Where To Start???

It's now been so long since my last blog entry that even I'm beginning to lose track!

Anyway, after a lovely holiday in France - the same place as last year, in the glorious Poitou Charente region, not far from Cognac, within days I was back to work, with a frantic rush to get ready for the first appearance - at the Malvern Autumn Show - of The Beads And The Birds, a coming together of lampwork glass artists and jewellery makers, in order to promote the cause of British artisan glass and jewellery.
The Birds consisted of myself, George Harper East, Julie Fountain and Vicky Prior, and while we didn't make a fortune in terms of sales, we had a lovely weekend, and the feedback from those people who called by our stand was incredibly positive - oh and a lot of customers went home with some lovely jewellery!
Apart from customers, some glass and jewellery friends called by to lend support, mainly Cath Throup and Lesley Gleeson, and by sheer good fortune, we found ourselves situated slap bang opposite the food hall. It would have been so rude not to sample the wonderful fare on offer, so Gloucester Old Spot pork pies, farm ciders, and Oggies really went down a treat!


(From left, Vicky, Julie, George, and me)

And since Malvern, I've barely had time to draw breath. It's been one endless round of Merched Y Wawr events - Drefach Felindre, Llandeilo and Clydach - along with a stream of customer orders, whilst trying desperately to build up my stock of jewellery ready for the run-up to Christmas.

Pearls are still very much in demand, but I'm also trying hard to concentrate on gemstones again, after an absence of quite a few months.






And now I'm off on my travels again, this time to Cheltenham, to the Ladies Association of British Barber Shop Singers Annual Convention, a three day event being held this year at Cheltenham Racecourse. I was approached by them earlier in the year to see if I would be interested in having a sales stand at the event, so I thought I'd try it out to see if it would be a good addition to my sales calendar.
I'll be back in a few days' time, so I'll tell you how it went!

Enjoy your weekend,

Nia xx

Confused Dot Com!

Ok, time for me to come clean. I've had more than a few emails over the last couple of weeks from regular customers who are rather puzzled by my recent emphasis on lampwork glass jewellery. One person seemed quite put out by the fact that I have "forgotten" all about gemstones and pearls.
Well, this really isn't true, honestly!
As most of you know by now, gemstones are my first love - aaahhhh! - but they work so well with artisan-made lampwork glass, so I have been more than happy to embrace both, along with freshwater pearls.
But I have to confess that over the last few weeks I have been concentrating on glass because at the end of September, I'm hooking up with a few friends to promote British-made, hand-made, lampwork glass.
We will be setting out our wares at the Malvern Autumn Show, in an attempt to convert the GBP (Great Britsh Public) over to the cause of handmade glass. Julie Fountain (Lush Lampwork) will be demonstrating, and I will be there with lampwork jewellery along with George Harper (Designed by George), and Vicky Prior (Morello Beads).
So please forgive this temporary overload on glass - normal service will resume as soon as possible!
It goes without saying that if you are planning on paying a visit to the show, if you live fairly locally or in the West Midlands or Mid/South East Wales, then please call by to say hello, it would be lovely to see you! You can find us, The Beads And The Birds, at the top end of the showground, up near the Wye Hall, with all the wonderful local foods and drinks, and well away from the non-stick pans, da-glo socks, and market stall bling.
So with absolutely no apologies whatsover, a few new pieces for you!

Beads by Becky Fairclough, with silvered ceramics.



Beads by Pamela Purslow, with Baltic Amber nuggets.




And finally a set of stunning beads made by Roy Ayre of Gallowglass, who sounds 100% Scottish, but who is actually Cardiff born and Cardiff bred, combined with gorgeous irridescent blue Kyanite and silver.









Back to gemstones and pearls soon!

Nia xx

Bead Buying And Being Boring!

There isn't much going on in my life at the moment, apart from buying lots of lovely beads, and making new pieces.
If it wasn't for the fact that I wanted to see what I was buying at first hand, then I probably wouldn't have left the house at all over the last two weeks or so.
But there was the annual Rock & Gem fair in Builth Wells a couple of weeks ago, where I was hoping to source all sorts of lovely gemstones, but I came away without half the things I wanted. Although I did succumb to some fabulous pearls, so it wasn't a wasted journey. It meant though that I had more money to spend at the Bead Fair in Stourbridge at the weekend, where lots of my favourite glass artists had gathered to sell their work. I had a lovely day, and met some lovely people. Oh and I bought some rather lovely beads too!
From Stourbridge we drove over to Bromfield, near Ludlow, where we had a fantastic dinner at the Clive, stayed overnight, and came home the following morning.
It only ammounted to about 24 hours away, but it was such a nice change, especially as I've had so many lovely beads to play around with since coming home.
I had meant to keep them safely locked away until well into next month, but I just could not resist a set of Ray Skene's amazing hollow beads, so this necklace came to life a couple of days ago.
(Now SOLD, thank you!)



