HOLIDAY TIME

We are going away tomorrow for a couple of weeks to Cornwall. I hope the weather stays as good as it has been here for the last couple of days. It is has been beautifully warm and sunny. It is about time we had some good weather in the UK. I am looking forward to searching for new beads and yarns whilst I am there and getting inspiration for new items to make.

The picture above is the cove near to where we are staying. That picture was taken last year. We had some great days on the beach, in the sea, searching the rockpools and having barbecues.

This second picture is taken at Lands End. We had a great day there too. There was a Dr Who Exhibition on, Amy loved it and she wants to visit it again this year.

THIRD COLUMN

I have been wanting to add a third column to my blog for ages but I know nothing about html code and I couldn't find simple instructions to do it. That is until today. I came across this fabulous blog Blogger Buster which is written by Amanda Fazani. Her instructions for creating a third column are so simple that even I could follow them. There are other tutorials on there but I have yet to look at them. Thank you so much Amanda!

BEADING SUNDAY

I wanted to have a relaxing day today so I decided to have my second lesson in beading. I recently bought a book, which I mentioned in an earlier post. It is a beautiful book and has some gorgeous projects, but I think it is probably for someone who has a little more experience than me in the art of beading. I am still learning the basic stitches. I would love to go to a beading class, unfortunately there are none close to where I live.

I have discovered the second best thing to classes is You Tube. There are some great videos on there which show you how to do these stitches. I find it so much easier watching someone actually doing it rather than just reading and looking at diagrams. So today I have learned ladder stitch and herringbone stitch, it looks a bit wonky but apparently the beads are supposed to be offset like that.

FIRST CUSTOM ORDER

I was recently asked if I could make a guinea pig keyring buddy. I must admit I was a bit worried about getting it to look like my client wanted. I wasn't given any directions, just 'no pink'. I can picture finished items in my head, but sometimes they don't turn out the way I hoped and can take a few attempts to get it right. Fortunately this little one looked right after my first attempt. I checked with my my daughters to make sure he looked like a guinea pig and they both agreed that he did and that he was cute. He is now with his new owner in America. I was pleased to get a message from her to let me know that he had arrived safely and that his new owner was pleased with him. If you would like your own keyring buddy, I have others for sale in my Etsy shop.

FREE SHIPPING

Purple & Lilac Fantasy

by LizzyT Designs

I have reduced the price of all the bracelets in my Etsy shop. PLUS you can now save even more money because I am also offering FREE SHIPPING on these items. There are even more bargains to be had in the Sale Section of my shop. Here you will find some great items at reduced prices PLUS a lovely selection of scarves. All the scarves are shipped free of charge.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Can anyone see my pink elephant?

FIRST ATTEMPT

On an earlier post I wrote that I was going to have a go at beading. I have seen some wonderful blogs that have given me the inspiration to have a go at this craft. I have 2 favourites they are Triz Designs and Smadar's Treasure. The pieces they produce are just amazing and I am sure I will never reach that standard. But anyway here is my first attempt, a beaded tube, hopefully the first of many. I used the book I bought but I also found it very helpful to go onto Youtube and watch videos of people beading.

IS TIME PASSING BY FASTER?

Is it just me or does anyone else think that this year is passing really quickly? I went part-time in my job just over a year ago in the hopes that I would have more time but it is not happening. I can't believe how quickly the weeks are passing, it is Thursday again and the weekend is almost upon us. There are so many things I want to do but I never seem to have the time to get round to them.

We were hoping to go away this weekend but have cancelled due to increasing fuel charges. We are going to Cornwall at the end of July for a fortnight, so we have decided to save our money for that instead. We have a caravan and bought a diesel car to tow it with as at the time the running costs were cheaper. Unfortunately the price of diesel has increased and now it is more expensive than unleaded petrol.

Jasper was sick on Sunday and when he is sick he always does it in his bed. Anyway I put the cushion out of his bed into the washer. When I went to get it out all the contents of the cushion had come out and the washer was full of polyester filling. What a mess!

We had to rush to our local pet store to get him a new bed. I picked him a very smart red tartan one, brought it home and put it in his corner. He wasn't impressed. I made him sit in it for this picture, look at his ears. I don't think he has slept in it yet.

I sold one of my favourite pairs or earrings this week. They were bought as a birthday present for the lady's mum. She sent me a message to let me know they had arrived safely and that her mum was pleased with them. I thought it was really nice of her to let me know.