from happy customers, makes all the hours at my flame worth while.

   Well, I did it ! I went and made red hearts, I just hope those of you who asked for these think about the few hours I spent using red glass, me the guy who hates bright colours haha, to be honest I enjoyed it and there may be a few more listed in the next few days. I thought it was better to list in ebay shop as "Buy It Now" so people can get them now giving more time to use them before valentines day.

   I'm happy with the colour of the hearts, I didn't want cright red but a darker more romanic shade and I didn't just want to add silver dots but wanted to use the silver in a different way and I hope this looks ok.

   I listed some of the hearts on ebay last night and a couple have sold already so I guess the colour is ok with customers. Being a full time bead maker is sometimes a bit of a pain, when I say that I mean in the way that I need to work out what people will like rather than what I like to make.

   It was ok when I made beads as a paid hobby like a lot of people do now, but the last four years I had to learn that to make living doing the job I love and enjoy so much I had to make beads that people would like, I have to cover a wide range of designs, shapes and colours and not just make my favourites as before. I guess in a way it helps me learn more by making so many different types and it also makes every day so very different at work, just the thought of sitting in an office every day doing the same things drives me mad and I hope I never need to do it myself, mind you I'm not bright enough anyway.

   Well I better get off to the barn and clean yesterday's beads, turn on the kiln and say good morning to my flame, I have an idea for some nice bright pink hearts haha !

   Its a new year, the snow as left us at last and it's not so cold here in the barn. Work is going well and as some of you might have seen I have been adding more beads to the ebay site. First of all the drop beads just had to be listed as they always sell well here and I thought it was time to put them in the shop.

   I have been making drop beads for well over four years now, but never really covered different effects with them, most sets I make are from plain transparent colours, all the popular ones such as cobalt, emerald or the different purples. This week I thought a change was needed and I made a couple of unique drops, just to see if customers would be interested.

   The set shown here are on going on auction on ebay and were made with my favourite rock/stone effects but with the addition of some wonderful turquoise caverns. Tho the beads are narrow on the stem they always seem strong for their size and they will always be very well packed when posted out to customers, believe me I never want my beads cracked or damaged in the post after the work I put into them. I have been lucky enough to see these drop beads used in jewellery and I have to admit they can look stunning to say the least, I think its the shape that does it all.

   The focals are going really well and boy do I love the hours spent making them, now I see why some bead makers just make focals, its such fun. I sit behind my flame like some old hermit for a couple of hours every afternoon watching the glass as it runs wild in the heat, every day I learn more, every day the glass shows me new effects, a dream job this really is.

   I'm working on some hearts to list in the next few days and will try my best to get some red ones made ready for valentines, yes I know it's very girly for me but I have been asked by a few people this last week and so I will give them a go.

   I hope your all enjoying your new year and your head is full of new jewellery ideas, if we ever need a fresh start then this is the best time. We woke again to snow this morning and the freezing temperatures are very much making life in the barn very interesting to say the least. Its hat and scarf time first thing in the mornings, but the kiln does get things warmed up in time.

   Glass rods are warmed before use to save on spits and iced windows are cleard ready to watch the feeding birds on the bird table. But I have to be honest and admit there is no better feeling than sitting by a worm flame while heavy snow falls outside and frozen ponds and snow covered trees greet me.

   As some of you would have seen my websites are getting sorted for the new year, old stock as been removed and new beads will be added in this next two weeks, first of the new pebbles were listed on the pebble site this morning ( www.pebbledreams.com ) and more will follow tomorrow.

   There will be more new sets listed on the lampwork site this week ( www.lampworkbeadsbyrob.com ) plus focal beads.

   Sea glass sets will be making their way to the pebble site this week too, these are some of my favourite beads and I just love the feel of working with natures gems of the sea.

   I need to thank the people at the Norfolk magazine for doing such a fantastic piece on my work in this months issue, I couldn't have wished for a better start to the year and I wish you all at the magazine a great new year, thank you again. I guess I'm getting used to magazine articles now tho I very much still hate having my picture taken.

   For any new visitors to my site I would just like to say you can see more of my work for sale in my ebay shop (Beads Of Glass), where there is always a big selection of focal beads and spacers.

   Now its time to get more work done and also list more beads, hope you all enjoy the snow and the new year brings you all lots of great jewellery ideas.

Merry Christmas

   I would love to wish all of you a very merry christmas and I hope you all have a fantastic new year making jewellery. As you can see in the picture below we have had lots of snow like many of you, and for the first time in many years we have a white Christmas.

   After a special cooked breakfast I opened my pressies to find lots of wonderful new glass to play with, so tomorrow will be a boxing day playing in the barn and to be honest it will be a great way to spend the day, I guess just like a kid playing with there new toys, but then I am just a big kid.

   I'm feeling excited having this holiday to get all the changes and new beads listed on the two websites and in my ebay shop. It has been a really busy month leading up to Christmas and all but two orders have been made and posted, I wanted to get all done before the Christmas holiday and I nearly got there.

   I hope you will be pleased with the new beads that will be appearing over the next week, I have I hope come up with some nice new bead sets plus there will of course be lots more new focal beads listed. I will also be listing more bead trio's in the ebay shop, I used to list a lot of these handy little sets and after having customers ask if I would be listing more, I thought it would be a great idea, helping people who can't afford full bead sets, this way they can buy enough to make just one piece.

  Well, I will leave you now to your Christmas dinners and I hope you all have a great day.

   First thing I need to do is to thank you all for the birthday greetings you have sent, you made a grumpy old bead maker very happy, 46 today, god I feel old.

   It's been a very busy week, getting over 100 bead sets photographed and listed ready for tonights sale, I hope you all enjoy it and find a set that interests you. I have tried to make sure all types are included and the selection is as big as possible.

   Tomorrow is yet another new fresh start in the barn, I guess thats one of the things I love about holding the sales, I get to refresh all the barn displays which means I need even more new ideas. This way I get to keep pushing on with my bead making, four times a year I will be holding these big sales, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, giving me chance to clear out stock and start fresh.

   I  better get off to enjoy my day off now (do have new glass to try tho, so may slip into barn !), and hope you all enjoy the sale later, don't forget it starts at 7pm and all sets are listed in my ebay shop (Beads Of Glass) under £7.99 sale beads.

   Once again, thank you all so much for the nice birthday wishes.

   I hope you all put your clocks back this morning, winter is here YIPEEEE ! working in the barn next to the kiln is now a real pleasure, no more long hot days wishing the day would end by lunch time because of the heat, no more drinking pints and pints of ice water and no more shorts which means no risk of leg burns.

   I've been working really long hours the last week which ment a lot more beads being made of which a lot are focal beads. So with that in mind I have been listing a lot of focals in my ebay shop (Beads Of Glass), with a lot at a auction starting price of just 99p and even more listed at just £5.99 "Buy it now". The responce as been great and I'm so happy that your all happy with the beads you obtained, hope to see some pictures of the focals in your jewellery.

   Some of the aution focals finish later today so pop along and take a look, I'm sure there are some real savings to be had. I have taken my time to pick focals of different types and designs, some etched and more natural in looks, some more colourfull with some wonderful metallic effects. There will be additions through the coming week plus bead sets too. I'm hoping these beads will give those of you making your Christmas pieces up a good chance to get some bargains to help.

   I want to remind you all of the bead sale on my birthday (Nov 15th), I have started sorting out sets ready and indeed I will be making a lot more to add to them, beads of every colour and design, I hope to make it the best sale yet and with Christmas in mind I will make sure there are some festive sets listed.

   I think most of you all know by now that the sale sets will all be listed at a set price of just £7.99 which means a saving of over 50% on some of the sets.

   Well, I better get off to my torch, I have so many focal ideas in my head and need to try them out this morning, who said sunday was a rest day haha. To be honest I couldn't think of a better way to spend a sunday than playing with new design ideas.

   The colder weather seems to be making work go more smoothly here at the barn, in fact the heat from the kiln has been very welcome this last few mornings. It will soon be time for filling the bird tables and watching all the garden birds filling up for the winter months ahead.

   Lets get down to the matter of beads and what I've been up to this last few days. As some of you may have seen I have listed a lot of new focal beads on auction in my ebay shop (Beads Of Glass), they are all listed with a starting price of just 99p which gives more people the chance of winning them.

   I'm really enjoying making my focals at the moment, I guess focal beads have always been my favourite way of letting the glass run wild, the fact that the glass can do just as it pleases, never fails to produce some really nice beads.

  There will be a lot more focals added in the coming week so keep an eye open, there may be one that will interest you.

   Thank you to all of you who have asked about the Nov sale, it's really nice to know so many people are interested. The price will be the same as all the past sales, just £7.99 and all will be listed at 7pm on the evening of the 15th, so all will be on a first come basis. I will be letting you all know nearer the time.

  I just wanted to tell you about the new "Wild Mind" focals that are listed in my ebay shop (Beads Of Glass), also the reason behind the beads.

   As you all know by now I treasure my play time on my torch, those few hours I get to make beads the way I wish I could all the time. In this time I must admit I do produce some really wild beads, beads I'm sure have a mind of their own, beads that should be used and not just packed away in an old dusty box.

   So with this in mind I thought it was time they had there own place in the ebay shop and I have listed the first batch, I'm sure some people will hate them tho there may be some who find them very interesting and to be honest with you I just want them to be seen.

   As you can see I use the ivory glass I love so much and play around with metals as an addition, some I feel look better etched and some I like left plain so there is always a mixture of both.

   Well as you can all see I've been busy listing more beads today on both websites and in the ebay shop ( Beads Of Glass ), they include focals, silver cores and some new pebble bead sets.

   The first set of silver cored tyre beads as been listed in my ebay shop, the first of many I hope. These little core beads are great to use in jewellery being the same sizes as normal tyre sets but with the addition of the cores, their hole size is just over 2mm so this makes them perfect for most jewellery wires.

  This first set are made with the Saxon Silk design which is very popular with customers, but there will be lots more sets listed including some very colourful sets, yes your read right, more colour ! The cores are not as wide as those of the large beads but thats because of the narrow size and I would rather that than not make them as I do belive they can help make some very unique pieces of jewellery.

   I hope to list more tomorrow and more during this coming week so keep an eye out.

   Also I will be updating this blog more often, I love to share all my trials and new ideas with you all, it makes me feel we are all in it together and with some of you being beadmakers also, I hope I help to give you ideas to try, which may give you all the excitement and pleasure that I get from working with the flame.

   Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

   It has been a great week here with a lot of new ideas playing around in my flame, but also I have been making a lot more silver core beads including the new sea glass examples. I have listed some new cored beads on this site and today will be listing more in my ebay shop ( Beads Of Glass ), including the new smaller sizes which give me the option of selling sets.

   I'm working on some new focal designs and to be honest with you I'm really enjoying getting a few hours play, just like old times.

   I hope to be able to show you the new silver cored sets tomorrow ans indeed list a couple too, I'm really pleased with them and you don't see many sets that are cored on the market. I have also been working with copper cores, which are fast becoming my favourite.

  What a great time of year it is, those autumn evenings are drawing in and the thought of bonfire nite and the smell of garden bonfires come to mind. The colder yet sunny mornings are great and the cooler days make working next to the kiln far more comfortable.

   I know it's been a while since my last update but its been a busy time here and we wanted some time off too, so we did manage to get a few afternoons off and for once some evenings away from beads, which helps recharge. We had a few visitors to the barn and would like to thank them so much and your welcome any time.

  As you can see I have started to freshen up the websites, both here and the pebblesite (www.pebbledreams.com ), it's a fresh start as winter heads towards us and there is to be a few changes on this site. I will be selling a lot more unique one off sets and focals from the shops and also I hope to be selling a lot more silver cored beads, pebbles and sea glass from the pebble site.

   A lot of the beads that sell here at the moment including beads like Rock spacers, Mother Of Pearl, Turquoise Caves etc will be moved to my ebay shop (Beads Of Glass) in the coming weeks, the prices will stay the same and all the beads will be made to order as they are now. There are going to be a lot more one off focal beads for sale as customers are always asking for them and to be honest I just love making them, so its a pleasure.

   I have already listed some new bead sets and focals here in the shops so pop along and have a look, all feedback is very welcome.

    I have been working on some stone effect focals these last few days like the one shown here in the picture, as you all know I love making these beads letting the glass run free in the flame, we can all position the glass such as in dot beads etc but we can never get the effects that glass gives us when we let it play, no chains, free to move and dance where it likes, give it a go sometime, you will I promise be happy with most of the results.

  Last thing I want to tell you all is that I have decided to hold a large online bead sale on the evening of Nov 15th, yes my birthday. I think it will be nice for all of those who need last minute beads for any Christmas jewellery and yes, of course all beads will be £7.99 as normal. I will be listing a large amount of beads in the sale, well over 100 sets so, keep that date marked and tell any friends who would be interested in some good quality beads at a give away price.

   First thing I need to say is thank you for all the great feedback for the sea glass beads on the pebble site, It really means a lot to me when I get such remarks from friends and customers alike, thank you all.

   Next I need to apologize for leaving it so long before updating this blog. It really has been a busy couple of weeks plus we tried to have a few days off, spending them with friends and getting a little relaxation.

   Some of you may already have seen my sea glass beads and I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy making them. I collect sea glass from some of the local beaches here on the east coast, giving then to people to use in jewellery or silver coring myself to use as pendants, but I thought about the waste pieces, pieces with cracks, chips or broken edges. After talking it over with a close friend I decided to see if I could use it to make beads, followed by hours of working on the idea.

   Sea glass is such a special gem of the sea, man using natures gifts and fire to produce glass, then nature taking it back into her waves, placing it in the care of the sea, giving it a more natural shape, adding her own remarkable textures to the surface of every piece, then I get the chance to take this amazing material and let my flame work its magic. Just the feel of holding this glass in my flame sets my mind thinking, the history of each piece, who drank from the bottle, from which ship may it have been tossed into the sea or who was the victorian who cast it into the sea along with other rubbish, we will never know.

   Knowing that each piece I use was born of fire all those years ago, now I get to let fire turn this glass into something that I hope will last at least another century and maybe some of these beads will end up back in the waves, what an amazing thought.

   These magical little beads have no glitter or gold, no silver or sparkle, but boy they stand so high above all of those, they contain natures special magic and just holding them makes the dreams flow. 

   It's the weekend again and the weeks fly by these days rather like the years the older we get. I want to tell you about the new shops on the pebble site ( www.pebbledreams.com ), both of which are related to my love of the coast and beaches. The first shop is for sea glass and some of the very unique new silver cored pieces, tho very difficult to produce I wanted to make these amazing items available to customers, not just for jewellery making but also they are so well known to aid relaxation and stress relief. The feel of sea glass and the knowledge that the sea has taken a man made material and worked it into an amazing gem of the sea over, in some cases hundreds of years gives you that feeling of holding nature.

   Some of the pieces sold in the shop will be silver cored, some will be drilled and some will be untouched giving the jewellery maker the option to use it in any way they wish. The silver core pieces will vary in size from large pieces ideal for pendants and stress pieces down to smaller pieces ideal for use in jewellery making.

   The drilled pieces will be sold with different size holes, some single pieces, some in groups or pairs, being perfect for earrings. 

   The sea glass will come from both the coast of Britain plus from other countries of the word and there will be a wide selection of colours, some rarer colours being more expensive.

   The second new shop is for natural beach pebbles, including the new very unique silver cored pebbles. My love for pebbles is very well known and to walk along a dawn beach with the pebble carpet running out ahead of you is the best feeling in the world. Nature is such a wonderful giver, she leaves us these gems of the beach after every tide.

   Again these sea pebbles are very much used for relaxation, just the feel when holding these pebbles can help remove so much stress that we have in these hard times.

   I will be placing not just silver core pebbles in the shop but also drilled pebbles in a wide selection of sizes for use in jewellery making. These could be single pebbles or groups and the hole sizes will also vary. Also the colours of the pebbles will vary and there will be pebbles listed with some very interesting effect in them.

   All the silver cores are made by myself using a single piece of silver, I know there are mass produced rivets on the market but why on earth would anyone want to use these on such natural gems of the sea. A huge factor in my work is that I learn, teaching myself to produce things like silver cores is the only way I can do this, so many people are happy to keep making the same things or too follow others but I'm not like that, we are only here on this earth for such a short time and lets make every day count, lets push forward looking for something new.

   I hope you find something in the new shops that interest you and I will now get back to my barn to play with glass, have a great sunday.

   Well, I promised you a update picture of Sam and as you will see he as grown a good bit now, no longer that tiny ball of fluff that you saw in the last picture.

   He is now bigger than the other two, Marley and Ziggy and tho he is still a puppy they only just cope with him playing because of his size. He seems to find trouble anywhere he goes and he looks like a naughty dog too, but he has so much character and is turnning into a really nice dog, happy and really friendly. As you can see in this picture he loves exploring around the ponds with the other dogs.

   Its been a great weekend here at the barn, I was tucked away in the corner working on new ideas some of which I hope will be seen next weekend and not a bead in sight !

   I need to mention something important before I go on, its about an auction being held by Mel at Kookie Designs, her close friend Lizzi Boullin lost her five year fight against cancer and Mel is raising money for the Princess Alice Hospice in Esher. So please go take a look and give Mel some support. http://kookiedesigns.web.officelive.com/collectivecharity.aspx

   We have had two trips to the coast this last few days, evenings or early mornings walking on the beach, not a souls around, you just can't beat it.and as we won't be getting a holiday again this year it's our way of getting some relaxation. I've been asked for an update on Sam so tomorrow I'll get a new picture on here and I think you may just see a difference !

   I thought you may like to see this little guy who seems to be watching you where ever you go in the garden, can you get stalker frogs ? Every afternoon he seems to be around hidden under the duck weed, think we need to give him a name.

   More tyre beads have been added to my ebay shop, some on auction, some "buy it now". More new focal pebbles were listed too but I think some sold already so will add more in next two days and I hope to list more silver core pebbles after being asked if they will be going in the shop again. Then of course next weekend the new items will make their first appearance on the pebble website www.pebbledreams.com  they are a little different but I can safely say very unique. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

   The questions is am I going mad or just running wild with colours ? I blame the sun myself but something is happening here in the barn, I cleaned off the dust from the top glass rack and the brigh colours were still there ready to do their part for me, summer colours, colours that would feel at home on the beach.

