If any of you have followed my bead making career since the very beginning, you might remember that I actually had a standalone website fairly early on. I was lucky enough to have a good client base with customers all over the world, but, it began to take more and more of my time, to the point that I seemed to have to spend most of my time promoting my work on various internet forums, with less and less time actually melting glass.

I therefore took the difficult decision to close the site, and move everything to Etsy. This proved to be a good decision at the time, as my work was exposed to a much wider audience than I could ever hope to reach. I was also at that point juggling hobby bead making with full time work in my Husband's business.

Of late though, Etsy's fees have gone up a lot, and it has changed from a site selling handmade and vintage  items, to a huge marketplace which allows all sorts of cheap mass produced tat, as well as the genuine handmade work . The fact that I also had my work removed temporarily because I dared to use the word 'amber' is infuriating! There was a court case in the US where a child sadly died as a result of choking on an amber teething item, and as a result there is a blanket ban on the word, even though 'amber' is also a colour. Etsy seem happy to take more money, but there is far less support available to sellers.

So, here I am again. Now that I am a full-time bead maker I should in theory have more time to keep the site current. I hope to be able to showcase new work, and some of my one-off pieces. My sterling silver and lampwork jewellery will remain in my British Craft Houise shop, and I will for the time being continue to sell beads over on Etsy . This is where my quirkier work, and probably some silver clay pieces will be available.

Tina