So am I controlling my arthritis, or is it controlling me?

 Lately I've been been feeling my Rheumatoid Arthritis a bit - I started Pilates a few months ago, mostly as a result of the infamous sideways saddle incident which made me realise I was doing too much to protect my weak left side, I could see how disabled I was becoming because of it - when it gets to the stage when you can't get on or off your horse without using a crane, its time to look for help, which I have found via Emma my Pilates teacher who is doing a fab job with some frankly crappy materials, to be specific, my bones.    

 

Other than the pilates with Emma, I've had a busy few weeks - I attended several trade fairs - such fun! There is so much stuff you could spend your hard earned pounds on in an attempt to generate more pennies; so much stuff you never knew you needed before you saw it!!  It's fun buying, chatting to people, going back to the cafe for another cake and capuccino because you know you're going to be able to put it down on the business and the taxman will just have to lump it....I could spend and spend at these trade fairs, and it all seems like it could be the next best thing.
The last thing you want to do is wake up in the morning with your credit card receipt and think 'oh no, I didn't really, did I?'  

Necklace Commission

I just finished this necklace as a commission - with a Vermeil wirework heart, gold-filled wire, chain and fittings, Vermeil beads and beadcaps and lots of Swarovski crystal; I've used some chunkier beads in this piece which glitter beautifully. 

February....

Hmmm...ever had that feeling you were meeting yourself going backwards or is that just a northern expression?  How about this one....one step forward two steps backward??  Or this one - something about a fly with a blue bottom???  (last one was cleaned up in case you are a little bit delicate....)

Its been just crazy hectic round here.   I've been charging up and down the country going to trade fairs and seeing suppliers and sourcing new stock - I love doing this, its always nice buying gorgeous new stuff and then dreaming of the jewels I'll make....not so nice are the bills I am expecting (gulp, wince.....) 

And the winner is....

The winner of my 'Be My Valentine Win A Necklace' competition is.....(drum rolll.....)....Teresa Wills.

Congratulations Teresa, your necklace will be winging its way to you shortly.  Comiserations to those who did not win, but there will be more competitions on the way....

Hope you all had a lovely lovely Valentines Day.

Love Stephanie xx

My Dad's Birthday Cake...

We had a party for my Dad's 70th birthday today, I just wanted to share a pic of this fabulous cake that my Mum had made, and also a pic of my fabulous Dad too!!   The cake had a figure on it which was my Dad on his favourite classic motorbike, and its correct in every detail even down to the numberplate - it was a masterpiece, and made my Dad very very happy!

The Day My Daddy Turned 70....

Its's official, my Dad is finally a grown up.   Not that he actually ever acts like it.   You know when you are little and everyone over 23 seems like a dinosaur???   Well, I remember asking my Nona (my maternal Grandmother) once if she used to wear crinolines in the the Victorian times - and I really did think I was being nice.  She was slightly ruffled and soon put me right.   Bless her.

Well, Dad turned 70 today, and I just can't quite get my head round it.  He's one of those people who's as healthy as a horse (well,

Currently Reading....

I am currently reading...
Alligators, Old Mink and New Money by Alison Houtte -oh this is a charming book, it just whips by and suddenly you're at the end wanting more - this is a true story of a New York model/socialite who runs her own vintage clothing shop - the book wanders through her life, the story of the clothes, the people who buy them and the shop itself - the characters are great, the clothing even better...brilliant.

Small Wars Permitting - Dispatches from Foreign Lands by Christina Lamb - this is another fabulous read with the most wonderful writing and story-telling by the author who is a journalist and has reported from some of the most fascinating - and the most dangerous - places on earth - there isn't a moment in this book that falls flat.  

England's Mistress - The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton by Kate Williams - I am reading this book a second time - it is so beautifully written, so well researched and so interesting that I think I would get more out of it every time I took it down from my bookshelf.  Lady Emma Hamilton, who took one look at Lord Nelson and despite being married, fell at his feet, is the subject and what a fascinating one at that - her story is amazing, and the other stories that Kate Williams has woven around her life are equally absorbing - the story ends tragically and its sad to realise that Emma Hamilton ended her days exiled, left out and uncared for after the death of Nelson when he specifically asked the nation to take care of her - his memory was honoured, but she was left out in the cold, and I can only reflect that society treated her dreadfully for the crime of loving someone so deeply she gave up everything for him.

Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell - this grabbed me from the opening line, describing Fashion Week in New York - I stayed at the Bryant Park Hotel in NY with Mum the year before last so I knew exactly where the author was and I loved this book by the author of Sex and the City - the characters are bigger, louder and brasher than those in SATC if you can believe that, and this is one of those books which might not challenge the brain cells, but will certainly keep them amused; I stayed up all night until I read this in one huge e-book gulp...