inspiration

It’s been awhile since I last wrote, actually I wrote this a while ago I just hadn’t got around to posting it, so much for my resolution to keep my blog more up to date!

We recently travelled to Victoria to attend my father’s 80th birthday party. We decided that it would be easier and perhaps quicker to fly down, even with the 3 ½ hour drive to Canberra first. We left home at 8.00am and finally arrived at our destination 11 hours later at 7.00pm – It usually takes us 10 hours to drive! Although not quicker it was probably a more relaxed way to travel. We arrived in Canberra an hour before our flight was due to leave, had some lunch and sat reading and watching the planes come in and out. Unfortunately due to a huge storm our flight was delayed for over an hour and that put us behind a bit. On arriving in Melbourne we picked up our hire car and headed off only to come to a complete standstill once we hit the M , I can see why it is nicknamed the “Monash car park”. But what does this all have to do with beading? Just stay with me.

We had booked into the Royal Hotel at Loch for two nights, which is just down the road from where my parents live. The hotel had been recommended to us by an on-line beading friend. I have to say I was so glad we took the advice. The Royal Hotel is a fantastic place to stay and our hostess, Sybil, was just lovely. There is art everywhere, in the bar, the dining room, the hallways and the rooms as well an eclectic mix of memorabilia and knick knacks. The hotel has such a cosy home like feel and the food, oh the food! Sybil is not only a fantastic hostess but she is also a fabulous cook making the most of local produce. We were only able to have one dinner there plus our breakfasts and wished we could have more. The smells coming from the kitchen in the morning of, what I can only guess was the lunch menu, was mouth watering!

Before heading to the 80th party we had a walk up the street and dropped into see my friend Kay Lancashire of Kay’s Artycles. Kay’s shop is a treasure trove filled with her stunning creations both jewellery and accessories and also a great supply of beads and other bits and bobs. I only had a short time there but it did allow me to consult Kay on a project I was working on and buy a few things to add to my collection.

The party was a great success and I think my parents appreciated the effort we made to get down for it. On Sunday we headed back to Melbourne and after attending to a couple of errands we popped into the Victorian Art Gallery which we haven’t visited for many many years. It was very peaceful strolling through the galleries. Whilst in the European collection I took the time to sit and just take in the paintings around the room. They were very rich in colour and quite beautiful. After awhile I started to notice the large ornate frames and one in particular had me pulling out a pencil and pad to jot down an idea for a design.

What I thought was going to be just a quick trip to see my parents and celebrate my father’s birthday turned out to be full of art and inspiration. In fact it made me realise that inspiration is all around us and it really is a matter of ‘looking outside the square. I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend away and can’t wait to get into my work room to start playing with some of the ideas that are bumping around inside my head.

My Place

I’ve been thinking about my work space a lot since the beginning of the year. I spent some time trying to clean out my beading room and reorganise it to be more ‘workable’ but haven’t really had a huge success yet. This is the main reason I haven’t produced a lot since the beginning of the year.

Recently I experienced some major “work room envy” when a very talented friend of mine (http://www.gurucreations.com/news) showed me a picture of her new workspace. Across the front of her bench she has an array of small drawer units for her beads, making everything literally “at her fingertips”.
In my work room I have a big window under which my table is sited. This means I can’t really have drawers or shelves right in front of me. All my supplies are kept in shelves at the side of my room meaning I am constantly getting up and down to look for things and always end up with piles of containers precariously perched all around me, with my actual work space becoming smaller and smaller (usually with disastrous results).
Mind you, having my table right under the window is wonderful. The amount of natural light falling on my work area during the day is great to work with. Not only that, when I look out the window I usually see my little dog playing with her ball as it is her favourite place to be.
I daresay there is no answer to my workspace dilemma. Even if I had the space and money to design a ‘perfect work room’ I’m sure in the end I’d still have the same problems mainly because of the way I work. Perhaps I should try to be more organised, plan my designs and source all the materials ready to go? Somehow I don’t think I could work this way, I don’t tend to plan my pieces as such, it’s more that I get an inkling of an idea and then start searching through my supplies for things that ‘might’ work, try some things, get out more things, change my mind, pull out more and before you know it I have multiple “leaning towers of Pisa” beads just waiting to topple.
Perhaps what I really need is a bead maid who could just be there to tidy up and put things away as I decide I don’t need the. Actually, I think that is exactly what I need! Anyone want to apply? Pay is woeful (well non existent really) but I can offer lots of jewellery and the occasional G & T!

