BeadyBugs Blog

Thanks and technical apologies!

2011-12-11T11:40:00.002Z

Just a quick note to say a big thank you to everyone who's bought some of my new beads, and for all the lovely emails. I'm SO chuffed you still like my little creations after all this time, and it's been so great to hear from you. :-)

And apologies for whatever seems to be going on with my website, it keeps disappearing from view every now and then. No idea why??? Typical though, the one day it would be nice if it worked, it throws a wobbler. Please keep trying though if it misbehaves, it only seems to go off for a few minutes. Technology eh??!!!

Have a great sunday.

HP xxx

Is there anybody out there?

2011-12-06T11:50:00.008Z

Hello all!

Gosh, yes, I know it's been a while, I don't know if anyone still pops over here, but howdy *waves* if you do! Apologies for the lack of beady activity, but work and various other stuff has kept me rather busy of late.

I've really missed melting stuff and communicating with all my beady mates. I hope you like my new creations, hopefully there will be more of them soon, as I didn't half enjoy making this lot and I've got lots of new ideas buzzing around my head. And you 'might' have noticed I did get rather carried away with ratty beads and my very bright moroccan inspired ones, but sometimes you just have to go where the mojo takes you. :-)

Have a wonderful week beady peeps, and I promise I'll try to be a better blogger!! :-)

Lots of best wishes,
Helen x

Just a quickie!

2009-06-18T11:52:00.003+01:00

Morning all!

I just thought I'd better let you know, that I'm heading off for a couple of weeks R&R. :-) I hope you have a good time in my absence, and hopefully there will be some new beads after I return.

Laters!

HP xxx

Something for the weekend!

2009-05-15T22:03:00.008+01:00

Hi all!

Gosh, another week just hurtled by and another weekend's upon us!

Speaking of weekends, I thought you might like to see what I got up to during the last one. I spent a wonderful day with my friend Angela, who is the lovely lady I had a silversmithing lesson with a few months ago. We spent the morning working on some photography for her website. Then in the afternoon I was a very lucky bunny, and Angela showed me some of her more advanced silversmithing techniques. And (with LOTS of help cos I'm such a silver newbie) I created this zingy bezel set sterling silver ring from scratch, featuring one of my handmade lampwork cabs. It was great fun, and I learnt so much, thanks Ange! I can't wait to break the silver out again and have another go. :-)

And just in case you aren't familiar with Angela's beautiful handcrafted silver jewellery, here is one of the photos she took after she let me loose on her photographic setup. ;-) I love this pendant especially, and can assure you it's even more stunning in real life! If you get chance, I'm sure she won't mind if you pop over to her site for a nosy.

On a slightly more boring technical note, there appears to have been progress on my email problems. My ISP seems to think they've sorted it thank goodness, and at least I've not had any more delayed-bouncy-error-type-thingies...(technical term)...over the last few days. Woohoo! ;-)

Righty-ho I'd best go and get myself sorted, cos I'm heading off into the wild blue yonder for a few days. So as usual, any emails, orders or queries will be answered after my return next weekend. Have a good one peeps!!

HP xxx

Techno troubles!

2009-05-08T19:25:00.005+01:00

Evening all! I hope you're looking forward to a good weekend!

I just thought I'd better let you know that I've been having major email troubles over the last couple of days. So if any of you are wondering why I haven't got back to you over the last few weeks about something, or you didn't get my last Beady Bulletin, I did send it, it's possibly just bouncing around in the ether somewhere like a little lost pigeon???

I started getting weird Mail Delivery Failures yesterday, of emails I sent (in some cases) weeks ago! I've no idea why, and after 40 minutes mainly on hold to a chuffing helpline, I'm still no nearer a solution. It doesn't seem to be just my website that's affected, it's my work email too, so I'm assuming it's my ISP and I'm hoping they can get to the bottom of it soon!!!

Sincerest apologies to any of you that have missing emails. I do appear to be receiving emails ok, it's the sending bit that seems to be the problem. :-(

Anyhoo - fingers crossed it gets sorted soon - I'll let you know. Have a good one!

HP x

Away to the hills!

2009-04-30T21:16:00.007+01:00

Evening all! I hope you've all had a good week? Not much to report on the beady front at the moment unfortunately, as I've been rather busy, but I'm hoping it won't be long. In the meantime, here's a little bead I've been intending to make for ages, and finally got round to the other day. I hope you like him - meet Percival Panda.

