A Year ago to yesterdays date

Its been a whole year since we moved up to Shetland. Do I feel different having been here a year. Honestly I do not know. I don't hate the place so that is a plus, however do I do not love the place either.

Drawbacks are :

The remoteness and the lack of the 21st century at your door.

The bad weather & cold.

The electric bills are a rip off in a huge way and I would not mind if it at least kept you warm in the winter, but it does not. And the fuel bills is 10p to 20p a litre dearer than you lot on the mainland. Moaning that your fuel is now 1.20 ha ours was that last year we are on 1.30 I expect.

Also the cost of getting off Shetland in plain words it is a JOKE.

Ferries as I get seasick - YUK YUK YUK

There are more but that could take all day.

Positives :

Community , we have one and its a very friendly and supportive one at that.

Safe as houses, I mean my 11 year old is safe to go out to play just like when I was a child.

Doors left open , no-one will rob your house.

Sundays are a day of rest & roast dinners.

No more Traffic jams , need I say any more.

Again the list could go on.

So I have made today 3 bracelets that I need to finish off and these below . The house needs a good clean but am I doing it , nahh maybe next week !!!

Sputnik Earrings

Sputnik Necklace

Creeky Beads Bracelet

Raspberry Ripple Earrings

2 Flower Brooches

So a year on do I want to go back South , yes and no really . The countryside yes the safety yes , some shops , no ferry journeys , however the traffic no, the city living no, the people & lack of community no. If you feel confused think what its like for us 3 three living it.

We take one day at a time and enjoy what it does or does not bring. Its the only way to keep moving forward.

Is that it.

I have made a bracelet to go with the Swinging 60's Necklace this week. Looks very funky in the sun. I do love the Hippie Chick Look, can never manage to pull it off myself , to used to jeans I guess plus I feel like a burk in a skirt.

Also as it is coming up to the world cup as I keep being told by The Husband & The Son . I saw this and though of them.

I am proud to be English !!!! And whatever else is in my gene pool that I don't know about.

I've gone and done it again

No , not that you dirty minded lot, I would never tell you that. Gutters the lot of you heads in gutters I say.

No I have gone and ordered lampwork stuff including The Kiln .

So I have to wait for all that and for the electrics to be all fixed up and done so close and yet so far away. I cannot even make anything I am that excited with everything else. I need to slap myself silly and start making stuff. I mean even to my horror I have even thought just for one split second though about selling some of my prized handbags and shoes . I must be mental . Slapped myself with that thought and husband's jaw had to be picked up off floor, he said sell the shoes . I knew then that noway I am gonna do that. Ha Ha Those will be my famous last words.

Between 2 kilns

So it is down to 2 kilns having been 3 to decide upon.

For all you lampworkers you will know what i am talking about.

the 3 were :

beadcube - which is small so great space wise but only does about 30 beads

sc2 - which most lampworkers use, is medium in size.

maxi - which is large and pink what more can i say to that.

after asking a good fair few people it is back down to 2 the 2 i decided upon when first thinking about getting a kiln . and i think i have an idea as to what i have decided upon but you will have to wait and see for the grand opening of The Tardis .

The Tardis

Meet The Tardis

I am so proud of The Husband , no messing with him it has took 2 days that's all 2 ruddy days.

And it would have been done in a day if we had not had to wait for the insulation for the middle of the ply .

The Roof first , yes yes I know hes building it inside the garage but believe me it needs to be this way up here as it blows a gale through our garage and I need some protection.

Then the sides and a window I need as much light as I can get with my eyes

A layer each side of ply with insulation in between and bobs your uncle as they say, now all we have to do is wait for the electrics , wait for equipment and put the insides in and I will be up and running, The Husband and The Son will be running when I make my first set all by my self. I also dread to here the noises that I might make, good job we have no neighbours near by.

Ummmm I wonder if the lock on the door will be going on the inside or outside of The Tardis.

And I shall have to put a sign up saying in garage " playing with glass "

Something we would have never done in Manchester

And it is what the title says, there was an open day at the leisure centre today to mark its opening I think some years ago. So there was lots of free activities to go a try for free today. The husband does badminton so went down to help out in that section when it was on , I followed with The Son later to try Carpet Bowls.

