And Now For Something Completely Different

If you *know* me you will know that I like to arty things.  About a month ago I found a stamp (rubber) which inspired me to do something just a little bit different.  This is my take on the Prima Doll Tags which has been designed by a lady called Julie Nutting (and they are extremely hard to get hold of).  This is one of her gorgeous dolly designs.  Her dress is made from two layers of real fabric by Liberty of London.  

I think she looks mighty fine and cute!  

Until the next time. 
Berty, Me & A Nice Cup Of Tea.  

Life With The Leysters

http://theleysters.blogspot.co.uk/

Make sure you have a BIG box of tissues at the ready.  If you click on the link above it will take you to the blogging page that is owned by Helen and Roger Leyster, it will tell you the story of their son Jules and how he came into the world and the events that followed.  If you would like to follow their story please click on the link above.  

Helen is a dedicated Mother to Jules and the rest of her brood and even manages to make room for her best friend, her husband Roger!  

As they say every little helps, so if you are here reading my sorry state of a blog, please take time out to go and get yourself a cuppa and read Helen Leyster's blog too!!!  

Thank you. 

Till the next time,

Berty, Me & A Nice Cup Of Tea.
xxx

   

Elysian - A Liberty Muse

Hello, yeah you - Happy New Year to you!

This is a new chapter - you know the thing as one door closes another one opens.

Well, as one year ends another one starts - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!  2013 is upon us.  

I'm taking a break from writing about Bea and her adventures for a bit, it's all written up in rough just needs to be finely tuned and punctuated.  I've taken on a new project for the time-being.  Some of you will know that I like to mess about and get messy with paints and be a bit creative so I have decided to take some time for me.  

Meet Elysian - she is a Liberty Muse! She was created using something called "Mixed Media".  

I'm not even sure if I created her in the right way but she turned out lovely.  First of all I drew a facial outline using a normal HB pencil, then I blobbed some gesso down on the paper, you have to remember I am a learner and I know nothing about what I am doing and everything is experimental.  When the guesso was dry I painted over it with some flesh coloured acrylic paint and added her hair in brown acrylic.  When the paint dried I continued to colour in her facial features using watercolour pencils.  

Then when I was happy with the way her face turned out I continued to dress her.  She is dressed in Liberty Tana Lawn Print Elysian which is where her name comes from and I finished her with some paper roses and paper butterflies and added golden sprinkles to her hair.  The background colour is called bamboo.  This is what I believe "Mixed Media" to be.  

Till the next time, 

Berty, Me & A Nice Cup Of Tea. 
xxx

The Bea Project - Chapter 10

As I finished playing I looked across to where Niamh and the two men were sitting and the older guy started to clap as he got up from the chair he nodded towards me and then smiled in Niamh’s direction and made his way back across the room to the open doorway, he turned and waved as he left the room.  My first thoughts were that the younger man sitting next to Niamh, his face was quite familiar and I couldn’t quite place where I had seen him before, but then I thought that it was Matthew, Niamh’s business partner.  How wrong could I have been on that one. 

My nerves were beginning to subside, Niamh waved her hand in the air, and she beckoned me over.
 
‘Bea, this is someone that I would like you to meet.  Well, you’re going to be working together later tonight, so I may as well introduce the pair of you to each other before you get started.’ 
 
I moved towards the chairs where both Niamh and the younger man were seated.  As I did so they both stood up. 
 
‘Bea, this is Riccardo Perrini.’ Niamh spoke to us in a schoolmarmish tone as if we were naughty school children ‘and Riccardo, this is Bea.  Bea is going to be replacing Paula at tonight’s show.’
 
‘Oh my gosh.’ I stammered, now everything fell into place, ‘you’re the actor.’  My mouth was wide open, I think my eyes must have been popping out on stalks.
 
'Yes,’ he replied.  He held his hand out and gently took hold of my own as if to shake it but instead turned it over and gently brushed his lips against the back of it as he raised it towards his lips. 
 
