Wednesday 25 August 2010

beads, beads.. and more beads!

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!


This is a set of spacers I made for a lovely customer who prefers dainty beads. I'm happy to report she is absolutely over the moon with them and is already requesting more in the near future :) Although I rarely make frit beads, or spacers for that matter, I LOVE the look of them. It was a real treat to make these and string them all together.

Here is a pair of my Twilight Kooky Owls in the micro size. These little guys are an astonishingly small 11mm tall! They are among the smallest sculptural beads I make and although they are VERY difficult to make, they make me smile to no end :)

More bead orders from yesterday. Oh, yes, it was a looooooong day at the torch :)

And on to the important stuffs!! After reading about the program, hearing so much about it and also having had cancer touch my family, I decided to donate some beads to the Beads of Courage program. Please have a look and, if you're a glass artist, donate some beads. You don't need me to tell you that putting a smile on the face of a child battling a serious illness is more than worth the effort ;)

I hope you're all having a wonderful day!

Love,




Thursday 19 August 2010

the hummingbird returns.. and LOTS of treats!

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.

And here are some of my latest kitties. Dune, Baja, Siamese; Siamese, Princess Bast and Lilith. I have so much fun creating these pretty kitties. I have another Baja and Siamese to make today, actually!! You can find all of these kitties in my by keiara Etsy shop and I've also listed some new lil bits and a new bat focal, too!
Yesterday I had a mini birthday celebration for Kaia. This is Ariana, my ex-pat friend, Jen's, daughter and my Munchkin, Kaia, getting ready to devour some cupcakes and cookies. Kaia's birthday is in September and it falls during the school year so I don't ever get to see her for her birthday *cry* Each year, before she returns to Florida, I have a mini celebration for her and yesterday's was tons of fun! We met up with Jen and Ariana (after they finally arrived.. AHEM) for lunch at one of my favourite Chinese restaurants then we came back to the flat and I served dessert. Pumpkin muffins, Confetti cookies and mini chocolate cupcakes soon disappeared and we sat and talked and laughed for hours. It was a fantastic day! Ariana stayed the night and the girls giggled together non-stop until I finally went to bed. They're so darling :)

My wonderful tiered cupcake stand featuring iced Pumpkin Muffins and mini chocolate cupcakes.

A super sweet cake stand featuring Confetti cookies including a big one with swirled icing for the birthday girl!

Mmmm.. yes, I can assure you, they were gooooooood!!! ;)

I'm off to melt glass! Have a wonderful day :)

Love,
keiara








Monday 16 August 2010

see, I CAN do it!

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/
Wednesday 11 August 2010

lil bits and something sweet!

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/
Wednesday 4 August 2010

busy week.. and it's only Wednesday!

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!

And here is my Ode to Hammies picture. I'm totally in love with the hammies right now and I'm actually a little sad that they're all gone now. Good thing I can just make more! There is ONE lonely little zombie hamster left in my by keiara Etsy shop. I also have a few other lil bits, owls, cats and other beadies. Have a look!

Don't forget to check out my by keiara webshop too as there are plenty of beads in the Ready To Go Beads section that aren't in my Etsy shop!

Plans for the rest of the week? I have a new student tomorrow (YAY!) and the lovely and incredibly talented Jaye is coming down for a visit on Friday! I can't wait! Jaye is a sweet girl (and OMG you should see her play piano!!!) and I always really enjoy our visits. I wish I could see her more often! Since I'll be having company (and need not much of an excuse) I'm planning a lovely tea party for Friday. I haven't yet decided what kind of cupcakes to make.. so I might make more than one kind! And should I make regular-sized cuppycakes or minis?? You know I'm leaning towards minis. They're so cute! I even have a mini cupcake tiered display! Yes, I know, I need help. Help in the form of cupcakes! Okokok. I'll stop now. Maybe I should make some brownies too? Hmmm....

Anyway! I'm off to melt some glass and make some more hammies! Any requests? Feel free to leave me a note here or send me an email to keiara@bykeiara.co.uk :)

Have a wonderful week!

Love,
keiara









About Me

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Folkestone, Kent, United Kingdom
Hi! My name is keiara and I'm a native Floridian currently living in Folkestone, England. I am a hot glass and jewellery artist and I'm passionate about what I do! I love to 'talk shop' so feel free to contact me. Thanks for stopping by!