So as for all 3 of us tonight we played Carpet Bowls never having done anything like it before ever, plenty of Whalsay folk on hand to help out with all age groups playing from children , to our age and older folk. It was actually very good and all 3 of us enjoyed it very much , we know that this would not have been even considered in Manchester or even taking part in an open day in our local community we would not have bothered to go so I am pleased that we made that effort to join in.

Having a Polka Moment

I spied Trudi's pink polkas on her flicker page , fell head over heels in love with them, so emailed her that very second, it went on from there with my Polka Moment.

I just love Polka's , so as you can see below are 3 types of colours Trudi kindly did for me after a few emails and picture sharing. I love Trudi and her Polkas

No sun today so pictures are not to great in the sunroom, lots of shadows.

Puffin

Well I have gone and done it

Yes oh yes I have gone and done it. I had my first ever lesson on lampworking with Karen Baldon from Cheeky Cherub. I took my son to see his grandma in sunny old Manchester and had lesson .

I melted glass, my god, that feelin like I had come home when I did my first stringer, and my first bump well lets just say it was a " When Harry Met Sally " moment.

The days lesson was amazing I am over the moon that as a lampwork virgin I made a bead by the end of the day. I had never ever touched anything to do with glass so I was fully aware that my first bead would look like your wibble wobbly bit of pottery that was ever made.

However my excitement grew each time I was shown something new, I could have stayed all night if I was allowed and did not have to go for an eye test before I came back up here, otherwise Vision Express would not let me have my contacts. So I had to go.

So I could go on and on but all you lampworkers will know how I feel. I am in love with melting glass and I love Kaz for showing me. I know that I have to practise and it will at least be a while before I am happy with what I can do, but at least I will have fun doing them. So if ever I am tired or feeling down I think of beads and what I have made. As I ouzzzz excitement when I think of doing Lampwork beads. Now that I have joined the Dark Side I suggest you do the same you will not be disappointed

The ones in front are my first ever beads.

Bejewelled

Can you believe this has took all afternoon to do, no set plan and it takes you all afternoon and you end up getting all your beads out just to make one bracelet.

The picture has been took on a very dull day so not the best but at least you can see the beads it actually does look very nice on and will enhance many an outfit in the summer months.

Lakeside

Lakeside Necklace below ( for sale )

The Heart pendant that is on the Love Me Tender Key Chain was on this design, but I felt it was too harsh and the colours were not right when I put them together. So instead I used this Focal from Flying Bead . The chain and all the bits I made up from scratch and the end result I am happy with considering the design was from the old brain of my and I did not put it done on paper incase I forgot.

Sunny Days

Sunnys Days are here to stay. I wish !!!! No today is amazing shame I was stuck inside doing paperwork. This afternoon I made these up, the heart was on a necklace design but it did not look right so here it is as shown below:

Love Me Tender Keychain : ( for sale )

Also I have had these beads a while when I got my mothers, " Mothers Day " Beads but have only just made them up today.

Take Me Out Earrings below.

As usual I have took the son away from the PS3 to get his haircut and have got the wrong day yet again. I am always a day earlier, good job the hairdresser is getting used to this bimbo head. So will take him again tomorrow.

Black Satin

As I had some left over nuggets I made these to go with my Bracelet.

I don't actually wear many black pieces or tend to buy black beads , some person said many years ago " doesn't SHE make alot of Black " I have the feeling that the person was not being very nice, that is also around the time I gave up make pieces for many years.

I expect I will still take things to heart but that is because I am that type of person. Although upon meeting me I don't think you would think that. I don't do very good first impressions , in fact neither the 2nd or 3rd meeting either. Doesn't that make me sound awful and a complete bitch. In fact what do I say to that, I do not do well with a room full of people , it makes me feel uncomfortable ? I do not like making conversation with people as I find I get mindblock when asking questions ? I start to stutter when nervous? Women scare the hell out of me ? Am I the only person who feels this way?

Back to the point I expect I will always take things to heart but now I have come to understand that everybody has different tastes , we are not all the same and we do not like the same things. However Jealous MOO's in future will not be listened to and bad comments are to be put in the Moo Box called ' Kiss My Arse "

Black Nuggets

I have been looking for black beads for myself for ages, along came Flame and Glass. These are what I had to have, as soon as I saw the picture on her site I knew they were the beads I had been waiting for . I was not disappointed when they arrived.

