Coppery highlights and a dog blanket

I went to see George (short for Georgina) yesterday and she sorted out the mess left by the other hairdresser and I also had some coppery highlights put in. These have inspired me to create the above new beads (but more of that later). First I have to tell you how absolutely wonderful George is, she has got my world back on an even keel. Before yesterday, EVERY day since my last hairdresser appointment was a bad hair day. George used to cut my hair when we lived close to Lincoln, I followed her around to 3 salons because she was so good. It was a sad day seven years ago when I went to see her for the last time before we moved to Cambridge.

These days she is her own boss running "Aspire" on 46 Clasketgate in Lincoln. She's now about an hour's drive away by the time you get through very heavy rain near Newark and get parked but well worth it.  I've put photographs of her work taken when I got home in an album entitled "New Hairdo" on Facebook, click the link to see if you're interested! (I've made it public so you should be able to see it even if you're not a Facebooker yourself).

The beads in the photograph are made using a custom frit blend which I mixed myself (secret recipe so don't ask for it!) This is the first frit blend I have created and I'm really pleased with it. I made lots of different beads with various base colours and techniques and the ones in the photograph are the best of the bunch. They came out brown and coppery to match my hair, there is a new brown spankle bead in there and an orangey twiddly twirly bead. I'll be going into production to make more of these so keep an eye out for jewellery made with them very soon!

Update on the wrist, it's still a little sore from time to time. I have to go back to see my GP next week to check he's OK with me continuing to take anti-inflammatories and wear the brace. But I know it's getting better, it's nowhere near as bad in the mornings; most of the time apart from the inconvenience of the brace getting in the way, I don't feel it at all. From time to time though doing something (like chopping carrots or operating scissors) will give cause for malediction and for some things I have to take the brace off for (like signing my name), I barely recognise my handwriting at all actually!

I even started tentatively knitting again yesterday. I am breaking myself in very slowly and knitting a square every night for a Battersea Dogs and Cats Home blanket. Battersea is asking crafters across the country to help its most sensitive dogs by knitting them a special security blanket. If you're a dog lover and a knitter and would like to take part, there's a free pattern download on the link. Share the love!

Five new bead sets and looking for my third hairdresser

I've added five new sets of bead just now to the Etsy shop including these. This is a brand new colour in the twiddly twirlies, I did a rusty red version, green and mauve one previously. Given how much I like blue, it's odd that I didn't do a blue one first, anyway the omission is now remedied.

I realised as I was listing that three of the other sets are also blue too but one is a red version of the new deckchair beads

Just got back from the hairdressers. This is my second try at finding a new hairdresser where we're living now. The last one did the cut OK but when she blowdried it, she did it all bouffed up and I looked like a middle-aged spinster, it was all very big hair 80s. She was pregnant, which I didn't know when I made the appointment over the phone else I would've chosen someone else - it's very traumatic changing hairdressers as it is without having to change AGAIN next time you need it trimming. Anyway, I couldn't wait to get home and get the straighteners on it before I was happy with it.

So I had to go to another hairdresser this time, I'm afraid she's given me the worst haircut I've ever had, I told her I wanted it straightening rather than blowdrying after the cut and so deliberately didn't have a shampoo. She didn't listen to anything I told her about my style (which had admittedly disappeared because it I've been putting off going). She has taken far too much off the back and sides and not nearly enough off the top and my fringe. I told her three times to take more off and I just couldn't face having to tell her a fourth time. She still blow dried it after she'd dampened it and I never saw a straightener AT ALL. Sigh. It will grow out I know but am left looking for someone else to cut my hair and due to the small amount she took off the top, it will have to be far sooner than I'd like.

My old hairdresser was a mobile one and she doesn't come out as far as where I live even though it's only 10 miles or so from our last place. All the other hairdressers I've been happy with have left to have families or are now too far away from here. I'm wondering if I could just go bald and shave it myself to save all the trouble, no-one would notice me going grey then ..!

Get the deckchairs out!

It's been lovely here today, warm sunshine, very springlike. These beads came out the kiln yesterday (and are now for sale in my Etsy shop), the narrow stripes remind me of deckchairs (and so does the weather!)

Can you tell I'm looking forward to summer?

Get knotted!

Quietude on the blog front. I am resting my wrist, I have a new brace which means everything I do using my right hand takes longer. Since my last blogging event, I have had more GP visits and one to a specialist physio.

I have a mild case of De Quervains Tenosynovitis, one of the two tendons in the thumb of my right hand is inflamed, this new brace immobilises the thumb. I've been recommended by the physio to have a cortisone injection directly into the wrist but my GP feels that may be a little premature.

Having been put off by reading about the side effects of steroid injections on-line, I'm in no hurry to have one of these. I'm not much worried by the milder ones such as temporary sweats, insomnia, flushing or discolouration of the injection site but long term tendon weakness, more pain than I'm in now and tendon rupture all sound too scary for me to contemplate considering at the moment it's no more than nuisance value pain most of the time apart from first thing in the morning when it can be quite bad. 

