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So It's A New Year

So it's 2010 and time for all those new year resolutions that we make every year ~ well maybe that's just me. As usual I have made a few and set a few goals and I am determined to stick to them. I am going to share a few with you all and if you see me breaking any please feel free to give me a swift reminder!!
My first resolution is to stop Twittering during the day ~ it takes up far too much time and I can always spend a little evening time catching up. Second resolution is to stop all FB games ~ way too time-consuming and a complete waste of time. Those two resolutions will free up time to concentrate on what is really important and that is my writing.
I have done very little writing in the last year or so and I so want to get back to it. In December 2008 my short story was short-listed in a competition run by the local paper yet I haven't written since. My ultimate goal is to have a piece of my work published and distributed nationally but I am going to take baby steps to get there.
I have set myself the task of writing for at least one hour every day. My intention is to enter a variety of writing competitions so that I will hopefully get some feedback. At the same time I will begin work on a full length novel. It won't be easy but it is possible and with the help of a little cosmic ordering I will get there and then you can all rush out and order my book!!!
Meanwhile I leave you with a Pantoum ~

The Snail

Slithers through the grass
house upon his back
leaves a trail like glass
a silver shiny track

House upon his back
he lives inside a shell
a shiny silver track
to mark his progress well

He lives inside a shell
signs his name in slime
to mark his progress well
he slowly takes his time

Signs his name in slime
you'll never see him run
he slowly takes his time
until his work is done

Slithers through the grass
moving to and fro
leaves a trail like glass
wherever he may go

Back on Form

Whilst I realise that I have been neglecting my blog, what I have been doing instead is making lots of new jewellery. After a busy run-up to Christmas at the end of last year there have been times when I have not felt inspired or indeed enthusiastic about my jewellery-making. Until now!! Just in the last week or so I have begun trying new ideas and producing some pieces which I am very happy with. I have used chain maille for the first time to produce bracelets and have been able to find some great new beads to work with. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that I would benefit from returning to work in some capacity as I am beginning to miss the dynamics of a working environment and feel that I am in danger of losing my motivation at times. What I have gained recently though is a great group of people with whom I Twitter on a regular basis and these people have kept me sane!! Sometimes I feel I know my fellow tweeters better than I probably do but I hope that they gain as much from me as I do from them.

Spring Fairs in the Air

Well I have to admit that my jewellery production since Christmas has not been great.After so many fairs I really felt the need to step back for a while and plan my next moves! Sadly my friend and co stall-holder has decided that she no longer wants to come to jewellery fairs but would like to investigate other crafts and is busily sewing and embellishing at the moment. Good luck to Sue with that but I would rather you came back and helped me!! LOL We do have one last venture planned together however for later this month. Sue has a beautiful daughter who was adopted in China and we are going to be selling jewellery at a special weekend get-together involving many other families who have adopted and their wonderful daughters.

Read All About Me!! Prima Magazine Article

At last the March edition of Prima magazine has arrived in the shops and I have been able to see what they made of the interview with me and I wasn't disappointed. The content is more or less accurate but anybody who knows me would agree that the tone of it isn't very "me"!! A big thanks to my friends and Crafts Forum supporters who have taken the trouble to have a look and to my new found friends at Twitter too. I must confess that Twitter has become a large (and disruptive!) influence in my life but I love every moment of my time tweeting. If you decide to give it a go then come and follow me by going to my profile page and clicking on the follow box, go on you know you want to!

Take A Look & See What I've Been Doing Today!

It's not easy to get going again after Christmas and New Year but now its time to really get going again. So to show that I really am working on my jewellery and not spending all day long on Twitter (though I find it hard to resist checking in on a regular basis) I thought I'd share what I've been up to this morning.

Getting Motivated

Well here we are on the 15th January so it is high time to get creating and sharing the results with you. I have been a little distracted by Twitter - in a good way - where I am having a lot of fun tweeting with my followers who include Jonathan Ross, Will Carling, Stephen Fry and Philip Schofield. Hello to all tweeters if you are reading this! I haven't been entirely idle as I have not only been making jewellery but I entered a writing competition judged by Alexander McCall-Smith (he of the No1 Ladies Detective Agency) and my short story was shortlisted. Also coming soon will be my interview by Prima magazine for the March issue due out beginning of February.