   As some of you will have seen there were more tyre beads listed on ebay this morning for auction and some have some really funky colour mixes.

   The set shown here is one listed this morning and the mixture of silver effects with the greens, turquoise and iris yellow makes for a really nice set of beads. There will be more tyre sets listed this week along with focal beads too so keep an eye out. 

   This last week the barn as been a hive of activity with a lot of new beads being made. The new column beads are one thing I've been working on and I have to say I'm enjoying making them, both the shape and the designs working out well.

   I find these beads ideal for adding more colour into my work and there will be a lot more listed in my ebay shop this week. The sizes of the columns range from just 25mm and go up to well over 50mm making them very interesting for jewellery use, maybe a real challenge for some.

   The bead shown here was snapped up within minutes of listing and I think I know why, the colours say it all to me, dark yet magical and the silver just adds that little something the bead needed.

   I have started to list these beads in the ebay shop (Beads Of Glass) and also a lot more focals have been listed too with a wide range of colours and designs being added every few days. There are also some nice new large shingle sets being added with some fantastic colour mixes, I love making those beads because I get to play with the effects and colours, but most of all I watch as the glass begins to play in the flame, turning and twisting on its own and my god, some of the results can be stunning.

   This next few days I'm listing more tyre sets on auction many of which have silver incorporated in their design and too be honest with you some colours may be a shock to you, well they shocked me thats for sure ! Its a hard fight for me getting more bright colours into my work, it goes against my way of working, you all know by now how I love the more natural colours but it's a challenge and I've never been one to back away from a challenge. But please, if I start making all pink and red beads at any stage, someone stop me !

   Well it may be sunday but it off to the torch for me, lots of experimenting to do and I promise if I fall upon and new design that I feel worthy, they will be shown here in the next update. Enjoy your sunday and this wonderful weather.

   Its been a great week here at the barn with some fantastic weather and I even got to finish my new garden path at last ! With the hot weather it has made working next to the kiln a little warm to say the least but I've been making some great new focals and tube beads, it's been a while since I worked on new focals for the ebay shop (Beads Of Glass) so now I'm starting to get a good selection listed, all "buy it now". I listed the first of these this morning and will be listing more tomorrow morning.

   There will be a large selection including rock effect, tubes and lots and lots of organic beads. It's nice to be set free with my designs again after a long period making orders, it will be interesting to see if I can get more colours into my beads with summer giving us so many natural colours to work with.

   The focal shown here is just one of the beads listed this morning on ebay, I just love making these focals as every one is so unique and perfect for use as a centre piece in most jewellery, but also great for use with leather cord in more organic jewellery.

  Well, at last we get our summer and what a difference it makes here at the barn. Sitting at my torch looking out over the pond which is so full of life is a real pleasure. The pond being home to so many creatures this time of year including frogs, fish, newts and so many menbers of the insect world with dragonflies ans damselflies being a favourite of mine. It seems that new plants appear every day and water lillie pads popping up overnight, I'm so lucky working in such surroundings.

   It has been a while since I updated the blog but it has been so busy here with lots of orders having to be completed plus I had a big commission from the Royal School Of Needlework. They are working on a very big piece and it was nice to be able to help with my beads, I wish all the girls at Hampton Court Palace the best of luck with the project and look forward to seeing the finished piece.

   The pebble site ( www.pebbledreams.com ) is really taking off now and I'm adding new pebbles twice a week to keep a good selection in the shop. I will be adding a lot more tyre beads to the ebay shop ( Beads Of Glass ) in this coming week so keep an eye out, I will let you all know on here when they are listed.

   I hope you all enjoy this wonderful weather and I hope the colours that nature gives us at this time of year will influence your work.

   First of all I need to thank all of you who emailed me wishing me a well after learning I had Bell's Palsy, it was very kind of all of you and I'm pleased to say I'm very close to being back to normal. I'm lucky really has a lot of people get left with some lack of movement in the face, but touch wood I'm ok.

   I've been very busy this last week with orders and commission beads, which is always a nice thing this time of year, beads are not always the first thing people want to spend money on with summer holidays coming up and school holidays meaning trips out with the kids to pay for, so thank you all for your orders.

  I have been stocking the displays here in the barn and also I have a lot more sets to list on ebay over the next two days starting this morning with some nice tyre sets. Including this set made from a mixture blues, purples and silver. There are many more colours to be listed so keep an eye out, there may be some that interest you.

   The pebble beads are becoming really popular and the focal pebbles are selling fast. I'm about to list a lot more on the pebble site www.pebbledreams.com  this weekend including a couple of the giant focal pebbles that sell so well from the barn, but I warn you these are very big beads.

   I hope you all enjoy the rest of this holiday weekend and lets hope the weather keeps up for all those who are going to outside events or the coast. Yesterday we spent in the garden, which is really starting to look good now. When I think of the jungle that faced us at the start of the year, it's nice to see our garden back.

   I hope your all enjoying your holiday weekend and for once the weather as timed it right so no excuses for getting all those garden jobs done. It wasn't the best week here at the barn after I was hit by Bell's Palsy, having had it ten years ago I was hoping it wouldn't return, they say one in twenty people get it back years later so I guess I'm one of the unlucky ones.

   It has caused problems work wise because of my eye not working as normal, so if any of you are awaiting orders from me please accept my apologies and your orders will be getting off to you in next few days. I guess the weekend off will do some good but I miss my torch already.

   I have made and listed more new sets on ebay this week, so if you have time, pop along to my ebay shop (Beads Of Glass) and take a look and any feedback about colour is always very welcome.

   This set were made using a wonderful new red deep red glass and to be very honest with you I didn't think they would work out, guess my mind was thinking "bright red", but it was a real pleasure when they came from the kiln and I don't like to say this but colour seems to be working its way into my work a little more. I have never really thought about red glass and the effects it can produce, ok we all know it can be in your face sometimes and those who love red always love red, but I think it can work in beads without being the centre of attention.

   The second set is one of my favourites and I was looking for a cold snow and ice feel with these beads, I hope you think I may have got it right, but then some of you may think not. With the etching I think the ice feel is there and the silver gives that tiny bit of sparkle just like those frosty winter mornings.

   Well its back to the garden for me and if you see my tiny little body slipping in through the barn door, please don't tell a soul I will just be getting a little torch fix to get me through the weekend, have a great weekend.

  Sorry it's been so long since the last blog update, but it really has been very busy here at the barn, with orders and new beads to be made plus the continued success of the pebble bead site ( www.pebbledreams.com ). Plus the garden is getting it full make over, the idea being that the exercise will help me get fit again, after four years full time bead making its time I started looking after myself, sitting for all the hours I do doesn't help so by doing the garden a couple of hours a day it's killing two birds with one stone, doing me good and the garden is back looking like a garden at last, still more to do but I hope by late summer it will be finished.

   I have been having fun with tyre beads this last week or so, placing sets on ebay and people seem to like them, plus as promised I'm using more colour in my beads, ok I'll never be making those "in your face" bright pink or yellow beads but colour really is getting into my work more.

   I have been trying out a lot of new glass which is always a great thing adding to that excitement every morning when I open the kiln. Some of the sets I have fully etched like the set here to the left, these seem to be very popular with customers. To me they give a very unique soft feel and look, ideal for summer jewellery.

   Before I go any further I want to thank all the new customers who are taking an interest in my work, it's alway great to know my work is reaching new jewellery designers especially when times are not easy, as they are now, it makes all the hours spent at my torch worth it, so onec again thank you.

   Some of the results from the new colours have pleased me a great deal, there are a couple of new pink and purple shades that I have been working with, one being used in this next set. These colours are perfect for my work, yes colour, but no, not loud colour. I know nature gives us some amazing bright colours and yes, I will get there in the end but will always try to use them with the addition of stone or rock effects.

   I will promise the next update won't be as long a wait as I have so many more beads I want to show you all. Hope you all have a great weekend ans enjoy the weather for as long as it lasts. 

   I hope your all enjoying the start to this Easter holiday and whatever you all have planned I hope you all have a great time. Here at the barn things really have been very busy this last week with orders coming in and lots of design trials taking place. Now I'm almost up to date with the orders it will be great to get the weekend off, haha as if I could leave the barn door shut for four days, more chance of me flying to the moon !

   I have been enjoying making the large pebble focals and they seem to be a hit with customers, I guess it give everyone a chance to buy pebbles with the prices being a lot less than the sets. I'm starting to list pairs and trios on the pebble site ( www.pebbledreams.com ) along with the sets and while on the subject, I would like to thank those of you who have emailed with great feedback about the pebbles and the way they are packed, I wanted something different and thought the small boxes were ideal for the job.

   I have made a lot of tyre sets that I will start listing on ebay tomorrow and thought it would be nice to show you one of them here. Not all the sets are stone effect but to be honest if they were to turn out like these every time then I would be making them every day.

   I know some of you don't like this kind of bead and would rather see more colour and I promise there will be more colour listed, but I think this set says it all, the way the glass worked the silver really is stunning and I take no credit for that.

   First of all I need to thank everyone for the kind remarks about the 'Bead' magazine profile, it was an interesting thing to do and it is so nice to meet new people through it, thank you all.

   Well, at last the whole weekend off YIPEEEEEEE !!!! been laying the new stone path leading up to the barn, it wont be finished until next weekend but boy have I enjoyed it. Just the fact I was back outside working made me happy and the bonus of all the exercise being good for me puts a nice topping on it all. The sun as been playing for the last week but dare we say summer is here, I think not, knowing our weather we may get snow this comming week.

   The garden being full of budding shrubs and blossom can only fill my head will summer bead designs, all those flower colours plus creams and greens. Anybody making beads at this time can see why I go on about mother nature giving us so much to work with, get out there and use it.

   I must say that the pebble bead site is doing far better than I ever thought www.pebbledreams.com  and thank you to all who have obtained pebbles to use in their work. Maybe some summer pebbles on the way, mmmmm who knows what this week will bring.

   Here is one of the sets that was listed this week on the pebble sight. They were made with a new glass for me, I wanted to get a stunning rich bright sun filled sea design and the thought of Atlantis entered my head. So by adding the rock effects to the beads it gave the look of a city below the sea.

   It has been a really busy week here, plans to start laying the new path leading to the barn have been put on hold until next weekend, I hope the whole weekend will be spent in the garden doing work. The orders have been coming in and taking up a lot of time but thats a great sign, 'busy bee make lots of honey'

   The article in  this coming issue of 'Bead' magazine is I hope going to be ok, it was really nice of Jean and the others there to ask me to let them do a profile on me, just hope it is interesting enough for people to want to read.

   I have started listing more sale price sets in my ebay shop and they seem to be a big hit with customers, as I said before my last sale if it helps more of you to afford lampwork beads then thats great news for the craft. The sets shown here are listed along with a lot more rustic design beads.

   I will be listing swirl, dot and more organic beads in the sale section, I hope to list every few days and will try to keep a good selection of colours there to pick from.

   The first set here were made using a new glass to me and I'm really pleased with the reaction to the use of silver, a real winner in my eyes. No every glass lives alongside silver so well, so finding one is always great news. There are a lot of different glass producers and I find it a great way to relax by spending an evening trying these glasses out, if they don't do it for me they find a life in the odd bead dish and I admit there have been some giant failures and always will be, but the odd gem is uncovered and they always bring a smile as I write them in the spell book for future reference.

   This second set was made using one of my own frit mixes, then I used gravitation to form the swirl design, this is a very simple for of bead making but can produce some stunning results. One exercise I like to do is line up 10 glass roods, a mixture of colours. Then close my eyes and pick out three rods from the selection. With those three colours I make a gravity bead, sometimes using a bog standard base colour like white. You will be amazed at the results, colours you never thought would work with each other can really look fantastic.

   Its been a sunny day and we have been busy in the garden, seed sowing and digging over raised beds, it's great to be out there in the sun, been a long winter this year and by the sounds of it we may still have some more cold weather to come.

   I also need to mention that Yvonne will be holding her first bead sale in two weeks time, it will be held on a friday evening at ( I think ) 8pm. She will be emailing all her customers but I know some of you buy from us both so thought it would be a good idea to let you know, I will remind you all on here nearer the date. I think her sets will all be priced at just £5.99, which I think is a fantastic offer.

   I listed some new pebbles on the pebble site this morning and I see some have sold already so pop along and take a look, you may find something of interest. Some of you will maybe have noticed that in the £7.99 section in my ebay shop ( Beads Of Glass ) as been growing, I have been adding more sets even after the sale. Well I felt that in these days of the so called "credit crunch" it would be nice to keep adding to this section, giving more people a chance of picking up a bargin, so let me know if you think this is a good idea, its great to get feedback from you.

   Once again I need to thank all of you who obtained beads from the sale Sunday. It was once again a great success and thank you for all the great feedback you emailed me.

   I have been catching up on orders since the sale, but have found time to produce a few more pebble sets which I hope to list on the pebble website www.pebbledreams.com this coming weekend.

   I have been working on using more colour in the pebbles and thought you may like to see one of the sets to be listed. I used a nice deep red in this set along with some great rock effect and was very happy with the final effect.

   Thank you for all the emails about the pebble site, to be honest with you all I didn't think there would be so many people who also liked this kind of bead, I thought I was alone. I'm really pleased that I can share all future pebbles with you and don't forget I would love to take photo's of any pebble jewellery to use on the site.

   After several customers had asked for the rock face shingle beads but in spacer form, I thought it was time I listed them in the ebay shop and here on the site. I have made them before but just for my own use a never really thought about selling them. They take a bit of work but the effect looks good and they are a perfect match for any of the encased quarry beads.

  They are sold in sets of ten and after listing them last night on ebay they are already selling fast. I must admit they are a favourite of mine and I think they could be a huge hit with customers. As they are encased beads the size is a fraction bigger than the normal spacer beads, I will work on getting them smaller, but I guess this give you an option of using them alone, not just with larger beads.

   Its been a great week here at the barn, the weather is warming up and the ground drying out well after the snows. I have been busy making orders and working on more new pebble beads for the new pebble site www.pebbledreams.com  it seems that there are a lot more people out there who love pebble beads than I first thought, which makes me very happy.

   I have a date for the next sale, it will be held a week tomorrow, next sunday the 1st March, again the sale will start at 7pm and all sets listed will be priced at £7.99, I hope you will find something you like.

   I need to just say a quick thank you to all the people who have emailed me saying how much they love the new pebble site, I'm really happy that some of you love the pebbles as I do. It really was time for me to let them loose on the public, for a couple of years I have had pebble sets hidden away in boxes all around the barn, not pushing them onto customers but keeping them to myself and a few fellow pebble lovers. Now they can sit on the new site and show off all they want.

   Once again, thank you all.

   Well at last I'm pleased to say my new pebble bead site is up and running at  www.pebbledreams.com  and I hope you all enjoy taking a look.

   I wanted to use the new site as a showcase for my pebble beads. Making these pebbles brings me such enjoyment and there is such a vast spectrum of designs for me to play with that I wanted to share more of this with you. There is a shop on the site in case any of you find the pebbles interesting enough to use in your work or maybe just to obtain and collect like some customers do with my quarry focals. In this shop I will be adding just a few items each week so by no means is the new site taking over from this one.

   I want people to see the thoughts behind some of my pebbles and what I see inside them, how nature plays such a big part in their designs and how I try to reproduce some of the wonderful colours she gives us. 

   Its been a cold weekend so far here in the Fens, every river and every drain solid ice and the fields white with snow and ice as for as the eye can see. Well, I did wish for snow so no moaning from me and in fact it means a sunday spent infront of the log burner for a change. I need to work a lot on this website and the pebble bead site that I'm building at the moment, so photos need taking and the new customer gallery needs building, there are lots of new customers wishing to be part of it and I'm really pleased and honoured that they will let me show their work here on the site.

   I hope to let you know the date of the February sale in the next few days, I'm hoping it will be the last sunday of the month, but will make sure to let you all know very soon.

   I made a few natural pebble sets this last few days ready for the new site, natural meaning just that. Along with the more unique encased and very detailed pebbles I love making these pebbles, trying to get those same colours and effects we find on pebbles picked from rivers and beaches all over the country. But, I have to say here and now, however hard we try we will never produce the magnificent colours that mother nature gives us.

   It's really strange when you think of it, or maybe just amazing how we all try to match colours together, some we say don't go and others we all use on a daily basis thinking they are the perfect match, yet nature puts so many colours together and every time it works, maybe the pebbles she leaves us each and every day are just her beads for us and if so, then she is the best beadmaker I will ever know !

   This first set were made with those shaded small streams in mind. Stepping stones placed by nature and pebble edging allowing birds to wash and drink. I wanted the darker browns with hints of moss green and I'm pleased with the results. I often feel that these colours can say so much, we don't always need all the fancy glitter, or encasing to make stunning beads, there are times when plain colours come into their own and only they can produce the effect you need. I would advise any beadmakers to just take an evening or two to try this sort of work, forget the silver and gold for a little while and see what happens, I promise you'll love the end results.

   In this second set I wanted to get a soft natural green design, light fern colours with slight jade greens mixed in, the kind of pebble we would pick up in low valley streams.

   These pebbles do bring so much pleasure and I hope will become a bigger part of my work in the future, there is just something very relaxing about them and we all need to relax sometimes.

   The snow as arrived and we have lots of it. I must admit I can't remember having this much snow for years, the garden looks like a different world and the barn is hidden behind snow covered trees like a small alpine hideaway. The ponds are frozen and look really nice with the different layers of ice giving a strange layer effect.

   But let me tell you there are three very pleased little dogs running around the garden, playing in the snow and enjoying every second of it.

   I have a feeling it's going to be cold day in the barn but looking out on the snow I'm sure will help me with bead ideas.

   Hope you all stay safe and warm and enjoy the snow, I'm off to my torch.

   Well we are still waiting this morning for the appearence of the forcast snow, maybe we'll be lucky tomorrow morning.

   I am working on my other website at the moment, its a site i'm using as a showcase for my pebble beads. As you all know they are one of my favourite beads to make and I can incorporate such a wide range of techniques, many showing my love for the nature that surrounds us. I just thought it was time the pebble beads were given a chance to gain more appreciation and I'm hoping people will see how I try to capture so many different worlds and dreams inside them, rocks, stone and the sea playing a large part in the designs.

