Happy Birthday!

Yes it's my birthday today, 43 - where exactly did those years go? Anyway, the sun shone, the birds flew and the flowers were out, well the winter jasmine anyway! I've had lots of lovely cards, presents and good wishes and really I couldn't have wished for a better day.

I've been very busy over the past week as I had a commission to make earrings to match my Foxglove Trio necklace, Copper Hibiscus lariat and new Cosmic Peacock necklace. Obviously I wanted them all to complement the main piece but they needed to be much smaller and so they presented quite a challenge and turned out to be a little fiddly. I am happy with the results though, especially the foxgloves as they are much smaller than the picture suggests and fit onto my little finger like little fairy bonnets!

They are now all winging their way to their new owner.

From hot to icy and back to warm!

It looks like it's 'blog day' again today - the sun is shining, the garden is full of flowers and I have some more flowery pictures to show you ... some natural and some beaded!

First of all; we went to Lea Gardens in Derbyshire at the weekend which is renowned for it's rhododendrons and azaleas. Some of them were past their best and others had been damaged by all the rain we've had recently, but there were still lots of bright and brilliant blooms everywhere and the woodland walk area was filled with the scent of the lily of the valley. It was a lovely day out, the weather was perfect and we spent quite some time sat in the sun at the seating area at the tea rooms which overlooks the whole valley, drinking coffee and eating yummy chocolate cake too. If you look closely at their website you may spot a picture of me at the tea rooms taken some years ago!

On the beading front, I have finished the blue flowers that were shown as a 'work in progress' on my last blog post and created my Frosted Flower Fall necklace. In contrast to the hot summery picture above, this is a winter themed necklace with three icy blue flowers worked in various sizes. They each have a frosted sterling silver bead centre and I have just hung them simply from a sterling chain and clasp. It is hanging from a bust beside me as I type and I must admit I am pleased with it - very simple but also quite elegant I think ... I'd love to know what you think, so please feel free to leave a comment!

Finally for today, I have discovered that my Copper Hibiscus lariat is in an Etsy treasury with the fun title of - Cockney Grasshopper - can you guess???? It's COPPER! It's a beautiful warm collection of wonderful coppery tones and blacks and mine is the only beadwoven piece ... and (oh dear) the most expensive!