Apparently it's a self-limiting complaint which will eventually (12-18 months) get better of it's own accord with minimal treatment. I have an agreement with my GP that I will go and see him again in 2-3 weeks, in the meantime, we're trying wearing the new brace recommended by the specialist and taking maximum dose of anti-inflammatory tablets.

I had a half hour therapy session involving ultrasound and then cold laser treatment. If I were David Beckham or Andy Murray and had to get the tendon working again properly in superfast time, we'd be doing that 3 times a day but in the slower, much poorer lane, I think I'll just wait a bit ... £52 for half an hour is a bit beyond an artisan craft worker's means! :-)

Typing is a bit tricky (but not painful), in fact that's pretty much true of everything involving my hand at the  moment. As part of the resting therapy, I've not done any knitting or crochet for a month, I'm still working but as I said before, everything takes longer, good job it's a quiet time of year, I am avoiding memory wire and only done a teeny bit of hammering.

I've been looking for new things to do with jewellery whilst I get my wrist better and I downloaded a tutorial on making "love knots beads" from metal wire. I've been practicing making these in copper and here are some examples which I'll have on sale at my stall on All Saints Art & Craft Market in Cambridge tomorrow. 

I've also made some sterling silver ones which I've also combined with lampwork beads but you'll have to come along to the stall tomorrow to see these, the forecast is for rain in the afternoon so it'll be best if you all pop along in the morning!

Whether you can come to Cambridge or not tomorrow, have a great weekend!

More spankle colours and patination experiments

Here are a couple of new spankle bead colours for 2012. Navy and aqua (yes, yes, I KNOW ... more blue!) :-) I can't help it, I LIKE blue!

I've been busily restocking my Etsy shop after it got emptied before Christmas. The aqua spankles went very fast so I'll be making more of those.

I'd usually be working on new jewellery designs at this time of year and I have got ideas in my head but I've got a poorly hand at the moment, seeing the doctor about it this afternoon. It's been very sore in the mornings since just before Christmas. I think I overdid it on bending memory wire (it's very tough material). I thought I'd just pulled a muscle and with the Christmas break (and not doing much), I expected it would get better by itself but it hasn't. Beadmaking doesn't hurt too much for most of the beads I'm making but any hammering or filing is difficult; basically anything that involves rotating the hand is painful. I'm not having a moan about it (it's my own stupid fault for making 16 memory wire bracelets in one day ...) I just wanted to explain why there's no new jewellery designs so I'm not just writing this for sympathy (but any going spare would be gratefully received!) :-)

In the meantime, I'm experimenting with organic means of patinating silver that doesn't involve liver of sulphur or platinol. I don't like working with chemicals if I can avoid it, both of the chemicals mentioned are smelly and messy. To avoid doing the patination myself, I have been buying pre-patinated items and wire from Daisychain Extra, an excellent Etsy shop but one of my new year resolutions for Sooz Jewels is to make my own earwires and I can't expect someone else to patinate them. I am addicted to Jo's clasps, my customers adore them, so I'll definitely still be buying those!

So far I have run trials using uncooked and cooked egg yolks. The former doesn't work at all. The latter worked but the tutorial said it would only take 24 hours. My earwires and headpins needed 4 days imprisoning in a little plastic container with mashed up egg before it became dark enough (I'm after gun metal grey, something that looks vintage). After 4 days at room temperature, this was just as smelly and messy as the chemical means (but at least you don't need a Health & Safety sheet when you buy and cook eggs!) The patinated finish from the cooked egg method is also quuite uneven which is disappointing (I might do a photo when all my experiments are finished).

The instructions say to make sure the silver is very clean in order to get an even finish using the cooked egg method. I degreased the silver using alcohol, tumble polished with mild detergent, and then rinsed very thoroughly, only handled the silver using plastic tweezers. If the silver needs more cleaning than this, then I don't think this is the system for me.

I have read that you can use old kitty-litter (the ammonia produced by the decaying cat's urine is the thing that colours the metal apparently). Anyway, I don't have a cat, both my sisters have two but they live well over half an hour's drive away. So I've used my own wee (is that shocking?!) This is just out of interests sake to see if my urine is effective. Please be assured that even though the silver isn't directly touching the urine (it's just in contact with the fumes), I have absolutely no plans on using urine-patinated silver in jewellery that I sell!

I also have some silver hanging up in the shower to see if that will do it. These latest two experiments have only been running for two days though so I'll report back on results as and when anything happens!

And so my thoughts turn to the weekend, it's very strange for me to have a Saturday where there's no Art & Craft market to go to. Normally I'm running around like a mad thing on Fridays! The market starts back at All Saints on the 28th so I'll have to think of something nice to do instead; I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!