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!

I know many of you have been whining, uhhh, I mean, politely asking *cough* about when I will resume my popular made-to-order beads. So! What I've done is listed a few of my most popular made-to-order kitties in my by keiara Etsy shop and simply extended my creation time a bit. Normally I aim to have orders made within 3 - 5 business days but, due to the fact that I'm still working in Naomi's studio, my creation time is now 5 - 7 business days. If you're willing to give me that extra bit of time, I'm willing to start taking on more made-to-order beads and custom orders! Hey, I'm nothing if not a great compromiser, right?! *shifty eyes*

A handful of my most popular kitties are back including Summer Garden kitty focal (above). Summer is such a beautiful kitty focal. I love the blue and green swirled base. She really reminds me of a sunny summer's day in a field of wildflowers.



And, of course, I couldn't leave out dear Edgar!! My zombie kitty has been one of my most popular beads ever! I had NO clue so many people would find his bloody stitches, dangling eyeball and little skull as adorable as I do ;) So Edgar Zombie kitty focal joins Summer back in my by keiara Etsy shop along with several others including my Leilani Hula kitty focal, too!

Now.. Happy Friday!!! YAY! It's the weekend!!! I don't know what I'm so excited about, I don't have any fun plans or anything.. lol :) But, hey, another day closer to my studio being back up and running can't be bad, right?! So what are you guys doing this weekend? I'll probably try to organize the boxes in the studio a bit so it'll be easier to set up the tables whenever that happens. I have SOOOOO many boxes in there it's unreal! Who knew my little studio could hold that much stuff?! And, not just any old stuff, but important artist stuff! Yeah! Important! Artist! Stuff! Or something.. *giggles*

Whatever your plans are, have fun, share a smile and don't forget to spread the love. Lots of love to all of you! <3

Love,
keiara

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

Hi everyone!

I wanted to show you my new kitty design. I'm calling them kooky kittens and they are SO much fun to make. They are smaller than my original kitties and are more simply decorated. What do you think? I love their little mischievous expressions ;)

These will be listed in my lampwork Etsy shop and also on my lampwork website shop so come have a look. I've also listed some new lampwork jewellery in my Ready To Go Jewellery section.

Have a great week everyone!

Love,
keiara

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

Hi everyone! Skyleigh has returned to my Etsy lampwork shop :) She is in my two favourite glass colours all swirled together. I love her!

I've just had my two year anniversary of making my very first bead!! Awww :) I can't believe it's only been two years (and yet, the time has flown past) since I lit my old Hot Head torch. I thought I'd share something with you..

When I first lit the torch, I was terrified of it! I hated it. I hated the flame, hated the noise, hated the way the glass melted and moved. As a matter of fact, I nearly gave it up altogether! Why didn't I? For the most basic reason of all: my competitive spirit! You see, my husband Steve could make a better bead than I could. His beads LOOKED like beads, not like horrible, mutant globs of glass with pointy ends. I could not let this stand! So, everyday while he was at work, I practiced. I turned on my little Hot Head, put on special protective sleeves, flinched every time I put the glass in the flame... and suddenly something clicked. I could make a round bead! I could make a dotted bead! Now that I could actually make a balanced, round bead, I moved on to the next logical step: encased florals (yeah, patience isn't one of my virtues!). I wanted to make encased florals and I wasn't going to let anyone tell me I couldn't! After much practice (and possibly tears *ahem*) I finally made an encased floral that I was happy with (which now makes me shudder).

Since then I've moved on to mainly sculptural beads but every now and then I look at my pot of starter beads and I smile. All those poor little mutant globs of glass look so adorable now because they represent the starting of the most amazing journey of my life.

Thank you to all of you who have walked this path with me and offered your support and praise. I am so lucky to love what I do.. and I have you to thank for that.

Have a great week, everyone :)

Love,
keiara

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

Hi everyone! How was your weekend? Yeah, it's Wednesday and I'm only just now getting around to asking.. sorry. I have a good excuse though! I had a bunch of orders come in over the weekend so I spent all day Monday (and I do mean ALL DAY) chained to the torch creating kitties, trees, cupcakes and such. Above are the focals from Monday's session. Passionate Paula is having a sudden surge in popularity which I'm guessing must be tied to Valentine's Day ;) Luxe Kitty still holds the title of Most Requested Kitty but Paula is closing the gap on second!

