And now for something completely different...

...I made Jewellery!!!

I know bit of a shock huh?

But I bought the most gorgeous hand painted Indian glass beads yesterday and just had to create with them, I was running some taster sessions today so the tools were out so to say...

Lush aren't they?

You can buy the turquoise one here and the pink one here from my favorite shop in the whole world....The Bead shop in Manchester...if you are a bead addict and you have never been you must go its an Aladdin`s cave for beaders, remember looking at sweets in a jar when you were small and trying to decide which ones to have, its the same feeling...just a little bit more expensive!!!

I will be back on the Art journal tomorrow honest, I had to pack all my materials up to take to my Information sessions last night for the BTEC course, which went amazingly, my students are excited, I am excited...easily pleased aren't I?

Okay I am off to a body shop party...woo hoo, I love body shop products soft sweet smelling skin here I come!!!

Potter, Pearls and Pants!!!

I finally watched Harry Potter yesterday...The last one...EVER...or is it?

Two words sum up this film, never mind Jonathan Ross or Barry Norman`s opinion...mine...BLOODY AWESOME!!!

I loved it, have always loved it, the books and the films and now it is no more so as I wipe a little tear from my eye I am happy in the knowledge that I can get away with wearing Chino`s...I know slight subject change there but obviously a trip into Manchester (to the pics) isn`t complete without a trip to Primani and I picked up a pair of said chinos yesterday and according to Ella I look good in Teens clothes!!!

And finally Pearls...made these on Sunday evening after the trip to the bead fair and finally took pictures yesterday when the light was a little better...

Bracelet on beading wire...

And matching necklace on beading wire and chain...

I love those big chunky flowers and wish I had bought more now :-(, I will have to search Ebay for some more!

Okay supposed to be off to Conwy for the day today and the BBC weather site have promised no rain...wish me luck!!!

Shhh.....

....Its oh so quiet!!!

First proper day of my holiday and I am up at stupid o clock because I can`t sleep but its very quiet because all are still in bed, that's the great thing about holidays, late nights mean the kids stay in bed longer in the mornings.

So after a fabulous day at Haydock yesterday and collecting all this stash...



I know I probably didn`t need half of it but it was just oh so pretty and can you spot the turquoise theme!!!

I sat and created these little pretties last night...

Charm bracelet on chain...

Similar charm bracelet on Beading wire...

I also made a necklace and bracelet using the big cream flowers and cream pearls but the light had gone by the time I finished so I will post a picture of those later.

I am taking Ella to watch Harry Potter today I think we are the only two people in the country that haven`t seen it yet and then Potter will be no more :-(.

Hope everybody has a lovely day.

Vintage...

...No I am not talking about wine...

I spent the day working for the college today at a Vintage Fair in Warrington Market, for those who don`t know Warrington Market is an indoor market and open daily and historians have discovered that the market has been around for approximately 750 years, luckily its pretty up to date now, apart from the vintage pretties that were displayed today...there were handcrafted goods and beautiful little items that i remembered my Nan owning when i was a little girl, if I had known how vintage her dressing table set would be now I would have carefully had it wrapped in tissue paper, I remember sitting for hours brushing my hair with the brush and holding the mirror up to check my "auburn" shine...anyway I was promoting the college courses that we have starting at the beginning of march and I had a really good day and even met Laurel and Hardy...obviously not the real ones but some pretty good lookalikes, I love how diverse my job can be.

I also chatted with some of the stall holders...set out a bit like a craft fair...obviously being crafty I like to chat to fellow artisans and there were some very talented individuals displaying their beautiful little pieces, I particularly fell in love with Vintage Twee...beautiful shabby chic stall directly opposite our stand which meant lots of lovely eye candy...go check out her beautiful site here

Been having a bit of a play with my sexy Swarovskis and fabulous findings...and this is what I have been creating...

Acrylic leaves and flowers, crystals and Swarovski...



With matching necklace...



