Mia Heirloom Tiara

This is Mia Heirloom Tiara - I made it using a 1950's sparkling crystal aurora borealis and pearl cabochon brooch, a handmade tiara band and 'sunbursts' of contemporary Swarovski crystal - the band is finished with Swarovski crystal bicones and pearls.

Freebie!!!

Free Bracelet with Purchase from SLC Designs
Few artists can afford artistic temperament. (Mason Cooley)

Above - July 09 Freebie Bracelet - Free with Purchase over £65.00 (excluding postage and packing) - offer open until 22nd August 2009.

Tiaras

I've been working on new tiaras for my other website, Tiaraonline which is still a work in progress, and have been busy working with lots of brides on new designs in that area...loads of new designs, here are a few of the tiaras I have made recently.

Horses, Bracelets and Lemon Meringue Pie....

Merlin and I have made great progress!! We did lots and lots of work together and I'm glad to say we have been getting out and about together on some lovely hacks out in the countryside...this is such a wonderful thing for both of us, with my not having been able to ride him for the last five years or so because of my rheumatoid arthritis - the RA trial drug is going very well and this has meant I've been able to get back in the saddle. Unfortunately however Merlin and I had an accident about ten days ago and he hurt himself badly - he was in hospital for five days and he is now back at his home stables getting the best of care - he's fractured a small bone in one of his legs which actually sounds worse than it is, but the poor sweetie was in a bad way for a few days - given time and rest he will be as good as new so its

Currently Reading....

These are the books I am currently reading...
Necropolis: London and Its Dead by Catharine Arnold - initally you might think 'Ugh' about the subject matter but this is truly fascinating - chronicles how London dealt with its dead throughout the ages and how sanitation and the burial of the dead brought about huge changes in the health and wellbeing of the living.  Its not ghoulish, there are no nasty or scary pics, its well written and I recommend this highly.

Horse People: Scenes from the Riding Life by Michael Korda; this book is supposed to be light and entertaining and I enjoyed it up to a point - the nutsy people and plain strange happenings which occur daily in the horsey life all appear in this book though I put it down without finishing it because I found the writer had based it so much round himself that I became bored.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel; hyped up to the max, I had huge expectations of this book.  Basically, its OK and sure it has lots of relevant historical detail, but it rambles on and on and that is about as much as I can say about it.  Its no-where near as good as the CJ Sansom 'Shardlake' books and I felt the ending was weak.  OK as a beach read.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: or the Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale - this is a fab book which no-one should miss - it begins with the sad tale of the death of a child, the cover-up by the family and the investigation by a Mr. Whicher, detective.  The culprit is a surprise and the book reaches a well researched and thought out logical reasonable conclusion; its somewhat sad due to its being a true story but it does take the reader way back into a past when things were done differently.  Highly recommended. 

Currently reading....

I am currently reading...

Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport ; deals with the tragic story of the last days of the Russian Royal Family -  this is a sad story with amazing detail, most particularly it documents the real human beings behind the story and makes you shake your head sadly at the inevitability of it all; having said that, despite its inevitable conclusion, its not a depressing story and is filled with truly fascinating fresh information which continues to flesh out the story of the last Russian royal family.

Revelation by C. J. Sansom; this is the fourth 'Shardlake' series book and this is as fabulous as all the others;  historical fiction at its best - I won't spoil it for you if you are planning on reading it, but just to say - highly recommended.

Connecting with Horses: The Life Lessons We Can Learn from Horses by Margrit Coates - I am a real believer in understanding horses (or any animal) by trying to communicate and connect with them in their own language; Margrit Coates is a sympathetic author who writes about her subject with knowledge and good sense.

101 Things to Do Before You Diet by Mimi Spencer; this is one of those books you buy because you can't fit in your jeans in the hope that really it will get rid of the fat that is currently bugging you so much. Well, at least that was what it was for me.  Of course, just BUYING the book doesn't actually make you lose weight, and this book in particular argues that we might be fat (or not) but we are still lovely.  Yes, I guess we could still be lovely but our horse still goes 'oooof' when we get on him.  To be fair there is some good and interesting information in this book and it does make you feel better whilst carrying excess weight around.  What I really want is a book called 'Buy This And You Will Instantly Be The Weight You Want To Be Without Making Any Effort Whatsoever' but as the author didn't call this book that, I can't complain.   Its a very good book and I'd recommend it if your jeans have suddenly 'shrunk in the wash'.  Or if your horse goes 'oooof' when you get on him.