He has a slightly wonky bottom unfortunately, and I still have to work on the positioning of his black and white bits, so he's gone to live on my bracelet. :-)

I hope you've got some good plans for this Bank Holiday weekend? It will probably involve wellies and a brolly if you're going out, but whatever you do, I hope you enjoy it! I'm off to a friend's place for a few days, so I will answer any emails when I get back next week.

Have fun, and don't dance around too many May poles...makes ya kinda dizzy. ;-)

HP xxx

I've been a whittlin'!

2009-04-14T08:09:00.009+01:00

Morning all! I hope you had a good Easter Bank Holiday, and haven't overdone the chocolate...if that's possible? Mmmm Green and Blacks, it was a tough day. LOL! ;-) And on a chocolatey note, I don't know if any of you watched Willie Harcourt-Cooze's program about his wonky chocolate factory, but I so want to try some! Anyone out there sampled it yet?

Anyway - just a few little teasers for all my lovely blog readers, to let you know I've been at my torch and kiln again and have made some new goodies. There are lots of new silver cores, dread beads, and a few lampwork beads (including a rather overdue easter set, oops), and even some new jewellery too. There's the large blue disc silver core pendant (pictured above) that I've rather fallen in love with. It has a handmade silver bail that lets the bead hang flat on a chain, whilst allowing it to spin round freely. Oh and some little silver cupcake earring studs too for all you cupcake fans out there.

Righty-ho, I should be updating my site at some point over the next day or 2, depending on how long all the pesky web work takes. And as usual, I will send out an email to let all you folks on my mailing list know when I've updated.

Have a great tuesday!

HP xxx

New beadies!

2009-03-02T10:34:00.012Z

Morning all,

Just thought I'd share with my blog readers a little preview of some of my new beads that will be going up on my site at some point over the next day or two. Well, with the hint of spring in the air, and easter hurtling towards us, I had to go with chickens and bunnies, there's also going to be some normal beads, and a fair few new dread beads too. My mojo finally seems to have come home, a little weary and hung over, but sporting a sightly patchy good old british tan. You know the one, lovely tanned forearms and lower legs, with a rather spiffing white t-shirt and shorts effect over the rest of the body. ;-)

Anyway, please don't forget, if you want to know as soon as there are new beads available, feel free to join my mailing list, as I send out an email the moment they are uploaded. I hope you're all having a good monday. :-)

HP xxx

Hi Ho Silver!

2009-02-14T12:57:00.005Z

Afternoon all!

Hope you're having a good weekend. Well, I've been off playing with silver again. This time I did a great one day silverclay course with Rebecca Crabtree in Knutsford just a few miles down the road from me. It was a fab day and there were a few fellow glass fans there including Caroline. We all got to make some lovely pieces of jewellery - here are the pictures of mine.

In the morning we made some little textured pendants to get us used to handling the precious metal clay. Then in the afternoon we got to make whatever we fancied. The shield shaped pendant started out flat and with a bail, but because numpty-knickers here spent too long chatting on the day, I had to bring it home to fire. But then, running true to clumsy form, here's the series of events:
1. Got back from course, walked upstairs to put it in the kiln.
2. Dropped it, bail fell off in one piece, swore a little.
3. Repaired, left to dry.
4. Carried it to the kiln, dropped it again, bail in several pieces, swore a lot.
5. Gave up on bail, sanded it down and fired it before I had chance to drop it again. ;-)
6. Hammered it in a doming block and soldered a hidden bail on the back, hoping I wouldn't be able to knock this off. LOL!

I think somebody somewhere was trying to tell me not to put a bail on it, and to be honest, it does look much better without one. And then when I got home all enthused, I had another play with some silverclay and made some little silver stud earrings, as requested by my brother's little girls.

Anyway - I'm hoping there will be some more new beads soon - my mojo seems to have gone on holiday at the moment, but fingers crossed it will come back soon with a tan, sombrero, and some duty free. ;-) Hope you're having a good weekend and all the snow has finally melted.

HP x

Shiny happy peephole!

2009-01-13T16:40:00.013Z

Hehehe! ;-)

Belated Happy New Year to you all, I hope you had a good one! And Father Christmas brought you everything you wanted.....not too many Gyles-Brandreth-type-jumpers....showing my age now. ;-)

Anyway - I thought you might like to have a little look at what I got up to at the weekend. I was lucky enough to get a place on a one day silversmithing workshop taught by Angela Kennedy, who makes gorgeous jewellery, and we got to try all sorts of silversmithing techniques. These included: cutting, sawing, planishing, soldering and punching to name but a few. And after 'a few' chocolate biscuits and plenty of banging, sanding and polishing we all created a lovely set of hammered dangly earrings and a domed 'peephole' pendant with bail. It was a wonderful day and I thoroughly enjoyed it! These are my efforts shown in the photos - hope you like them?

