Claire's blog

Daventry was fantastic.  Learnt some new things, met up with old friends, made new friends, spent FAR too much money, promised to write an article for the Journal, and got some work for the Guild done (mostly working on proposed new things for the website).  I didn’t actually finish anything in the two classes I […]

This looks very interesting.  I’m quite tempted to give it a go….

It’s been quiet on here as I’ve been very busy for the last few weeks (months!).  My contract finishes at the end of this month, so I’m frantically working to try and squeeze all the experiments I can into the remaining time.  Of course I’m not helped by the fact that the FACS machine has been […]

I spent the weekend in Nottingham, where Dad kindly spent some time counselling my computer, so that it now no longer feels the need to shut down if I ignore it for too long (although I had to compromise and remove my screensaver).  I was also able to pick up my post, including my brand […]

One of my Christmas presents was ‘Little Bead Boxes’ by Julia Pretl, and I’ve just finished one of the patterns from the book (with a bit of a colour change).

Still beading away, this time I’ve done a panel for a box lid using one of the patterns from earlier.

Still beading like crazy. In particular I’ve been playing around, beading collars to traditional Saraguro designs. This is the first one I made, the design is called Paralelos. It’s worked in 3mm twisted bugles, and size 11/0 seed beads, both in a peacock/iris colour. I then moved on to this one (aka The Necklace That […]

I’ve been beading like a fiend this weekend, making items for the Christmas exhibition at Patchings, and managed to completely forget that I’m giving a lecture to Masters students tomorrow morning! Thankfully I lectured on this topic last year, so I’ve just got to update and review my slides. And I’ve been looking at the […]

I’ve been working on some designs for a box lid, trying to choose which one to do.

The course went well, with both students getting the hang of all the chains I was teaching, and going home with several bracelets each. They also bought some finished chain maille and some rings to make more of their own, and I sold a necklace. So a good day to be in Patchings. I was […]

I’m back in the UK, and preparing to teach my first course on chain maille tomorrow. Wish me luck!

As well as the beading, I’ve been doing some chain maille. I recently got a shipment of rubber rings, so I’ve been playing with the possibilities with those, first by weaving some foxtail. Then by playing at making stretchy bracelets using a Japanese 12-2 weave I’ve just learnt from a new book. These look great […]

It’s been quite busy here lately, including a trip to Rotterdam for a conference, but I’ve managed to fit in some beading and prove I still know how. I’ve made this from size 11/0 seed beads, following a pattern from Julia Pretl’s ‘Little Boxes’ book.

Seeing as I normally mention the films I’ve been watching, I thought it would make a change to mention the books I bought recently – especially as I came back to Ireland with seven new books to go on my already straining bookshelves. Culinaria Hungaria – I love, love, love this book. Mum’s had a […]

I was teaching a beading class at Patchings today, but we couldn’t stop looking at the nest-cam. The chicks look bigger today, we’re sure of it. I guess they’ve got to get up to the size of their parents before they leave the nest, and they only get 2-3 weeks to grow to that size. […]

I’m back in the UK, so I spent the day in Patchings working on some handouts for the bead course I’m doing tomorrow. This meant I’ve now seen the chicks on the nest-cam for myself! They look so strange, like little aliens, but are adorable nonetheless. Their eyes aren’t open, but every time they hear […]

It’s another gorgeous, gorgeous day, which again means that work is half empty! I can’t comment though, as I arrived a bit late myself 😀 In honour of the sunshine, I’ve put up a more cheerful layout. I head back to the UK tomorrow, so that I can borrow Mum’s car and drive all the […]

The Christmas Market at Patchings went very well, and I had a great time. We had tons of people coming round, but although they were spending we all noticed that the money was only really coming out for the small items, and very few larger, more expensive items were sold. Small things all add up […]

I’ve been away the last few days at the Great British Bead Show in Daventry, where I’ve had a fantastic time. On Friday I did a course in chain maille with Jean Power… Then on Saturday I made a wirework loom vessel with Sandra Wallace… I haven’t quite finished it – I still need to […]

So, it’s been a while since I posted. I got caught up in work and the run up to Christmas. But, finally, here are the pictures from London. We stayed at the Southwark Rose Hotel, which turned out to be very nice, and close to the river. It was about lunchtime when we arrived, and […]