Problems update

Houdini has been caught and relocated, it took a couple of days to catch him - he's obviously wary of going down green tunnels in search of jam after it was such an effort to get out the last two times!

My marver has been affixed to my torch by my ever-wonderful DH, who has pointed out to me that the "socket" I referred to in my last blog entry was in fact a circular spanner. In shame, I have therefore cancelled my membership of the honorary-bloke club.

Sue World ... join us!

I've had another "wish I wasn't a girl" moment today. For the last couple of weeks, I have been attempting to apply handmade murrini to my bead surfaces but these tiny scraps of prettiness (from Lori and Kim's Etsy shop), ideally need preheating - they stick much better then and it saves much swearing when the murrini falls off your bead. Once I get the hang of applying murrini, the big plan is for me to make my own.

The ideal thing to pre-heat murrini is a torch-mounted marver so I bought one (see pic). It duly arrived last week and this morning, I have been attempting to attach it to my Carlisle Mini CC torch. All I have to do is undo a nut on the torch, put the hole in the marver over the thread and do up the nut ... easy! The marver is then close enough to the heat generated by the torch to get to an ideal murrini warming temperature.

I locate a spanner of the right dimensions (pat on the back), but there's not really room for it to undo the nut. In a burst of inspiration (some kind of guy gene kicking in I think), I realise that what I need is the corresponding sized socket and this too is found (at this point, I start to think about growing a moustache). Anyway, can I undo this blimmin' nut .... NO, I can't (sigh).

Then I get cross with myself about wishing I wasn't a girl cos actually I pretty much like it 98% of the time. The problem is these people who invent nuts, taps and suchlike that cannot be undone by the average female. I am not a weak, feeble person - I hardly ever resort to man-power for undoing jars - my trick is an elastic band round the top and then the extra grip usually allows me to undo them. I can wire a plug, change lightbulbs, top up the oil and washers in my car (in the days when I had one) I am a capable person - I should be able to do this. I decided that there really should be a law which prohibits the doing up of nuts to an impossibly difficult degree, furthermore, it would be deemed to be sexist behaviour and subject to the Sexual Discrimination Laws along with an unlimited fine for offenders.

When I got thinking about it, actually, I could invent several new laws in an alternative world whereby all nuts could be undone by myself ...

In Sue World, all clothes would be made of fabrics that never need ironing.

In Sue World, all mice would be housetrained and use litter trays.

In Sue World, grass would mow itself.

In Sue World, dust is abolished. We don't need it and what's it for, anyway? I remember learning about dust at school - all I can remember about it is that a tiny proportion of it is shedded cells of skin ... yeurghhhh! Any duster manufacturers would be compensated and given training in producing alternative products.

In Sue World, hair would grow to the length you wanted to minimise haircuts, and then start growing again as soon as you wanted to wear it longer.

Last but by no means least, in fact after the nut tightening law, this would be the most important one - in Sue World, the BBC would NEVER EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES cancel the Sunday re-run of Merlin due to the Formula 1 racing, causing me to miss my weekend Anthony Head fix.

Please do feel free to suggest any other laws that you think could be considered for inclusion in the Sue World Charter!

Red stripes jewellery

Here are some photographs of the red stripes jewellery I promised. You will undoubtedly have noticed that I haven't used the red carnelian beads yet. They're quite big beads actually and whilst I think they will work for a future pair of earrings for ladies who like big earrings, I decided they were definitely wrong for a bracelet. The black round beads I have used instead are onyx with a lovely smooth shine to them.

I think the carnelian beads will be great for a bold, large beaded necklace - there's a particular bead cap that I want for what I have in mind. I'm going to have to order some in so it might be a week or two before you get to see it. I will make the earrings to match at the same time, in the meantime, there are three matching pairs of earrings to go with the bracelet. You can see them all, and in a larger photograph, on the Lampwork > Lampwork jewellery page of the Sooz Jewels website.

I did some experiments with different colours of these beads yesterday - the black and white one works well, as does a purple one but this is my favourite - the glass colour is a mixture of transparent aquamarine and dark teal over white. I shall definitely be making some of these next week.

There are a few other new things on the website too so don't forget to have a click about for them - or better still, come to my stall on the Art & Craft Market on Trinity Street in Cambridge and see them "in person" tomorrow - have a great weekend everyone!

More mouscapades

Hmmm, I'm not sure if it's the same one (I haven't got a look of it yet), but when I got up this morning, this was the state of the humane mousetrap. The hole it has chewed through the trap is really small, I'm amazed even a teeny mouse would be able to fit through it. I guess it must've been in there a while, must've got caught just after we went to bed and so it had plenty of time to get out. Fortunately, I bought two of the traps so I got some more jam out, set the second one and then checked back on it every half hour so it wouldn't chew through that one as well.

I was merrily making jewellery (I love my job!) when I heard a commotion in the kitchen and this was the scene that greeted me ... Missy must've heard the mouse clunking around in the trap and decided to let it out, bless her. Manchester Terriers were bred for ratting in years gone by, really she shouldn't have had much trouble catching a mouse. I suppose she's not really been trained but you'd think there'd be some kind of instinct .... anyway, we are now onto attempt three in 24 hours to catch the mouse I have nick-named Houdini.

We think we found the hole where they have been getting in yesterday. There is a pipe which must've used to be the escape for a former tenant's washing machine or something. We've temporarily stuffed it up with newspaper until the landlord's handyman can do something more permanent. So hopefully we shouldn't get any more furry visitors after this one has been relocated.

I'll be back shortly with some pictures of the jewellery I've been making this week.

Carnelian stripes

I have been experimenting with red a lot lately. My red bubble beads have been popular this summer. Red was really in fashion for weddings 3-4 years ago and customers were complaining that they couldn't find any red jewellery then so I always make sure I have a selection as the shops still don't seem to have caught on - I'm always happy to fill a gap in the market! I bought these lovely carnelian beads and the prototype lampwork beads I have been making are specifically to go with them.

Finally, I'm happy with these stripey red ones. The carnelian beads are quite large and so I thought they need something with a bold design to go with them. I cleaned these last night and after seeing how well they go, I have made a batch today; I'm looking forward to combining them into some new jewellery tomorrow.

We discovered another mouse in the house a couple of days ago. Yesterday, I dusted off the humane mouse trap and laced it with seedless raspberry jam. Sure enough, s/he couldn't resist! You're supposed to let them out a couples of miles or so away so they don't try to get back into the house but as DH was out working all day, I had to use the furthest end of the garden to let the mouse out. I did consider taking Missy for an impromptu walk but thought it might be a bit stressful for the mouse in my pocket as it would take 10 minutes or so to get far enough away, allowing for all the sniffs and messages that Missy has to leave for any other doggies. Anyway, I have set the trap again today just in case s/he finds her way back.

Here are some photos of the release ...

	Is this the way out??
	This looks more likely ....
	I'll be back ..........!