All About Me

Ok so this comes courtesy of Swirly at www.swirlyarts.blogspot.com and I thought it would be fun to complete.Anybody else wanting to join in and compare notes?

Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited Hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more to charity than you could afford
7. been to Disneyland/world
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11.bungee jumped
12. visited Paris- many times for business and pleasure
13. watched a lightning storm at sea –
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child - no but looked into it
16. had food poisoning - don't recommend it!
17. walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. grown your own vegetables-
19. seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. slept on an overnight train - the Mavi train from Istanbul
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb - and bottle fed it
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in Venice
29. seen a total eclipse –
30. watched a sunrise or sunset –
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise – not for me
33. seen niagara falls in person
34.visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. seen an Amish community - while visiting a friend in Pennsylvania
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person –
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen Michael Angelo's David in real life - simply awesome
41. sung karaoke - its not big and its not clever
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited Africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight –
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the Cistene chapel in person
50. been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkelling - no way
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited Russia - no interest in doing so
60. served at a soup kitchen – possibly
61. sold girl guide cookies
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood – and I should do again
65. gone sky-diving - oh no
66. visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a cheque - it was a misunderstanding honestly
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy –
70. visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt –
73. stood in Times square - and watched the ball fall at New Year
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in London -many times
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the vatican
82. bought a brand new car –
83. walked in Jerusalem - just after 1st Gulf war, it was awesome
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible –no chance of that happening
86.visited the White House
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating - don't eat meat so no chance
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous - many in my publishing days
92. joined a bookclub - I have set up and run two bookclubs
93. lost a loved one - several
94. had a baby- just one
95. seen the Alamo in person
96. swum in the great salt lake.
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee - well a wasp actually - does that count?

So let me know if you take part and don't forget to check out Swirly's answers!

Well Christmas Has Come and Gone!

Well I hope everybody has as a good a Christmas as I had. Why do we all get into such a frenzy of buying, wrapping and panic when it is all over and done with so quickly? Among my presents under the tree this year was a Secret Santa gift handmade for me by one of my Craft Forum buddies (rhulme) and I couldn't wait to see what I got. Here is a pic of the lovely goodies in my parcel which smell devine. However a big fat raspberry to Royal Mail who failed to deliver my Secret Santa pressie to its' intended recipient. I will be claiming compensation from them and donating the money to charity.

Britain's Got The X Factor,Soapstar, Superstar

If you haven't seen this programme you really missed a treat. Peter Kay as Geraldine McQueen is brilliant and now "she" is following me on Twitter along with Stephen Fry! If you haven't woken up to Twitter yet, get signed up and get tweeting, its great fun. Meanwhile I've put away my crafting for a few days while I try to recover from a nasty chest infection which doesn't want to go away. Im now on my second run of antibiotics so let's hope that I'm fully recovered in time to enjoy the Christams festivities!!

Winter Chill, ggrrr

Well dear son "Kevin" managed to pass on all his wonderful germs and I have been suffering from a chest infection for the last five days which doesn't seem to want to go. I've nearly finished the antibiotics but I sound like a 40 a day smoker at the moment. Anyhow another successful fair last weekend and the last of the season is on this Sunday at Farncombe Estate in the Cotswolds and it promises to be good. I am trying to get into the Christmas spirit but I am having great difficulty due to DS only having enthusiasm for getting lots of pressies but no interest otherwise. Anyway for good measure I have thrown in an old photo taken at a school nativity play many years ago.

I'm Being Held Captive....

by a 12 year old with a chest infection who is off school for a few days! Still it's given me chance to get busy replacing some of the things that I sold last week at the Warwick Victorian Evening. Despite the wind, which played havoc with the display, and the rain, which was heavy, lots and lots of brave souls turned out to see the lights switched on and enjoy the fair. I have just finished making another little clutch bag and I'm busily knitting skinny scarves in bright colours for a school fair this Saturday at Bilton Grange.