   So with this in mind I have been using my evenings to make some pebbles beads for the sight, its a real pleasure making these beads and to be honest, if some people don't like them, it's no problem, they bring me hours of fun making them and hours of pleasure looking at them and to me that is so important.

   I will be putting a link for the new site on here in the next week just in case you would like to have a look.

   Now I'm off to the barn for a few hours to clean yesterdays beads and to try out a few design ideas I have been thinking about. I hope tomorrow I'll be showing you the snow we have, I wish !!

   We are all bracing ourselves for the cold spell we are promised this week, heaters are at the ready in the barn and thermals are ready and waiting. Bird tables are full and pond fish fed, I just hope if we do get snow its stays around for a while and not just makes a mess for one day. I have to admit I love snow as most of you know by now so that little kid inside me is wishing that we get lots and lots, the thought of sitting in a warm barn working over my torch looking out the window at a foot of snow is a great thought.

   Our puppy Sam, is now 14 weeks old and what a sight it will be watching him in the snow for the first time, the other dogs love it and I'm sure Sam will join them playing in it.

   Sam is an "Old English Sheep Dog" and I've been told off by customers for not showing a picture of him on here, so for those of you who like cute furry puppies, here is Sam.

   I have been catching up with orders this week, it seems to be a busy time here at the barn with many orders coming in from both website and ebay shop, it's a really nice feeling as most years this period is slow after the Christmas holidays.

   I have found time to make some more new large encased quarry focal beads and thought it would be nice to show you a sample. Along with pebble beads I think these are my favourites at this moment, it's the fact that you never really know what they will look like when removed from the kiln, this gives you such great expectations every time and is such a great exciting part of my job.

   As you can see the beads seem to hold so many colours and effects inside, every look letting you find more. I try my best to get that rock wall look and feel, the layers of minerals formed over thousands of years with just the hint of glamour held tight between the layers.

   I guess we could never reproduce the wonders that mother nature teases us with, but I'll keep trying.

    Its been a bad week here at the barn, this morning was the first time I've been into the barn since Wed after being struck down by the tummy bug that is going around. The whole family has been hit by it and Yvonne being the latest victim, its really not a nice bug, lasting at least five days, so its my turn to be nurse along with Nicola who was the first to suffer.

   Anyone who is waiting for a bead order from me please bare with me as I will be back on my torch in the morning, fingers crossed and will get beads made in next couple of days.

   I have some new sets to list on ebay tomorrow so please feel free to take a look, two nice sets of encased quarry beads will be included.

   I have been working hard this last week even with the freezing mornings in the barn. It seems how ever hard you try the barn takes hours to warm up even with the kiln up and running and two heaters on, your finger tips still feel like ice.

  There have been some great results with new beads this week plus I have been making more lampwork cabochons which I use to help my silver work. After giving away a few to friends my cabochons seem to be very popular, so with this in mind I have decided to put a few here on the website, I will add them this weekend and we'll see how they go. For any jewellers looking for something different to work with they would make a great option.

   My love affair with encased quarry beads is still growing and these beads just never fail to please me when I empty the kiln every morning. As all bead makers know when we make beads of this design you will never tell what the finished bead will look like until it's cold the next morning, yes we have an idea what the colours will look like, but by mixing so many colours together the results will never be as we think.

   I've been working with more purples and pinks this week and I wanted to show you this set that was made two days ago. I used a pale lavender and a mid purple to help produce these light fresh encased beads. The rock effects adding so much more helping give that natural look to the beads.

   The last two days have been spent having a big tidy up in the barn, the mountains of glass rods are all sorted into tubes, well almost all, and dog ends all boxed awaiting joining. Even the hoover made an appearance and a new computer desk as been fitted as the old table bites the dust.

   I have started teaching myself silversmithing so part of the existing work bench is now set up as a work area for the silver, I try to get an hour every afternoon to work on the silver and I'm really enjoying it, something new to me but already I'm getting the bug.

   I hope your all having a great start to the new year and also trying something new, this time of year mother nature gives us so many new ideas with her frost covered mornings and yet she still leaves us a wide range of colours to find. 

Happy New Year

   I want to wish each and every one of you a wonderful and happy new year and that your jewellery making will be stunning here in 2009. Yet another new year and another new start, I guess we all get that fresh start feeling every new year, those new ideas swimming around in our heads, and all the promises that we never quite get done. The diet, the packing up smoking, the saving money and in my case the job of sorting out the barn, its a bloody mess, even Christmas wrapping paper and mince pie boxes in there.

   There are piles of glass rods everywhere and in some cases mountains, all with those ever present Tuffnell Glass labels, my dog end boxes are full to the tops (dog ends being the small ends of used glass rods), I need to get them all joined ready for use. I think this coming weekend calls for two days sorting the old place out.

   As you may have seen already I have started listing some of the new beads here in the website bead shops and yet another group of new spacer colours were listed on ebay last night, but there are more to come, a lot more.

   I hope you all have a very restful day and let all those new year ideas work their way around your head, all the jewellery ideas and bead ideas, just go with them and try some out, I'm sure we will all get some great results in 2009.

   With the new year fast approaching I have so many new ideas going around in my head, designs that I want to try and some designs that I'm really in two minds about, guess that means the rubbish bowl will be full here in the barn.

   I have been working on a lot more encased beads this last week and here is one of the sea theme range, they were a joy to remove from the kiln as I really wasn't sure how the colours would blens together. But I'm really happy with the results and will be making a lot more.

   I hope you all enjoy new years eve and try not to get too bad a hangover ! I will see you all again in the new year.

Merry Christmas

I would love to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a wonderful day with family and friends. Enjoy the time off after making so much great jewellery and beads this year and keep that note book with you this holiday to get those new ideas writen down for the coming year.

I will leave you to get on with the mince pies, bubbly and turkey.

Rob And Yvonne

   Well, it's only two days away and yet another day in the barn for me. I have some last minute beads to make for Christmas pressies and orders, but it will be the last day until after Christmas.

   I need to thank all of you who sent cards and emails wishing Yvonne and myself a "Merry Christmas", I still have so much to do for Christmas, pressies to wrap and sausage rolls to make (one job I love doing), and will be visiting friends and family tomorrow. All last minute shopping is done so thats out the way, mind you I,m sure there will be something we have forgotten.

   All in all this year as been a hard one for us with lots of changes here in the barn and I want to thank all of you for your support and I hope I can keep coming up with bead designs you will all enjoy in 2009. I am building up an even bigger selection of spacers for the ebay shop and I intend to have the biggest selection here in the UK, colours to cover every taste, yes even the girly pinks ! There will be a lot of new beads ready for the website, some of which are here in the barn ready and waiting, I just felt that New Years day would be a good time to start the big website spring clean.

   First of all thank you to all who obtained beads from the Christmas sale and I hope you enjoy using them in your jewellery. All the sale beads that still remain in my ebay shop will be there until next weekend.

   I wanted to show you a set of large pebbles that I made yesterday, I was over the moon this morning when they came out from the kiln, just as I wanted, it was one of the best moments I've had in all the years I have been making beads. I made three sets for listing on ebay and all three made me smile, it was just one of those mornings when it all went right, if only every morning was like it.

   The beads are fully encased to show off as much of the details as possible, I used a new mixture of glass with the thought of giving a magical dragon design to the beads, the results to me are stunning.

   I just want to make sure you all know that the Christmas Sale will be this coming sunday evening at 7pm. Again all the sets will be priced at £7.99 and I hope you all find something that will interest you. There are a lot of expensive sets included as it is Christmas and I want you all to have chance of getting a real good bargain.

   I hope to keep the sales going through next year as I have had so many emails from customers who find them a great help. Prices of Lampwork beads have always been on the steep side and so if we can help by holding the sales every month then we will.

   Those fantastic fresh frost covered mornings have arrived and the barn is so welcome every morning, its bloody freezing !! I'm guessing I'm not the only bead maker who can see his or her own breath while I empty the kiln. But luckily the barn doesn't take too long to heat up and after all those years working outside I guess I'm lucky now to be sitting next to a warn kiln.

  Yesterday I was over the moon with a set of quarry beads I made, they were made with Christmas in mind and I used a fantastic dark red transparent glass as an addition to the silver effects encased inside the beads. I hope to list them on ebay in the next two days and really hope they go to a great home.

   You all know how much I hate the santa and snowman beads this time of year, each to their own but I just think its so much better to try something new. Go for it, lets not all be the same try to get the Christmas effect in a unique way.

   I have decided to have the Christmas sale on sunday Dec 7th, again there will I hope be 100 sets listed at £7.99, some of which will have Christmas in mind. I will let you know again nearer the time.

   I have been working on more quarry style beads this week and I think I have the bug, I so enjoy making them, they always give that excitement when the kiln is opened. I guess they are the perfect bead for me to make as every one is so unique and as you all know I so hate making the same beads over and over again.

   Also this week I have been spending time working on a lot more large shingle beads, I love making these beads as it's a real job to add colours to the small Rock Face shingles. This size give me far more roon to work with.

   This set shown are made from a new glass to me, it as many colours similar to the Iris Orange glass, but more pale in colour. I really enjoy this glass and hope to list some in the next week.

   I have been working on these large lentil beads for the past few months and after the great reactions they are getting from customers here at the barn I thought it was time I listed a few here in the focal shop. I wanted to try something very different and I wanted them to be great to use for a centre piece.

   I was trying to get that Sea Anemone look and I think I may have got there in the end by using a side implosion encased in clear glass, this along with the natural looking ivory and silver section make for great results. I'm working hard on the photographs to try showing off the design more as these beads look bloody stunning when in your hand.

   So the first four have been listed and there will be more listed in the coming weeks, the price is as low as I can keep it as the beads really do take a lot of work and time to make.

   I hope you find them interesting and if you use one in your jewellery please let me see the end results as I'm really excited about these focals.

   A sunday off, I feel really lazy but sod it, I think the odd day off is ok. Birthday out the way and its back to thinking and planning beads, I also need to get more beads listed today on ebay.

   The encased swirl beads seem to be popular and to be honest I really like them myself. This set were made from a new glass and the results are very nice indeed, the colours that this glass produce are wonderful and so natural looking.

   The clay reds and the grey shades really work well together. With the swirl beads being fully encased they the details show up a lot more and I'm sure this is the reason they are such a hit with customers.

   I will also be listing another set of the new flat backed lentil beads on ebay, the feedback from these beads says they work really well, sitting against the skin better when worn.

   Well that day is here again, my birthday and I'm starting to wish they were every other year now, it seems no time since I was in my thirties, but now I'm 45, god the years really do fly by just like they say.

   Thank you for all of you who sent cards and emails, its really nice to get them and even pressies too. I'm having an easy day today, no bead making for me.

   I will show you some of the new beads tomorrow and I'll be listing some more new leaf beads later this evening from the stone forest range.

   I have been having a lot of fun in the last few days with the new stone quarry look beads, encased beads with some amazing base beads. I know you all know by now that rock and stone effects make up a lot of my work, I adore the natural look of this type of bead and these new beads are bloody fantastic, just wish i could make them all day, every day.

   Here you can see a set I have listed on ebay auction, I hope you agree the new design looks great. I wanted to show off every detail and as we know the only way we can do that is to fully encase the beads in clear glass.

   With the addition of a small amount of goldstone these beads give some wonderful effects. I have made some great focals in the same effect and will be listing them in the next week, just need to sort photograths out first.

   I'm feeling a lot better about my ebay shop now, the summer passed, it's now time to spend those colder dark nights sorting out the shop sales and website sales. Now the ebay side is really looking a lot better and sales are coming in thick and fast I think it's time I started sorting out the bead shops here on the site.

   I will be taking off a lot of the current beads and will be replacing them with, I hope, lots of new sets and focals, so please keep your eyes open in the next few weeks.

   I have been listing some nice new stone effect leaf beads on ebay and I thought you may like to see a set. These beads are a real favourite with lots of customers now and I must admit I really enjoy making them.

   I have seen this type of bead included in jewellery and boy, do they look good, why not try some out for yourself, the ideal beads with christmas heading towards us fast. We all see the christmas beads made this time of year, santa beads, snowmen and many more, but why not try a more natural bead this year. We all love the nature around us this time of year so why don't we use the look more, you don't always need flash and sparkle to make a stunning piece of jewellery.

   I have been trying some new designs out this last few days, rock designs that I have encased in clear glass using a spree shape bead. Below is one of the sets I managed to get just how I wanted, I was looking for something natural but with the "WOW" factor and I'm hoping you agree that I got there.

   These beads took a while to make but the next morning when I opened the kiln I had no doubts that they were some of the best beads I have made. By encasing the beads it really helps show off even tiny details which wouldn't be easy to see without.

  One of the problems with encasing is that not all glass enjoys it, you really need to try out as many different glasses as possible, there is nothing worse than spending hours on a set only to find the beads cracked when you clean and string them, believe me it happens to us all at one time or another.

   I'll be making more beads in this style so keep your eyes open in the next week.

   As some of you may know, I used to make a wide range of spacer beads which I sold in my ebay shop, and after being asked so many times if I was going to sell them again I have decided to place a new range in the shop, starting with the seven new colours today and adding more throughout the week.

  There is also going to be a wide range of shingle beads in the shop and the first eight colours have gone on today, so po along to take a look, these great little beads are already a big hit with customers. There will also be more shingle sets added this week.

   I said I would be placing a few sets of lentil beads on auction but I never thought they would produce so much interest. I must admit I'm not a big fan of pressed beads, I know makers who seem to sell nothing but pressed beads, but to me you learn so much more making beads without the aid of a press, but thats another story.

  When I do make lentil beads I try to do something different, not just the swirly bright colours that we see every day listed on auction sites, but more natural colours, beads that say something but at the same time make you look at them, searching for every detail.

   With this set I knew by using silver I would get some amazing natural designs, every bead so unique and as I said, you need to look into the beads to find them all.

   I have been listing some very large focal lentils in my ebay shop and never thought they would get so much attention from customers. I will be adding more tomorrow.

   Now summer as passed by and the dark winter days are heading our way I have the chance to really update my ebay shop and the website shops. The summer jobs in the garden are finished and its time I gave far more effort to my beads. I'm starting with ebay and hope in the next couple of weeks to add a lot more beads to my shop, more new designs will be added and my hearts and silver core beads will be placed in the shop in the next week.

   There will be a new range of shingle beads going on, they are becoming a great hit with lots of customers so I think its time they were part of my shop. They will be listed in sets of 12 beads and there will be a wide range of colours.

   I have been working hard on producing more beads for ebay and the website shops this week. I have placed new pebble beads on auction and they really are getting a far amount of attention.

   The Conker Stones seem to be a big hit and I love the results of the colour mix I used. Autumn was a big part of the idea behind these pebbles and I'm sure there will be more to follow in the next couple of weeks.

   I will be placing some great new lentil sets on auction in the next few days so keep your eyes open.

   Well, I have been having great fun making hearts this last day or so and why on earth don't I make them and nothing else, I enjoy making them so so much, they give me such highs and lows. When I empty the kiln I get that great high seeing the hearts, the colours and designs I was after looking so good, but then the lows when cleaning them, getting the odd chip around the hole when using the cleaning machine and the heart is in the bin, never to be used or to show off in some wonderful piece of jewellery.

  I love using the stone effect when making hearts, yes I make lots of coloured hearts too but my favourites are these natural looking hearts.

   Here I have used a purple silver running through the hearts, my feelings are that purple and turquoise do this job better than most. I leave these hearts with a gloss finish as it helps show off the silver.

   I will be listing a few of these hearts on ebay auction tomorrow so if your interested in using one pop along tomorrow evening and take a look.

   I have been working with silver this week and wanted to show off one of the silver sets I came up with. The beads are made in the same way as the turquoise caves but this time the beads have a faint hint of pink in the silver, yes you heard right, PINK !! me making pink beads, whats the world coming to.

  As I'll be working on hearts this week, I think this effect would be perfect for hearts, stone effect hearts maybe, we'll see.

   The pink isn't the best colour to show in the picture but believe me these beads look stunning in the flesh.

   I have decided to give awat two sets of these beads in this month free bead draw and I hope they will make two people very happy.

   Once again I was so pleased with the way the sale went on sunday and thank you all for the nice comments about the beads I listed. This time of year is not easy for any of us, kids back to school and holidays taking up much money from every pocket, so with that in mind I was never expecting the amount of sets to sell that did. I will be holding one big sale in early Nov, my Christmas sale and there will be many sets made with Christmas in mind, colours and sparkle.

   All the beads from the sale should be in their new homes by now and knowing some of you as well as I do, they may even be in pieces of jewellery !

   So I once again have to thank everyone of you who obtained sets from the sale and yet again some old faces who I'm really pleased to see still like my beads. Also more new customers who I hope enjoy working with my beads, it's always great to supply new jewellery makers.

   I want to say a big thank you to the two lucky free bead winners and their emails were very much a big bonus, it's so nice to know ny beads give so much pleasure and I hope both of you really enjoy using them. But you never need to thank me, as I have said many times its just a tiny way for me to give you all just a little something back.

   Don't forget the sale as been put back a week to next sunday, I will be sending out emails midweek so all customers, i'm sure you will all find something you like.

   A great misty morning today, so I'm off to my torch to get some misty beads made, wish me luck and I hope to show you what I come up with.

   Because of a few different reasons, the sale which was going to be help this coming sunday ( 14th ) will now be help next sunday the 21st Sept. The sale will include 100 sets of beads and again they will be set at a fixed price of £7.99. The sale will be in my ebay shop "Beads Of Glass" and will start at 7pm as normal.

   I have been very busy this last week and I wasn't happy with the beads I had ready for this sunday, so part of the reason for putting the sale back a week is to make sure I'm happy with the sets I put up . Yes I know its a sale but I still only want top quality bead sets involved, fussy I guess, but thats me.

   Well, summer is on her way out now and the weather is a lot cooler this last week, great news for working next to my kiln all day and the colours that surround us in nature are changing, giving us even more new colours to work from. So get out there and have a great look around you, nature is stunning and she makes life so much more wonderful for us bead makers.

