All Change!

You may have notice I’ve been a little quiet on the blogging and listing front of late. I can now reveal some good news of some enormous changes which will hopefully mean both those things can improve!

I am now no longer commuting for the ‘day job!’ Instead I have taken on a project which is entirely non-office based, and everything will be done on the interweb! I still can’t quite believe it myself, and still wonder when I’ll be told it’s all off and to get back on the commuter un-merry-go-round! Although these first weeks (and my internet/twitter/blogging etc silence) are a bit mad as I spend a lot more hours getting things started, it does mean a huge quality of life improvement for me as well as getting me nearer to the point I can dump ‘the day job!’

Apart from the financial saving, the saving in time is a huge boon to me. Already I’ve had a few evenings that I’ve been able to get on the torch and play around with new ideas, rather than rush around doing chores or just being so shattered I fall into bed. I thought it might take a few weeks to have an effect but already I have got a lot of new ideas and directions I want to go with the glass.

To prove the point I’ve made an entirely new style of pendant with shapes that I really love! They are so much more organic, like seedpods or tropical flower buds, and I’ve developed a different way to capture this nebula look. There was a bit of hesitation when I first did this, but I took a leap of faith and here’s the result! I was actually more nervous about making the second one in case it was a fluke and I couldn’t make it again!

This past week I think I’ve done some of my best work for a very long time. I feel the reduction in stress and travel hours has made a difference already, and just at a time I want to start taking my glass in some new and exciting direction too. Even things like getting photos taken so I can start listing some of them is easier when I can do it during a needed tea break between looking at spreadsheets. It really feels like I’ve got a large chunk of my life back.

And then I found out I’ve been featured on Joy Funnel’s blog too at Fired With Imagination! http://joyfunnell.blogspot.com/2010/05/strangely-startling.html Joy is a maestro with silver clay and fresh back from Japan where she’s been seeing how silver clay is made. So it’s quite a treat to see that she has a complete set of jewellery – earrings AND bracelet – made with some of my Steampunk beads! And very good timing as I've been working on a new idea for Steampunk beads too. Now that’s a good end to a good week!