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!

As many of you already know, I'm a serious game nerd. I wear the title with pride and have met SO many wonderful people through gaming. Having said that, I don't actually play Worms, a game that consists of ridiculously adorable little worm armies fighting each other. However, plenty of my friends do so I decided to make a little worm bead to make them giggle ;) There is an option for your little worm army to wear halos, hence the angel worm above. I think he's SO cute!

I've also been working on lots of orders and holiday-themed beads. I added some of these to my by keiara Etsy shop so if you like what you see, go have a peek!

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/