As well as buying at bead fairs, I've been stalking some of my favourite glass artists' web sites in order to grab myself some goodies.
This next necklace features a set of beads by Sarah Bedwell, who always makes such interesting glass.



And no bead stash of mine would be complete without a new set by Isabelle Anderson. I combined these with some nuggets of egg-yolk amber and lovely Hilltribe silver.




And finally, an all-silver necklace. I've been waiting eagerly for these beads to arrive for some weeks because I knew exactly what I was going to do with them.
(Now SOLD, thank you!)




So that's my exciting life at the moment! And guess what? It's just started raining again, as if it hasn't rained enough over the last few weeks!

Have a great Bank Holiday!

Nia xx

"(I Said) Isn't It Nice To Be Home Again".

With apologies to James Taylor! Which is something else I forgot to tell you about. We went to see him in concert at the C.I.A. (Cardiff International Arena), back at the end of June, and he was absolutely fantastic. Yes of course (some) of you remember J.T. He of Fire & Rain, Sweet Baby James, You've Got A Friend etc. etc. fame.
And once you get over the fact that nowadays, the formerly young, tall, lanky, long haired singer now bears a striking resemblance to a 1930's sharecropper from a Walker Evans photograph, you realise that his voice has barely altered in 40 years. It was a wonderful performance, and in a surprisingly intimate venue, considering it's size. The evening was a birthday treat to myself, and I enjoyed every moment of it.
So...... I'm now back home, after 5 weeks away, on and off, and oh boy, it's nice!
The National Eisteddfod in Bala, despite being a long-haul of an event in terms of time away from home, was very successful, and my best Eisteddfod to date.
The Eisteddfod means a lot to me because it was a huge part of my life for many years when I was growing up. I used to compete in smaller Eisteddfodau, which then led on to the National Eisteddfod on many occasions, so a trip to the Genedlaethol was almost obligatory every year, be it in North Wales, or South Wales - it alternates between the two. And even now, going along there to sell my jewellery rather than competing, it still feels a bit special, and of course it's a great place to meet up with family and old friends.
Wyn spends the week stewarding the event, on a volountary basis of course, but it means that he also becomes very involved with the whole scene. He looks on it as almost a holiday, even though he starts at 8 every morning, but it's just such a different way of spending his time to working back home. He loves it!
As usual, I shared a marquee with some other members of Wales Craft Council, including the silversmith Sarah Anderson, who was the designer and maker responsible for this year's crown at the Eisteddfod. The crown is awarded to the winner of the best sequence of poems, with a theme this year of "Yn Y Gwaed" - "In The Blood". The eventual winner, out of an entry of 44, the largest ever, was Ceri Wyn Jones, from Cardigan.
Sarah discovered back in June last year that she had been awarded the commission for making the crown, one of the most prestigious, and symbolic awards in Welsh culture, just days before her father passed away, so the past 12 months or so has been an enormous artistic and emotional journey for her. She made the prototype for the crown in copper, then after approval by the Eisteddfod, got to work making the crown itself in silver and gold.
She took her inspiration from the mountains surrounding Bala, with the outlines connected to a central dome by 12 lines of silver, representing all the people, some 120,000 in total, who gather at the Eisteddfod every year, from all over Wales, the UK, and indeed from all over the world, to celebrate the diversity and talent of Welsh culture.


(Sarah holding the crown)

We were lucky enough to have the crown on display with us for most of the week. Ceri Wyn very kindly allowed it to go back into Sarah's cabinet after the ceremony on Monday, until he took it home with him late on Friday, so it was lovely for people to be able to view it at such close range. Normally all you get is a quick glimpse on TV, then it's gone! People really appreciated being able to see it in detail, and Sarah had also made up boards with her plans and ideas for the design concept, which drew a lot of attention.





But by the end of the eight day event, we were all really flagging, and I was glad to see Sunday come around, which meant packing up the stand, loading the car, hitching up the caravan, and heading for home. The caravan site for the Eisteddfod this year was just the on the other side of the hedge to the Maes (Eisteddfod site) itself, you really couldn't wish for an easier spot, just a 5 minute walk from the caravan and I was at my stand. Over the course of the event, the caravan site turns into a sizeable community of some 850 caravans - up to about 3,000 people, not including Maes B, the camp site for younger people. Complete with shop, bar, and entertainmant, it becomes a temporary village for us Eisteddfod go-ers, but by the Sunday, eveybody's packing up and leaving.