Turquoise...my favourite colour in the whole world...Pearls, Fire Polished Crystals and Swarovski...



And a bit of fun...bought these little birdcages at the Gmex last week and added one to a ribbon and cord necklace with some Pearls, Charms, Acrylic flowers and leaves and Swarovski...



Just realised that is quite a lot of jewellery I have created lately...hmm maybe I need a day of scrapbooking tomorrow...yes that sounds like a plan, especially as I don`t have to do any lesson planning, I am off most of half term...Woo hoo...lie ins planned!!!

Off now to plan some layouts and sip some wine!!!

Its a little bit funny but....

...I am such a bad blogger, I know this is the case because I have been told...to my face...so I thought I would sit, feet up on the couch, laptop carefully balanced on lap, coffee at my side and blog in the peace and quiet that is Sunday evening, I love Sunday evenings that full tummy feeling after a Sunday dinner and those last few hours of the weekend stretching ahead, I may even treat myself to a glass of the old grape juice before hitting the quilt early tonight.

I headed over to the Stitch and Creative crafts show at the Gmex in Manchester yesterday for a couple of hours overheating, being battered by shopping trolleys and at one point very nearly knocked out by an unsuspecting elbow...one of those sat on the floor moments, I went to stand up and some poor lady nearly had her arm shot into next week by my head...I saw stars and I am not talking about Stephanie Weightman or Nancy Watt!!!

Anyway I think the show was a little bit of a letdown to be honest, although it was absolutely swarming with people...mainly women...nothing jumped out and screamed buy me buy me...I did see the Grand Calibur machine being demonstrated...oh how strange it was walking round watching other demonstrators instead of being the one demonstrating...So the new die cutting machine that will cut and emboss up to A4...I am not sold on it yet will stick to my Cuttlebug and Cricut for now.

So I did make a few purchases mainly embellishments, pearls, bling, ribbons and flowers, some stamp sets and a scrapbooking kit and some lovely heart shaped doily's to go with this....

I couldn`t resist her...isn`t she cute.

Spent today planning for my upcoming Demo at Inspirations by Cardcraft Plus over in Preston on Tuesday, where I will be demonstrating the Cuttlebug Machine with the gorgeous Nellies Creatables.

Here's a sneak peek of one of my samples....



This layout was on my camera when I uploaded to the PC it is a recent one because its using stash from some of the bargain scrapbook kits I got from TK Maxx...Harry and his "Sea Legs"



And I have been making Jewellery...no surprise there then considering I teach Jewellery making, however I very rarely make Jewellery just for the sake of it, but I have got myself a little granny lap tray stuck a beading mat into it and so all my beady bits, my sexy Swarovski`s and my fabulous findings fit inside it and I can sit on the couch when I have five minutes with it all in one place ready to roll...clever huh...I even have the granny beaded glasses chain for my specs...which I have to wear all the time now for close up work.... booo :-(.

Loving these frosted acrylic flowers and leaves at the moment, I don`t usually do plastic but teamed with some pearls and crystals they look particularly pretty....



and teamed here with Swarovski and some metallic roses...lush...



Okay so hopefully that little lot of waffle has more than made up for the fact that I have been an awful blogger lately...I am blaming working evenings and poor lighting at night so I can`t take decent pictures...that is my excuse...and the overwhelmingly humiliating fact that I have become the biggest Eastenders fan too!!!

You can take the girl out of London but you can`t take London out of the girl...especially when I say: Grass, Glass and Bath...for which my kids constantly take the mick out of me for...so there I said it my secret is out..."My name is Esther and I like Eastenders"

Off now to pour a Glass (said in a southern accent) of grape juice ;-)

He made the News.......

...............Jack!!!

At 5pm tonight we all watched Jack on the Television, he had been selected to be interviewed by Sky News at Warrington Collegiate today in response to the proposed cuts in student`s EMA payments, Jack believes that EMA allocation should not be based on parents income (he doesn`t receive it) but that students should receive travel and equipment resources, currently he relies on a part time job for his funding, and he came across as articulate and confident...so proud of my little guy.....look.....