Cheers Sharyn

PS – Actually I have been doing a little bit of beading.  I finally finished my Designer Quest Entry from last year.  I didn’t actually get it started until the competition was over but I was determined to do it.  So here it is – the Cranberry Designer Quest.

Summertime

Well Christmas has been, the New Year has begun, the kids are back at school and Elvis has left the building! The year is well and truly underway! After my flurry of beading before Christmas I have to say I haven’t done a thing since!

There are a few reasons for this, firstly I was away over Christmas, then when we arrived back home I went into overdrive and gave my house a big clean (and oh my did it need it!). After that we had visitors for the Elvis Festival, which was even bigger this year than ever before! We had a great weekend with our friends and even attended a few ‘Elvis’ events (if you are interested there are some photos in my flickr album). With the Elvis festival came storms and rain, on the Sunday night the heavens opened and it poured down. As usual when we have a downpour my darling husband realised the gutters were overflowing and headed out into the storm to clean them out. As I passed through the lounge on my way to get him a towel I heard the sound of running water coming from my beading room. My first thought was that I had left the window open but when I went to investigate I found it was closed but there was water pouring down from between the architrave and the window frame. Talk about panic, I shrieked, our visitors came running and we quickly moved as much as we could away from the window (which was no mean feet as I had left it in quite a mess after my pre Christmas flurry of beading) and used just about every towel in the house to try and quell the stream of water- especially when we realised it was happening in the office above the new computer as well. Meanwhile hubby (still outside) discovered what the cause was and with drill in hand fixed the problem. Needless to say when everything had settled my Beading room was in an absolute mess.

It has taken me nearly four weeks to put it back into order. Why so long? Well I decided while I was at it to reorganise and move things around. I’m not sure if I have made it better but at least everything is put away and labelled so hopefully I should be able to find things now without having to pull the room apart!

In the last week or so Summer has really hit hard and I feel so sorry for people in Melbourne and Adelaide who have had unrelenting high temperatures. On the local news the other night they said this was the hottest January for many years with several days of 38+.  Summer is not my favourite month and I tend to go into a sort of ‘hibernation’, going from home to work and back again. In fact I even ‘like’ being at work because at least it is cool (and that is saying something). At home I tend to stick around the family room where I can sit under the air con and I don’t do much, hence another reason why I haven’t done any beading.

So I have nothing to show. Not even of my pre Christmas beading as most of the pieces sold before I got a chance to photograph them (and I’m not complaining about that!). Now that my beading group has started back and my workspace is all spick and span I hope the creative juices will start flowing again soon.

Keep Cool Sharyn

Christmas Greetings

Well the silly season has come, in fact I think it started in October! I’ve been very busy in the last two months making and selling jewellery. I’ve also been flat out at work which hasn’t left me much time for other things – like my blog! However, I just wanted to take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas to all who visit my site, thank you for your interest and I hope you have a safe and happy festive season and come back and visit again in 2009!

Sharyn
PS – I have a new design tutorial in the lastest edition of Australian Beading. If anyone is interested in purchasing a kit for the Herringbone necklace complete with instructions they are available at www.crystalflair.com.au.

Corden’s store – Cudal

I recently had the pleasure of travelling to the nearby town of Cudal.  I had been invited to teach a class at the Cabonne Food, wine and Cultural centre which is housed in the old Corden’s store.   It was a lovely day for a drive and I had the company of two of my workmates who came along to participate in the class.  We worked on Christmas themed wire crochet necklaces, there were nine in the class and at the end of the day they all modelled their new creations.  It was a lovely day out.  We started the day with morning tea – cappuccino’s and home made slices before settling down for the class.  We broke for lunch at 12.00 for fresh made sandwiches and more coffee and then completed our necklaces.  I really enjoyed my day and hope that my students did to.  The Corden Store is a lovely venue, big and roomy.  It features local arts and crafts and produce (wines, olive oils etc), tourist information and there is a café at the back.  In the corner is a small library with a couple of comfy couches.   It is run by the community and is open from Friday to Sunday.   A lovely place to go on a weekend!   I really did enjoy my day and I hope I’ll be invited back.   