   I promised I would let you see some of the new nugget beads I have been working on this last few days. I have some new glass to play with and I always find making nuggets helps show off the colours and designs, because we need to press the nugget, it helps show off the glass, if you notice when glass retailers sell us glass they always show a mashed or pressed rod end, this is again the same principle, the pressing if the glass shows the colours more.

   If I had a new glass and just made a simple tyre bead with it, there would be a big chance the colours wouldn't show us all there hide, but by using it in nugget form i get to see what the glass as to offer. Next time you get to play with some new colours try it, I'm sure you will enjoy it a lot more.

 Here I used some stunning new glass which gives so much colour, dark, light, silvers, it has an amazing charm about it and I for one will be using it as much as possible.

Tomorrow I will post another picture on here as I tried a lot of glass out like this in the past few days.

I have posted the names of the two free beads winners on the "Free Beads" page today and I hope they both enjoy using the beads. I feel very happy to be able to just give a little back to those who help me living this wonderful life of a bead makers.

   Rain yet again here in the fens, and although I love the rain it points us towards the end of summer, the leaves are dropping already and the birds are feasting on berries all around the garden here. Work on the ponds is coming to an end at last and this means I get more time to work on my beads.

   For those of you wanting to know about the next bead sale date, there will be a big autumn sale on Sunday 14th Sep ( a week this Sunday).  As you all know by now all the sets for sale will be at a set "Buy It Now" price in my ebay shop which is Beads Of Glass.

   On the bead front, I have been making some new nuggets beads with new glass that I haven't used before, some of the results are fantastic and I promise to show you pictures tomorrow. Orders have been buy this summer, which is good news as summer months can be really slow.

   If your orders are late or were a little late this last week it was because I had a major kiln problem here, but because of the great guys at Tuffnell Glass, I was able to get it sorted in a few days. It did put things back but its all back to normal here now.

   I thought you might like to see a picture of a little friend who I'm hoping to make a nice new home for. The job of sorting out the pond is taking longer than we thought but then you know me, I would only be working all holiday so I guess its doing me a favour being out in the fresh air.

   This little guy was really happy to pose for me before he set off to the new pond. I feel really lucky that I can sit by the pond for lunch, there is always something going on there, fish, dragonflies, frogs, beetles and colours that give out so many bead design ideas.

   For any of you just taking up bead making I would suggest you take time to get out and look at all the colours mother nature has produced for us and if you get chance to bring some into your garden like we did, I promise you will get to enjoy so much and just sitting by water can help your creative side shine through.

   The sun is shining so we have a great start to the holiday weekend Yipeeee ! I must start by thanking the two lucky free bead winners for July for the nice emails they sent, I'm really pleased the beads will be used and that they will help bring a little pleasure. All this months customers will be placed in the hat for this months draw, there will be two sets of the encased rainbow stone sets given away.

   Tomorrow or this evening I hope to show you some new beads that were made yesterday, I just need to get the pictures taken this afternoon.

   This last two weeks have been a real jugging act for me here at the barn. We found that the liner in the pond needed replacing around two months ago and I kept putting it off until Yvonne said it was time we sorted it out plus it would give me a week to take it easy.

   Of course the replacing of the main pond ment the need of a smaller pond to keep the fish happy while the work on the large pond was taking place, this then lead to the suggestion of a group of ajoining ponds, smaller but reaching further down the garden, more like a small water garden.

   So we set to work, low cost yes but bloody hard work and we wasn't wrong ! I must admit the digging helped with the exercise and i feel a lot better for it.

   So this is why I've been so quiet this last couple of weeks, to be honest I've been crashing out most evenings, I have been keeping up with orders and the last of those are going in post today and tomorrow.

   WOW!!!! the last few days have really been warm here in the Fens, the barn was too warm, I guess sitting by the kiln doesn't help, but I get used to it and there is always an area of shade by the pond to sit and sip a ice cold drink. I'm so lucky to have a large cooling unit in the barn so that helps make working more easy in these hot weeks of summer, plus we would only moan if the summer was cool or wet.

   Its been a strange few days, I've been making beads for orders from the website, all of which are now made and the last few will be posted out tomorrow. A whole day was taken up with the packing of the sale beads, but it was worth it after getting so many nice emails from happy customers, always puts a smile on my face and makes this job so worth all the hours.

   I'm just about to list a couple of sets on ebay plus some focal beads here in the website focal shop so feel free to take a look when you have time.

   Here is one of the sets that i'm listing today for auction, I love the mixture of colours and I don't think I have missed any out, blues, greens, pinks and purples, what a great selection all in one set. The beads are fully encased in clear glass which helps show off all the colours.

   I hope you are all up for some great bead fun this coming week as I will be trying out a new idea. It won't be for the faint hearted and will test your trust in me. All will be explained in the next few days, but lets just say no other bead makers as tried it before ( that I know of ) and will any of you take up the challenge. 

   Once again I have to report that the sale sunday evening was a great success, and thank you all for buying my beads. There were only nine sets left and those will be taken off ebay on sunday if not sold. Thank you again for all the nice emails about the sale and again I say don't thank me as it's my way of giving just a little back, plus it helps my turnover, so we are all happy.

   I have noticed new buyers starting to like my beads, I'm not sure if any of you are new to lampwork beads or just new to me,  but in both cases its great news.

   Not long now and the free bead draw will take place and we have a great amount of names in the hat already from this months website sales, the two bead sets are all made and waiting for their new owners.

   Its been a really busy week so far with orders to make and garden to clear ready for new pond, but I must say the work in the garden is such an eye opener. The fact that just two years ago I was working long days building stone patios, stone walling or laying cobbles, yet now after two years sitting on my arse making beads ten hours a day, just two hours digging post holes for the fence and I was so tired. It does show how much I need to get fit now and it was a shock which has really opened my eyes to the fact. So now every day I'm trying to get at least an hours work done in the garden.

   The beads are going well this week, I still have three orders to complete but most of the work is done for the sale evening this coming sunday. Like the other sales this month it will again start at 7pm on sunday evening and again there will be 100 sets listed, all on "Buy It Now" at just £7.99, so I'm hoping there will be something there for all tastes.

   There is a good mixture of sets in this sale including etched, bubble, lentil and encased beads. Even pebble sets too. Thi set shown here in the picture is a set from the coming sale, they were made with silver and have beed etched giving that real rustic look, there are more like these in the sale so try making time sunday evening to take a look.

   I feel really guilty this evening, I have had a real lazy day here in the barn, the weather has been fine and I guess I just needed a slow day, a day spent with Yvonne and the dogs relaxing by the pond, well I did make one set.

   As you can see in this picture even without Klyde there are still these two to keep an eye on haha ! Marley on the left is the older more sensible of the two and Ziggy on the right is just plain bloody naughty, he even looks naughty, I'm sure when I took this picture he was thinking of something to do to get in trouble.

   I have been making some new large focal lentils beads in the last month or two, I have now started making the beads to a better standard and I'm starting to think they may work. I have given a few away to a few customers and they all seem to love them, keeping them all for themselves.

  Here is one of the samples, I 'm sure they will improve a lot in the next few weeks as I'm spending  more time on them now. Feel free to let me know any thoughts you have on the design, it's always great to hear from you all.

   I can tell you the date for the next sale day, it will be sunday 20th July, it will be another 100 set evening and yet again all at a fixed price of just £7.99. I'm getting a lot of emails from customers thanking me for the sales, but I am really happy doing them and giving a little back to you all, without you I would still be landscaping in the hot sun all day, yet here I am doing a job that I adore, so it should be me thanking you.

   Yesterday was an amazing day here in the barn, we had some fantastic rain storms with thunder rolling around the fenland skies. Since a very young boy I have always loved the rain, I remember sitting on the kitchen floor of my grandad's thatched cottage with the big oak door wide open watching the rain bouncing on the cobbled yard, I often wish I was still there.

   While the rain and thunder were playing around us my thoughts were playing with the idea of making beads to show those big tropical storms, big dark skies yet still full of the most amazing colours, so glass was picked and I started work on the set.

   I knew when the first bead was made and placed into the kiln that they were going to be good, but this morning at 6.30am, when they were taken from the kiln I was really over the moon, it was great great feeling of excitement that all bead makers get when something special comes from the kiln.

  After the beads were cleaned and washed it was clear to me that there was not just one great set but two, the second set I made in the rain was bloody amazing too and you can see those on the "Whats New" page. The storm beads I have called Tropical Cyclone and as you can see the colours and effects are very unique.

   I hope I can make more beads in this style as they really are pleasing to the eye and I'm sure some of you would love to work with them. 

   This morning was spent sorting through hundreds of focal beads in the barn, beads that have spent months and in odd cases years in boxes and cupboards. I'm still not sure I have found them all yet, but enough to keep me going for now.

   I have a box of focals here in the barn that I sell off at a fixed low price and so many people keep saying I should sell them on in my ebay shop as it;s a real shame they never get seen by all my customers. So with that in mind and after the bead sale days going so well I have decided that there will be a category just for bargain focals in my ebay shop. All the focals will be listed at a set price of just £4.99 and will be listed from today. I will list as often as possible, meaning there will always be focals there to buy.

   I hope you all enjoy looking through them and I hope there will be something there that you can use in your jewellery. I will still be listing better new focals here in the website focal shop so please keep your eyes out for thyose, I have some really nice new focals to list here in the next day or two.

   I'm always getting asked if I sell loose spacer beads and I have done from the barn for the last couple of years, but never from website or my ebay shop. So I thought it was time I placed them for sale in the spacer shop here on the site.

   I know they are always very usefull for jewellery makers as they can be used in charm bracelets etc, but even just having different odd spacers in your stock box can be handy.

   They will be sold in batches of 50 spacers, sizes and colours will be picked at random and some will be etched, others not, but all will be nice in shape and machine cleaned and washed ready for use.

   I hope they will be a help to some people and at just £9 for 50 spacers I hope people will be able to afford to use more spacers in their work. It's nice to think people may start using more lampwork spacer beads, I have seen some great jewellery made using nothing else but spacers and findings, I guess I'm saying that they are not just the sad little cousin who sits next to the show off focals, but have their own part to play in jewellery making.

   The lucky dip spacers are now on sale from the spacer shop, so go for it, bring them to life, they shouldn't just sit in a basket for ever. 

   Its been a good week here in the barn, lots of orders to make plus I have been taking a little time for myself, time spent making new sets for the displays. One of the sets I wanted to show you is this set of implosion beads in the picture.

   I love playing with this type of bead and always seem to give away the different beads I make to customers who visit. I often just make single beads or the odd pair but I thought it was time I made them in sets, giving people a chance to use them in larger pieces of jewellery.

   In this set I used white plus a very pale pink/purple giving me the colour of the blossom seen in early spring on my peach trees. I'm making more sets in other colours so I'll show you some more in the future.

   This set are about to go on auction in my ebay shop so feel free to go take a look, there are a lot more sets being listed this week.

   Yesterday was such a sad day here at the barn, my dog Klyde died of old age. He was ill wed evening and I sat with him until the early hours until he had settled, but in the morning he was not too good and passed away around mid morning.  We have put him to rest under our fruit trees, a place where its nice to go sit and think up bead ideas, maybe he'll give me a few ideas or that kick up the arse I need sometimes. He was my very best friend and was always out in the barn with me while I worked, it will be so strange not having him there any more. He was nearly 14 so had a long life and enjoyed it so much, being spoilt rotton by everyone and was a real clever old thing, he always knew where the cookies were haha.

   A lot of customers knew him and all made a fuss of him too, he was always ready for that. I remember buying him from the money we made at a car boot all those years ago, we sold lots of stuff left over from when I moved in with Yvonne and we used the money to pay for this little Andrex puppy that we called Klyde. I never knew then that he would be such a big part of my life and would give us all so much love. But he did and it was great having him for so many years. Its strange how dogs can give so much love out to us but we can't do the same, makes you wonder doesn't it.

   I really miss him already.

   Yesterday evening I spent a couple of hours playing with silver, one of my favourite beading materials. I made a few sets all of which I was happy with and thought you might like to have a look a one of the sets.

   I used a mix of black and silver in this set, a great couple to work with and I'm so pleased with the finished beads. I guess they are my kind of bead and not everybody will like them being so dark, but hey, it's good that we all like different, would be a sad world if we all liked the same.

   I think these would look good in a spree shape or indeed lentil, but we'll see.

   I have been asked about the next bead sale and I'm hoping it will be in three weeks time. I was going to try fitting a focal sale in before but it depends how busy I am, it's mad here at the moment so I'm sure it will slow down soon.

   For those of you who are waiting for orders to arrive most were posted this evening and will be going in the morning collection tomorrow, so hope they will be with you by friday.

   I said I would show you some of the beads I have been making with the new glass and here they are, just a basic encased set, but thats how I like to try out new colours. By fully encasing the bead you magnify the details thus showing the colours off more.

   This set was one of the best I made while tying out some of the colours, it has a wonderful look of the Norfolk reed, the yellows and the greens of the young reeds, growing out of the water with hints of the reflections from the water on the stems.

   These natural colours work so well when you encase, but I have made some more girlie colours, as I call them, the pinks and purples and I hope to show you some soon. This set is on ebay auction at present and they seem to be getting a far bit of attention.

   Its been a funny week, I have been making orders up from the website, making beads to start filling the displays up here in the barn and after having some new glass colours arrive I just had to play around with them for a while. Then there was the garden to tidy, well tidy is not the right word really, its a jungle after having worked every hour I could this last couple of years, so its out with the strimmer and time to uncover all my my fruit trees.

   Its funny, but with the displays being empty it gives me that fresh start feeling, I did think it would make me worry about selling off so many old beads but it is the opposite and the last week I seem to be making some really nice beads, beads that I'm happy with and beads that excite me when I open the kiln every morning.

   The beads I sell in the sales are the older sets and there are more here in the cupboards that I'm saving for next months sale. I don't sell off too many of the new sets, they are here for customers and to be honest I can't afford to sell sets worth well over £20 for just £7.99, the sets I do place in the sales all sell here for around the £12 to £15 mark which means sale customers really are getting a great bargin.

   So it's back to the torch for me and I hope tomorrow I will be able to show you some of the new beads that I'm making with those new colours.

   The first thing I need to do is thank all those who obtained beads in the sale on sunday, once again it was a big success and from emails sent to me it seems there are a lot of happy customers. But please don't thank me as your helping me too, the displays here really do need clearing out every so often, so thanks should go to you also.

   I have had a few suggestions about there being a focal sale and to be honest thats an easy one for me, all the customers who call in here at the barn know I have boxes of focals everywhere, I always seem to be playing with focals and I would say less than 20 % ever get on ebay or website for sale. So maybe a focal sale is a good idea, I may squeeze one in before the next bead set sale so keep an eye out for info here on my blog.

   All those people who obtained beads on sunday will be getting their beads in next couple of days, this evening I'll be packing all the beads sold ready for postage first thing tomorrow. They would have been packed yesterday but I took a day off, yes I was a lazy git for a whole day, but back to work today bright and early, can't keep my torch cold for too long.

   Its been a long day on the pc but at last all 100 sets are listed ready for tomorrows sale. I'm glad I don't work in an office, I would never be able to sit at a pc all day long, would drive me mad.

   I thought I would show you one of the sets in the sale tomorrow, they are a mixture of a new purple glass I now have and added silver. I use this design with black base beads and indeed there is a set of those in the sale also, but this new colours really is great, I'm really happy with the way they look.

   I hope they go to a good home tomorrow and help to produce some nice piece of jewellery.

   Its been a busy week here with all the sale beads to list ready for sunday. The barn displays are looking enpty but thats the idea, I'm going to have great fun filling them with new beads and boy do I have a lot of ideas to try. I can never figure out why more bead makers don't do the same, they must want to keep improving and surely the best way to do this is to every so often have a good clear out and start a fresh.

   I never want to fall into that trap of making the same old beads because they always sell, sitting pressing lentils every day knowing they will sell is not the life I wish to lead, it would drive me up the wall. No, big clear out every so often works wonders and helps keep the old grey matter coming up with designs.

  This set of pebbles were made yesterday in a couple of hours "my time", spent playing with silver and I'm pleased with them. I like to use silver with turquoise, I always think there is something special with these two, a really good match. I am just listing these on ebay so if your interested in them go take a look.

   I hope your all going to have a look at the sets in the sale sunday evening, don't forget they will all be listed at 7pm like before, but this time there will be 100 sets rather than 50, this is because so many people missed out last time and thinking about it 50 sets of beads really don't go very far.

   I hope your all having a great holiday weekend even if the weather is doing it's best to spoil it. We had a visit from a regular customer this weekend and it was great meeting yet another new face to the bead jewellery world. Mo, as not been making jewellery for that long but WOW ! she is already getting some great pieces made and her silver work is fantastic to see.

   She is new to lampwork beads but like most she is now enjoying the pleasure only given by lampwork beads. It's always so enjoyable seeing the jewellery my customers make and I'm very lucky that so many let me photograph their pieces.

   In this bracelet and earring set Mo has used some of my cranberry swirl nuggets and I'm really happy to see how good they help show off the great silver work.

   After seeing some of her pieces I'm sure I will be making a lot more beads in the brighter colours, well a few more any way haha ! So thank you Mo and it was great having you here, your always very welcome and keep up the great work.

   After taking a day off and running off to the coast for a few hours I been making lots of notes for new bead designs and to be honest I really can't wait to get the torch lit. Tomorrow morning will be an early start for me, there are two things I really want to try out and if they work you'll be the first to know.

   I just want to say thank you also to those of you who have emailed this week with some really kind words and remarks about my beads, I always try my best to keep the quality of my beads to a high standard and when I get nice remarks it reminds me how important bead quality is, plus it makes all the hours worth while.

   I need to thank all of you who were kind enough to obtain bead sets on the sale day, it was just amazing to see how fast the sets sold. All 50 sets were sold in an hour which was great news for me, but I was upset that some customers missed out and I really feel I should have listed more beads.

  So with this in mind I will be listing 100 sets, again all priced at £7.99 on Sunday the 8th of June, the beads will be listed at 7pm, the same time as before which helps those customers from the US and other countries. As I stated before I will try to hold a sale day every month and will always try to sell a good selection of beads. This time I will be emailing customers in pleanty of time as last time the sale was a bit of a rush.

   So once again thank you to every customer who did manage to get some sets from last sunday and I hope you all enjoyed using the beads in your jewellery.

