You can tell I'm supposed to be working because I'm posting here. Anyway, after much waffling, I finally entered the Design of the Week competition my bullion supplier, Cooksons Gold, runs every week. Scary to see it up there with all those amazing designs, but kind of cool too! To be honest, I'm not even sure what the prize is this week, it was ( Read more... )

I read the first of these with Arwen on my lap, petting her with one hand while I scrolled with the other. I had to laugh quietly to avoid waking her ( Read more... )

I have cried because I hurt and I'm so exhausted, I have taken every drug I can safely take and I have said several nasty things to bully myself upright, but it's all worth it because I am going to spend a lovely afternoon at my bench. It's been way too long! I have garnets, carnelians, sunstones and onyx to satisfy my inner magpie, lots of ideas ( ( Read more... )

Preparation for the mini Christmas jewellery thingie is going better than expected, thanks to the gods of codeine and tea. I just finished a kitsune (a fox in Japanese folklore) pendant with carnelian (the colour of the torii gates at Inari shrines) and am thinking about earrings with the same theme and I have a couple of other ideas, so perhaps it ( Read more... )

There will after all be a starving kitties post this year, although it will be very modest compared to past years, just a few small pieces. There will, fingers crossed, be a special new design included, called "Winter Starflower" of tiny, two-layered, domed silver flowers with even tinier gemstones of sapphire, opal, amethyst and rainbow moonstone ( Read more... )

Had a bit more energy tonight and with the aid of a stool in case of wobbly moments and lots of painkillers, I managed to make venison pie! The venison was from the road kill deer I found earlier in the year and the recipe has star anise (whole, taken out after cooking), chilli (same as the star anise) and cinnamon in it (stick, same as the other ( Read more... )

Not sure if the universe actually hates me or I have the crappiest luck. I had the chance to go to London on Friday for something which is only on that day and will never happen again. Mum gave me the money for the train as part of my Christmas present and as long as I didn't spend anything else, I was good to go. I was so excited, even made an ( Read more... )

New cross stitch project, because I cannot be idle, even if I'm on the sofa feeling like something the cat dragged in. "Seidhr" from art work by Marc Potts. 400 stitches x 622 stitches, over a metre high. Yeah, I'm officially insane.


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I just found something so amazing I can't quite believe it. Usually, a complete lost wax casting set will run into thousands of pounds for the separate (large) pieces of equipment necessary for the process. But, while searching for something else to do with casting, I found THIS Read more... )

Just a heads up post. On closer examination, the Kickstarter idea isn't going to fly, too public for my situation at the moment, real names and all that and I can't risk it. BUT, I'm seriously considering running something along the same lines here, with 'rewards' (Kickstarter term) for pledges from as little as £10 up to £200 or so etc and there ( Read more... )