The Class

Class at work

 

More of the class at work

 

and more class at work

The creations

Corden’s Store

http://www.cabonnecountry.com/site/index.cfm?display=109375

 

Inside the store

More of the store

 

 

Cheers

Sharyn

Button fetish

Just lately I’ve had a bit of a thing for buttons.   It started when I had a bit of an idea and bought a couple of bags of buttons.  Then I bought some more.  Then some more.  Soon I had a mountain of buttons and decided I needed some way to store them, so I made a button box.  I found a raw wooden box at the Reject shop that had a glass lid and a removable partitioned tray.  I painted it, added some self adhesive ribbon (the scrapbooking sort) and glued on a few beads.  I was quite pleased with how it looked and once I sorted the beads into colours and put them in the box it looked fantastic!  When I showed it to my friends they all wanted to go out an make one of their own!

 

What have I been doing with all these buttons?  Well mostly just looking at them! LOL Oh and sorting them.   I have started to incorporate them into my work though – I’ve used them for clasps on necklaces, I’ve sewn them on to tea cosies, I’ve set them in resin to make pendants, I’ve glued them together to make brooches and at the moment I am making button earrings (for pierced ears).   

There is something rather comforting about buttons.  They are like beads in a lot of ways – they come in lots of colours, shapes and sizes and it’s nice to just sit and look at them!    I’m even toying with the idea of making a colour wash collage for my wall (a bit like a patchwork quilt but with buttons!).  But then, that would use a lot of buttons,   I’d probably have to go out and buy some more.  Mmmm I kinda like that idea!

 

Sharyn

Honey I’m home!

Just come back from the Sydney Bead and Gem Show and it has taken me three days to catch up on my sleep!  So, you can probably guess I had a good time.  There is nothing quite like going away with like minded people and spending four days just doing what you love.  I had a great time.  I spent far more than I had planned (as you do), met some great people and generally just wallowed in beady goodness.   My classes went well and all my students were delightful.

 

One of the things I love about the Bead and Gem show is seeing the wide variety of people who attend -  young and old, business and hobbyist, people from all walks of life – but all have a common interest.  ‘People watching’ at the shows is always fascinating, especially for the jewellery that is worn, I know I spend a lot of time thinking about what I will wear and it seems a lot of other people do to.  Another nice thing is you can feel comfortable pulling up a stranger and commenting on their necklace or bracelet, even asking for a closer look.  Most people are not offended and usually delight in telling you about their piece.

 

I can’t say I saw much that was new and exciting at the show, which was disappointing, however, being able to see products up close and hold  them in your hands is so good (so much better than peering at a computer screen!).   This is especially good with things like gemstones, which can vary greatly from strand to strand and Artisan Lampwork where  each piece is unique. 

 

I stayed in an apartment with a few other beady friends and we had a great time, lots of laughs, lots of sharing and inspiring.  On Saturday night we went out for a Beading forum dinner and that was great too. Food was delicious, company great and the best part was the jewellery that was passed around for everyone to look at, there were some magnificent pieces. 

 

Now it’s back to the real world.  It’s a bit hard to settle back into the day job after all that excitement.  Still I have a few things coming up that I need to focus on – next week I am off to Cudal (a neighbouring town) for a day to teach wire crochet necklaces to a group of local women and then a couple of days later I have a stall at the local high school fete.  No rest for the wicked!

 

Cheers

Sharyn

 

PS  - I’ll try to get a photo or two of my show purchases over the weekend to show you.

Spring has sprung

Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t written anything since July!  Where has the time gone?  I used to think that once the October School holidays were over that something mysterious happened and November and December just went on fast forward, one minute you are thinking there is plenty of time to get ready for Christmas and then suddenly it’s next week!  These days though, I’m beginning to think that the slippery slide  starts to happen in July!  

 

Why is it that the older we get the faster time flies?  It’s not fair, now is when we need the time to fit in all the things we want to achieve, do the things we want to do.  If only we didn’t have to work to pay the bills we would have plenty of time!

 

So what have I been doing for the last three months?  Not much, I think!  A bit more knitting, a bit of beading and lots of nothing! The end of last month saw our local show back on again after being cancelled last year due to the equine flu.  I took two days off work to help out on the Vanessa’s Wool ‘n’ Craft stand and had a lovely time.  Where else can you sit for two days beading and have almost the whole town pass you by!  We had absolutely beautiful weather, which is unusual as most years the Show marks the start of the spring rain.  I placed three items into the beading section of the show, a beaded cab necklace, my ‘Bead a garden’ needle case and the Ndebele twist bracelet with the embedded crystal.  I won two firsts and a second so was pretty pleased with that. 

