So.....

Every day something new. Today it's getting the shop settled in, and making all the bits talk to each other, including the payment systems. PayPal seems to be working, WorldPay is getting there and of course, cheque and postal order works, as it doesn't require any sort of technical trickery to get it running.

Still... what do you think? A bit thin on beads at the moment but getting there. And some of Mike's new beads are worth the wait!

Feeling better than before

... which in a way isn't saying a lot because we've been down with the holiday lurgy in one form or another since November. It's worrying because whatever strain of virus this is seems to not go away unless you wait it out and really, really, REALLY fight it with lots of fluids, vitamins and a sheer determination to not let it get the best of you.

Mike's been down with it off and on for a month now, which means his beadmaking has slowed down too as some days he simply couldn't get out to the studio and torch. It's a bit scary sometimes when it's your income to know how fragile the balance between income and eating beans three times a week is. Fortunately for us, we keep the balance on the right side, and when Mike is in the studio he's very focused and concentrates on beadmaking. So, things don't get too far behind.

He's also had several contacts with various archaeology/museum departments who have been very interested in his historic beads, which has been great as the time and research we've put into the beads is really paying off now. It's not the easiest market of course, because you need to know the subject in depth as you get some very intense discussions about bead construction. But, it's going well and all the people who have received beads from Mike have been extremely positive.

Yaaay.

It's been raining like mad for the last month or so, in between bouts of freezing weather, which means the ground is saturated and the water runs off everywhere, including the street at the bottom of the hill we live on. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, it's just plain strange to sit in a boat halfway up a hill and watch the road down below flooded and cars stranded.

Isn't life odd and interesting?

Hey ho, where have we been?

In the summer we did have a trip to London, but we didn’t get a single peek at the Queen, instead we followed her to Windsor, where she spent time in the castle and we watched from the opposite hill at LegoLand. Who knew we travelled in such exalted circles?

Anyway, here we are again, posting at irregular, infrequent and random times that resemble the train timetables far too closely.

Mike’s been busy, we’ve been to many fairs, teaching takes up a lot of his time too. He’s been invited to demonstrate his skills at beadmaking at the first UK Flame-Off this April. Should be fun! Lots of beadmaking talent there, and of course, a bead fair too.

It’s been fascinating over the past few years watching beadmaking grow by leaps and bounds. People who weren’t even making beads are now becoming very talented artists on their own, and some have moved to teaching their skills to others. It’s all good, really, the more people who make their own beads, the less the bead-buying people have to rely on *ick, ptui* cheap imported lampwork. But the best part is that the bead buyers over the past few years have said more and more that they’re learning the fine art of determining how good a bead is, and knowing what to look for in a handmade bead is vitally important.

I’d repeat the most valuable bit of advice that I’ve ever heard, from Kandice Seeber. Never sell anything but your best work.

Cheers, and best wishes from the TillerPeeps for happy holidays and a wonderful new year.

Back from Ireland and what beads!!!

Mike's back from Ireland and has finally had a chance to put all the beads he made during the course into one heap. And what a heap!

When interviewed by his son, Mr Poole said 'It was like a religious experience for me, making beads at that level. I've learned more in a week than I'd learned in the past year.'

Mrs. Poole declined to comment, she simply offered him more tea... oh go on! You will, just a cup, go on.. go on... go on!!!!!!!!!

Happy happy, joy joy

...ok, not everyone watched Ren and Stimpy but it does sum up Mike's experiences so far in Ireland. He's been so full of enthusiasm, and praise for the way Michael Barley has taught the course and the amount he's learned in such a short space of time. And apparently he'll even have beads to bring home and show me. And of course, when I see them I'll get pictures and show everyone else.

The location for the bead course in Ireland is by all accounts wonderful, and the organization of it all has been excellent. We're considering sending him off again in July for another course but it has to be discussed in depth before any decision is made. By that I mean, it will take me a few days to convince him that he should go.

It's the best news we've had in a long time, the amount of excitement that Mike's shown with the beadmaking course. I'd pay a lot more to have him this inspired again.

-Su

Phew! New computer woes!!!

It was a lovely summer, we went to Cornwall and came back to the news that the computer we'd ordered from Tiny.com would never arrive as they'd charged our credit card for it the day they announced they were going into receivership! Nice. Thanks. Then we tried to order from Dell. I won't go into that exciting roller-coaster ride, except to announce that during the process the laptop decided that suicide was better than redundancy and we ended up with no Dell computer and a dead laptop!

Enter Mesh Computers. And we're back!

There's a new online shop now, which is proving to be as amusing as being reincarnated as a money who hasn't figured out how to get his hand out of a monkey-trap but it's getting better slowly. At least the photos match the bead sets, and that does go a long way when you're trying to run a business. It was that or just put everything up in a 'grab bag' and ship what we liked. Fun for us but maybe not good business practice.

Mike's away for the week to Ireland taking a course with Michael Barley. When he returns, I'll lock him in the shed for a week and see what he makes. I've re-done the shed door while he's gone, so I can slide food trays through much easier than before. He apparently kept spilling the tomato soup, the poor thing!

More news and more regular blogging as I get used to the keyboard and recover my passwords.

Thanks for stopping by.

-Su

A new blog for the beading community

This is the first post in the blog, which has been set up today to offer a few thoughts and possibly an insight or two into why lampwork has become part of our lives.

Thanks for looking, and stay tuned as we work on getting used to the concept of blogging about making beads.

-Mike and Su