Busy busy

Well I guess I'm not the only one to have a lot on at this time of year, where is the time going to? I did a two day fair at the weekend which was surprisingly well supported and people were spending, oh yes Christmas is coming! I met some really nice crafty people there including Penny Varley a ceramicist and Amy who makes felted bags and jewellery. It's great to watch other people working at their crafts and I was definitely taken with the idea of trying some felting after watching Amy's demonstrations. I've also been busy with those knitting needles and have started on a shrug using some really lurid pink fizzy wool, it's going to be a really fun thing to wear I hope. Well I guess I should get back to my crafting desk but before I go take a look at the rings above, I have been having fun playing around with different styles.

Progress on the Knitting Front

I've mentioned here and on Twitter that I've taken up the knitting needles after a very long absence - probably about 25 years if I think about it!
I've started gently with a scarf, moving on through a few beanie hats and the latest, my pride and joy, a bag.


It is exciting to rediscover my love of knitting because there are so many fabulous wools out there to play around with. But don't worry there will still be time left for jewellery-making, and I might even get going on a few Christmas decorations over the next week or two!

Wow I got An Award!

Well this Marie Antoinette Award came out of the blue from the lovely Stephanie at www.mycalicoheart.blogspot.com, one of my favourites. I am really chuffed that Stephanie chose my blog to receive this award and now I have been asked to do the same for seven other blogs which I enjoy reading. All those people have to do is to link their blog to mine and then go do the same for seven more bloggers out there.



The Rules are as follows:-
1. Please put the logo on your blog
2.Place a link to the person from whom you received the award
3.Nominate at least 7 or more blogs
4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog
5. Leave a message to tell them

OK so here are the seven great blogs that I've chosen, check them out!

www.buffyscharms.blogspot.com
www.all-about-eden-saraeden.blogspot.com
www.lazydazyglass.blogspot.com
www.ethelandednastearooms.blogspot.com
www.23beechhill.blogspot.com
www.bluefishhandmade.com
www.roseberrylife.blogspot.com

Recognition at Last!

Well guess who is going to be included in a crafting spread in Prima magazine next March? Oh yes that will be me! I responded to a post on Crafts Forum from a journalist looking for women in their 40's/50's who have taken up crafting once their children have grown up. My little "Kevin" is now 12 so is beginning to do his own thing in life so I put myself forward and hey presto a telephone interview this morning. Now I promise not to let fame go to my head - but if you could just remove all red smarties from my craft room and lay on the champagne... At the very least I hope the article will include a big plug for Crafts Forum and all the wonderful crafters that I have come across who are all so talented.
Meanwhile I have included a photo of a fun necklace mades with lots of strands of seed and myuki beads.

My New Look!

I just couldn't resist showing off my new haircut! My hairdresser was a little taken aback when I told her to cut my shoulder length hair but I needed a change and I'm really pleased with the result. Maybe I should go buy some new clothes to go with my new image.....hehe.
This morning I found some fab pink "Angel Hair" wool on offer at only 49p a ball. There seemed no point in resisting so I need to check out some patterns and get the needles click clacking Oh if only there were just a few more hours in every day.

Thank Heavens for Charity Shops

Don't you just love charity shops? I was given this stash by a friend and it contains all sorts of wonderful goodies. There are some beautiful crystal necklaces, metal bracelets, pearls, a beaded lariat as well as gold and silver chains. I was so excited dipping into the bag to check out my treasure. Now I have to decide which pieces I can bear to take apart to turn into something even better!

It's Halloween Oooooohhhhh

It's halloween so what else would I be wearing but my new halloween pendant courtesy of Lazy Dazy Glass which I just love. No trick or treating for us tonight but I have laid in a huge stock of sweets for anyone that does come knocking.
It's the last day of a two week break from school for "Kevin" so the end is in sight. I will be able to get back to some crafting without the continual sound of gunfire in the background from the PS3!
Happy Halloween all and have a great weekend.:-)

More Blog Candy!!

Today I received my beautiful Halloween pendant which was made by Kathryn whose work you can see at www.lazydaisyglass.com. I haven't yet managed to take a decent photo but if you check out her blog you will find the Haloween competition that I took part in and will be able to see my prize pendant (the triangular one!). The last week has flown by and I seem to have started so many different projects but not been able to finish most of them. "Kevin" is on the second week of his half term break and much as I'd like to hide myself away in my craft room, I feel duty bound to make sure he is entertained.