   Well at last I have sorted out the date for the £7.99 sale day in my ebay shop (Beads Of Glass), there will be 50 bead sets listed in the shop all at a "Buy It Now" price of £7.99 and the sets will all be listed at 7pm on sunday 18th, yes this sunday coming, just two days away.

   I have sorted out a good selection of beads for the sale and I hope to do the same every couple of months. One of the main reasons is so more people can afford lampwork beads, I have very strong feelings that beads should be affordable to people from all walks of life, and there are many people out there who can make fantastic jewellery with outstanding skills but can't always afford lampwork beads, this to me is a real shame.  I have had other bead makers moan about my prices being too low at bead fairs and to be honest, if these people don't believe in letting the likes of children with limited pocket money or older people on pensions being able to afford their beads, then they are sad little people or should we just say greedy, I don't know.

   So, lets get those beads out there and let everyone use them, it can only be good for the art of lampwork, we can all make sets or focals that can sell for bigger prices, but hey, lets not forget those who are on smaller budgets and I hope these sales will help.

   This is just one of the sets going on sale sunday, one of the swirl sets that I love making and here I used some wonderful amber colours over white, simple but very effective.

   I hope you all enjoy looking at the beads sunday and I also hope there is something there you may like.

    I have been clearing out the displays here in the barn and like I always do, I'm going to be making lots of new stock. So with this is mind and thinking of those who can't always afford some of the prices that lampwork beads have been fetching this year, I have decided to have a 7.99 sale every few months. I will be listing around 50 sets of beads in my ebay shop all on "Buy it now" and all priced at 7.99. Most of the sets will be well worth over that amount but those of you who know me will know I love selling off older sets and replacing with new sets, it helps me to keep improving, I hate standing still and just making the same old beads because they sell.

   I will be letting you know the date on which the sets will be listed and it will be a first come, first served basis. It will be in the next two weeks for sure and I will send out emails to as many customers as possible, I want it to be fair. I'm sure there will be lots of sets listed that you have seen sell for far more money, but as well as helping me get old stock out it will also, I hope, help some afford lampwork in their jewellery.

   It has been a busy week yet again but I have had time to make a few more of the dream beads. I must admit I love these beads, they have such a soft look and feel about them and I'm sure they will look fantastic in any piece of jewellery.

   The colours do make a difference to the beads with the light pastel colours being the best, but I guess any colours can be used.

   In the set shown I have used yellows and oranges to show how just some colours will look. I have also just listed a lime colour set on ebay which I think look great. I hope to play around again tomorrow with other colours and you never know I may even get some made with bright colours, yes me, bright colours haha, we'll see.

   It would be great to get some feedback from any of you on these dream beads, so your very welcome to email me with your thoughts.

   Its a wet a cold sunday morning here in the Fens and I was hoping for a nice bright day just right for photo taking, oh well, we can't have it all.  I have been taking photo's of jewellery for a project that I'm involved with but I'm just not happy with the pictures yet, so it is just a matter of taking more until I get the quality I'm looking for.

   I have been making a few new frit blends for my own use and they are working out really well, I love playing around with frit and I hope to start selling some of my blends in the very near future, I'll be letting you all know when I start.

   This set of lentils that I listed on ebay yesterday were made using a new frit blend. I wanted that misty wind look with the waves of the sea very much in mind, so the frit blend was never going to be too busy, three or four colours at the most. I think the results were great and having etched the set helped a great deal too.

   I better get off to the torch now, I hope to have a play around and make some mother of pearl  beads to place in the bead shop here on the website.

   I guess the first thing I need to say is I'm sorry for not updating this blog, but things have been mad here in the last couple of weeks. First  we had trouble yet again with our broad band connection, second time this year and ment we couldn't get online for three days. Then I had to catch up on orders so it was busy busy busy ! Now I can say I have just about caught up with with orders and commissions.

   So I'm back and glad to say back to stay. I have been working on a few new designs in the last few months including a lot of rustic beads and organics. The commissions have been interesting including the trio of lentil beads here in the picture.

   There were for a new customer Janet and I'm hoping she will enjoy using them. I was so pleased with the results, I have been trying to get a mother of pearl look for a few weeks now, and I think at last I have it right in this trio. I know a lot of jewellery makers love to use mother of pearl and I wanted to be able to give them both in a bead and I feel now I can go on and use the effect more.

   Well, it's sunday, the day of rest and I'm having a day off YIPEEEEE !!!  Its time I did this blog update also I need to list a few sets and focals. How different the weather is this weekend, bright and sunny, not cold, a real great spring morning, great timing has we put our clocks forward last night.

   The last couple of days I've been making orders and I must say any of you waiting for orders from the website shops, they are all on the way to you, all orders were posted out yesterday, so monday or tues you should have your beads.

   I did make some time for myself, playing with ivory colour glass and silver, the results were reat and here is one of the sets that i'm just about to list on ebay auction.

   I did add some pure silver to these beads but it's the darkness of some of the effect that I like the most. Yes, I know everyone makes Ivory beads with silver and always will, but it's good to try getting new effects and there are two I'm working on, just need to get them right before I dare show them off. I want to work more on the crunchy looking areas of the beads, using more silver, I'm sure I'll get there in the end.

   Yesterday we had snow and around 5 inches here in the Fens, it was great getting up at 7 to see a wonderful carpet of thick snow and more falling.

   I had to get the camera straight away to catch the moment and out into the garden I went with my dogs who were rolling around in the snow within seconds of seeing it. It's the most snow we have had here in one go since we moved here six years ago and it really did look like a different place.

  Then by mid afternoon the snow had all but gone, just a few traces left, just for once it would be nice if it stayed around for a few days, but at least we had some this year even if it did only last a few hours.

Today I have been packing orders to be posted tomorrow and in all having a day off from bead making. I'm sure I'll be back at the torch first thing tomorrow, wishing I was still sitting there looking out over that world covered in snow. I hope you have all had a great easter weekend and not too much chocolate !!

   Somebody did mention this weekend was a holiday, mmmmmmmmmm does that mean we don't need to work, YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!

   Ok, I have to admit I have made a few beads, but just a few, I wanted to make a few sets of hollow beads this weekend, it's been a while since I made some and I enjoy making hollows, there is something more natural about the sizes and shapes. Most hollow beads are not a perfect shape and to be honest if you look at the sets sold on the market you would be hard to find a set of hollows all the same size. But to me this all adds to the unique feel and look of the beads, they have a great look and why should a bead be perfect, why cant each bead be different ?

   I make a lot of beads and there are many types I enjoy making, but I think hollows are near the top of the list. Yes they take a little longer to make but there is something good about the way they form. When you make that last wrap of glass, joining the two sides together you then watch the bead form in the flame, that really is out of your hands, the bead should form on its own if you have built the two discs right.

   For anyone who as yet hasn't made hollow beads they are well worth a try and don't be put off by those who say they are hard to make, if we all did that we would never try anything, once your used to making them they are as easy as any other bead.

   After the last few weeks I thought it was time for at least a morning off, so with that in mind we decided on a morning trip to the local coast to walk on the beach and pick pebbles.

   We love collecting pebbles and I often use them for colour ideas. I have been mixing my own colours for a while now and I can spend hours making thick stringers of all colours, ideal for using as decoration. I remember one evening I was looking to make a soft pink and started mixing. After two hours I had a jar full of stringers in around 20 different pinks, I don't think enough people do this, they just seem to stick to the colours sold to them.

   For some of you living around the south coast who are lucky enough to have those wonderful blue seas, our coast may seem cold and dull, but I enjoy the beaches we have here in the east. The sea is always looking wild and cold from the north and it brings us so many  different colour pebbles, yet still leaves us some amazing sandy beaches.

  It was a great morning and after sitting watching the sea with out little bag of pebbles we were soon back here and on went the torch. I know it was just a morning off but it was nice just to relax, worth every minute.  

   It has been a very busy time here at the barn this last week with private orders to be made and the rest of the family coming down with colds, yes, I know the colds came from me, so I shouldn't moan.

   I have managed time to work on some stone effect beads and as you all know they are my favourite, so it was a pleasure. I'm hoping to get the website stocked more this coming weekend and here is just one of the sets I'll be listing.

   I love the different effects that these beads show, just like that of natural rock and stone.

   The stones I was looking for needed to be dark and magical, the kind of stones you would find in some dry sea cave, the kind of place used by unknown creatures over thousands of years, stones laid as a floor on which dragon scales have laid to rest, their hot breath giving the stones the dark look.

   I hope the other sets I'm going to list give you real cause to think of places and times we can only dream of.

   I have been working on a new idea, simple yet magical too. The focal I have shown here is the first of the Dragon Drean collection and I have already had some great feedback and interest in the beads.

   The Dragon dreams were left upon rocks all over the world by Dragons just waiting to be found and looking deep into the dream globe would show your dreams and in many cases take you back to to the time of Dragons and other mythical creatures. The colours of the dreams could vary a lot and in this collection I'll hope to produce many of the colours. 

   I will be selling these focals on both this website and on ebay auction so keep your eyes open for the different colour dream globes.

  With this focal I used Ivory base with some Iris and silver effects and then etched the base bead. In other beads I will be using real stone effecr base beads and have already done so, this gives an even more mythical look to the beads.

   I will be listing a couple of these focals later this evening on ebay auction, so it will be interesting to see what interest they get.

   First of all I need to say a big sorry for the lack of blog updates, but to be honest the last week has been a real crap one here. That cold seems to have hung on and I just had no get up and go. But I'm pleased to say I'm feeling great now and enjoying my bead making again, in fact I'm making some very different beads which I'll be showing you over the next few days.

   The frosts are back and they are very welcome, bringing some wonderful fresh mornings with them. Many parts of the country have had snow, but nothing here sob sob, it looks like I won't be getting the chance to sit at my torch watching the snow out of my window this year.

   Yesterday I had a day working with Ivory glass, making a few lentil sets and some larger tyre bead sets with large holes, these are very popular for use with leather thing or cord.

   These lentils were made with a turquoise centre incorporated in the raised swirl. I have made these beads a few times before and have seen them in finished pieces of jewellery too and they look great. They are soft in look and feel being fully etched.

   Man flu all gone apart from a slight cough but it felt so good getting on that torch again. I guess its rather like having an addiction, the odd days I do have off just seem to fuel my passion for beads even more and I can't wait to get going again. Its been over two years now since I became a full time bead maker and I can honestly say I have enjoyed every minute, even after filling so many rubbish bins with crap beads.

   You may have noticed I have been listing a selection of focal beads both here in the focal shop and on ebay (robsbeadsofglass). I have been making a few focal beads in the evenings and wanted to get a few on show. I always seem to get carried away when making focals and I dread to think how many there are in boxes in the barn. I find them a great way to try out ideas for bead sets. If I feel that say three colours will work well along with gold leaf then I make a trial focal using those colours, ok doing this does account for a few crap focals, but when it works I'm left with a really nice bonus focal.

   This pair of focals are listed here in the organic shop and I really like them. I don't feel they would ever be used together in one piece but both are great focals in their own right.

   I have fully etched both beads and the feel is great, I sometimes wonder if many people feel the beads they wear, etched beads give such a soft feel so try it sometime. I love this colour and the way it plays such a great host to silver, never failing to give great results.

  I'm not sure I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning as I really need to tidy the glass in the barn and believe me it's not the best job in the world, rods everywhere, bits of rods in pots, jars and tins and if I told you where mandrels have been found you would never believe me haha !  

   Well, I have struggled over to the pc from under the quilt on the sofa, my loo roll in hand and a sore nose that already make me look like cocco the clown. I bloody hate colds, like all guys I guess I make a big thing about it, unlike most women who always just seem to work on through it.

   So, an easy day for me here, I did manage a few sets this afternoon, and among them I made some sample beads. I do this a lot, I make odd beads when I have ideas on colours. They get strung up in the barn along with many others.

   I guess other bead makers do the same and I often tell people how in years to come they will walk into this old dusty barn and find this sad old bead maker working at his torch with the barn full of strings of odd beads, hanging from everywhere. I can imagine them rubbing off the dust and finding these wonderful beads, designs not seen before, but hold on, the barn is getting like that already and I'm getting old too !

   Well  I better get back under that warm quilt and let the world carry on around me while I run bead ideas around in my head.

   No frost this morning and its not that cold, but we do have yet more fog and by the sounds of it so do most parts of the country. I had a nice surpise as I opened the kiln this morning, yesterday late afternoon I had made a set of Spree beads with a mixture of olive green and rust brown all encased in clear Vetrofond.

   The beads are far better than I expected, so much so I just had to come in onto the pc and let you see them. The colour mix is not one I would go for every day, but they seem to work and the results are rather like the rock formations found around North Wales.

   This just go to prove that sometimes the colours you wouldn't dream of mixing can indeed work. I know we all use the well know colours pairs such as Turquoise and Orange, Ivory and Turquoise or black and lime. We see hundreds of sets made from these colours over a year and maybe its time we all started looking at the colours we leave standing gathering dust.

   A little trick I try is to select eight rods of different colours, lay them out on my worktop and then pick out three with my eyes shut. Ok, I know I make some real "in your face" sets, but believe me, some of the sets I have mad in this way have made the odd customer very happy and some have sold for very good prices, so go on, give it a try and let me know if you get on ok.

   I just wanted to show you the sight from my studio window, the sight I was lucky enough to be seeing today, all day. Yes the barn was freezing this morning but nothing the kiln and heater didn't fix and the fact that I could sit working next to a warm kiln looking out on a garden full of this was well well worth the hour of coldness early this morning.

   I think you have all guessed by now that I love the winter months, its a great season with so much going on, plants budding up, leaf buds on my fruit trees and birds looking so busy.

   I have been working too, I promise, orders were made and I have been working on some enamel beads this afternoon. Also I was making a few sets of Spree beads for a customer.

   I'm hoping to have half a day off tomorrow, visiting family in my home village in Hertfordshire, I try to vistit as often as possible as we are a close family and a big one too, I guess a lot of village families were. So its with fingers crossed that I hope we get another fantastic frost filled morning tomorrow.

   The mornings this last few days have been a real pleasure with Jack frost staying out to play until lunch and indeed on one occasion never leaving our garden. The barn is freezing at first but the heat from the kiln and the odd heater soon help to warm the work area and by mid afternoon the place is very cosy.

  I have been working hard this weekend I promise, with orders all posted this morning and even new sets of pebble beads being made. I thought I would do a few sets of pebbles in the mythical designs with some matching silvered spacer beads, small pebble sets, keeping the cost down and yet still enough beads to help make some nice piece of jewellery.

   The set seen here are made from a real mixture of glass, some Effetre soft glass with Reichenbach glass and silver adding to the design. I decided five pebbles were enough plus the six spacers. The size of the pebbles needed to be bigger to make up for number and yet I had to keep a size that wouldn't be too chunky to wear with comfort.

   I knew I wanted to find a sea feel in the beads and with this in mind I decided to use one of my favourite blue glasses, the glass gives a wonderful mythical look, with some clear patches but also more cloudy. I'm so pleased with the finished pebbles and don't worry there are more in the kiln as I type this blog. I have just listed these along with a smaller set on ebay to see what the feedback will be and please feel free to go take a look and comment.

    It has been a good day here in the barn, but it started very foggy once again, it has been like victorian London here this past two days. I had a good day at the torch, making a lot of sets and some orders too. I made a few more rustic sets today and listed two more on ebay from yesterdays hoard. I alway get people asking whats the best thing about being a bead maker, being in the warm on cold days ? starting when you want in the mornings ? or just being your own boss ? well, yes all of those go to help make this job so good but there is one thing that really gets to me every day and I mean every day.

   After long days at the torch, or difficult days , the days when everything goes wrong, there is always the next morning. When I say this I mean the excitement of that few minutes when you walk into a cold studio, turn on the radio and the heater then open the door to the kiln. You take out all the mandrels, each holding at least one bead and while walking to the cleaning station you try to see the look of any new beads that were made that day before. Its like being a kid at christmas, trying to see what is under the tree. Some mornings its a real let down, with colours not turning out the way you wanted but then some mornings its just amazing how beads can look far better than you ever expected. So you see, that one small amount of time goes a great deal of the way to making this job the perfect one.

   Here is a set of my "Peach Sands" rustic beads that I made yesterday, really simple beads but they just have something about them, maybe its the colour, maybe the etching, I don't know, but they have that little something. The set are all made on the bigger mandrel so the hole size is around the 3mm size, making them perfect for those who wish to use them with leather cords or thong and they are a good size bead too, far bigger than spacers.

   This set is listed on ebay along with a few more of the rustic range, hope you get time to take a look, any feedback is very welcome.

   I have listed a few sets of rustic beads on ebay this evening, I like making the beads for customers and they always seem popular here at the barn, so with this in mind I thought i would give them an outing. I the problem I have is that I feel people will just think they are spacer beads, but that is far from the truth. These beads for a start are a lot bigger than spacers, in fact some are a lot bigger than the tyre beads I make. They are all made on thicker mandrels, giving a large size hole, ideal for those who wish to use leather cord or thong and all the colours are rustic, browns, greys and greens, all the natural colours we find in nature all year round.

   I have seen these beads used with leather and they do look good, the teenage generation seem to love them used in this way and indeed will change colours many times. I think its all part of our younger people feeling more importance for nature now and loving the rustic look and feel of things, I remember being a teenager of the late 70's when fashion was so very different, the girls wanted only bright colours and sparkle, and no, I won't be putting any pictures of me in the 70's on here haha !

   But now the younger people really do go for the more natural colours in their clothes and in the jewellery they wear, you only need to look on tv and you'll see how many are wearing natural coloured beads and I think they look great. So with that in mind I thought a range of rustic beads would maybe go down ok with customers, fingers crossed.

   I stood unlocking the barn this morning and all I could think was "what a fantastic day", the sun was already out and the sky was blue and even with a nip in the air, what a great morning, "any bead maker could only enjoy working on a day like this", I thought.

   I started the day as normal, empty the kiln, clean and wash the beads from the day before, string and sets that I need  for posting and then cuppa and get the torch lit. I was then called from the house as my glass supply from the guys at Tuffnell Glass had arrived, I'm always like a big kid when I get glass even though it was just basic every day glass I need for stock.