(Our caravan, about ready to hitch up)

So since coming home, I've been busy cleaning up all my stock, display stands, cloths, shelves, curtains etc, etc. The weather was mostly dry and warm, and breezy, hence dust through everything, and we also suffered an infestation of red mites, so a thorough clean-up was badly needed!
Wil went back to Bristol on Wednesday, with all his gear, so I doubt we'll see him again for a few months. He's going in to his final year now, and hasn't the time flown!

While we were away, everything in the garden and greenhouse shot up, including this courgette, which Wil found lurking under the tomatoes.
It measures some 14 inches in length, with a girth of 11 inches.




Ratatouille anyone???

Nia xx

I Think I've Overcommitted Myself!

Ever regretted saying "Yes, of course I can do that, it's not a problem"? Well I just did!
First things first, the horrible swine flu virus has pretty much gone, although I'm still coughing and feel tired all the time. Setting up for the Royal Welsh last Sunday was tough, I had to keep sitting down every few minutes to stop myself fainting clean away, I just felt so weak. But the show itself went really well, with sales up yet again on last year's event. In fact, at one point on the first day, I couldn't quite believe the figures stacking up in front of me, one "good" piece after another was being snapped up. My first sale, within minutes of opening my stand, consisted of a lampwork necklace with beads by Heather Webb, a blown glass piece, a glass pendant, and three pairs of gemstone earrings. Fifteen minutes later, Argento, my silver Hilltribe piece, sold. All this before 9am! And before I'd even had my first coffee of the day, another lampwork necklace (Julie Fountain aurae glass beads) sold to a lady who returned later to buy one with Clare Scott's beads, and a freshwater pearl with Hilltribe silver butterfly necklace. It couldn't last however, and Tuesday was a little quieter, as were Wednesday and Thursday, thanks in no small part to torrential rain. But by then I had sold almost all my freshwater pearl pieces, mostly in the £90 - £120 price range, so I wasn't too unhappy with things!
So since coming home on Thursday night I have been working really hard to replace a lot of the sold items with alternatives. Classical style pieces were popular as always, so I spent yesterday stringing tiger eye, black onyx, carnelian, amethyst etc. etc. Not exactly challenging, but I cannot afford to neglect the bread-and-butter items.
Today however, I've allowed myself to play around with lampwork and pearls, so I've really enjoyed myself!



The glass was made by Lorna Prime, of Pixiewillow Designs, and although I'm a confirmed bumpist, I just couldn't resist this set, and teamed them with some of my precious stash of lilac keishi pearls.



This necklace features one of my favourite Hilltribe silver focals, with some gorgeous peacock keishi pearls. It's very dramatic and eyecatching!

So...... how exactly have I overcommitted myself? Well, a long long time ago (a lifetime ago!), I worked as a photographer, in an era when the word "digital" was almost unheard of. I used "real" cameras, and developed and printed all my own images in a darkroom, with only the heady aroma of bromide for company! One project that became very important to me was a piece of documentary work, looking at life in rural Wales. At the time, I lived and worked in the city, and I found myself becoming increasingly disinterested in the gritty urban realism that seemed to be in fashion, so I decided to take myself off to an area of Wales that I really didn't know at all, and see what I could find.
And what I found was a wonderfully warm and welcoming community, perfectly at ease with this city dweller, complete with 80's hair (well it WAS the 80's!), and combat trousers, and happy to put up with my strange notions of what made for interesting subject matter.
The project eventually became an exhibition, with some of the images ending up in the University Of Wales Collection.
It also changed my life in more ways than one, as I eventually ended up selling my house and moving to rural Wales. The rest, as they say, is history.
The exhibition ran it's course, and has been living, neatly stacked and still framed, in a spare bedroom, for the last 18 years, until now.
A new local gallery, found out about my work, and expressed an interest in showing the exhibition again. So I said, "Yes of course I can do that, it's not a problem".
Well, it wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have to hang the show tomorrow, then prepare to take us off on Thursday to the National Eisteddfod in Bala in North Wales, and somehow find time to make in the region of some 20 new necklaces and dozens of pairs of earrings!
Sleep? Who needs it!
Nia xx

A Swine Flu Sceptic? Not Anymore...