And on that note, please excuse the dodgy photos, silver is an absolute bugger to photograph - I think I need to refine my stick it on a piece of paper technique. LOL! I must try and take some better ones when I get chance. But I can't wait to have another go with my hammer - and maybe incorporate more silver work into my jewellery making.

OoooOOOooo the possibilities!! :-) Have a good week bead fans!

HP xxx

Blimey - is it Christmas already!

2008-12-16T15:45:00.007Z

Cor blimey - luv a duck! Is it that time of year again?!?

I realise it's probably a side effect of getting old - along with wrinkles and a penchant for warm socks, but crikey this year's gone fast! And sorry for the delay with all things beady - it's been a bit of a busy few months. Work's been absolutely mental and there's not been a lot of time for glassy exploits...or well anything really.

Having said that - I've pretty much finished all my 'proper' work - huzzah! Just got shed loads of other stuff to do now. So in need of a break, I skived off into Manchester yesterday for a scout round the Christmas Market, and the amazing Dazzle jewellery exhibition at the Town Hall. It was all wonderful, so glad I went! Here's a dodgy picture I took, sorry for its rubbishness and inadvertent flat cap content (by 'eck it's grim up north!) - I was far too busy man-handling a warm German sausage to concentrate on my camera! LOL!

But I digress - you'll be glad to hear...hopefully, that I've finally managed to get some melting done, and I'm about to upload a whole load of new stuff on my site. I realise you've probably all already spent up for Christmas, but if you fancy a nosy, feel free to head over for a shufty. It'll be nice to see you, pull up a chair and I'll get the mince pies out. ;-)

HP xxx

And the winner is........

2008-09-05T18:32:00.006+01:00

Evening all! Yes I know what you're saying - who's evening all? ;-)

But I've just announced my BeadyBugs Prize Draw winner over on my homepage, so thought I'd share it with you here too. I donned my best spangly frock and white gloves, shut my eyes, and gave my big blue bowl a good old rummage. And the winner of my first ever BeadyBugs Prize Draw is.........

**** Carol Hartnell! ****

Congratulations Carol - I'll get your beady prize off in the post to you ASAP. A big thanks to everyone who entered, I'll definitely do another one when I get chance. :-)

Have a good weekend everyone.

Best wishes,
HP xxx

BeadyBugs is back with a prize draw!

2008-08-30T08:43:00.004+01:00

Yay!!! My hosting company finally managed to repair the elastic band last night, so my little site is finally back up and running. :-) I'm really glad to see it back where it belongs, so in honour of this, I've decided to do a little prize draw. As I'm going through a bobbly bead phase at the moment, I've made another of the blue beads and strung it on a lovely 20" sterling silver medium belcher chain.

If you fancy a chance at winning it, head on over to my homepage and click on the prize draw email link there. Then next friday evening (to give everyone time to enter) I'll pick a name at random and the necklace will be yours!

Have a good weekend!

HP xxx

T'int back on t'internet yet. ;-)

2008-08-28T18:58:00.003+01:00

Well, as you may have gathered if you've tried to visit my site, it's still not been put back where it belongs. My hosting company have had a major hiccup with a server update that seriously knackered the system (technical term ;-) ). They insist they should have everything back up and running soon, fingers crossed it's not much longer. A shame really, I've had faultless service over the last couple of years and they've been great if I've ever needed to contact them. Ho hum - I guess these things happen.

Anyway - I'll keep you posted. Cheers me dears!

HP xxx

Intermission

2008-08-26T20:55:00.005+01:00

Evening all!

I just thought I'd better pop on and let you know that if you've been trying to access my site today, my hosting company have been doing something clever with servers (winding up the elastic band???) which has lead to some downtime. :-( Hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly. I'm just glad I downloaded my entire site the other day, you never know when those gremlins are going to get in and do a bit of chewing. ;-)

No need to worry though, all the beadies are safe and warm and tucked up in their little beady beds, after a long day of skipping through the grass at the local park. Well their little legs were all stiff from sitting on my web pages for so long, so I thought they deserved a day out. Although Bodmin the Badger has come home with something stuck in his fur that not even Cillit Bang will shift!! No idea what he's been up to, naughty boy! LOL! ;-)

Anyway - have a good evening peeps! Fingers crossed my little piece of cyberspace returns soon.