 

The spring weather has arrived and with it a fresh free feeling, there is nothing like a spring breeze to make you want to take off.  I love this time of year, after being couped up for the winter you just feel a need to get out and about go places!  In fact last weekend my husband and I took off for the day and visited a nearby town, Canowindra, to look through the art galleries and antique shops.  It was a beautiful day and the countryside we drove through looked magnificent.  It was very relaxing wandering along, looking in shop windows and everyone we talked to seemed to be happy and relaxed. 

 

Unfortunately, I have so many things to get done in the next couple of weeks I’ll have to spend most of my time indoors!  Although, I guess I could set up a table out in the garden and bead out there… now there is something to think about.

 

I am getting geared up for the Sydney Bead and Gem show which is on the second weekend of October (10/11/12^th) , I am teaching two classes again this year – Peyote needle cases

and Ndebele twist

(details can be found here at  www.beadandgemshow.com.au ) .  I’ll also be helping out Donna Fox of Sympatica at her stand in between, so if you happen to be going, make sure you come and say hello!  I’m also having a stall at the High school fete at the end of October so need to stock up for that and classes that I need to organise as well.

 

Now if I could just get away from this computer I’d have plenty of time!

 

Cheers

Sharyn

 

It doesn’t matter

One of the classes that I really enjoy teaching is the wire crochet necklace.  The best part is when students come in saying “that looks really complicated, don’t think I can do that!” and go out wearing a fabulous necklace that they made themselves.  Also gratifying is when they tell you later that when they wear their necklace everyone comments on how good it looks and how proud they are to be able to say “I made it myself”.

 

I’m thinking of changing the class title though to “The doesn’t matter” necklace because I spend most of the class saying “It doesn’t matter”. 

“This looks too tight” – It doesn’t matter just keep going and try to make it a bit looser, once the necklace is made up you won’t notice it.

“This looks a bit too loose” – It doesn’t matter just keep going.

“I forgot to slide on a bead” – doesn’t matter, you won’t notice.

“Mine doesn’t look right” – doesn’t matter, once the necklace is finished it will look great.

 

I haven’t yet had a student finish the lesson and not have a completed necklace that they are happy with.  It is such a versatile technique.  In fact at one class I had a 10 year old who came along with her mum, she had a lot of trouble managing the crochet hook, so in the end we abandoned that and I got her to finger knit instead.  Worked just as well and she too ended up with a great looking necklace that she had made herself. 

 

The other nice thing about the wire crochet necklace is that no two necklaces are the same, just by varying the beads – shape, colour, size – you end up with something unique.  I think I’d be safe in saying that it is my most popular class!

 

 

With the cold weather now setting in I find it hard to get into my work room and create.  It’s gets too cold and we only light the fire (that warms the whole house) occasionally.  So I spend most of my time in the family room where the gas heater is and as the days get colder I get a yen to do some knitting.   I don’t seem to have the time or the perseverance to complete a jumper or garment these days and so have been knitting small things.  My ‘passion’ (if you can call it that) at the moment is tea cosies!  They are fun to knit although a little bit kitsch!  So far I’ve knitted two, and I’m on to my third.  The first one is a Jo Sharpe pattern that I saw my niece knitting at Christmas and decided I had to have one! (that’s the one on the right).   The second is from a great little Patton’s book that has lots of ‘little’ projects in it.  So no jewellery to show this time just tea cosies!

 

Keep warm

Sharyn

Mother’s Day and Evil Computers

Not a lot of fuss was made in our house on Mother’s Day but even so I had a nice day.  All I asked was for some time to potter in my beading room and that is what I got.  (I also had lunch and dinner made for me and didn’t have to do any housework so that was nice too).  I spent the time playing around with some gemstones just making simple  bracelets.  It was really nice, good to just go back to basics.  Of course I made a huge mess on my work bench, now if someone could just come along and tidy it all up for me I would be a very very happy mum!

 

Something else I have been experimenting with recently is Herringbone Stitch (or as it is sometimes referred to Ndebele).   I decided that for too long I have been wasting my evenings veging in front of the TV with the computer on my lap (Facebook would have to be one of the world’s greatest time wasters!!)  I’ve been trying to spend a couple of evenings beading (although the light can be a bit of a problem sometimes).  Herringbone is a lovely stitch, especially when used to make ropes.  I like how you can play with colours when working with this stitch, and I hope to have a few photos for my blog soon.

 

I’ve had such a great response to the profile and article that appeared in Australian Beading Magazine, lots of lovely comments and positive feedback.  It’s lovely how many people have gone out of their way to let me know what they think.  Thank you all.

 

Cheers

Sharyn