   Then I started work and was looking to make a set of lime caves. They were a set of beads I had made over a year ago and they sold within minutes at Harrogate Bead Fair. I had been clearing out some old bead pots in the barn at the weekend when I found one of the beads from the set I made. So I just had to make another set.

   These are the beads in question, Ivory colour beads with those clear windows in the surface allowing you to see the lime silver inside the beads, this kind of bead always seem to put smiles on faces.

  I think I might look back at some more old favouries , there may be the odd gem to be found.

   What a fantastic fresh sunday morning, just one thing wrong, we have no snow. Many areas around us here have had a few inches this weekend, but we had nothing, what a pity, but maybe we still have time before Spring is upon us. You may have guessed by now that I love the snow, always have since being a child and the thought of sitting at my torch looking out the window to see a thick white covering of snow is one that appeals to me.

   I have been playing around this weekend with pebble beads and one of the sets I came up with were these shown here in the picture.

   I like the way ivory glass can play host to many different colours and one of the best being amethyst. So i thought i would give these a try, I didn't want lots of colour, just windows looking into the beads and I'm pleased with them. I have tried over colours too, the old favourite turquoise, but most bead makers use turquoise with ivory, including myself, so i thought i would so the amethyst.

   I'll get off to the torch now and I hope your all enjoying your weekend and maybe some beading too. And when you see that snow falling and your all moaning about the cold and getting to work in it, remember that sad old bead maker watching it from his window with a big smile.

   I wanted to show you another new set of spee beads that I made this week. Its funny I like blue as a colour but I don't seem to use it that much, I don't know why because when I do I feel the resulting beads are always to my liking and are very popular with customers.

   This set are made from a mixture of transparent and opaque glass and of course I did manage to get the odd piece of silver in there too. Again I choose the spree bead because it has a lot more weight to it and i find the round edges seem to show off more of the design. These beads I left with fully encasing in clear, the use of the transparent glass gives so much depth without having to encase.

   Any feedback is very welcome, I would love to hear what some of you think about using more blue in my work.

   Now cuppa time over its back to the torch and I think I may be raiding the blue glass tubes again.

   Well I did promise to show you a set of the new spree beads and here they are. I have been playing with sprees for a while and I love the size and weight of this kind of bead. They are much larger than their smaller cousin the lentil bead, giving a much more chunky look to jewellery and the rounded edges help to give a better feel when worn.

   In this set I was playing with the rock effect that I use so much in my work, in fact I think I could just make that kind of bead for the rest of my life, there is no end to the different combinations you can try and every time I take them out of the kiln I honestly never know how they will look, its amazing, the more you look into the beads the more you see.

   With the beads being encased this helps magnify all the small details plus after flame polishing the beads they look superb. I hope to show you more new beads tomorrow but for now I better get back to my torch, cuppa breaks can only last so long !

   The last few days have been very enjoyable here, I have been trying out new bead ideas and still my luck seems to be holding with some really good results. To be honest I'm not sure why, but my beads seem to be improving so much since the new year, maybe there is someone up there looking down on me.

   I have been making more leaf beads after the success of the Winter Forest set and this is one set that I have been trying.

   They are made with the same look but I have been adding different hints of green to the design, in this case its a transparent that is running through the leaf, making every leaf very unique. I have also started making a few bigger leaf beads which we all feel would look great used as a single pendants, I hope to put a few for sale in the focal shop.

   I have also been making some new spree beads this last two days and I hope to show you tomorrow how some of them turnned out.

   Well, the focals are still coming and I started to list a few on ebay auctions last night. Tonight I hope to list a selection of focals here in the focal shop, so if you get time feel free to take a look. Its turning into a great week for me, the focals are making me smile, I guess I'm what you call "on a roll", for once the rubbish box is not over flowing with messed up beads. I love periods like this, times when most things seem to work out good, tho they don't come along that often.

   This focal is another of my turquoise silver style, I never get fed up using the glass in this way, if I ever get days when the world seems against me, making one of these brings a smile to my face, yes a smile, even if some think I'm a grumpy old sod haha !

   These beads are really popular with many customers and I guess the turquoise helps a great deal. I do make the same style with purple, emerald, blues and ambers and believe it or not, I even make a tiny amount with pink glass !

   I would also like to show you one of the sets I have just listed in the organic shop here on the site. They were made using silver to get that stone look and feel but I have been working on mixing transparent glass of late, so thought I'd give it a try in these. The two colours used produce a wonderful mixture of purple hints and gold and to be honest I'm bloody pleased with them.

 I think after these working out ok, I may be making more in different colours, I hope in the future to see these in a nice pice of jewellery, fingers crossed.

   This week along with the orders from the website shops I want to make new stock for the focal shop and also add new auctions on ebay.

   I think you all know by now that I would be very happy to spend the rest of my beading life making focal beads, just letting my mind run wild and filling the kiln with the most wonderful and the most ugly beads.

   I have been looking at the local coast here for some inspiration and the results so far are very pleasing, well to me they are. The Norfolk coast as a life of its own in the winter and still so full of interest, no crowds on the beaches, just the odd dog walker and the rolling seas, full of magic and so much danger too. The sands are so much darker this time of year and what a great time to pebble hunt.

   In this focal I used a wonderful new Vetrofond glass because of the dark sand colours and wrapped around the bead is a river of silver and iris as if the bead is held tight, keeping it in place.

   I hope to show you more focals as the week goes on and I hope you will enjoy at least some.

   Being a full time bead maker for me is a bloody fantastic job, yes it has its bad points and yes there are the areas of bead making that I can't stand, like the politics and those who always find things to moan about, such has the prices others are charging etc etc, all very sad people, but all in all its a wonderful job to have and the good points far out number the few bad.

   One of these good points is being able to see the finished jewellery my customers and friends create with the help of my beads. This week I have been lucky enough to take some pictures of jewellery from one of my regular customers and friend Joy McCall.

   In this picture you can see that she has used some of the dark red pebble beads along with some nice silver, making a really nice piece and mixing the natural shape of the beads with the elegance of the findings, in all a very nice bracelet indeed.

   I get to see a lot of work from local customers and I hope they will carry on bringing them here to show. I find it amazing how the same design of bead can be used in such different ways and I'm lucky enough to get to see most.

   So, you see now why I feel so lucky to have a job like this, making beads and knowing they will be used to great effect one day and I hope going a little way to helping make someone very happy with the jewellery they are wearing. Now back to my torch, cuppa time over here and there are a lot of customers out there to please.

   I just wanted to show you my latest set of leaf beads. The beads were made last week at around 8am while looking out onto my frost covered garden. This gave me the idea of the forest floor in mid winter, frozen areas and yet still so many colours around.

   There are ten leaf beads in the set and I thought I would add the nut shell looking spacers to add to the winter feel. I love winter and so often I feel people miss so much about it. The countryside is full of interest at this time of year and the colour range is so large.

   I know a lot of bead makers use flower colours and shapes to help with bead design ideas, but hey, come on guys, get out there on a frost filled morning and open your eyes, winter has lots for you to see, she is a wise old lady.

   It is the first day of my new listings and it's really nice to get back into the swing of things. I have already listed more new sets on this site and on ebay I have put three new sets up for auction, this will be followed by more tomorrow.  All this week I hope to add beads to both website and ebay and I must admit it's nice to start afresh again. I think the ebay shop was becoming a little stale so a fresh start was called for. It has helped me too, after the rest this christmas and the need to make sets for the new display here at the barn, my work seems to be a lot better, well in my eyes it is, others may say different, but then we can't all be perfect can we.

   One of the sets I have put on auction this morning is the "Davy Jones's Locker" set, I think these are one of my favourites, not because they are the most amazing beads but because they are just what I was after when I set out to make them.

   I wanted a set of beads that showed that lost seabed look, a set of beads that could have been found after a hundred years laying on the seabed, then dried out in the sun. I had an idea of the dried salt giving the beads a rough surface and the odd streak of rust from any minerals in the beads.

   I think I got it this time, they show all that I wanted and more, the colour is spot on, the suface effects are right, they even feel how I imagined. So for a bead maker to be over the moon about a set of beads doesn't always mean the beads are the best looking beads ever, but more importantly, they are the beads he or she had in their head. This has only happened a few times for me and I'm guessing for others too, but what a way to start 2008, I just hope its the start of things to come. 

   I just wanted to show you another set of beads I made this holiday, I must admit I'm really pleased with the beads I've made in the last couple of weeks, I think it's the fact of having more time and less rush rush orders.

   When making this set I was looking for that fire look, dark orange and golden yellows, all the flame colours but in a organic look to the beads.

   I think I came close to the look I was after, and the set being fully encased in clear glass brings out every little detail, of which there is a lot. The silver comes out really well between the fire orange and I'm sure these will go a long way to helping make a wonderful piece of jewellery.

  I hope you all enjoy a great evening and 2008 brings us all some fantastic beads.

Happy New Year !  

   Well, it's been and gone yet again, another Christmas came and went, is it me or do they go faster the older we get ?  I hope you all have a great christmas and your all looking forward to the new year. I found my way to the barn a couple of times over christmas, of course by accident, because as you all know this holiday is for resting haha !

   On one of these accidental visits, I thought it would be best just to try the torch, just to make sure its ok you understand. I found the best way to check it was to make just one set of beads and this set is the result of this little check.

   First of all, I love spree beads, the size and thickness making them an ideal size for jewellery, so this is the shape I chose. I wanted a set to add to my mythical display here in the barn and my old favourite the Dragon came to mind. These are fully encased and by doing so, this magnifies all the details. Its an exciting time here at the moment making new sets for ebay and the shops here on the site. I think a set of these might find their way here to the organic shop. 

   First of all I want to wish all my customers and friends a very merry christmas and a wonderful new year and thank you for putting up with my ranting and raving over the last year. It has been a hard year at times here but it was knowing such nice people that makes all the struggles and work worth it, so thank you, all of you.

   I hope to be listing beads over the holiday period and cleaning out my ebay shop, its time the shop was brightened up and I have so many new ideas in my head that I feel I could fill it with bags and bags of new beads. I want to add lots more beads to the bead shops here on the site including some of the really strange work I've done, you never know someone out there might be interested in them and it is better than keeping them in a box covered with cobwebs in the dark corners of the barn.

   It's been nice to get so many new customers this year and a lot of locals too, there seems to be a lot more new people getting involved with bead jewellery making and I'm sure the hobby will grow and grow in the next few years. Even in the two years that I have been bead making full time the world of UK beading has gone crazy and I hope it will continue.

  Hope you all enjoy tomorrow and I hope you all get what you want in your christmas stockings, just think there will be beads wrapped in christmas paper under trees all over the country tonight, let's just hope Santa don't like beads !!!

Merry Christmas

   Today is my last working day before Christmas and I just have a few things to clear up. I had problems with my kiln this last week so for three days I couldn't make beads. Yes I know some people would say you can make beads then batch anneal them later, but thats not the way I work. I find that placing my beads into the kiln straight from the flame is by far the best way for me and the lack of cracked beads backs this up.

  One of my customers buys a lot of beads from all over the world and she always asks why she never gets cracked beads from me. All I can tell her is that I anneal straight from the flame and a lot of bead makers don't, or indeed some bead makers sell beads that have been cooled only with a fire blanket. There is no secret to the way I anneal, there are many makers who do the same, but I sometimes wonder if all bead makers understand about annealing. You see people stating that their beads have been kiln annealed for 10, 12 or even more hours, but why ?  I'm sure these people believe that they are cooking the beads and the longer they cook them the tougher the beads become, well I'm sorry but in my opinion this is wrong. I feel that the most important thing about annealing beads is that they all cool at the same slow rate in the kiln. So I guess because I concentrate on the cooling of the beads, this is why I get such a good success rate with cracked beads.

   Of to my torch now for that last day, but I'm sure you will be hearing from me before the big day and through the holiday as I get stuck into giving the site and ebay shop a new look.

   It's almost here, tree is up ready, lights and decorations all in place and the barn is full of festive cheer, but someone please tell me when the work stops !!!  This time of year can be very slow when it comes to sales and commission orders, but this year that has not yet happened.  I guess I should be pleased having so much work, but I really feel its rest time at last.

   I need to take time out and spend Christmas with the family, they have been fully supportive all year and I thank them for that. I dread to think how many nights I have worked into the early hours without a bad word said to me, or maybe they prefer me being out in the barm, have I been missing something here?  Also without the girls doing the bead fairs this year then I wouldn't have done them, full stop !

   I have a big list of jobs to do in the holidays including a complete overall of the website and ebay shop. I have some really good new bead ideas that I might work on too, thats if I manage to creep out into the barn without being seen !  Also I hope to spend some time doing some work with silver, I have made a lot of beads ready to silver core and also I have made a good selection of cabochons, so I want to do something with those too.

  Well, I better get back to the torch and I wish you all well getting ready for the big day.

   Last week I decided to start placing some of my unusual beads on the website to see if the would get any interest. I think you all know by now that my evenings are my time, time to try out new ideas and learn new techniques, so I seem to gather a lot of odd sets here in the barn, beads that I hold back so to speak, sometimes they sit in boxes for months before I get persuaded to list them on my site of in ebay shop.

   The Sneeze beads are just one of the types that fall into this category and so into the website bead shop they went. The first set sold on the day they were listed and even visiting customers here at the barn headed straight to them. So I have made more in different colours and some etched which I will be adding.

   This set were made using a mixture of transparent Effetre glass and I felt they looked much better left unetched, showing off the amethyst hints more. The shape may not be the standard for a bead, but there is just something about them I like. And to think these have been sitting in a box since late July.

   At last the bead fairs are over for this year and I must admit I'm very relieved, the thought of having time to build up my website and ebay shop really brings a smile to my face. I have started adding more bead sets to my website and I hope to be placing at least one set on there each day, building up a far better selection.

   The ebay shop is also getting sets added each day, more auction sets are going on and you'll see the shop is having a total revamp. I plan to keep a good selection of bead styles on ebay, but you will find that more sets will be placed on auction, giving a better chance of getting a bargain.

   I have been playing around with more of the organic beads this week and one set I'm pleased with is this driftwood set. There is something about the darker brown colours that really excites, these colours never stop producing great results.

   In this set I have used some silver to add interest, I found it gave more of a rustic look to the beads. Often on driftwood you find those very dark areas where the layers of timber are worn away by salt water.

   This sunday there is another bead fair at the Newmarket, the fair is not the biggest in the world but is well worth a visit. The girls will be there selling our beads but yours truely will be here working on some commission work and maybe the odd family visit.  I'll be sending plenty of new beads plus a good selection of silver core beads and focals, so if any of you are going I'm sure Yvonne and Nicola would love you to pop by and say hello.  

   Today was a transparent bead day for me, I really enjoy these beads and they seem very popular with customers. I find the etched sets give more detail than those unetched and the etching gives the beads a real soft look.

  In this set I have used light turquoise and a pale purple in a base of clear. I have been making these beads in many colours over the last few months and my own favourites are the amber or pale greens, but then I'm one for the more natural colours. A nice plain bead but one that can make a nice unique piece of jewellery without too much support. 

   It has been a real busy time here and I now know that the decision to do less bead fairs next year was indeed the correct move for me. I sometimes wish that I could just concentrate on my website and ebay shop rather than keep trying to juggle all, but then I feel that the fairs do help gain new customers, which is always very welcome.

  Having to make stock for the fairs every few weeks plus making beads for ebay shop, auctions and this site really is getting too much, yes I know I love working all hours, but next year had to change. So with  us only doing nine fairs next year I'm hoping I'll be able to produce a lot more beads for this site, also the amount of customers who now visit here is growing so a lot of beads are needed to keep up a nice display for those people. My commision work really has taken off this second half of the year and I do enjoy it, tho some requests take more work than others which I guess helps keep the mind working and the ideas coming.

   I have also just started a new exciting project along with a few really talented jewellery makers which I hope will be ready to show you early next year, so as you can guess, my days are long and my evenings too.

   On the bead side of things, I have been working on new colour combinations and I always think encased beads are the best way of showing the different effects. The beads shown here were made with that feather like design in mind, it works well when trying to find which colours pair up best. Often it turns out to be the colours you least expect to work that turn out the best. Here I was using lime and turquoise with just a hint of blue which I'm really pleased with. I think I get carried away sometimes and the box of tril beads here show that haha, but hey, how else will I ever get to find that perfect bead, a few zanny colours won't ever hurt.

   Its that wonderful time of year now when we watch the winter creeping in upon us and what great colours it brings in the countryside. We can only be inspired by the leaf colours and the mist filled mornings, giving us so many ideas for bead colours and designs.

   It has been a busy few weeks here and this week is no different, making new stock for the bead fair on sunday at Harrogate. It's always a nice fair, never too busy but the people up there are always really friendly and interested in the beads.

   Just one more fair this year at Newmarket next month and thats it for another year. We have decided to only do nine fairs next year and no more, I'll be adding a events page to the site later which will have all the 2008 fairs on it.

   I'll be working on a lot of sets for the christmas period in the coming few weeks, but I guess you all know by now I wont be selling the usual snowmen, santa and christmas tree beads, they just aint my kind of thing, but I'm sure there will be hundreds for sale from other bead makers.

   I'd very much like to thank all those who have been interested in my silver core beads and to those who have obtained them from me. Its always good to get great feedback from buyers and makes this job really worth it. I was never going to go down the road of mass produced rivets for doing the job, I wanted to make them the way silversmiths have for many years, I guess its that learning a new skill thing again and for me ready mades don't do that. I'll be adding a lot more to my ebay shop (beads of glass) on monday I hope plus they will be making their debut on this sit next week.

   At last a relaxing weekend, I never thought I'd ever get another this year. I spent the weekend taking photo's, listing beads on ebay and here in the bead shops and best of all I spent a couple of evenings making the silver cores for more Troll beads. These beads are fast becoming one of my favourits, being a good challange in both bead making a silverwork.

   I can remember a couple of years ago seeing a picture of a silver core bead in a glass art book, and remember thinking how on earth did the guy do that. Its so strange how over time we all learn these skills, now looking at pictures and thinking, mmmmmmm I know how they did that, I'll try one. I think we all go through this and when you stop and think, it shows how far we have come and we should be proud of that.

   I have been making some trolls with more natural colours this weekend, the nice creams, dusty browns etc, the real" Rob colours", the times I get told off by customers for not making enough pinks, purples and reds haha !

