Chunky agate necklace and bracelet set

Another item I've been working on lately is this big, bold gemstone pendant necklace and matching bracelet, and I love it - I hope you do too.

In genuine natural agate gemstones the fabulous brown, gold and red shades make me think of South American desert landscapes so I've called it Atacama.

At £25 for the set its a snip of a price for a huge statement piece and as its a one off, if you like it buy it now.

Email me at Beadyjan@yahoo.co.uk to reserve it for yourself or to ask me any more questions about it and any of my creations.

New necklace

I haven't blogged anything for ages so just thought I'd share my latest creation. This necklace is a beadworked peyote spiral embellished with a myriad of lovely beads in shades of bronze, copper and turquoise.

Approximately 18" long it fastens with an ornate Tibetan silver flower t-bar clasp.

Its a one of a kind item and is available for sale at just £24.

If you're interested just let me know.

Butterfly world

The other day my friend Sue and I decided to have a day out but when we were ready to jump on the bus it began to chuck it down with rain and it was pretty chilly too and suddenly the idea of a day out shopping and walking around outdoors didn't seem quite so appealing.

I came up with the bright idea of a trip to Butterfly world at Preston Park which is quite close by as my friend had never been in before.

It costs £3.50 admission for adults and you can come and go as you please all day. You enter via a small shop with lots of butterfly related souvenirs and the receptionist brings her gorgeous talking parrot Maia to work with her and the parrot sits in her large cage and greets everyone and waves!

Once inside the large Butterfly enclosure you step into a warm, steamy tropical paradise housed in a very large conservatory type building. Tropical blooms and plants abound and the huge exotic butterflies flit and flutter all around you, if you sit or stand still for long they even land on you!

Seats are provided and you can just sit and relax in this lovely warm environment.

There is a waterfall and a pretty stream with lots of Koi carp which you can feed with food available at 20p a packet.

At the far end is a small mini zoo, with snakes tarantulas and lizards plus the current attraction 3 cute Meercats.

Collage picture of Smokey cat

I can hardly believe its now 3 weeks since we lost our lovely Smokey.

To be honest I'm finding it very hard to cope with and am still tearful and weepy at times. I get up on a morning and expect to find him waiting to be fed, I go upstairs during the day and expect to find him lying on the bed sunning himself, sometimes my chest aches so much from not being able to hold him close and give him a cuddle, ever again.

I wanted to do something in memory of him and made this little collage of photos of him.

Hope you like it.

My OWOH giveaway mini pillow arrived

We went away for a long weekend at our caravan in the Durham Dales and arrived home nicely chilled out to find my One world one Heart giveaway prize waiting.

Its a dainty little mini pillow made from vintage fabrics by Laurie at http://indulgeyourshelf.blogspot.com/

If you love vintage items do pop by her blog and see some of her tips and tricks.

Its a very pretty little handmade treasure and I'm delighted I was the lucky recipient.

In memory of Smokey - my gorgeous cat

I'm afraid the worst thing imaginable has happened and last night we lost our beloved Smokey cat. I'm devastated as, even though he's been very ill, I hoped the medication helping meant he was going to improve enough to have a decent quality of life for some time.

Last evening he was asleep on the back of the sofa (one of his favourite spots) where I was sitting watching tv and he suddenly made a strange little noise, then a few seconds later I heard him moving and thought he was going to come on my knee as usual, but he just fell off the back of the sofa and I managed to catch him, he was shaking and I thought he'd just gone a bit wobbly again so I put him on the floor and he fell over and then began to stagger about and fall into the coffee table and banging into stuff it was terribly scary to watch.

So I scooped him up and held him and could tell he was having or had just had a seizure his eyes were rolling around and one was bulging a bit while the other was sunk right back and he was shaking and his back legs were rigid.

I cuddled him for a few minutes and when he didn't get any better we got his basket and we put him in to stop him trying to move and hurting himself.

We dashed over to the emergency vet but knew there was nothing he'd be able to do except stop things before he suffered too much. If we'd even waited overnight he'd have been scared and we couldn't have left him as he couldn't stand up and he'd have fallen and hurt himself even worse.

It was one of the hardest things thats ever happened and I am completely distraught, I know he was a pet but he was also my furry baby and I loved him SOO much it hurts.

At least, after the first episode he came home and spent a couple of weeks of love and cuddles being even more pampered and spoilt than usual and in a way we said goodbye properly and had a bit of time to get used to the idea that he may not get better.

I'm going to miss him SO much as we've had him since we moved into this house over 10 years ago and with me not working I'm used to having him around all day when I'm at home alone.

Rest in peace my little Smokey - if ever a pet was adored you were and I'll never forget you.

Winter sun

I just wanted to share this lovely view of the sea in winter which I snapped yesterday. After so much snow it was nice to see the sun shining and as we were passing by the headland at Hartlepool I grabbed my camera.

At first I thought I wasn't going to be able to take a picture of the sea as the sun was bang in front of me, but as I lowered my viewpoint I realised it might turn out ok after all - and it did, I think this pictures turned out really pretty.

The WINNER is ....

I'm delighted to announce the lucky winner of my one of a kind polyclay pendant necklace is.....

Kimmie of Once upon a Blue Crow her name was drawn at random yesterday and she's contacted me to claim her prize.

Kimmie is a talented art doll maker who makes adorable dolls like this one

Please call by her blog, say Hi and see how talented she is.

OWOH giveaway draw

Its come around so fast - the day to draw a winner - and I still didn't find time to visit all the entrants blogs and enter all their draws as this just grew SO much bigger than I'd envisaged. Wow this has been so much fun.

I'll still be able to visit those blogs I haven't seen yet over the next few weeks though.

I've drawn a lucky winner of my necklace and am waiting until they've replied to my email before I announce their details ....
I do hope they like their necklace.

Snowy Monday

Like much of Britain we awoke to find several inches of snow and freezing temperatures. I just can't get warmed through even with the heating on full blast and my thick fluffy socks and slipper boots on my toes are like icicles.

Last week I had a horrid week hence no new posts. My oven went on the blink and couldn't be fixed so I've been living on microwaved and wok fried meals.

Today my new oven is due to be delivered, so I'm hoping the waether won't delay or postpone its arrival. I NEED my oven!

My cat Smokey has been really poorly, we took him to the vet last week who gave him two injections and if he wasn't any better by Monday to take him back. He is no better so as soon as my delivery arrives I'll be taking him back there. Fingers crossed, I'm quite worried about him - he looks as though he might have had a stroke or something he's all lopsided and wobbly on his paws.

I had a lovely day on Saturday, went to Sheffield to meet up with about 20 on-line friends I've met through a book exchange site Read it Swap it
We all went to LA Tasca Spanish Tapas restuarant and had a good old gossip and stuffed our faces. A great day out.

UPDATE
My lovely new cooker arrived and is safely installed, I haven't really tried it out much yet but I'm sure I'll be creating some gourmet delicacaies very soon - ha ha (I'm the worlds worst cook)

Took Smokey back to the vets and we're not really any further forward, They still don't know for sure what's wrong but suggested we may want to wait a few more days and see if he improves (the antibiotics are slow release so may take a little longer before they show results)
If not, we could consider leaving him at the vet hospital for some quite lengthy, expensive tests and trials including the risk of a general anaesthetic to do them, which might be quite stressful/ risky for him, so at the moment we are waiting and taking it day by day.

I don't want to tempt fate but he seems a touch more alert and lively today so I'm crossing all my digits that he can turn the corner without hospitalisation.