Meet Easter Kitty. She has a wee Easter basket filled with eggs and decorated with grass and flowers. She was very difficult to photograph because she's white but you get the idea ;)

Easter is available in my Etsy shop!

Happy Thursday!

Love,
keiara

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

Yes, it is about that time! I've started in on my St. Patrick's Day beads :) I absolutely LOVE making them with all the four leaf clovers and different shades of green. I created one of my kitty focals, named Lucky Kitty, with hints of green and decorated with a four leaf clover.

And of course I couldn't leave out the Lucky Bunny Schnibbles! I'm a bit obsessed with making Schnibbles sets lately. They seem to be quite popular and they're so much fun to make. The sets are perfect for a dainty pendant and a pair (or two!) of earrings. Or turn the set into a bracelet or necklace! They're quite versatile little sets :) You can find this set in my Etsy shop.

Happy Friday everyone! I'm still working like mad to get ready for The Big Bead Show. Yeah, that's me, plugging the show AGAIN! I've also had a few custom orders for necklaces lately (everyone just loves Diane's ribbons, of course!) and here are my two favourites (well, I have another favourite but I don't want to show it because it's a gift for a friend's sister - shhhh) Anyway! Above is my Golden Dream Tree Focal that I've turned into a pendant and hung from Diane's glorious ribbon. It is hard to see in the picture but the ribbon is a delicious variegated apricot with gold stitching. PERFECT for the Golden Dream Tree!

New bracelet kitties!! Whatcha think? I giggled the whole time I was creating these little cuties :) I've had so many requests for bracelet kitties and this is the first full set I've created. I enjoyed playing with the different looks and giving them all different coloured eyes.. heehee :) Keep an eye out for lots more of these to come!

And more Christmas beads today! I'm feeling very Christmassy and it makes me happy :) All these have already sold (can you believe it??) but I'm taking orders on more so feel free to contact me if you'd like a set or two :)

How was your weekend? I had a lovely weekend. On Saturday Steve and I drove up to Margate and went to the Shell Grotto which I thought was really cool. We also drove through Ramsgate which was very pretty. Ultimately we ended up in Folkestone town centre and I bought some cupcake socks (SO cute!) for myself and Kaia, some interesting bits to create bead displays and had some lunch at a cafe. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home to grab some strawberries which we turned into homemade ice cream for Steve's dad, Kevin. Kevin and Kaia share the same birthday! I baked a big batch of pumpkin muffins (one of Kevin's favourites of mine!) and then we settled in for the evening. It was a looooooong day! Sunday we went to the in-laws' for Kevin's birthday gathering. We brought along the muffins and ice cream (and some of my homemade cream cheese frosting that they all go nuts for) and had a really nice time. Everyone was there and at the end of the day we took some great group photos.

I really love this shot (I'm so hard to spot, huh?!). In this photo is Steve's entire immediate family including parents, grandparents, siblings and nieces and nephews.. also some cousins, spouses and partners.. and, in Sonya's arms (standing up 4th from left in red) the cutest Yorkshire Terrier doggie ever.. Millie :) They have the biggest family I've ever met! There's at least another 50 or so aunts, uncles and cousins not pictured here!!! I always wanted to be part of a big family and I certainly got my wish :)

It was also Kaia's birthday yesterday so I am officially the mother of a 14 year old now! I can hardly believe it! She had a wonderful day and really loved all the gifts I sent her. I made her one of my zombie kitties and turned it into a pendant plus made matching earrings. I also sent her some kitties from theothermousie which she went crazy over! I wish I could have been there and I can't wait to see pictures from her party :) I will be sure to share them.

Hope you all have a wonderful week! I'm off to melt some glass ;)

Love,
keiara

www.bykeiara.co.uk

www.bykeiara.etsy.com

Hiya guys! I had a custom order for some mini ghost kitties earring pair. What do you think? I'm very pleased with how they turned out! It's soooo much harder to do the detail on these little guys but I think they look great :) I hope my lovely customer likes them!