He stood in front of me wearing dark blue jeans and trainers, a marl grey coloured cotton top and a stonewashed blue denim jeans jacket.  His dark hair was tousled around his head and his eyes were dark brown with long lashes.  Girls would kill to have eyelashes as long as his.  His skin was olive coloured and smooth with just a touch of designer stubble around his jawline.  His smile was perfect, he was like a model from a magazine.  He smiled at me and I just melted inside.  
 
My hands suddenly started to shake and the nerves started to kick in big time.  I knew I had a chance to prove myself on this one occasion and I had to try to remain calm, it was a chance that I didn’t want to throw away, but I could feel the muscles in my arms tensing up and my legs felt like lead and jelly all at the same time.  I felt as if I was going to faint, but in the back of my mind I was going to throttle Arty for this on Monday morning when I got back to work, he must have been aware of what was going to happen.
 
Riccardo sat back down on the chair and I went back to the little stage that had been set up for me.  I continued playing with a piece entitled “Humoresque” which really is a joy to play and once I relaxed I found that the notes flowed freely and smoothly.  My mind was racing, trying to concentrate at that point was almost impossible but somehow I managed to hold myself together when in reality I just wanted to fall apart.  As I finished playing, both Niamh and Riccardo raised their hands and applauded me loudly.  It was all a bit surreal and I really couldn’t believe what was happening. 
 
I calmly walked across to the table and took a quick swig (well it was more like a rather large gulp) of the champagne from my glass and then prepared myself to play again.  I was hoping that the bubble rush from the cool fizzy liquid would give me a bit of Dutch courage so that I could carry on playing because in a strange way as nerve wracking as it was, I was really enjoying myself. 
 
‘Bea, would you play some guitar for us now?’ Niamh asked.
 
‘Yes, of course’ I replied, ‘What would you like me to play?’
 
‘Anything of your choosing, would be fine,’ Riccardo said,
 
I glanced sideways outside the window, ‘It’s such a beautiful day,’ I said.  With guitar in place I sat myself down in a comfortable position on the stool and balanced the guitar across my knee and played a medley of popular tunes.  Niamh and Riccardo must have enjoyed what I played as they were quietly singing along as I was playing.  

As I finished playing I looked up and Riccardo was looking directly into my eyes almost as though he was looking into my soul, making it harder for me to concentrate on what I was supposed to be doing.
 
I sat and rested my arms across the top of the guitar, although I nearly dropped it when Niamh told me what would happen next, how I stopped my mouth from hitting the deck I will never know.  I was completely flabbergasted and speechless for what seemed like ages afterwards even though it was only a few seconds. 
 
When I finally, caught my breath, I hopped off the stool and placed my guitar back into it’s case and fastened the latches.  
 
‘Here let me help you.’ Riccardo said, grabbing the case from me.  It was heavier than he had anticipated and his body lurched to catch its weight.
 
‘Thank you, Riccardo.  That’s very kind of you.’ I told him.
 
‘Not a problem.  I’m only too pleased to able to help.  Oh, and please call me Ricky, everyone else does, it’s only the Management who refer to me as Riccardo.’ He said nodding his head in Niamh’s direction. 
 
‘Bea,’ Niamh called over to me again and both Ricky and myself walked towards the spot where Niamh was standing.
 
‘Yes, Niamh.’ I replied.
 
‘Bea, we’d like you to open Ricky’s show tonight.  Do you think you would be able to do that?’ she asked.
 
I hesitated, as I said earlier on my mind was racing, now it was positively going into overdrive. ‘Erm......yes,’ I replied, ‘Oh my god, but I have nothing to wear, I only have my tatty jeans.’
 
‘Don’t worry about that you will look great.’ Ricky told me.  
 
I just looked from Ricky to Niamh and back to Ricky, he had an amazing cheek and jaw bone structure and I could see why women of all ages loved him.  As for me, he was gorgeous to look at but not really my type. I seem to have an attraction towards guys with blonde hair and blue eyes.  

Although I have to say that every time he smiled at me, my heart rate shot up a little higher.
 
