I live on the tiny island of Alderney in the English Channel and have long had a passion for beads.

I have been excited by glass for as long as I can remember.  As a child I spent my pocket money on glass marbles and ornaments and for the past 30 years I have been an avid collector of paperweights.  My hobbies have always centered around a needle and thread and when I discovered beadwork I knew this was something I could enjoy doing every day.

I wanted to design my own pieces and experiment with colour mixes but soon found that my limited collection of beads was always a constraint and despite pouring over bead catalogues trying to decide which shape, size, colour, finish and number of beads I might need to make a piece, I still didn’t have everything I needed or what I thought would work simply didn’t look right.

So over a number of years I have acquired a ‘collection’ of beads and it now gives me a certain satisfaction in finding ‘just what I’m looking for’ when beginning a piece.

As my designs developed I found that I was always on the look out for unusual, one-off ‘focal’ beads and my love of glass led me to the handmade beads of lampwork artists using similar skills to the makers of the paperweights I so admire.  A chance reading of a magazine  article by a Lampwork Artist sparked a ‘flame’ and became my inspiration to setup my own lampwork studio and learn this magical art.

It took many long months, not inconsiderable expense and a great deal of help and encouragement from my husband before I lit the first flame in my own studio and began making my own beads.  Wow!  Why didn’t I discover this years ago?  Since then I have had the privilege of learning first hand from several accomplished Lampwork Artists.

Initially I began working with ‘soft’ Italian and English glass, but the lure of ‘hard’ Borosilicate glass with its unusual colours beckoned.  Boro glass is expensive, especially shipped from America, and the time needed to make a bead can be lengthy, but the excitement and sense of achievement gained from working this glass is priceless.  I am only just beginning to explore the endless possibilities of it and surprises are always in store when the kiln door opens next morning.

Thank you for visiting my site and Happy Beading.