Time On My hands...

I was due to be doing a craft show this coming Saturday until I found out last week (with just two weeks to go...?!) that due to what I shall call an 'organiser's oversight' I would not now be able to exhibit. Having already paid and spent recent weeks building up show stock I was not best pleased as you can imagine!

As a result of this, I now find myself in the very unusual position of having time on my hands with no pressing deadlines to meet. Since making the decision to try and sell my jewellery back in March, there's always been something I need to do urgently. Now, with stock in the shop and plenty in reserve to keep it topped up the pressure's off and it feels kind of strange...

Now of course there are a million and one things I could usefully be doing around the house and plenty of planning and admin tasks, like filing in my tax return :0(. But  that's really no fun and it is nearly Christmas after all... So what Have I been doing instead...? 

Well, I've started knitting again after a gap of more years than I can remember.

Nothing fancy, just some simple ruffle scarves (like the one in my current Christmas Giveaway) which I can knock out in a few hours, but I can do this at the same time as I watch TV - and that's something else I've not had much time for until now. I'll be putting some of these in my Etsy shop soon.

I've been reading too. I just love books and when I shop for them I can never buy just one - it has to be an armful. This is the focal point of my very small lounge and there are more bookcases dotted around the house.

The only New Years resolution I ever make is to read the unread books on my shelves and it gets carried over every year because I can't resist buying more. But I've made an early start this year, all-be-it by re-reading two of my all time favourites, To Kill a Mocking bird by Harper Lee and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. I studied the To Kill A Mockingbird at school decades ago and have read it many times since. Wide Sargasso Sea I discovered a few years ago when I took a Humanities course with the Open University ( I have half a degree I still need to finish...) and was hooked from the get go - not an easy read but it gets better every time I do. Just need to start on the unread now...

Of course, I've finished all the shopping for Christmas than I can do at this point. Nothing is wrapped yet  but I like to do that nearer the time as it's when I really begin to feel festive.

And if there's one thing that is almost compulsory when I have the time to sit down with a leisurely cup of coffee or glass wine it's shop for beads - yay! Because there have been so many sales and events on recently it's been even more fun so, here's a peek at some of my newest buys...

Fun and funky spotted lampwork rounds by Helen Helen Chalmers .

Gorgeous cassis and vanilla graduated donuts by Sarah Watts - Sarah is new to Etsy and I can't wait to see her shop develop.

 

I love this set by Rachel Bishop of Puffafish called Winter Morning - such a perfect name, they remind me of a beach on a clear crisp December morning.

Lovely autumnal tones and reactive silver make these organic rounds by Clare Scott really shine.

And finally, another really striking set by Clare - very classy and sophisticated...nothing like me then!

In reality, these new bead sets and all the others in my stash mean that I always have something creative to be getting on with so I'll never really have time on my hands unless I choose to have - what a great place to be. And just once in a while I might even take a leaf out of Cleo's book and forgo all of these activities in favour of...

A restorative nap!

Hope you're finding time for yourself at this hectic time of year.

Lesley