My Way

The Start Of This Life

   I guess the first thing I need to do is explain how significant beads are in my life, how I started and how I now run my business, I need to be open with this blog or it's not worth writing, I will of course put down a lot of my thoughts, some of which people may dislike and some I hope people will agree with, but most of all it will be from my heart. Also I need to show the bad days as well as the good, the worries that live in the back of my mind , those that appear now and then when things get a little hard, it's all part of being a full time beadmaker and that's what I aim to show, wart's and all.
   So, first things first, how did a 6ft 3, 20 stone landscaper start making little glass beads ? Well as some of you must know by now it started as a hobby to help put the stresses of work to the back burner at weekends, after watching a guy making beads and glass pendants in his shop on the banks of Loch Ness I just had to give it a try and that's what I did. To cut a long story short in a matter of weeks I was sitting in an old barn we had with a torch, kiln and a small selection of glass rods and this is where those first wonky little beads were made. I began spending far too much time in there, evenings were running into late nights and weekends were just two exciting days playing with glass but all this time I was learning and my passion for glass was growing.
   After what was around six months it was suggested that I put a few beads on ebay for sale, the earnings, if any, would help fund more glass, so this is what I did. I never thought for one second those first few online sales would lead to beads being my living but it did and after a couple of years selling a few sets each week I opened my ebay shop.
   Around this time in my life we were finding things hard, we had some really bad luck and for reasons not really our fault, financially we were in a very deep hole and traveling those 100 miles round trip every day to work was the last thing I needed. After talking things through with my wife Yvonne I decided to see how much I could earn with my beads over the next couple of months, would I be able to earn as much, at least no traveling would save 80 pounds a week for a start. It soon became obvious that beads were just maybe the only way to get out of the mess we were in and it was agreed after one more patio job I was to start as a full time beadmaker, so with website set up and the ebay shop full it was all now down to my beads.
   Now five long years later and I'm still here and still loving every second of it. It has been a rough ride at times and will be in the future but my love affair with glass is as strong as ever and I can't think of a single day when I haven't learnt something new and that is the honest truth. I've seen beadmakers come and go, I've taught several myself, some of which have gone on to become very good skilled beadmakers and over those years I've seen the craft explode here in the UK from just a few makers to hundreds.
   What the next years bring I have no idea but if you feel you want to we can travel through them together here on the blog, it may not be the most interesting journey but it will be a true picture of this old beadmakers life and the way he lives it.