I Had Such Great Plans for January!

Yes, I had such great plans for the beginning of this year.  I was going to keep my Etsy shop filled, and was going to apply for another craft fair, and even carry on a little bit with my painting.  Well, "life" had another idea in store.  On January 17th I twisted my back (yet again)

, and have been flat in bed ever since.  I even took a trip to the emergency room at our local hospital - I will write about that fiasco another time.  In the end I made an appointment with my doctor, drugged myself up so I could sit in the car, and he suggested that I get an MRI..  Well, the waiting time to get one that is paid for by the BC Medical is just out of sight - probably over a year.  I opted instead to pay for it myself, and I am going tomorrow to have it done - as they say "money talks".  I don't like the idea of a 2-tiered medical system, but the pain is so bad this time, and it has been on and off for 14 years that I have had enough!!! Thankfully, I am in a position to be able to pay for it.

So anyway, that is my little story as to why I have been so lax in my Etsy shop, blog, Lampwork Etc., and all those other places.  I have been able to keep up with events via my mini IPad, but it is just not the same.

I am hopeful that I will be able to get back to the torch in a week or two.  When I am able to sit for more than 5 minutes at a time I will give it a try.

 As I hate to have a blog without any pictures, I am going to look through my photo archives and find something.

Thanks for "listening"!

Can't remember if I showed you these or not - they are a new type of
landscape/tree bead I developed last summer, and plan to make many more.

This is a necklace I made up a while ago from odds, ends. orphans,
some copper beads and pearls.  I love the way it turned out.
The bead in the middle is hollow.

More of the landscape/tree beads.  The one of the left with the
multi-colour background was one of the first to go at the Labour Day
craft fair at Kitty Coleman Woodland Gardens.  It is one that
I wish I had kept - oh well, I guess I will have to make another.

Yearning for Spring

Although we haven't had a hard winter here on the west coast, I am really looking forward to Spring!  These small sets of abstract violets can be found in my Etsy shop.

Back in the saddle!

Well, it was a slow autumn, that is for sure.  Both in the blogging and torching categories.  Anyway, I am now back at my torch, and have a couple of bead sets to show you.

Mediterranean Splash.  These are now in my Etsy shop. The colour
is actually a lot more aqua than show here.  Not sure if it is my camera that
doesn't like aqua, or my computer monitor.

Purple Poppies.  I haven't listed these as yet, because I can't
decide whether to etch them or not.  They are made with a
base of clear glass, with decoration in cream, purple and "Terra" glass.
What do you think?

I also treated myself to a few new presses in December - a Christmas present to me from me!  I couldn't decide which hearts I wanted, so I purchased all the ones I was interested in.  One of them I think will be too big, but I am sure I can find a home for it.

Three heart presses from Bavarian Beads in Germany.

Here's hoping that I can be a little more prolific this year, both with the blogging and the torching.
Bye for now!