Niamh looked down at her watch.
 
‘It’s nearly four o’clock, Riccardo.  Time to wrap up this session because the time is getting on and we have to go.  Your car is waiting to take you up to the television studios.’ She said, she turned towards me and continued, ‘Bea, thank you for coming to play for us this afternoon at such short notice, a car will come to your hotel to collect you at 5.30pm and take you to the Arena for the concert this evening.  Security on the gate will issue a pass for you.  I look forward to seeing you later this evening.’
 
‘Thank you for giving me wonderful this opportunity Niamh,’ I said as I carried the violin case back to the reception area and Ricky followed behind us with the guitar case.
 
When we got back to the hotel lobby, Niamh went to the reception desk and arranged for a taxi to collect me and take me back to my hotel.  Ricky placed the guitar case on the floor, grabbed my free hand and pulled me in towards him and brushed his lips gently against my left cheek and I could feel his warm breath on my face.
 
‘See you later then, Bea.’ he whispered.  He let go of my hand and followed Niamh to the car which was waiting outside to whisk him away to the studios for a television interview. 

The Bea Project - Chapter 9

The taxi pulled up outside the Lowry hotel and the driver got out, walked around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for me, he then went to the back of the car and removed my baggage from the boot and placed the guitar case at my feet and handed the violin case to me as I handed him a fiver in return to cover my fare.  I picked up the guitar and wandered through the hotel lobby to the reception desk.
 
A young receptionist named Hayley approached me ‘Can I help you?’ she asked.
 
‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘I have a meeting at two o’clock with Niamh Pedersen.’
 
Hayley looked down a list which was placed on the desk in front of her, she looked up nodding her head at me ‘Yes Miss Lovett, please would you take a seat over there and I will ring Miss Pedersen and let her know that you are waiting in the hotel lobby.’
 
A few minutes passed and a well-dressed woman in her late thirties wandered up to me ‘Are you Bea?’ she smiled as she extended her hand towards me. 
 
‘Yes, that’s me.’ I replied and grabbed her hand and shook it firmly. 
 
‘Hello,’ she said warmly, ‘my name is Niamh Pedersen, but you can call me Niamh.  Bea, please come with me.’
 
I followed her through the hotel lobby and up to the Mezzanine Bar which was buzzing and alive with people chattering and generally enjoying themselves on a lovely warm summery afternoon.
 
‘Bea, would you like a glass of champagne, or a refreshing soft drink or maybe something else?’ she asked.
 
‘Ooh, a glass of champagne would be just fine.’ I replied.
 
‘You know, Arty promised me ages ago that he would be able to do this performance as a favour to my business partner and his nephew, Matthew.  From what I can understand that he was quite upset when he realised that he wouldn’t be able to fulfill this opportunity.  He has ensured me that you have what it takes to make the mark and you will be able step up to the plate.  I am looking forward to working with you now and hopefully at some point in the future.’ She told me.
 
She then tried to hand me the glass of chilled champagne but quickly realised that I didn’t have a third hand, so she carried the drinks through to another room which was to the side of the bar overlooking the river at the back of the hotel, and I quickly followed. 
 
Niamh put the drinks down on the table and handed a glass to me which I took from her when I had put my guitar case down.  I took a sip of the cool fizzy champagne from the glass, the bubbles gave me the weirdest sensation as I could feel the bubbles rising in the back of my throat and almost spiralling back down my nose and they almost made me sneeze. 
 
I placed the violin on top of the table next to my glass and released both catches, opened the lid and pulled the instrument and bow out from the blue velvet lined case.  I plucked a couple of the strings before resting it under my chin on a black silk cloth and rubbing my bow gently over the strings.  I walked over towards the back of the room where there was a tiny plinth of a stage and stood in front of Niamh who was by then sitting down next to two hunky looking guys and watching my every move.  I started to play a few bars of “Summer” from The Four Seasons written by Vivaldi.  An enjoyable piece of music, if you have never heard it I suggest you go and listen to it and enjoy instead of me telling you how great it is. 