HP xxx

Nobbly Bobbly!

2008-08-22T15:43:00.004+01:00

Yes, I know - I've been away from my blog again for too long...thanks Steph for the gentle prod. ;-) Life does have rather a fine knack for getting in the way doesn't it? ;-)

Just a quick one from me as I have to get back to drawing fairies...yes I know...fairies again!! But here's a 'not so little' bead I made for myself a couple of weeks ago just before I went to a party. I got this urge for a blue nobbly bead - like you do - and just had to make one. Anyway - I thought you might like to see it - I know it's not my usual style, but it's the type of bead I first fell in love with and that got me into beadmaking. They are great fun to make, wonderfully tactile, and I might have to make some more.

I hope you like it. Have a good Bank Holiday weekend and I'll be back as soon as I can with some new beadies.

HP xxx

Spangly Dangly!

2008-08-03T20:38:00.012+01:00

Hellooo from me and Milo the silver core Dog!

Yep, I'm still here, I didn't realise it had been that long since I'd blogged again. Oops!...sorry. ;-) And yes the holiday photos are still on the camera, but I've been trying to get a bit of melting done every chance I've had so I can restock my site. I'm getting there, and will be uploading the pages as soon as I can over the next few days - illustration work permitting. But here in the meantime are a few photos to keep you going. Hope you like them.

I've been wanting to make bracelet dangle charms from way before I started silver coring, but never quite got round to it. The silver bails I've used have got 5mm+ holes, so should hopefully fit all of the major bracelet systems, not just the Trollbead ones. There are going to be plenty of bug ones from me, surprise surprise, and I'm rather taken with the first one too, the Jelly Bean dangle. This was born out of a cheesy poof bead I made a while back...yes I know...trust me to make a cheesy poof bead! LOL! But I thought it looked really cute and bean-like before I added the enamel cheesy coating, and so the idea was born. I've just 'bean' (*groan*) looking for a way to use them. I'd love a bracelet with loads of different coloured ones on. Mmmmm. :-)

There will also be some new lampwork beads and jewellery too, and I'm still working on the dread beads and fused glass sections which are seriously in need of an update. If anyone finds out where those extra hours in the day have been hidden, could they let me know? ;-)

Have a good week peeps, and don't forget to join my mailing list if you want to be told the instant I update my site. Tara for now!

HP xxx

I got an Award! Woohoo! :-)

2008-07-08T09:04:00.007+01:00

What a lovely surprise - I came back off my hols to find the lovely Caroline of Crafted Gems had given me a blogging award. Oooo never had one before so I was proper chuffed. Thanks chuck - you're a star! ;-)

Right I'd best get a wriggle on and name the 5 people's blogs who inspire me.

Beads By Laura - I love Laura's beads!! She's a wonderfully talented lampworker and friend. Thanks 'teach' for introducing me to this melting lark. Bloody love it. :-)

Ajenno Designs - A big thank you to Jo too, who makes lurvely jewellery and has been very supportive of my beady exploits ever since I started beadmaking. But oi lady, update your blog more often! LOL! ;-)

La Perle - Sorry Catherine, you've just got another award. LOL! You shouldn't make such gorgeous jewellery! ;-) I absolutely love your Vintaj collection!!! P.S. Ooo thanks for my award too - just spotted it - promise I'll do my best to be more prolific. ;-)

Mango Beads - Manda is a fabulous lady and very talented lampworker who makes the most wonderful beads and jewellery. Loving the new website Manda, I hope it goes well for you. :-)

Handmade Heaven - And last but not least Steph's gorgeous fused glass. Absolutely stunning use of colour and design - I could ogle her catalogue all day!!!! Ooo-er! LOL! ;-)

And there are lots of other people I'd like to mention too, but I'm only allowed 5 so sorry if I missed you out. Especially Debbie, if you had a blog chuck, I'd have added you too! :-)

HP xxx

Kendal Mint Cake's just not right.

2008-06-07T20:37:00.014+01:00

Watcha!

Oh crikey - didn't realise it had been that long since I last blogged. Doesn't time fly when you're eating pasties...and avoiding the aforementioned minty stuff. ;-)

The sun is shining, the birds are twittering, and all's well up in the lakes. :-) I just thought I'd let you know I've added some new silver cores to my site if you fancy a shufty. Some critters, some bright ones and some of the boro cores you may already have seen below.

