Lets twist again...

Beading is dominating my life at the moment. My evenings and weekends have been spent trying to complete some projects. If I stop and think how much I have got to do between now and the end of July I start to panic. So, I have been keeping my head down and trying to take it one step at a time.


My experimentation with spirals continues. This time I am playing with peyote or Cellini Spirals. These are great fun. By varying the size and shape of the beads you can exaggerate the shape of the spiral. There is a really good tutorial on creating this spiral here. My aim is to make some beaded beads out of spirals and put them together in a necklace to sell on our stall at the Community Festival at Christchurch.

Then I have to concentrate on my course work so that I am ready to exhibit at the Textile Kaleidoscope exhibition at the end of July. This is a showcase for local City & Guilds students. Sadly it might be the last ever exhibition as Dorset Adult Education is scaling down the range of art and craft courses it offers. Apparently government funding has been cut for 'leisure' courses choosing instead to fund adult literacy, numeracy and computer courses.

Even though I am up to my eyes in beading at the moment I still need to have a project on my knitting needles. It is really nice to have a project in my bag to work on in my lunch breaks or when watching the television in the evenings. I have just started a pair of socks for my OH as he really loves my hand knitted ones. I found this pattern on knitty. It is a great source for beautifully designed hand knitting patterns and I would highly recommend it.

Diamond Waffle Socks designed by Danny Ouelette

Sunshine and thunderstorms

I was woken at 1:30 this morning by a loud clap of thunder. Summer has finally come to the South of England and after several hot, humid days we were treated to a spectacular storm. Realising that I would find it hard to go back to sleep, I got out of bed and padded to the living room and watched out of the window for a while. There were some amazing forks of lightning, I only wish that I had been able to take some photos. My OH of course slept through the whole thing!

At one time I was a bit scared of thunder storms. Silly I know, but I think it probably stems from an experience in my childhood. Whilst staying with my grandparents on the Kent coast, the house next door was hit by lightening during a particularly violent storm. It shook the whole house and scared me out of my wits. For quite a long time after that storms made me nervous. Now I don't mind them so much and even find them quite exhilarating.

Summer (and the hard work of my OH) has brought its rewards. Last night we sat down to a meal of salad, including the first of our potatoes from the allotment, followed by fruit pie, containing homegrown blackcurrants. I can claim absolutely no credit for them, especially at the moment with my limited mobility. I really do appreciate his hard work as you really cannot beat homegrown fruit and vegetables.

Yesterday was a sad day for me, it was the last day of my City & Guilds Beadweaving course. To mark the occasion we all went to a local pub for lunch. We sat in the garden, enjoying the sunshine, chatting away and it struck me how lucky I am to have met these women. They are all ages and from many walks of life with one thing in common - their creative spirit.

I will see some of them at our annual exhibition - Textile Kaleidoscope - which showcases the work of City & Guilds beadwork and embroidery students, in three weeks time. I am working away on my Art Deco bag , which will be one of the exhibits. So the weekend ahead will be full of beading and writing up my design journal.

Serendipity

You never know where life will take you. I suppose that can sometimes be one of the great things about it. A chance meeting or a seemingly insignificant event can result in some surprising, occasionally life changing consequences.

Five years ago, just a few weeks after moving to Bournemouth, I happened to see a poster in the window of a quilting shop advertising an exhibition of work by local City & Guilds embroidery students. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed at the time, I had just moved to a strange town, started a new job, I had no friends or relatives nearby to talk to and to make matters worse my OH was working over a 100 miles away and we were only able to see each other at weekends. I have always loved looking at textiles and embroidery so I went along to the exhibition to cheer myself up. When I arrived I was surprised to see some amazing beadwork on display. Intrigued I chatted to one of the students who was acting as a steward. I had dabbled in off-loom beadwork but was mainly self-taught and so found it difficult. That afternoon a whole new world opened up for me. I immediately signed up for the Level 1 City & Guilds Beading course. In the past four years I have learnt so much and made some wonderful friends. I am blessed with a wonderful teacher who has given me constant inspiration support and encouragement. One day I would like to teach beading and she has given me the confidence to believe that anything is possible.

A beaded passion flower created by me and based on a pendant designed by American beader Laura McCabe

A detail from one of my necklaces inspired by a trellis covered in climbing roses. Four years ago I would not have had the confidence to design and make my own jewellery.

Recently another event has unexpectedly opened up a new range of possibilities and a chance to make more friends. A few months ago P, R and I attended a talk by Linda Harrold, a local medical herbalist, about the medicinal properties of herbs. The talk was very interesting and Linda proved to be an engaging and informative speaker. At the end of the session she mentioned that she was interested in setting up a local herb group affiliated to the Herb Society. P, R and myself volunteered to help. Last Thursday was the first meeting of the Dorset Herb Group. The aim is to provide an friendly and informal atmosphere where like minded people can discuss growing and using herbs. P gave a wonderful talk on how she grows and uses herbs in her garden. Every month there will be a 'Herb of the Month' spot presented by one of the group. This time I was asked to talk. After much deliberation I chose nettles, not an obvious choice. I think that they are very under used and under appreciated. They are often considered a nuisance by the gardener but can be useful for conditioning your soil, encouraging wildlife into your garden and are very good to eat. The whole evening was a great success. Yet again I have been able to get to know a whole new set of people and to expand my range of interests. As I said you never know where life will take you next!