Random Rambling

Where did August go? I'm positive some sneaky individual hit the fast forward button while I wasn't looking. If it was you, take note, I'm on the lookout now and you won't catch me out for September.

For anyone looking forward to the Tote Tutorial, I have a little progress report: I have taken a photo of the cut out pieces of fabric. And that's it! Aren't you just amazed at the huge amount I have accomplished towards this project in a mere four and a bit weeks. With my speed and prowess I'm sure I could revolutionise the world in the blink of an eye (or maybe a few centuries).


I did manage to corner my poor husband and force him to play photographer on one of those rare sunny days we had. So I finally have some shots of my polymer clay lentil necklaces on a model (only me, I'm afraid). Due to the wonders of Picnik I was able to take some rather oddly lit shots and come away with decent pictures. I'm particularly pleased with the one below because it's the first image I've been able to get of this necklace where the colours look right.


But now, fair readers, the lists call and I must away.

The Reaping of Rewards

Due to an unexpectedly busy week I've neglected to blog at all (what sacrilege!). Both work and family have been keeping me on my toes and nose to the grindstone.

Work consisted mainly of commission pieces which are now almost finished, two were copies of the Roman necklace I made for Archaeolink (pictured in an earlier blog entry) and the third was an order for a very special surprise gift which presented me with some interesting challenges. In addition, my son's very full calendar had me out every afternoon or evening from Monday to Friday and busy painting faces to raise money for his school on Saturday morning. My reward for all this hard work? Saturday saw the arrival of the first part of the prize for my star email in May's issue of Beads & Beyond magazine (pictured below).



And even better, I still have the second part of my prize to come. So how much work am I going to have to do to earn that?

Sunshine and Splinters

It's amazing how inspiring a little bit of sun and warmer weather is. With a beautiful clear sky today turned into a bit of a work whirlwind, and about time since these school holidays have been terrible as far as getting any work done is concerned.



First on the list was photography, to make the most of the sunlight on my front windowsill. I got all my new pieces photographed and the picture above is a compilation image for one necklace (the "neck shot" was taken by hubby yesterday). Not content with the damage caused to my back by that exercise, I couldn't resist getting out in the sunshine to pull some weeds and trim back my climbers before they start shooting skyward again. As we have road works and a set of traffic lights virtually outside our front door at the moment, my tussles with overgrown plant life must have given the drivers some amusement while they waited to move on. Unfortunately, the plants weren't so amused and have left me with several scrapes (some self-inflicted as I dug fern splinters out of my fingers), an infected spot from a splinter I missed (will get out a needle to deal with it shortly) and a rather painful swelling on the back of my hand where I was caught by a rose thorn.

The moral of this story (as it is every time I get gung-ho in the garden) is to wear gloves when gardening. I'm sure it will also be the moral after my next bout of gardening, and the next, and the one after that ... I love to feel my garden, even when it bites me.