Also I thought I'd best warn you I'm away from next friday, but there will be more beads of all persuasions ASAP after I get back. I'm looking forward to restocking a few neglected sections. And don't go throwing any parties while I'm away, wait til I get back and I'll bring a bottle or 3. LOL!

Anyway - I'll keep you posted. Have fun looking, and I hope you have a good week.

HP x

Less fattening centres.

2008-05-30T00:14:00.011+01:00

Just me again - a quick one before I pack my bags and relocate to the Lakes for the next couple of weeks. I thought you might like to see a few of the ones below after they've been fitted with their handmade shiny silver cores. Enjoy!

Have a good weekend.

HP x

Nuns on the run!

2008-05-26T07:35:00.011+01:00

Good morning at last!

Gosh - I'm so sick of modems and wireless routers!!! :-( Thanks to them and their 'quirky' little ways I've had very little internet over the last 3 weeks or so - so sorry if you thought I'd dropped off this little beady planet. I'm still having problems despite having bought new kit. But hopefully I'm getting there.

Anyway - enough whinging. ;-) On a happier beady note, I had a lovely day out yesterday at the Nantwich Bead Fair with Caroline from Crafted Gems. Gosh it was hot in there though!! We had to keep scuttling outside (and to the pub) to cool off. LOL! I bought a beautiful little Beads-on-Coast silver core from Anna. And it was great to meet so many fellow bead fans, and see all that lovely lampwork.

Speaking of lampwork (for a change ;-) ), I thought you might like to see a little bead I made for Julie from Lush Lampwork who had a stall full of gorgeous glassy goodies at the fair. I promised her I'd slip some Blue Nun in in my handbag to keep her going, so this squiffy little bead fell off my mandrel as a result. I hope she behaves herself in her new home and stays off the communion wine......hic. ;-)

And yes, I've been at the boro again, I'm loving all the colours and textures you can get from this glass. Mmm pretty. :-) Anyway - I suppose I should go and do something useful. Just glad to be back online again...well until my router chucks another wobbly!!! LOL! Have a good Bank Holiday monday everyone.

HP xxx

It's a gas...man!!

2008-05-04T23:42:00.006+01:00

Evening...just about!

Why oh why oh why does your propane tank always decide to run out just when you've got lots of beady ideas, and some time to carry them out for once!!!! I was going to spend a large chunk of the weekend beading and restocking my site, but Sod's Law (or is that Murphy's?) dictates that my little orange tank coughed up its last furball just as I was in full beady flow late on saturday! Oh well, I didn't get half the stuff I wanted to make, made, but a few little boro beads may have fallen of my mandrels.

Here's a little tease - hopefully some of these will make it onto my site in the not too distant future. ;-) I hope you are all having a good Bank Holiday weekend?

HP x

Had a go at a goddess!

2008-04-26T09:56:00.011+01:00

Morning all!

Thank goodness it's saturday - a nice lie in and time to catch up with everything! :-)

Anyway, I thought you might like to see another of my recent beady experiments. A couple of weeks ago I took part in a bead swap on a glass forum I'm a member of. I've not made many goddess beads before, but they are actually quite fun to make once you have a go. She's only my third ever attempt at a goddess, and is very different to my other beads (no googly eyes!) ;-) and a fair bit bigger at about 40mm high.

She's called 'Psyche', is made from silver rich glass, and is not a classic goddess bead being a bit longer and leaner than is typical, but I was still pleased with the results. She is now residing in The Netherlands, and I received a lovely swap bead from Maria Louisa in return.

I must admit, despite thoroughly enjoying my month of being covered in glitter in Chester, I'm looking forward to getting back to my torch soon. I feel the need to bead! ;-) Anyway - have a good weekend - see you soon.

HP xxx

Ooo 'eck - how do you do this blogging thing then?

2008-04-23T23:10:00.002+01:00

Hello everyone!

I hope you're all having a good week? Well I thought I'd finally give this blogging malarky a go. If you've not met me before, I'm a part time lampwork beadmaker living and beading in Cheshire. I normally draw daft pictures for a living, but in any spare time I get, I like to melt stuff. :-)

Anyway - this is my first post - so I just thought I'd say hello and attempt to post a picture for you to look at. I've recently had a dabble with Borosilicate glass, and here are the results. Please excuse the holes, I've not polished them yet...need to get my Dremel out.

Righty ho - off to work out how to post this. And feel free to have a nosy around my site if I can figure out how to add a link to this page. Technology eh?! ;-)

Helen xxx