   Well, I'll let you into a secret, there are pink and purple troll beads on the way, so the boring old fart as at last took notice. But in the mean time there are a few more natural colours being listed.

   This first bead was made with some wonderful new opaque glass to which I added some light brown and ivory, letting the swirl design work the tree colours in together.

   I always use sterling silver for my cores and I keep the hole size to just over 6mm, making them ideal to use with most troll bracelets or 5mm to 6mm round leather.

   I was lucky enough to see some pieces that a customer made using my troll beads and she made one piece using a silver troll bracelet, boy did it look good and as she told me, that piece was going nowhere, it was for her only. I also think these beads look great on round leather cord when used with silver ends and toggle, they are more natural looking and the kind of necklace a guy could wear.

   This next troll was made in the same design as my rainbow stones, being colourful but still natural. I have made one or two more like this and I'm sure they will be used in some nice pieces, fingers crossed.

  I guess I'll be out in the barn playing with silver for many weeks to come, and I hope my beads will bring as much pleasure to those who use them in their work as they do to me making them.

   I have been busy this last week or so but I did manage to find time to make some new focal heart beads. I was asked by a friend and valued customer to make her some hearts in my stone look design. Well being one who loves a challenge I set out to see what I could do, yet did I know that I'd still be enjoying making them weeks later.

   I knew she enjoyed working with the focals I made without to many fancy extras, edge cuts, weather holes and raised swirls, so I set out to start off with plain stone look hearts, these were fine, but there was something missing and I was convinced it was a little colour that I needed.

  This was to work out just right, giving in my eyes, a fantastic look, including colour but in a very natural way, the slight colour combinations that we miss so very easily when passing stone and rock every day in our lives

  In the heart shown I have used a couple of really light greens, the results are better than I wished for. These hearts are great to use on their own but also I have made small stone like spacers to use with them.

   This week is becoming a very busy time here, with a lot of new organic bead orders and the bead fair at Uttoxeter this coming sunday, the days just don't seem long enough. I remember when I was thinking of going full time making my beads more than one person told me I'd end up putting a lot more hours in than I expected and wow, were they right. I'm just so lucky that the hours never become a bore as I love making beads. This last four or five days I've been putting in 14 hour days but I seem to be making some nice new beads and I hope the quality is getting better as the months pass.

   I've been working on a few new beads this last week or so and the Silver Core Troll beads are coming on well, I'm hoping to have a good selection to put on my website next week. I hate listing beads that I feel are not ready, I mean beads that are not to a standard that I would buy myself. I Will be listing Troll beads without silver cores as these seem to sell well from here at my barn, most of which are in the mythical or stone effect style.

   Here you can see a few of the silver core beads that I've been working on and to be honest with you I really enjoy working with the silver, it adds so much to the beads and after a few trials it's not as difficult has I first thought.

   I know there are lots of bead makers making silver core beads now and I guess i'm just behind the times but I always try to teach myself new beads, as I did with the hollows and it gives me something to do in the evenings, which as you all know by now is my time, yes I know its just an hour every evening but after a week or so you would be surprised how much you can learn. I'm not sure yet what is next on the agenda, there are still so many things I want to learn and I'm sure I'll find something, so far it's been Vessel Beads, Hollow Beads, Silver Core Beads and Encased Spiral Beads. I guess I just want to learn, I was ok at school, never the clever one, more like the one who was out on the football pitch , but all my life I've been keen on learning a wide range of skills, which can't be bad can it ?

   All bead makers seem to find a style of bead they enjoy making and become known for, some make lots of hollows, some like to make floral beads and some are known for there wonderful encased beads. I have an idea of where I'm heading and I know which beads I enjoy making the most, but I guess time will tell for me.

   It's been ages since my last upday here on the blog and the main reason being that I've been working some long hours this last few weeks. Because of the great success we had at the Lingfield Bead Fair, I had to make a lot of bead sets to stock up for Haydock Bead  Fair. This along with the fact that I had to Keep new sets and focals going into my ebay shop, ment that I had far too much work to do.

   I should never moan tho, its far better having too much work than not enough and with it being the summer months to be busy is great news. Some people say this time of year is slow and I agree, so I'm lucky. I have had a lot of commission work to do and had a lot of new customers visiting me here. Its been great meeting new faces and a lot more local to my area.

   I'm working on some beads that I've always wanted to do this last few days and I'm hoping to get some on for sale in the next couple of weeks. Its really exciting knowing I have taken another step on my learning journey. It's strange that a couple of years back I was looking at beads in books or on the net and thinking, WOW ! how did they make that. But now it's a different matter, I now look at most beads and have a good idea of how they are made, I guess its just time as we all gain so much experience.

   I have made a few nice sets this week, one being these tyre beads, they are now on auction on ebay and I hope they find a good home. They are one of my favorites, I'm really pleased with the look and I think the iris colours really make the beads unique.

   First of all I'd love to thank everyone of you who obtained beads from our tables at Lingfield Bead Fair. The girls had a great day and enjoyed meeting some old faces and lots of new customers too. I was here at home working on some orders hoping that you would like my beads and to my relief many of you did.

   I must admit I had yesterday off so we could take a drive up to see the Tuffnell guys in Driffield and it was a great day, I always enjoy their company. So back to the torch for me today and work work work !! The beads are really coming out ok this last few weeks, there are periods of time when all the hard work pays off and the last week or two this has been happening for me. I have been trying a lot of new bead designs and some of the results have been really pleasing.

  The focal side of things is working out well and I'm still making hollows when I get the chance. There is one problem tho, I seem to be using a lot more colourful glass, I'm even using pink at times in focals, boy whats happening haha!! Me, making beads with bright colours, whatever next ?

   This focal is on ebay auction at the moment and I have to say I'm very happy with it, I have been making more focals like this and indeed some colours really work well in this type of design.

   I'm sorry for taking so long to update my blog, the fact is I have been really busy this last two weeks. I had to make all new stock for the Lingfield bead fair, which is on today and I have been getting a lot of orders from the website shops too. So at last I find I have a morning off to sort out the site.

   My wife and daughter are at Lingfield selling and I'm hoping they do really well. They love going to the fairs so often it's me who gets to stay home looking after the dogs while they get all the fun. No, really I don't mind not going, I hate driving around the M25 so I tend to go to the fairs which are North of here. The next fair we are doing is Haydock Park which in in two weeks at the end of the month.

  I have had some time to make more focals which I hope to put in the website shops this week, they seem to be getting very popular with customers and I'm finding a lot of new customers are buying from me which is also very welcome.

   This focal shown is one of the Hag Stone type beads I'm making. They seem to be getting a lot of interest and I have had some really nice comments about them. I guess a lot of you will already know the story behind the Hag Stones but I'll go through it quickly here.

   Hag Stones are stones found on beaches or often around the rocks at the cost which have weather holes worn through them, holes made by salt water the rain or just large amounts of bad waether over the years. These stones were and indeed still are by some, kept hung over the door of their homes to help keep witches away. For me the interest is in the way these stones give that very magical and mysterious look and feel and this is what I try very hard to copy.

   It has been a great week for me having made a lot of beads even by my standards. A lot have been put away for bead fair stock ready for Lingfield next month along with Haydock Park too.

   There have been sets made for ebay and commissions also and I seem to have gone etching mad this last few days. I think most of my customers already know how much I like etched beads and I never hide the fact. I have also been making some more large groups of tab beads, these seem to be popular with customers, giving the choice of using them in one large piece of jewellery or maybe using some of the larger beads as focals, either way they work really well.

   In this set I used one of my own frit mixes to get the colours I wanted and I'm really pleased with the results. The beads have hit the two points I was after, the etched organic look and feel yet still being full of colour.

   I have had a lot of ideas for other colour mixes and indeed there are already a few new sets sitting here ready for Lingfield. Its funny really, in my opinion over the last say, six months etched bead sets have at the very least doubled on ebay. I guess it just a fashion thing and there will be another design taking over soon, but for me its nice to see these etched designs making the headlines and I hope people are enjoying using them.

  I have been working on other beads too, hollows are still my main hours relaxation at the end of most days and I'm hoping these hollow sets will get a lot of interest at the fairs next month. Also I have been making a lot of focals, always my favourites.

   I have started making some new beads which will be going to Lingfield and all I'll say is they are very girly for me haha! But I'm sure they will be popular, fingers crossed.

 This is one of the many focals I have made this week and is listed in my ebay shop along with a few others. Making focals is so enjoyable, you really can let your imagination go wild and the funny thing is, sometimes after making a focal you feel its not what people will like, but no, along comes a customer who can't wait to get their hands on it, thank god we are all so very different.

   The last week was interesting for me, I have had a lot of feedback over my new moon nuggets that I listed on ebay. I had a few customers visit here and all were amazed with the effect of the designs. You can't really see how the beads look inside in pictures but in life when you handle the nuggets you see the effects running rite through the beads.

   The size of the nuggets makes them interesting, being large enough to use as single focals or to use in a chunky piece of jewellery producing the real "WOW" factor.

   I have made a few sets and they have been selling well but I would love to see how they are being used. I have made a few bright summer colours and I'll be listing them when I get time.

   There seems to be a fashion in the larger beads at the moment and the bright summer colours are still in demand, even if the summer is trying to hide from us all.

   This last week as been a real organic week as far as bead making goes. The beads I sell here in my website shops are becoming more popular and in particular the organic beads. Its really nice to see new customers getting interested in my beads and makes all the hours at the torch seem well worth it.

   I have listed a couple of pebble sets on ebay but I'm really not sure if they will sell, its strange really, how different bead designs sell better from ebay than those from websites. I have spoke about this with a couple of other bead makers and they say the same, you seem to get two groups of customer form. To me the website sales are always so very welcome, saving ebay fees is a bonus and I must admit I do sell some of my more daring, unusual sets here on my website shops.

   The new nugget beads are getting a lot of interest from customers and customers who visit me here can really see the designs better than in a picture. Its funny, I was just playing around with ideas last weekend and came up with these beads, yes, I love the swirl designs and always have, but placing the bubbles into them really adds something special.

   Now i get to play with colours to find which works better, there is no end to the combinations I can try. Because of the way the beads are made they will never be small, they will be around the 15mm size and bigger, making them ideal for focals as well as sets. I'll keep you updated with new colours I try.

   The new stock for the Lingfield bead fair is starting to take shape, with a lot of new ideas for people to look at, I'm making a lot more mythical sets to take also, these are popular and I'm always being asked about them. But there will be a lot of summer coloured sets there, these always go down well for me, yes I know I have to force myself to make them, but I get there in the end haha. Its just that you should all know me by now and now I'm more into the natural colours.

   What great weather we are having here in the Fens, the last few days have been bright and sunny, maybe summer is here at last. I have been working on orders this last few days but at last all up to date and the last are being posted tomorrow.

   I had a chance to make a few silvered sets this weekend, one of which is this purple set of square tabs. The six smaller beads are matched with a nice large tab focal. I'm pleased with the way these beads ended up, I wasn't sure if they should be etched, but I think I did right.

   I'm just starting to place new sets to one side for stock to take to Lingfield Park Bead Fair in July. I really have had a big spring clean here in the barn, selling off a lot of the older sets to customers and listing some on ebay this last month. I love to change things around every few fairs, I hate taking sets to more than three fairs, I always think they look tired. And the look of the table is important to me.

   I have had a few commission jobs this last two weeks, and most are for wedding jewellery. I guess its that time of year, all the summer brides who want some stunning hand made jewellery to wear.  I must say I'm enjoying making the girly beads for a change, lots of flowers, roses and clear frit beads.

   Its been a busy week here, the commission work is really picking up and I'm making lots of new sets which will be listed in the next few days on both ebay and here on my website.

   I have been working with silver far too much in the last few days so today I went lentil crazy. The press as beed red hot all day. I think most of you know by now that using a press is not one of my favourite beading techniques. I love the hand formed styles, but I have to admit that lentil beads really are very popular with all customers and they do show off the designs more than tyre beads.

   This set were listed yesterday in my ebay shop and even I can't fault the results. I wanted to encase a real soft summer look bead and thought lentil would be the best shape to go for.

   I have made a few different colours and I'm hoping they will go down well with customers.

   I would like to thank those customers who have used the beach beads in their work. I wasn't sure if people would like them but they do seem to be popular. They are fun beads and I think we should all have fun with the summer ahead of us. I'll be adding more to the range this coming week, some colours are rather on the bright side but I'm sure some of you will be daring enough to use them. I would love any pictures from customers who have used them in their pieces.

   This second set of lentils were made using lots of silver and iris designs. There are for sale here on my website and are getting some interesting remarks from customers who have been here in the last few days. The opaque glass was important to the beads, I had to get that smokey purple effect when they were etched, I think I got it right for once. They are an interesting set and I just hope they get used well.

   First of all I want to wish you all a happy relaxing holiday and I hope you really enjoy your day whatever you decide to do. It was ment to be a day off for me, we have a list of jobs to do in the garden, but we are having rain here in the Fens, so I've been saved YIPEEEE!

   I'll be making a few beads later and there are a few orders that I need to clean and post off also. I'm also hoping to get to make a few more hollows this evening, think I have the hollow bug. I just find working on them helps me slow down at the end of the day plus I get a nice surprise the next morning when I empty the kiln.

   I have a set of encased beads that I would like to show you. I made them last weekend and I really like them. They were made by encasing a mix of blue swirls and the encasing was really thick, helping to show off the design far more than normal.

   I just started playing around with swirls and gravity beads, but thought the two would look good mixed together. This was the results, ok they are not the best looking beads in the world but I find them really interesting and colourful.

   Wow ! a holiday weekend and boy I need it. Its been a busy week for me, listing lots in ebay shop and working on this website too. The week as been strange and a real mixed bag as far as bead making goes. I had orders for spacers so I started by getting those all sorted, then I wanted to play more with an idea I've had for some real summer looking beads, bright and fun, the type of bead to wear in every day life. So, I started of thinking of the bright beach beads that are worn in the US, beads that shout out colours.

   I started buy making a few sets with some very bright colours and swirls, but they were not what I was looking for. Then I thought about beads that were etched, giving that fun soft look by had bright colours on them.

   This was the first set I came up with, using soft white and orange as a combination. They look bright yet not too over the top. I then made more sets with some very loud colours in them, you'll see them in my ebay shop, I'm not sure how they will go down with customers.

   Talking of customers, I took the old customers gallery off the site to update it with a new gallery. I hope to start work on it in the next week. Any customers interested in being in the gallery, just email me a picture of your jewellery in which you have used my beads and a small bio about yourself. It would be nice to get as many as possible.

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   I would like to thank everyone who came to visit this weekend, it was great to meet so many new faces and to see some famillar ones too. To those of you who couldn't make it, you know your welcome here any time, just email me first to make sure i'm around, I should be, I'm here most days working including weekends and evenings, so feel free to visit.

  Now I have a month free to get lots of sets on my new shops here on the website and I'll be filling up my ebay shop with sets, focals and spacers. There will be new sets put on auction today and the date will be set later today for my bargin day in my ebay shop. I'll let you know more about that later, but I'm sure most of you will be interested and its a way for me to say a big thank you to all my regular customers.

   At last I have plucked up the courage to give my organic beads their debut here on my website. After having so many good compliments here from visiting customers I thought it was time I started showing them off. They really wont be to every taste and no doubt there will be people who will think they are a waste of time and effort, but I enjoy making this style of bead and because I enjoy the countryside so much, its an excuse for me to get out and about more often. In the picture below I show one of my pebble bead sets, the sets are made up from different shapes and sizes just like the real pebbles found here in the rivers of the wash..

   My focal beads have been heading towards this style over the last six months and I have found they sell really well for me, both at bead fairs and on ebay, so I'll be putting a lot more natural looking focals on here too. If anyone has any comments to make on these beads, please feel free, it really is important to hear ideas from customers.

   We are really sorry we had to miss the Malvern bead fair this weekend due to a family loss. We were looking forward to meeting new customers.

   At last I've made a set of beads from my idea's book. I have always kept a book which I use to note down and bead ideas I get or suggestions from customers. These beads had been an idea I had while working on some beads for the Harrogate bead fair.

   I was making some transparent beads to which I was adding pure silver, I then tried them etched, which worked with great results, but I had an idea that if I could make the beads look softer it would make them stand out more.

   So these are the beads I have come up with. They are encased beads which gives that deep soft colour a bit like looking into a coloured mist. I have made a few colours today but will be adding more colours to the range this week.

   This first set are made from a real pale lavender core with pale blue encasing, I feel they work well together.

 I'm calling them Stardust beads because of the silver dots on the beads surface. I'm just about to list these in my ebay shop and more will follow tomorrow.

   I have found to date that the more pastel colours seem to work very well, not really the kind of colours people expect from me I know, but hey, even I can make pretty beads sometimes haha !

   The second set are my favorite, but then I like orange, not to every taste but I like the silver and orange together. This set I have made with matching spacers, the spacers I'll be making for these beads wont have silver on, I feel they wouldn't look right that way. I'm still not sure how big the sets will be, I have six or seven beads in mind plus around four spacers to complete the set, but we'll see.

   I'll be doing some work on my website in the next week or two, having a lot of new work to introduce. There will still be spacers sold from here and I'm hoping a lot more unique sets too. I'm building up my stock of focals so a lot of these too will be added. Because of the lack of ebay charges I can afford to sell here on my site post free to the UK and so it will, I hope work out better for me and my customers if I sell more beads from here on my site.

   And most of all, I think this is the ideal place to start showing and selling the more natural organic style beads that I love making.

   This last two days I've been trying out some new organic beads. Along with a lot of other people I love the natural look of organic style beads and the browns, greens and creams are my favorite colours. As you know I like working with ivory colour glass, so this is the base I started with. I soon started getting results and I had a great time playing with ideas. 

   This picture show just a few of the results I have had using pure silver, and silver leaf, I'm happy with most and there have been some full sets made today. I'm also looking at different colours too, greens being one and of course more browns.

   The effects I got with the silver really gave me the look I was after, I have seen so many wonderful organic beads made in the US and if I can ever make bead half as good then I'll be one happy bead maker.

