The Brighton Coast

Life behind the blog scenes is extremely overwhleming at the moment. I can't really go into details right now, but eventually I will. I would love say that is bead/jewelry related, but sadly, it is not. It is life with a child with mental illness related and it needs all my attention right now. I hate to leave you hanging though! So...













First, on Monday and Tuesday, I neglected to introduce you to my "host" family for my UK visit!! You might remember my visitor, Lucy and our 18 year friendship, from her trip to NY just a couple of summers ago. I was so very excited to get to spend a week with her, her children (Charlotte age 9, and Alex age 7), and her boyfriend, Ben. I couldn't ask for better friends!! Lucy emailed me a few weeks before the trip to ask "is there anything special you want to do while you are here?" To which I said "can we take a drive to the coast?" Lucy knew just the place to take me... Brighton.

On Sunday, we packed up the kids (Ben included) took an hour or so drive south and the place we came upon was a throw back to a completely different time. The weather was miserable. The sky opened up with a torrential, sideways, soaking rain as soon as we stepped out of the car. You should have seen the five of us walking down the pier with heads of hair that looked fresh from a shower. You would have also seen grins from ear to ear. As I said, you can have a lot of fun when you are soaking wet and it makes for memories that much more tactile. I loved every minute of being in that rain!! Eventually though, we took shelter in a fantastic arcade at the halfway point of the pier and hid out until the heaviest rain passed. Then we popped across the street to Harry Ramsden's for fish & chips, followed by a walk through "The Lanes" (a shop lined area), and then down to the shore to search for heart shaped rocks while the angry English Channel roared under a stunning sky. Seriously good memories... seriously good.

Sunday night, I was in for another treat, but left my camera home for this one. I got to spend some time with my original host family (Lucy's parents) and then we walked to the local pub (Fox & Hounds, HA, love that name) for a few pints. Thanks to Lucy's sister, Amy (who was just 4 the first time I went to England and is now a lovely 22 year old), for watching the kids for us. And thanks to Ben for convincing me to try Guinness!! And oh how I like it now. I wish the darft Guinness over here was as good. ;) Three pints later, we had a giggly walk home and, needless to say, I completely crashed and had a great night's sleep.

Twisted Tuesdays - Artisan - Lemington Spa, England

I can't tell you how happy my ODC alter ego, Carrie, is about how this week of blogging is going to go. HA! You know how she loves organization. She is down right gitty at the timing of things and couldn't have planned it better herself. You see, my first full day in England envolved a bead show and book signing. And today is Twisted Tuesday! So, we get to remember my trip in chronological order!! YOO HOO... oh the silly things that make smile.



A few months ago when I started planning my UK visit, I sent an email to a lovely jewelry artist that I feel like I have known forever, Jo Tinley of Daisychain Jewellery. If memory serves, I know her from the Bead & Button forum days of years ago, but I could be wrong about that! Anyway, I asked Jo if she could recommend some good bead stores in London that I could get in touch with about turning this friendly visit into a "business trip". She gave me loads of suggestions and also mentioned that the publishers of Beads & Beyond were putting on a bead/stamp show called Artisan around the time of my visit. I got in touch with the editors of the magazine, Becky and Michelle, and we scheduled a demo/book signing for Totally Twisted!! How seriously cool is that? I got to say, to anyone that asked, "yeah, I am doing a book signing in the UK on Oct 2." I am a lucky girl and I know it!

The place where the event was held was the coolest place ever. I am used to BIG HUGE US shows that are held in gigantic convention centers where it can take 20mins to walk from one class room to the next. I loved the quiantness of the venue in Lemington Spa. I didn't ask a lot about it, but my impression was that the was an old farm that remodled the barn into a fantastic building to hold gatherings like these. Quite literally, you parked in the front field, you walked through a pasture with sheep and pear trees, with a red ivy covered house to the right, and there you are.