When Swine Flu (H1N1) first hit the headlines, I was extremely sceptical, firmly convinced that it was most unlikely to affect little old me in my rural hideyhole, and even if it did, then it would probably be very mild, and it would most likely happen in the depths of winter when I didn't have anything better to do.
Wrong. Very wrong.
We came home from Llangollen on Monday last week, and all the way back I had a terrible hacking cough which had just appeared that morning out of the blue. By the time we arrived home I was feeling very unwell, full of aches and pains, and a bit queasy, but I simply put it down to having had a long hard week in Llangollen, and all I needed was a hot bath and a good night's sleep and I'd be right as rain again.
By Tuesday, I was much worse, and guessed straightaway that it was some sort of flu, so I started on the tried and tested paracetamol and fluids routine, but by Wednesday I was worse still, feverish and a bit delirious. By now, Wil had decided to escape all this toxicity and flee back to Bristol. So the doc was summoned, not wholly successfully as the surgery was on half day. Half day? Since when I thought? Anyway, some duty doc from miles away rang us back (I wasn't capable of coherent speech), ran through my symptoms and confirmed Swine Flu.
And seeing as I am otherwise healthy, refused to prescribe anti-virals. So I suffered. And suffered. It was a truly horrible week, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I've had proper, full-blown flu twice in my adult life, and this was every bit as bad, so I could have cheerfully throttled all the medical experts on TV who kept banging on about how mild Swine Flu is compared to normal flu. This was most certainly NOT mild, it was gruesome.
The worst is over now thankfully, and I've eaten proper food again today, the first since Monday, but I still feel really weak, and the cough is pretty bad still.
So as a result, I've done no work, taken no photos, and have absolutely nothing new to show you.
But I am off to the Royal Welsh Show tomorrow, to set up my stand ready for the start of the four day event on Monday.
Wyn took the caravan up there today, so it's just a case of loading up the jewellery in the morning and off we go again. It was hardly worth unloading everything last week!
I feel terrible that I haven't been able to make all the things I wanted to for the show, but at least I'll be there! Two days ago I couldn't have cared less about dropping out, I felt so very ill.
So if anyone is going to the Royal Welsh, please call by and say hello! I promise I'm no longer infectious!
Oh and Llangollen?
It went brilliantly! Sales were up again, and some lovely statement pieces went to new homes, so I was very pleased as you can imagine.
I'll be home on Thursday night, so I'll let you know how the Royal Welsh went at the end of the week.
Bye for now!
Nia xx

Who Needs An IPod?

Because I've got a Wine Pod!



I spent yesterday sorting out the caravan ready for my first big event of the summer, the Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod. We leave this morning, so I thought I'd take a few pictures showing the caravan at the tidiest it'll be for many weeks. After Llangollen I am at home for a grand total of five days before we head off to the Royal Welsh Show at Builth Wells, then a whole six at home before we go up to Bala in North Wales for the National Eisteddfod. So I'm not really going to be around much for a while!

I do like the caravan. When it's parked outside on the farmyard. And even when I'm cleaning it, and stocking it full of food and clothes, I keep thinking oooh this will be fun! But I have to admit that after a few days away the fun wears off, and I long for my space again, especially in the kitchen. But on the other hand, it's a very comfortable caravan, and we were very lucky to find this (second hand) bargain three years ago, and without it, then doing the three big Welsh shows every year would'nt be anywhere near possible.

So Llangollen here we come! It's a tough week I suppose, we are open from about 8.30 am to 8 pm, from Tuesday to Saturday, with a couple of additional hours, but the atmosphere and spirit is wonderful, so it doesn't feel like such hard work.
I hope my jewellery will go down as well as it has done over the last two years. The Game Fair a few weeks ago was a stunning success, so I suppose I'm not too pessimistic.

And I've had the opportunity to play around with some stones, glass and pearls over the last few weeks, so I thought I'd show them to you here.









So apart from Llangollen, what's been happening? Well for starters the weather has been wonderful so Wyn has been dealing with hay and silage making contracts, so that makes it easier to go away, knowing that he doesn't have to miss out on work.
Wil is home now until mid-August, so he is here to keep an eye on the house and farm. He had a great time in the Alps last week, although he came home with the obligatory man-flu. He went back to Bristol on Friday to sign the contract on their flat, so he can start to move all his stuff in over the next few weeks.
Right, I'd better get a move on. I still need to pack my jewellery, as well as a selection of beads in order to make a few bits and pieces over the course of the week.
I won't have internet access while I'm away, so you won't be bothered by my ramblings all week! But I'll update the blog after I've come home and tell you how I got on.
Oh and how well the wine pod chilled the dry white of course!
Have a great week!
Nia xx