Hi everyone!

My lovely friend, Laura, over at Delightfully Delirious posted a handmade pay it forward for 2011 and seeing as how a) I LOVE her stuff and b) I LOVE pay it forwards, I decided to jump in on this! So, here are the rules, nabbed from Laura:

I promise to send something handmade to the first five people who comment on this post. But if you enter you must post this too, and offer something handmade to another five people that comment on your blog.

The rules are that it must be something handmade or homemade by you and it has to be sent to five other people during 2011, so we all have plenty of time :D!

If you'd like to join in the fun, then be among the first five to post a comment and something handmade or homemade will be coming your way at some point this year.

**Please only join in if you intend to pay it forward.. that's the whole point!**

Ready, set, GO!

Have a great week :)

Love,
keiara

www.bykeiara.co.uk
www.bykeiara.etsy.com
www.artfire.com/users/bykeiara

Hi everyone!

Over the holidays, I made lots of new jewellery and I decided to give you a preview of what's going to be up for sale in the coming days. Above is Mango Tango Fleur Necklace made with my handmade lampwork floral bead, Sterling silver, Swarovski crystals and a hand-dyed ribbon. I LOVE the colours.

This is Felicia, the beautiful deep honey-coloured kitty. Say hello! Felicia is handmade by me, etched for a velvety look and feel and I hand-wired her with Sterling silver, Swarovski crystals and a gorgeous hand-dyed ribbon. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the ribbon is stitched with sparkly golden thread!

Hi everyone!!!

I just got back from spending a few weeks in Denmark for the holidays. Above is a picture of me and my wonderful boy, Stefan, out in the snow :) There was a snow storm right before we arrived so there was TONS of snow and it was absolutely gorgeous. Being a native Floridian, I'd never seen anything like it and had to run outside every so often just to look at the beautiful winter wonderland.

Here is Stefan with his mother, Anette, and niece, Caroline. Anette is extremely artistic and we had a wonderful time talking about our creative endeavours. Caroline is just about the cutest baby ever and she's so sweet and happy. She's an absolute joy!

Hi everyone!

I'm still preparing for the Big Bead Show (OMG - it's almost here!!!!) and I thought the Cupcake Queen (as I've been dubbed by the community) should probably have, you know, CUPCAKES for sale! I made a few up yesterday in various styles and sizes. I just love cupcakes! (Speaking of which: I may have bought a cupcake salt and pepper set and a cupcake tote bag the other day. The boy wanted to know why I needed the salt and pepper shakers since I already have some gorgeous purple Fiestaware ones. I shook my head sadly and told him that he would never understand. It's all about THEMES, people!! When I have a tea party and use all my cupcake things, how awesome will it be to have salt and pepper shakers, too?!? Of course now I have to find an excuse to cook food that requires salt and pepper for a tea party.. hmm..!)

And why stop at cupcakes? I've tried my hand at pancakes and eggs before but I hadn't quite had the nerve to try a coffee cup. HA! It's a teeny bit wonky, but I am VERY pleased with my first attempt! I see more of these in the near future.. maybe with some bacon and a glass of juice!

Hi everyone!

Things around these parts have been a bit emotional and hectic. My grandmother passed away last week. It's very difficult to be so far away from home at a time like this. Interestingly, I woke up that morning feeling very out of sorts. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong. I decided, as you do, to visit Canterbury Cathedral. While I was there, I wrote out a prayer for my grandmother (as well as for my sister and her unborn daughter and a friend who recently passed) which is then placed on the altar during mass the following morning. I asked that god watch over her and keep her in his arms as her health has been failing for some time now. (Some of you will remember I took an emergency trip to Florida during the spring to spend some time with her.) A few minutes after returning home, my sister called to tell me that Gramma had passed in the night. I believe it was her spirit that moved me to make the trip and I am so glad that I did it. I'm sure she'll always know how much I love her.

I felt inspired to create a series of beads in Gramma's memory. She was always very supportive of my art and always asked how the beads were going :) She would tell me how proud she was of me and she was so excited when my beads and artist profile appeared in Bead Magazine (I took a copy with me to Florida and we read it together). So I created the above series which I entitled Granlee Gardens and I am so pleased with how they turned out. I think she really would have loved them.

There are two things I do when I can't sit still with my own thoughts: make beads and bake. I've been doing lots of baking this past week! The above shot is of my Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies from Bakerella's site. I iced mine with chocolate fudge icing and WOW are these awesome! The brownie is gorgeous and chewy while the cookie is more like a standard chocolate chip cookie. It has wonderful textures and they are so ridiculously easy to make that it's almost embarrassing!

Next up are Jelly Donut Muffins. I made these from a fantastic USA compilation cookbook that contains loads of wonderful American recipes. The downside, of course, is that it's also full of ingredients that I can't get in this country. I've been looking into importing certain things and, failing that, making some components from scratch. Did you know you can make homemade Cool Whip? Yeah, I didn't either! Anyway, back to the muffins! These were very, very tasty but not really worth the extra effort of putting the jam INSIDE the muffins, if you ask me. They bake up light and fluffy with a gorgeous, slightly crispy top. Next time I'll make the muffins and just serve them with jam, though ;)

Hi everyone!