Today I made them up in the design I like soooo much as it is simple yet effective in showing the beads off to perfection.

Weather up here today shit & very windy. Northlink that is our link from Shetland to mainland England/ Scotland is delayed from leaving until 4am saturday morning it should leave 7pm friday night. That's all because of wind , yes wind. oh and on the northlink website it will not get into Aberdeen until 7pm saturday eve. My god what they doing , its a big ruddy ferry. I would not be going on that I tell you. Sick , Sick , Sick would be me, me, me . This is a perk of living up here.

So the wind is blowing the dog flap open, the garage roof has been rattling since the early hours, sounds like it might blow off and the back door if opened could blow back and break.

So with it being the weekend I have a choice play with the beads or clean house ?? Ummmmm which would you go for.

Wanna go Home

Today out of the blue whilst putting my makeup on I decided I wanna go Home. It has come out of nowhere today, nothing has sparked it off , nothing has happened on the island in fact its lovely. I just feel really homesick today. I thought about making beads in our back garden in Manchester in another shed that The Husband could build, like he did our office and I felt homesick. All that work we put into the back garden, all that work we still had to do.

I feel homesick for my home not the area or surroundings but my home, our family home. It will pass as I have my family near me but just for today at least . I Wanna Go Home.

Sunflower

When I saw these beads I fell in love with them, when I got them I thought bugger !!!! What do I do with them so I did this below.

Sunflower Brooch ( for sale )

Focal bead by Cheeky Cherub with Swarvoski inside the middle.

Our First Party

I am no longer a party virgin, I was broken in on Friday night by the good ladies of Whalsay. Not so many just enough women to see our designs. A very nice crowd indeed. A positive night which means I am in full continue mode with my beading obsession. Yippee . So a big Thank You to the hostess for letting us host the party at her house. I like the fact that I can make a one off Hostess Bracelet as a thank you knowing that it is not mass produced and if we do another ten we do a different piece for each occasion. However doing this will make me wanna make up more pieces and buy yet more beads. Although I have seen a nice pair of Burberrys that would look nice on my feet this summer. Ummmm decisions decisions.

Our Tescos

We went to Tesco's for our weekly or when we need to shop , shop today. We leave the house at 10.15 we get the 10.30 ferry .

We reach Laxo 11.00 , we then drive to Lerwick that takes you till 11.30 , depending on what time you book the ferry back depends on how long you have to run round like a blue arse fly getting what you need. Today's our ferry back was 2pm so to be in time you have to leave Lerwick by 1.15pm ( lunch on the run basically )

Anyway this if the view from Tesco's in Lerwick. So on nice days like today this is what us lucky people see and as the weather gets warmer when you come out the doors you can smell the sea.

And these are the locals that sunbath outside on the rocks at Tesco.

This one is waiting till they get rid of out of date fish later :

Again on days like this it is a joy to do your weekly shop when you have a view like this to look upon. However I won't be saying that next week when I am being bitch slapped by the washing on the line as it's that windy and blowing a gale.

Making More

Scottish Heather Necklace below ( for sale ):

Focal by Laughing Lass above . On black cord simple slip over the head to wear.

Chocy Box Bracelet below ( for sale ) :

Beads by Annelyse Taylor with leaf spacers on jewellers elastic, ideal bracelet for everyday wear.

Pink Party Bracelet below ( for sale )

Beads by Cheeky Cherub with silver spacers on jewellers elastic. Something for girlie's to wear that sparkles in the sun.

I have been making more this afternoon , when is this urge to make stuff gonna end, when am I gonna stop thinking about bloody beads. Designing beads , designing ideas , when , when , when.

Getting Closer

Swinging 60's Necklace ( for sale ) below :

I have had this design idea in my head for a while, the needles have only just arrived with the seed beads I wanted to use. So yesterday evening whilst I was watching Star Trek yet again I made a start. Some peoples nightmare and I have to be in the mood, but as you know once you start you have to finish, you say right that's enough I can no longer use my fingers or see the beads, you put it down intending to stop and 30 seconds later you pick up that needle again and carry on. Great for young girls and kids or funky women some bright colours for these grey days.

Getting Closer to Jewellery Day !!! AGHhhhhh !!!!!! Although I am getting organised ready so I at least will know what we have ready to put out. make a list and keep checking I think.