Not sure that he is going to be able to deal with the fame, we keep asking him for autographs!!!

And after all that excitement I had to sit down and relax so I made this little pretty with some gorgeous crystals and pearls, I am really liking pearls at the moment...not so much that you could call me a Pearly Queen, more a Pearly Princess, I am loving the whole vintage jeweled look and am running out of arm for my pearly bracelets!!!

I am off to fashion a V.I.P star for Jack`s bedroom door!!!

Cupcakes and Crystals!!!

I am back Online!!!!

Yeah Baby, thanks to some very sound PC advice!!!

So I can check Emails, catch up with Facebook, view my Bank Balance online, and Blog the pictures I took on Sunday!!!

And I have this morning off so I have time to do all that too!!!

Had a lovely day on Sunday with my little girlie...we hit Hobbycraft...only for some class supplies but we had such a lovely girly giggle, she is me to a tee unfortunately and even has the hands on hip shaking of her head pose down to a tee!!!

When we got home, we baked...Yes I know and I don`t do baking!!!

When I say we...she sauntered off to her Grandads and told me to bake the cakes and she would decorate them...she is bloody 9 and I found myself actually agreeing!!!

So Joint effort...and beautifully displayed on my cut glass cake stand that a friend bought for me...so pretty...



And this is my little darling posing in the garden sat at my new table and chairs...finally replaced the one I had stolen two years ago...

Pretty as a picture...



Hmmm...starting the posing...



Where does she get that from...



Looks like she is playing "Air Cello"...



Scarey face...



Just plain cheeky...



Finally...phew I hear you gasp...this is a Swarovski Crystal ring I made a couple of months ago, even taught this in a couple of my classes...



Off now to surf the interwebs...I missed it!!!

OWCH!!!!

I have a headache...and it`s my own fault too, sat up watching the Alternative Election Night last night, but fell asleep on the couch after a couple of glasses of wine, only to wake up at 1am hardly able to move...OWCH!!!

And the fact that I have already had to face the aisles of ASDOH this morning in my pained and hungover state didn`t really help either...trying to decide what meals to cook during the week when all I wanted was a neurofen and a bacon buttie was no easy feat believe me...but its done for another week...yeah me!!!

I was planning on spending the day "doing" the back garden, the weeds out there are ridiculous, I have to take a strimmer out with me every time I want to peg a line of washing out, but it looks like its going to rain :-) and I would hate to get halfway through and have to stop.

Instead I might just sit and plan my lessons for next week or just curl up under a blanket dreaming of somewhere nice and warm.

Made this layout yesterday for my Scrapbooking class last night, its a lovely picture of Mia, taken during the Christmas holidays last year and just really sums up her personality...

Happy...



And finished some more Bling...well this one is more arm candy than bling because the beads look like sweets...



...and I am just loving green at the moment, even considering redecorating in a similar colour in my living room...



Off now for coffee and Neurofen!!!

Ooooops!!!

I promised my students that I would add this picture to my blog either last night or today and I forgot...sorry ladies...



Better late than never!!!

Creativity!!!

Well I have a couple of hours to myself so I thought I would post some projects I have been working on the last few days. Had a funny week this week, I think that Bank Holiday Mondays knock everyone out of sorts a bit and I can`t believe it is Friday tomorrow already. I am not demonstrating this weekend either, the first weekend I have had off since March...Pinot and Lie ins planned!!!

Although I really should clear my desk before I plan anything, its covered in beads...seed beads at that!!!

Okay made a couple of easel cards lately and adapted the design to do a circle one, which I am really pleased with...good old Tilda, been playing at making handmade flowers too, the patterned ones are a mosaic stamp that I have cut into and curled the "petals" layered and secured with brads, the brown ones were cut from greyboard on the Cricut and inked with good old Tim Holtz distress ink, then stamped with the same mosaic stamp using Stayzon, and the rose is several flowers cut and shaped into the 3D shape...I am never buying pre made flowers again, I love fiddling and making my own now....



