And Then We Were Four.....

He's here! Lucas Morgan was born on Friday 11th May, weighing in at a respectable 7 lb 4 ounces. After keeping me waiting for a good 6 days after his due date, his arrival was mercifully swift - just over 3 hours between me waking up in bed with contractions and him being born!

He's doing great and is a chilled out little character so far. The first week was complicated somewhat by his big sister coming down with chicken pox the day before he was born (oh joy), but we're through the other side of that now and just hoping he hasn't caught it.

I'm fine - my stitches are killing me but I'm so bloomin delighted to not be pregnant anymore I can live with that! Sadly I don't bloom whilst pregnant, I balloon. And complain a lot.

Anyway, thank you for bearing with me during my maternity leave - normal service will resume before I know it, I'm sure!

Fame At Last!

Did you see it? Did you? Yours truly is featured in this month's Cheshire Life magazine (April). They contacted me a while ago asking if I would do an interview, and although every fibre of my being was saying 'Noooooooo!' I would have been mad to turn them down so here I am! A rare piccy of me :).

If it is released onto their website I'll post a link, but for the time being, you'll have to get hold of a copy of the mag (try any Cheshire dentist or doctors surgery!).

Jingley Jangley Bangles

I have just over a week until I start my maternity leave so I'm in a mad rush trying to get as much stock made, photographed and loaded onto the website as I can. I'm torn between panicking I won't be ready, and really looking forward to putting my feet up - during nursery hours at least! Lots of new bangles listed on my website yesterday. I was hoping to get to my torch to make new beads before clocking off, but that's looking doubtful at the moment I'm afraid. Booooo.....

Most of my shops will remain open for orders but only for ready made items - I'm going to let the items in my Folksy shop expire though and make a decision about whether to restock or not after my maternity leave finishes. Currently it attracts very little traffic compared to other outlets, and there are a few on-going niggles with the site itself that may or may not be sorted out over the next few months. We shall see! My own website will of course remain live, as will my Etsy shops.

Right, time's ticking (and baby's kicking!) so I'd better get back to it :).

New Beads Again!

It's been a while, but I've been back at my torch in my slightly battered workshop* and have new beads in my Etsy shop. Here's a little taster of what's available - I succumbed to the lure of silvered glass and was really pleased to see these come out of the kiln:

Fuchsia Tango Bead Set

As silvered glass gives off a higher level of fumes than the other glass I use I've been keeping away from it during my pregnancy, but decided to put my faith in my extractor fan (and the bloomin' great draught coming through my door) and have a little play.

Midas Sand Lampwork Beads

I've listed 4 new sets so far and have two more cleaned and ready to go, so pop in to the shop and have a look!

*Every time there's a windy night, a few more bits of my workshop roof spread themselves around my garden. This is not good.

So Where Was I?.......

Well it looks like January was my worst month ever for blogging! One post only... that really is poor. OK, time for the excuses:

- I'm 27 weeks pregnant and knackered
- We went on holiday for a week to Portugal
- Still knackered post holiday
- I'm counting down to my maternity leave starting so am in a frenzy of making, thereby neglecting everything else
- I'm 27 weeks pregnant and knackered
- I am the size of a small camper van and feel inhuman
- I'm knackered

Burnt Honey Heart Necklace

Holidays with a toddler, although fun, aren't what I'd call relaxing. Was lovely to get away from the cold though. I'm going on maternity leave in March so I can hopefully get a bit of rest when Little E is in nursery, before all hell breaks loose the new arrival. Most of my shops will be open, but no new stock, no custom orders and no jewellery pouches - so get your requests in now!

Oh, and we're still undecided on boys names, so any suggestions would be welcome.....

Mink Long Lampwork Earrings

Guess Who Got......

....a heart bead press for Christmas?

Pink Heart Trio

Pink Heart Beads

Red Heart Keyring

Erm, yes, that would be me :).

Another Year Gone....

So it's Christmas Eve tomorrow and I'm almost ready for it! Lots left to wrap up but I'm getting there. I just wanted to pop in and let you know a bit of news. I'm going to be working flat out in January and February as in May we're expecting a new arrival! I had my 20 week scan this week and much to our shock delight we're expecting a baby boy. I'm hopefully going on maternity leave early to try and put my feet up a bit and be back in action before Christmas 2012. Plus I now have several containers full of baby girl's clothes to put on eBay :).

So all that remains to be said is thank you for all your support this year and.....