   Thanks to the likes of the guys from Tuffnell Glass, we are at last getting some nice new glass here in the UK, yes we have all tried different glass from the US and I'm sure we all will again, but its really great to now get some fantastic colours delivered to our doors the next day.

   Since I last updated I've been looking at a lot of my old sets, the sets I was making last year and I didn't realize how many designs I dont make now. i guess its good to look back sometimes, I seem to have left some really nice designs behind.

   One customer asked me to make her some mythical beads and it was then that I thought about all the old designs I made in the past, designs that people really liked and designs i enjoyed making. So whith that in mind I started getting the old silver leaf out and off I went haha !

   I started my making a set of common snake skins then I went on to try some new styles, one of which was the Goblin Skin set.

   These finished up far better than i thought they would, I used some new Reichenbach glass to get the colours I was looking for. Maybe I could go with a brighter purple, but I don't really know.

   I was really pleased with the quality of the finish on the set. Its really nice to get a set with such clean clear encasing, it doesn't always happen this way and I often need to make the odd bead to replace one I'm not happy with. I always worry about putting beads up for sale if I feel they are not top standard. I have a pot full of mythical seconds, beads I feel are maybe a touch burnt or the encasing is not as clear as I wished for, but I would rather feel happy and keep the poor beads out, I'm sure customers wouldn't be happy to open a parcel from me only to find the set has a poor bead in.

   I must admit making mythical beads gives me a lot of satisfaction, yes they do take time to make and no, you would never make a big profit from them, but I love making them. So after taking delivery of some wonderful new colour glass today, I have a funny idea that I might be head down over my torch for a good few hours tomorrow.

   Some of the new spacers are going down really well with the customers and with me selling sets as they are made, customers are getting them within a couple of days, which is great news for them.

   These Victorian Ladies are a big hit and I can see why. I saw a piece of jewellery with them in last week and they did look nice, maybe its just the fact of having spacers with patterns rather than plain colours.

   I'm making and listing more colours and new glass spacers every couple of days, but a lot are going to customers who visit here before I can get them on ebay, so please bare with me. Thanks to an idea from a customer, the trio bead sets are becoming a hit and I'm keeping a low price on them too. I trying to get more in my ebay shop every week and the odd orphan lentil set too.

   Yesterday was the first day back to work for me since last Tuesday. I was struck down with the Flu, god, I can't remember the last time I had it, it must have been 15 years ago at least. I had that feeling I was in for a cold and Yvonne had already become sniffy so you can imagine how I felt when two days later I was wrapped up in bed with that sad let me die feeling. Sunday was Chester Bead Fair too and I really had some great plans for beads to take, but all were put on the back burner as there was no way I was going to turn my torch on for a few days. Was I a grumpy git for that time, I hate having to sit or lay and do nothing and with the sight of the barn out the window it really made me feel fed up.

   I hope now I'm really on the mend, just a slight cough left and a lack of voice, which I'm sure a lot will be happy about ! I'm working on new sets and a few new different designs for Harrogate Bead Fair this coming sunday (25th), so even if i'm not fit myself, my beads will be and there will be a large selection. Harrogate brings out some really nice customers, the ladies up there in Yorkshire really do know their beads and I hope our table won't disappoint.

   Yesterday was spent working on catching up with a couple of outstanding orders, which were posted this morning and also making a few more pillow sets like the set shown here.

   It has been a mad couple of weeks here, getting stock ready for the Essex bead fair was taking up a lot of time and in this last week since the fair orders have been keeping me busy. I did think I would be getting my evenings back this week but for three nights I was still working at midnight, oh for the life of a bead makers haha !

   I guess some of you would have seen by now that my ebay shop is having a major facelift, the main difference being that the spacers will no longer be sold. There will be sets of spacers going in the shop has and when I get time and they will be sold here in my bead shop. I feel I must explain why I will no longer be selling spacers from ebay. First of all, they really do take up a lot of hours to make, hours that I feel would be better used making new sets of beads and hours in which I can develop my bead making skills has there is still so much I wish to learn. Also, I did have a complaint from a customer who told me she was fed up with cleaning  bead release dust from the holes in some of my spacers. This was a shock to me as she is a customer I thought really liked my spacers having obtained so many in the past. Now I know 99% of my customers know I have to make hundreds of spacers a week and they understand that there wouldn't be enough hours in the day to clean them all and that the low price I was charging for them was because of this reason, but I guess not everybody is as understanding.

   So I had two options left to me, either I kept making spacers and cleaned every bead to the standard of my bead sets, thus putting the cost up to cover the time, or I took the spacers out of the shop and just sell from my website and to any customers who email and ask for them. And looking at it from my point of veiw I pick the second option. Yes, I would love to keep making them so every customer was happy and could carry on buying lots of cheap spacers, but after all the months and putting all those hours in I was sad to feel people felt unhappy with them, so I sure you will all understand my decision. This way I will get to make far more sets and I will be adding matching spacers to some as well as putting larger sets of spacers and more unusual spacers on auction.

   At last the Celts are here, these beads are really one hell of a challenge for any jewellery maker and it will be interesting if any are brave enough to use the Celts in their work.

   I have always been very interested in the history of the Celts and the Pics, I find their way of life of great interest. I also like the Roman and Saxon periods too and I'm working on some new beads with those in mind.

   This set I'm showing are the second set of Celtic style beads that I have listed on ebay and I cant wait to see if these too are sold like the first. I have no idea how they would or could be used but I'm sure there are a few out there who have the capability to come up with some amazing piece.

   This style of bead went down well at the London Bead Fair with a lot of buyers taking the risk and buying small trio's of them.  To be honest with you, I can't wait to see how they can be used, but then I know how good some of my customers are, so nothing will surprise me.

   Also this evening I have list on ebay a rather nice set of tyre beads. The beads are made from a coffee cream colour base bead and to this I have added some dark turquoise swirls.

   We all know how turquoise and ivory colours go so well together, but I also love to try other colours with turquoise, colours you would never associate with it and to my surprise I have had some great results.

   I like this more natural look bead, but I'm thinking if they would look ok etched, mmmmmmm maybe they would, guess thats a job for tomorrow. A lot of sets I end up making twice so as to try them etched, I dont think makers etch enough beads really. I find they sell really well and some of the effects etching can achieve are second to none.

   The first thing I wish to do is thank all of those people who have be so kind to send me their support after the sad loss of my uncle and best mate, Basil. We worked together for over 15 years and he gave me so much help and support over the years. It was with encouragement from him that I took that big step and became a full time bead maker, so part of all this new life I lead is down to Basil and I thank him for that.

   It has been a sad time for me and my family and to be honest I guess it hit me harder than I thought it might. Even when you know someone is very ill and you know one day you will get that phone call, when that phone call came at 12.30am sunday morning in my studio, it was a very sad moment for me. So with the London bead fair upon us I just knew I wouldn't be the best person to be there selling my beads, my mind just wouldn't be on the job. My wife Yvonne and step daughter Nicola were more than happy to take the reins and the fact they love the fairs was a bonus. They had a very busy day, selling lots of beads and can I thank any of you who took the time to visit our table and buy my beads. I hope you enjoyed looking at my work and for those who went away with my beads, I really hope you enjoy working with them in your jewellery.

   On the bead side of things, I've been busy today getting orders posted and if your waiting for beads from me I hope you will be getting them in the next day or two, I know you'll understand that with all this going on and making sets for the fair it has put me behind on my orders. But has I say it should all be back to normal in next two days so please bare with me.

   I thought I would show you some beads that I have just listed on ebay in my shop (Beads Of Glass), I hope to list two sets every evening from now on has I feel my ebay customers are missing out with all the bead fair work going on.

   This set of lentil beads are made from a mix of two transparent colours. lemon and light turquoise. I hope they give a real summer look, the kind of beads that would look great on a sunny beach. I have been making tyre beads with this type of design too. I just feel using two colours really give a fresh bright look to the beads. And its about time I started making more fun sets, people will think I'm a sad old git if not !

   I would be interested in any thoughts you guys have on how many beads you like to see in a set. I sell sets of all sizes but I do know some buyers like to see sets of five, seven or nine. And then some people say small sets of a trio plus a small amount of matching spacers is ok, let me know your thoughts.

    I thought you may like to see a couple of sets I have made in the last few days. I often find myself using a certain colours most of the day, apart from in the case of orders of course.  Two days ago it was a real turquoise day here in Upwell. I must have made over seven sets in all, with all of them having turquoise in the design.

   I have to state now that turquoise is not my favourite of colours, but it does work well with a lot of other colours and really can brighten up any set.

   This first set I made using turquoise, lime and cobalt blue transparents and I know the colour mix doesn't sound the best, I think they have something going for them. I'm hoping I got a kind of check design, but maybe you feel I never quite got there.

   I like using transparent glass, it always seems to give a bright fresh look to the beads, plus it works the light with great results. I notice that I'm starting to make a few spring, summer feel beads of late, must be the weather helping or maybe I just feel the dark winter days are on their way out at last.

   The second set I want you to see are made from a light turquoise with the marble effect that I tried with the Valentine lentils.

   I do like this light turquoise glass, it has a great summer sky feeling about it and I'm going to be using it a lot more in the next week or so.

   Again in this set I was just looking for a plain design but with that hint of class about it, I do feel some beads you see look a little over the top. It's as if the makers has tried too hard to get the wow factor. My opinion is that you don't need to try fancy designs to produce a nice set of beads and this shows in my sales, the sets like this always seem to sell. There are times when you may need to fancy or sex up a set, but in this case I didn't feel thats what I wanted. I would be very interested in your opinions on this subject, do you feel there is a time and place for different designs ?

   Well, it's been a busy time here to say the least. Since my last update I have been work on beads for the coming London Bead Fair at Kempton Park (11th Feb), plus getting orders made and sent off as they come in. I might have mentioned to you before that I wanted to start afresh this year, so after selling off all my old stock, the hard work began. I had to draw out a plan of action, set out certain days for making certain style beads, this way making things more interesting, because I hate to do long periods on the same beads, I get enough of that with large spacer orders.

   There were some things I really wanted to do this year, such things has trying new brighter colours, spring and summer colours, my feelings being that I have to cover all tastes in my selection of beads. I also wanted to add more lentil and tab beads, these always being popular with customers. I just wish one day I could make wonderful lentil beads without the use of a press, but I guess I'll never be that talented.

   The set shown here I made with Valentines Day in mind, but again I didn't want to follow the crowd and just make the normal red beads, so I have tried to get a darl lentil bead with a marble effect running through them. I think it has work and they have had a great reaction from customers who have made visits here. I have just listed a set on ebay for auction, but if anyone is interested they can always give me a shout, I'm willing to make to order.

   I've never been a fan of the colour red I must admit, but I do like these, I guess its just the darkness that sets them apart.

   I think I'll be using this colour in my beads more often now, I guess you could say I'm a red convert now haha !

   This next set of beads was a result from one of my mad colour mixing evenings which I'm sure you are all familiar with by now. I call this set "Rio" because the colours just shout out carnival to me. Loud bright colours, a real summer beach set.

   I have been playing with some bright colours this last few days, orange, yellow and lime green being just some, so you can imagine what I've come up with. Maybe I should have a mad corner on my tables at the bead fairs, a place with all the weird and colourful sets I've come up with.

   Well, back to the torch for me, I was going to update this late last night, but was working until 12.30am so this morning it was. I hope to show you more tomorrow, somebody told me sunday was the day of rest, who the hell are they kidding !

  Its been a busy day here, I started work at 9am and finished at 8pm, well, apart from the odd cuppa break. The morning was spent making spacer  beads for orders which will be posted in the morning. I wanted to get these orders out the way to leave the rest of the day free for making new sets.

   So now while I type this blog, my kiln is full up to the brim with sets of beads, some nice new disc beads and mythical beads too, while in one corner of the kiln there sits a few hollows. 

   I listed a couple of valentine sets on ebay last night, one of which is shown in the picture to the left here. I didn't want to make the same old boring red hearts, there will be hundreds of those going on ebay in the next few weeks, so didn't want to add more.

   I was looking for a more dark romanic looking set and I feel I've achieved this with the two sets. On the surface of the beads I have addrd pure silver, I think this works well with the dark red. I'll be interested to hear any comments you have on them as I'll be making more to list this week.

   I told you yesterday I'd be working on the encased spirals today, and I did get around to doing a couple, but I'm not happy enough with them to show them here, call me a coward if you like, but I want to be happy with them.

   In the last month I have found that my focals are becoming very popular with customers. I had never sold focals on ebay before, but a few people who had seen them told me I should give them a try, so this I did and I was very surprised when they started to sell like they did.

   I try a lot of designs for focals, including the natural ivory rock looking beads and focals with dichroic encased in them. The larger celtic designs seem to be a favourite with a lot of customers and it would be great to see how they are used, maybe a customer might send me a picture some time, fingers crossed.

   When I look around some other bead makers sites, I see some really nice focals are being made, I love some of the work the makers in the US are doing, they are so far ahead of the UK makers, but then they have been making beads a lot longer there.

   I did mention that I had been working on some bead designs that I hadn't tried much in the past, explosion beads, hollows etc and some or indeed all of these I'll be selling as focals.

   Encased spirel beads are already sold as focals but a few bead makers in the UK also the explosion beads, but they are more common in the US.

   My hollow beads I think will be sold as focals along with a matching set of tyre beads. You can buy them in sets and there are some very nice sets around to be had, but its really not that easy to get a set made all the same size. So I'll be sticking to selling them as focals unless I get asked for more.

   The picture below shows one of my hollows with a matching set of beads, but this time I have decorated the hollow with some really unusual mixed iris frit and swirls, the colours won't be to all tastes but it does help show how hollows can look. And you know me, I often have these mad evenings when colours run riot and I get carried away haha!

   The hollow in the picture is quite large, being around 18mm by 28mm in size, but has these beads are so light, they can be used in a necklace without the weight being a problem.

   I'm playing around with some encased spiral focals tomorrow, so if they turn out ok I may let you see the results. I hate rushing and showing you beads before I'm happy with them, so you may get to see something else.

   Well, its a new year and for me a new start. I'm booked in for a lot of bead fairs this year and I have been working on a lot of new bead designs. I just felt it was time I gave myself a kick up the arse and time to stat teaching myself more bead making techniques.

   If I'm going to be brushing shoulders with some of the better bead makers in the UK at bead fairs, then I need to be able to hold my own skill wise. I know I have a long way to go, but I see a lot of makers who have jumped in at the deep end without really being ready and I dont want to do that. I'm a firm believer in the thought that people like to buy quality. If my beads are made to a high standard then I can feel I've done my best.

   There have been beads that I've wanted to try for a while now, beads like explosion beads, encased spirals, hollows, and a few more, but have not had the time to really get into getting them right. Now, being that period just after christmas and new year, the period when people haven't got lots of money to spend on beads and the orders are a little slower, I thought it was time I had a go at some of these bead designs. So every evening this last week, I've been giving things ago and I'm happy with the results so far, not ready to put any on ebay yet, but yes, its going ok.

   I've been making a lot of focal ready for the fairs, focals are the beads i enjoy the most and I seem to be making them bigger and more outrageous, but boy, am I enjoying it. I am putting a few in my ebay shop each week, so keep your eyes open, I'm sure there will be some you love and some to hate.

   I just wanted to show you a set of beads that I made monday evening. I was trying to get a look which gave a feel of a big storm up in space. I have tried this sort of bead before but now I have some glass that does just the job, well I think it does.

   I really feel these beads are the best beads I've made to date, the colours and all round look is really worth all the hours I put in. They were not easy to make and I know for a fact I'll only ever be making a few sets of them, but to me the results are amazing. They won't be to all tastes I know, but I'm sure people will see the work involved and for those who like this kind of bead, I just know they will love them.

   There is always something different in beads when pure silver is added and with this set the silver really helps to give the space look to the beads, almost looking like stars. It is nice when a set goes right, believe me I have managed to produce some real crap efforts in the past, but then thats what learning is all about and it can only help us.

   Nice easy day today sorting out new orders from website shop and ebay, but we have had a new arrival to the house this morning. A new black lab puppy called Ziggy. I guess we wont be getting much sleep tonight.

   I have been making some square tile beads today but not sure which colours to produce so taking my time to get something I like before putting any on ebay for sale. I know some people would say I should just get some on for sale and be done with it, but I'm a great believer in first impression as so often I've seen beads put on ebay for sale with either bad photo or some basic boring colours. This to me must put some buyers off, so I try to get things right before I submit a listing.

   Today I made a few vessel beads, I like these little bottle like beads and have a lot of fun making them. I hope to list a couple in my ebay shop this week so I'll be very interested to see if the gain any fans.

   So yet again another sunday spent at my torch, but at least Its been fun today and things that I tried worked out ok. I must admit tho, the idea of my open day on Sunday Dec 3rd worries me, the place is such a mess, I must have pieces of glass rods everywhere, and to think in two weeks it is ment to look like a Christmas get together, I'll need a lot of help with this one, just hope somebody turns up or we'll be eating sausage rolls and mince pies for weeks haha !

   Well, first of all I have to apologise for the lack of work on my blog this last four weeks. It has been really busy here what with my first bead fairs at Harrogate and Newmarket and a mad two weeks when orders were just coming in left, right and centre. I even had to close my ebay shop for five days to help me catch up a little, the last thing I want is for customers to wait for their beads for ages. I know its hard for me sometimes has I sell a lot of beads which are made to order, but I just have to work as best I can to get them done. The only other option is to not sell spacers etc like I do. Just sell one off sets like most bead makers which would mean people who like using my spacers would need to find them in other places and at other prices too.

   So I feel I need to keep the spacers, nuggets, numpties and puddles there for those who love using them. I just hope customers understand that making these beads to order can at times mean I fall behind, its just the way it goes I'm afraid.

   I see the girls in the bead groups are all doing ok and still making some wonderful jewellery, indeed I see we have a nice new group and what a great job they have made of it. So well done to all those involved. A couple of weeks ago I had a visit from some of the girls and what a great day it was too. It was great meeting them all at last after all the months watching them producing jewellery with my beads. I have always said your all very welcome to pop in here and see me work and that still stands.

   On the bead side of things I have been very busy making new spacers for the ebay shop. Also the new wood grain effect beads in red, honey and apple are all getting really popular.

   I also started making my new two holes beads last week after a good freind who works with stainless steel made some new design mandrels for me.