I am doing another two craft fairs in the next month so I have had to get my finger out and create a decent stock of jewellery...was up at 6am on Sunday morning making this...Beautiful purple glass beads...



...and this...Nautical Nicety...I love those beads so much...



...and this...Apple Green, loving that little charm and the spotty beads...



...And been playing with my new spacer tubes again

and came up with...Tantalising Turquoise...



...and...

Passionate Pink



Don`t those beads just remind you of sweets!!!

Off now to clear the seed beads...Honest...Just want to say a big Happy Birthday to my Auntie Liz who is celebrating her 50th this weekend and my cousin Jessica who will be 21...Happy Birthday sorry I can`t be with you xxxx

I can tell you are Impressed!!!

Well this can`t be bad can it, another blog post this week!!!

I have the afternoon off work, had a class this morning and have another tonight but a couple of hours off in between cant be bad huh?

Been meaning to blog a couple of layouts that I have recently completed and a couple of pieces of jewellery too...

Here are the layouts, which surprisingly for me are all 12x12, quite liking this size at the moment and makes a change from the 8x8 that I usually do:

A couple of Ella...

Lady....All of a sudden all grown up!!!



Teen...Not quite but practicing hard!!!



One of Ella and I...

Chill...All we could do during the big freeze!!!



And a couple of Mia from her birthday party...

Laugh!!!



Birthday Girl!




I have missed scrapbooking, not had one of those evenings for a long time where papers are hiding my scissors and I have various embellishments stuck to me...I do have a nice tidy desk now though as I spent the day on Tuesday "sorting" it out...I would post a picture but I have just finished scrapping the "Laugh" layout above and quite honestly its embarrassing!!!

Had a couple of jewellery commissions to do lately, including these...

How gorgeous are those beads?



And finally sourced some spacer tubes which didn`t cost the earth, aren`t they pretty.



Well I am off now for a cup a soup...hooked on them at the moment.

Guess who`s back....

Hello People...did you miss me?

I have been a terrible blogger this year so far so a big sorry to my regular readers who find a little time every day to nip on here and read my waffle...I promise more waffle more regularly and maybe a few crafty bits and bobs thrown in for good measure!!!

Had my first demo of the year on Friday over at Inspirations by Cardcraft Plus in Preston, I met some Fabulous Funny and downright zany people...I was in good company there then, and had just the best day, everyone is so friendly in Preston and the new shop is absolutely beautiful, filled with such lushness that I had to sit with my blinkers on for fear of returning home completely bankrupt, pay it a visit if you are in the area...or just go for the day...there is a Ben and Jerry's just around the corner ;-).

So I will be teaching over in Preston on the 14th April, running my first independent jewellery making class...How exciting is that. I even have the sample ready, now that is just far too organised for me and I mustn`t let that happen too often!!!

Been making a few bits of arm candy, a friend and I are planning on doing a craft fair also in April so thought I had better build some stock up...













I made this last week too, I got the idea from the Crafting Springtime gifts book I bought a couple of years ago that has been collecting dust on my bookshelf ever since...along with the Sew Pretty and Crafting Christmas gifts from the same range, have to think of a name for her because Mia thinks she needs a little name plate and I agree that would be pretty cute.




Talking of Mia, she had her hair cut last week...ten inches...yes I have the lock of hair to prove it no decent photograph yet...although took these yesterday on my Blackberry...look sunshine, real sunshine...No coats, no hats, no scarves or gloves....a lovely spring day...

and look at the little guy!!!

He is growing daily...and eating me out of house and home...the little guy turned 14 this week...and has a meeting at school next week to discuss what GCSE options he wants to take...Do they have GCSE`s in eating and playing football,

Okay off now to do some scrapbooking, still got a pile of "snowy" pictures to work through...pretty much like the rest of the population of Britain I imagine...!!!