Black Sea and Swirl

Swirl Necklace ( for sale ) :

Black Sea Bracelet ( for sale ) :

Black Sea Necklace ( for sale ) :
So the Swirl focal is from Glittering Prize, reminds me of sweets that focal.

The Black Seas lentils are from Clare Scott, I have put Hematite gemstone with these pieces , I was intending on black onyx but came across these first, and am actually pleased with the outcome.

I have paperwork to do this week but all that is on my mind is this Jewellery Party on Friday and have I got enough stock , I need to make more , I need to price & plan everything. No time for sleeping or cleaning ( Yahhoooo ) chocy can keep me going my fat supplies on my arse and thighs will keep the energy levels up.

It was not until I was speaking to Annelyse Taylor on Friday evening at how remote we have actually moved to compared to where we used to live, we did the google earth map thingy for both postcodes then compared the 2 houses and surrounding area's. We have gone from built up area of everything to a lone house in a field and few houses in fields away with green fields and sea, we must be bonkers if we had actually had thought about what we were doing would we have moved to such extremes ??? I wonder !!! It is a good job I had my blinkers on then when we moved up here otherwise I think I might have chained myself to that sink back in Manchester.

Bon Bon

The husband says they are like Bon Bons ! I have no clue to what flavour he has in mind, mint choc chip most prob.

Beads are by Clare Scott with stardust spacers & swarovski crystals. the weather is fine , calm and sunny not to be staying in weather anyway.

We have done the large doggie walk this morning and I shall be making more stuff up later for this party.

I also changed a earring into a necklace for someone who had been given one of our pieces of Jewellery for xmas, she took the dog for a walk and lost the other earring. As they are one off pieces I offered to make it into a necklace so the beads do not go to waste as they are so pretty and were my first purchase of handmade lampwork beads, so yes yes I know I have a soft spot for this lone bead now.

We are doing a Party

We are doing a jewellery party !!! My god , nervous , excited , nervous all these emotions. What if they don't like it. What if no one turns up. What if I turn up naked and every bodies there, oh no that was a dream . My mistake but it did feel very real.

I am actually looking forward to it. And the hostess is a very experienced hostess she will take care with this party virgin.

I have made these up ready for the party

Wheel Me Bracelet ( for sale ) :

The bracelet above. The beads are by Glittering Prize another one I want to keep all for me but I WILL NOT . Nope I shall let some else have the pleasure in wearing this.

Octopus with Love Bracelet ( for sale ) below :

The above really does shimmer in the sunlight, perfect for the young at heart to have on their wrist.

CupCake Me Bracelet below ( for sale ) :

This bracelet is not for eating above.

Wee Swimmer Bracelet below ( for sale )

Another wee Octopus , this is a little cutie and shines bright when wearing . I adore them all in fact.

We went for a walk

A clam day today so The Husband mentioned a walk to Challister Ness, we had never took The Girls on that walk before. Lovely and peaceful on a calm day. Would not like to walk it on a windy day as it is very exposed to the sea. We really are lucky to have these walks on our door step. Not bumping into crowds of doggie people walking their mutts. All of us came back very happy indeed bit of exercise before the rain sets in.

The Husband deciding to be smart !

The Husband wants one of these Boats for Xmas !!!

If you have not guessed by The Husbands blog . www.at2h.blogspot.com . He's a bird watcher so we both have our hobbies

This is Out Skerries is east of Whalsay . It can be seen on good clear days , like today. Beautiful Place The Husband says, only I will not be going in a hurry as it is a 1 1/2 hr ferry journey over. Sick bag anyone !!!!

However if you are into Wildlife go it is worth it.

Shetland Springs

Shetland Springs Necklace ( for sale ) :

The right size seed beads came today , we have had no post for a week so these beads arriving meant life was going back to normal. I actually really like this necklace simple yet effective and striking when on. Very Spring / Summer . Love the design very much, perfect in fact for Mother's Day. Beads are by Flame & Glass . I really do like this a anyone who gets it will be very special in deed.

I dont like dogs.

The Husband keeps on saying he does not like out mutts , would get rid of them in an instant and he has no favourites because he doesn't like them.

Do these 2 pictures show that he does not like dogs or that he has no favourites :

I also made this up today , it was going to be a bracelet but turned into a necklace. Beads are by Annelyse Taylor

Necklace above is Galaxy Quest :