We started the visit with a quick lunch and got to chat a bit. I loved getting to meet Jo and Michelle and Becky in person! And although we only really chatted for a half hour or so, I learned so much. I had no idea what it means to work with metal in the UK and needing to have pieces hallmarked in order to be able to sell them as sterling, or gold. Here in the US, buyers take us at face value, trust that we are selling them what we say we are, and we leave it at that. If a piece has a hallmark, it is an artist's signature not necessarily to identify the quality of the metal. I sign my beads with a titanium pen in hidden places on finished pieces of jewelry, but oh how tempted I am after our chat to have a hallmark designed to stamp my jewelry with. Especially now that I will be working with metal more (hint hint, clue clue... I have an art show in 3 weeks, eeeekkkkk!! good things coming). Can I also say, I giggled inside everytime I heard them say "Artisan"? Yeah, they pronounced it art-is-zan, and I love the accent!!

Jo was really great about snapping photos while I did the demos and signed books. THANKS JO!! I ended up signing about a dozen books, which isn't horrible, but I wish I could have done more. These are a really great bunch of people and I was so excited to get to work with them. And, I hadn't realized how many times we have "worked together" before! Jo handed me two copies of back issues of Beads & Beyond where both this blog and my book had been featured!! It was so cool to see. When I am in a publication overseas, I don't know about it and they never usually tell me. It is really hit or miss if I can get copies of the issues too. One of the people watching me demo is sure she saw an excerpt from the book in another publication as well. It is wild, seriously. I am so thankful to be so loved :)

It Is Good To Be Back

It keeping with my tradition of having Monday posts be random, I give you random/stay-with-me-forever memories from my trip to England. I will have more highlights from the adventure throughout the week as I dive into detail about the things I did. Until them, I hope this whets your whistle (and FYI: whet was one of Charlotte's vocab words for spelling.)



:: I started my trip flying west to go east and, in doing so, I got to chase a sunset. I have never seen a more amazing sky.
:: I don't sleep well on planes, and learned it is really difficult, but I *can* stay awake for approximately 36 hours before I lose the ability to control my eyes rolling into the back of my head.
:: I can officially say I have ridden in a car going 100mph.



:: There were sheep and pear trees on the farm in Lemington Spa where Artisan was held. Best bead show venue ever.
:: This trip gave me the chance to meet people most US people are never going to get the chance to meet in person and I am so glad to have had the opportunity.
:: It rains every single day in England, excepts on Wednesdays, and I think that may be an actual fact.




:: You can have a good laugh even when wet through to your underwear if you try and it makes for even better memories, they are more tactile memories when they are soaking wet.
:: I like fish 'n chips, but I think I already knew that.
:: Historically old things can actually change in 18 years, and the way in which is usually how expensive they become. Windsor Castle was free to visit in 1992, it wasn't in 2010.



:: A Starbucks' Peppermint Mocha tastes even better when there is a castle wall outside the window.
:: I take my tea with milk and one sugar.
:: Some of the places you read about in books are even more amazing in person. And no, visiting a cemetery isn't really as morbid as it would seem.



:: I think I will forever wear my rain boots/wellies when I wear my blue tutu.
:: It is possible to get from Oxford Circus Station to Westminster Station during the height of rush hour to catch Big Ben at sunset and be back in Croxley Green by 7:30pm to get the kids on time.
:: It is really hard to be a Mom from 4000 miles away when things go wrong, but I learned to trust that there are others here that are more than capable.




:: I kinda like Chicken Malayan Curry, and the bread with the coconut milk is delish. I should give coconut more of a chance.
:: If the sun comes out in England, you should always try to plan it do so on your last day there.
:: Even if you can't afford to pay $600 for a round of golf, they will let you buy a pint and sit on the patio at some world famous golf courses.



:: Seven days can happen in the blink of an eye and I truly hate goodbyes.
:: Absence really can make a full heart grow even fonder and the best hugs in the world come out of kids at full steam run in an airport.
:: It is feels so good to be home.