Hi everyone!

Kaia left for Florida (and her first day of high school!!!) over the weekend and I was a very sad bunny indeed :'( Before she left she asked if I could make her a key necklace with the above key and, unable to say no to her adorable face, I let her choose a ribbon and put it together. Isn't it lovely? The ribbon is by the wonderful Diane of Sowzere Designs and it couldn't be prettier! The colours are so gorgeous and the way they flow into each other.. well, it makes me sigh with delight, that's for sure :)

I've also been making TONS of beads lately. Creating new beads, keeping up with orders AND making beads for the upcoming Big Bead Show is, literally, more than a full-time job! Above are some of my latest creations and some old favourites, too. As always, if you like what you see, feel free to check out my by keiara webshop and my by keiara Etsy shop. I have lots and lots of glassy goodies to choose from!

Hi everyone!

One of my lovely customers recently asked if I would recreate my Hummingbird Garden Focal. Last summer I did a whole series of garden beads that were very well-received and I really liked them. I had every intention of making more garden beads this summer but I've been so caught up in kooky kritters and lil bits that I never did get around to it! Anyway, so when I was approached about recreating the Hummingbird Garden, I jumped at the chance. Above is a picture of the finished bead. Relief work is super challenging for me and I really enjoyed the opportunity to push myself again. The recipient is very pleased with the results so everyone's happy :)

I've also been doing quite a bit of jewellery lately, too. Above is Princess Bast and Twilight Tree after giving them my 'spiral ribbon necklace' treatment. I love the way they turned out. The purple ribbon with the Twilight Tree really brings out the purple in the blossoms.

Hi everyone!

Friday I taught an advanced course focusing on raised floral focals and these are some of the beads I demonstrated for the student. Sometimes even *I* forget that I am, in fact, capable of making "grown-up" beads.. lol :) In truth, I do prefer to make my whimsical, silly beads but I love raised florals all the same. It was a lovely day and my student seemed to really enjoy herself so that was good.

What are you up to this week? I have plenty of beads to make since I'm a little behind due to how ill I've been :( I'm still not 100% but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.. which, in this case, means make beads so my customers don't kill me.. lol :) Wednesday I'm meeting up with a dear friend for lunch so I'm realllllly looking forward to that. I've invited her back to my place for cupcakes afterwards so now I have to decide what to make.. again! Kaia also leaves on Sunday (*sob*) so I want to bake up a bunch of wonderfulness before she goes. I already imported the things I need to make Pumpkin Muffins (OMG, to die for!) as well as plenty of stuff to make all kinds of different cupcakes, brownies and other desserts (Banana Pudding.. YUM!). I ordered some French's French Fried Onions, too, because Kaia wants some Green Bean (haha, it was 'bead' the first time I typed it) Casserole. I wish I could get all this stuff at a normal grocery store here because OMG is it ever expensive to import! I usually bring some stuff back in one of my suitcases whenever I visit home but I didn't this past visit (what was I thinking?!) Anyway, so there will be pictures of more goodies soon!

I'm off to melt some glass. I hope you have a great day and a wonderful week!

Love,
keiara

http://www.bykeiara.co.uk/
http://www.bykeiara.etsy.com/

Hi everyone!

How is your week going? I'll skip a detailed version of how mine is going and just say: I've been camped out on the couch for days in the throes of a vicious Migraine attack :( Ugh! But, anyway, I made loads of cute new lil bits last week! A variety of different hamsters including angels and fairies, I also made a puppy, a pig and a bit of evil.. heehee. There are several lil bits in my by keiara Etsy shop and plenty of lil bits and other goodies in my by keiara webshop.

On Friday my lovely friend, Jaye, came over and we spent the entire day chatting and laughing and rummaging through beads. Of course her visit gave me an excuse to throw a tea party (which I LOOOOOOVE doing) and this is the dessert I served afterwards. I made peanut butter chip brownies and mini chocolate cupcakes topped with pink vanilla icing and chocolate icing. Stefan made the beautiful parfait-sundaes (as we're calling them.. lol) and I just HAD to take a picture of it all. It looked so pretty.. and tasted even better!! We were fairly stuffed full of sugar after that!

I'm off to (hopefully) melt some glass if I can keep the head pain at bay. Hope you have a wonderful day!

Love,
keiara

http://www.bykeiara.co.uk/
http://www.bykeiara.etsy.com/

Hi everyone!

How is your week going? I've been super busy (I seem to be saying that a lot lately) this week making lots of glassy goodies. Above are some of the beads I made so far this week. I really enjoyed making all the kitties and cupcakes and, of course, the lil bits! Those of you who know me (or read this blog at all!) know that I'm crazy about two things: cupcakes (MMM!) and tiny beads. I'm always pushing myself to create micro versions of my designs cause, in my mind, if it's cute in the first place it'll be even cuter if it's micro-sized! (Yes, I'm also obsessed with dollhouses for that same reason. Someday I will own a huge, gorgeous dollhouse [one word or two on 'dollhouse' - I couldn't find a definitive answer on that one] with tiny furniture and tinier plates of food and such. Yes, yes I will!)

Anyway! So I started out with the classic cat designs then moved to the kooky kritters designs (smaller than the classics) then on to my newest collection, the lil bits and then, on Monday, I created the micro lil bit pair in the above picture. Those VERY little guys are a mere 12mm tall! They are sooooo teeny. Teeny makes me happy! So I giggled the whole time I was making them and maybe Kaia shot me a few, 'Well she's totally lost it!' looks (not that unusual). The best news? The lil bits have been really well-received and, in fact, I sold the ENTIRE hamster collection already! Note to self: make more hammies!

I've also had quite a few people requesting jewellery lately. I'm always happy to turn any of my beads into jewellery, just let me know what you'd like! Above are some of my kooky kittens and two lil bit kittens all wired up with Sterling silver and Swarovski crystals. These make such fun pendants!