Yesterday my little Munchkin turned 15! I can't quite believe it. Kaia is growing up so fast and she's such a great kid. I'm a lucky girl :) She asked for some lil bits, kooky kritters and classic cats, all turned into jewellery, for her birthday so now she has even MORE cuteness in her jewellery collection. It's nice to have such a loyal fan.. heehee ;) Above is a picture of some of my latest lil bits. They've proven quite popular so I added their own made-to-order section in my by keiara webshop. Check it out!

This cute kooky kitten, Blossom, is now available in my by keiara Etsy shop. I created her with one of my favourite frit blends. I just love those colours!

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!

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'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!

Hi everyone!

This week I've been sick: booooo :( BUT! Apparently the sickness went straight to my brain and corrupted my creativity center because I've been making so many beads I can barely clean them and photograph them all! I'm in bead overdrive here. Yesterday I made 21 beads. This may not sound like a lot to you glassies who make sets but I primarily make focals. Twenty-one focals in one session is MASSIVE for me (even if they are little focals!). I could barely see straight by the end of it!

Anyway! I am frequently asked if I make smaller versions of my kooky kritters and I've done a few custom beads but then I thought, 'Hey! Why not do a whole range?!' Thus the 'lil bits' were born :) Above is the beginning of this new collection which includes (so far) kittens, hamsters and aliens. I have plans for other kritters, though, and I'm always open to suggestions.. so watch this space and/or email me with your demands ;)

I have a few of the lil bits up for sale in my by keiara Etsy shop including the zombie hamster!

Hi everyone!

After finishing my orders yesterday I finally got around to making some Halloween beads! YAY! Halloween is my all-time favourite holiday and, although it's not celebrated as much here in the UK, I decorate my place and dress up and bake lots of Halloween treats and enjoy the heck out of the day :) Now that I'm in my new flat I doubt I'll get any trick-or-treaters which makes me sad. I absolutely LOVE the kids coming to the door and getting to see all of their adorable (or spooky!) costumes. Maybe I can get a folding chair and sit out on the sidewalk instead!!

Anyway :) So I made some new Halloween beads. Above is an old favourite, Linus, who is perfect for Halloween. He's striking in black and lime green :)

And this is Vera, a cousin of Eddie. Vera is so sweet and scary all at once! She looks rather unimpressed by the little skull though!

Hi everyone!

Happy Friday :) I've had a super busy and ridiculously awesome week! I had three students this week, all of them totally amazing, and it really hit me just how lucky I am to do something I love so much for a living. Yes, I work my tail off, but I enjoy every minute of it (okokok, maybe not every SINGLE minute.. I don't particularly like all the admin work!) and I'm supporting myself with my art. How cool is that?!

Anyway! I had a meeting with my favourite creative director (read: my daughter) this week. I asked her for some ideas for new kittens and she (bless her amazingly artistic soul) not only came up with a bunch of ideas, but also drew me little sketches of each idea!! I wish I had a scanner. Ohmygoodness. She's so adorable it kills me! One of her ideas was to do a Frankenstein kitten and the above photo is the result. This is Frankie and he's one of my new 'spooky kittens' :) Whatcha think? He makes me giggle!! ;) I've put him in my by keiara webshop under the Ready To Go Beads section! He's ready to come home and scare the.. oh, uhh, I mean.. he's ready to come home and love you to pieces! Yeah, that's it ;)

Another of Kaia's great ideas: Chocolate Kitten! She's made with dark chocolate glass, a creamy, white chocolate swirl tail, honey eyes and she has a big bite out of her left side! She's adorned with a tiny red bow on the back :) Chocolate is also available in my by keiara webshop.

Hi everyone!

Happy Friday! I FINALLY got my web shop back up and running as, YES, my studio is functional! WOOOOOOOO! It's still not exactly pretty but it's getting there :) I can make beads again.. YAY! All my made-to-order beads are back up, too, so go have a peek at my by keiara web shop.

Yesterday I had new dreads installed! My hair was bleached and then coloured with Rose Red by Directions. The dreads are a mix of Cherry and Fruit Coulis. I am sooooo happy to have my dreads back in! I feel like me again ;)

Any plans for the weekend? Hopefully I'll get to go see Eclipse this weekend with Naomi. Yes, I admit it, I love Twilight! I'm also getting ready for Kaia's arrival!!! Kaia gets in Monday morning and I am super excited! She hasn't seen the new flat yet and I know she's going to love her new room.. it's so much bigger than her old room.. LOL :) I also have several students next week so it's going to be a busybusy week for me!

Which brings me to Important News! During July and August, I'm offering my beginner lampwork course for £100 for the full day or £50 for the half day! These prices are only good for courses booked for a day in July or August so if you're interested in learning lampwork, now is your chance! Lessons are taught in my studio in Folkestone. For more info, send me an email to keiara@bykeiara.co.uk Hope to see you soon!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Love,
keiara

www.bykeiara.co.uk
www.bykeiara.etsy.com