The Bea Project - Chapter 8

I awoke on Saturday morning with a bit of a start, I looked over to the clock it was ten past nine.  Although I’d slept quite soundly, I’d woken up just a little bit before the alarm had gone off.  I am usually such an early bird, so to have a bit of a lie-in was a luxury for me.  I decided get up, go and have a leisurely  breakfast and then come back and sort through the stuff that I would be taking with me today.  I knew I didn’t have time to go and shop because I knew that I would miss my appointment.  Typical girl me, like to go shopping and browse at everything before I make my mind up and I usually end back up in the very first shop I started in.  I could feel my nerves kicking in a little tiny bit. 
 
When I’d finished fiddling (pardon the pun) with everything that I could fiddle with the time was fast approaching ten past twelve.  I went downstairs to the hotel bar and grabbed myself a quick bite to eat and a drink and thought that I had better get my skates otherwise I wouldn’t be ready or even at the venue on time, and I really didn’t want to be late, that wouldn’t have made a very good impression would it. 
 
I had a quick shower and threw on a clean pair of jeans, and my floral cotton top and tied my hair up into a double knot with the aid of an elasticated hair scrunchie.  I slipped my bare feet into my red canvas pumps. I dusted my face sparingly with a minimal amount of blusher, applied some black long lash mascara, moistened my lips with just a tiny touch of lipgloss and squirted perfume around my pulse points.  I grabbed my blue denim jacket, my handbag, picked up the guitar and my violin and went downstairs to the hotel lobby.  I asked Jaden on the reception desk if he could order a taxi for me to take me over to The Lowry Hotel. 
 
‘Sure, no problem.‘ He replied.  He picked up the telephone and dialled for a taxi, he asked if a taxi could be sent to the hotel for Ms. Lovett. He replaced the receiver and called me back to the desk ‘Ahem, Ms Lovett. Your car will be here within the next five minutes.’
 
‘Thank you Jaden.‘ I responded.
 
I waited just outside the hotel lobby for the car to arrive, it was a very warm and pleasant day and the sun was shining.  Exactly five minutes later a car pulled up and the driver wound his window down and called my name.
 
‘Miss Lovett?’  He looked me up and down inquisitively.
 
‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘that’s me.’
 
‘Okay,’ the driver said getting out of the car, ‘let me help you with those cases, Ms. Lovett.’
 
He got out of the car and opened the car boot and placed both my cases carefully inside.  I opened the door on the passenger side and got into the car,  the driver got back in and we started to move towards the exit out of the hotel car park. 
 
‘So, where are we headed today then, Ms Lovett?’ the driver asked me as he turned the steering wheel to guide the car out of the exit gate.
 
‘The Lowry Hotel, please.’ I replied.
 
Again the Lowry hotel was only a stone’s throw away but because the two cases were difficult to walk with, and because it was so hot I really didn’t want to arrive at the venue all disheveled and sweaty, that wouldn’t have been a very good look. 

The Bea Project - Chapter 7

Friday morning arrived and as I was putting the last little bits and bobs into my handbag and scraping my hair into a topknot, and Dexter bless him, popped his head around my bedroom door and offered me a lift to Swindon Train Station in his old banger of a car, he promised me that it would be quicker than waiting for a bus.  Dexter’s car is so old that sometimes it doesn’t always fire up and start first time and it does have the odd occasional tendency to conk out completely at the most inconvenient moment, but I agreed to a lift and we set off through the sleepy villages of the Cotswolds just a little bit earlier than I had originally anticipated just in case something went wrong and I missed the fast train to London Paddington.   
 
As we arrived at the mainline station in Swindon I got out of the car and opened the back door, lugged my guitar case along with my suitcase off the back seat and slammed the back door shut. 
 
Dexter called after me, ‘Enjoy your weekend, Sis.  Call me if you need me or let me know what time you intend coming back home on Sunday and I will drive down and collect you it’s no trouble, honestly.’ 
 
‘Okay, I will’ I mouthed back ‘See you Sunday. MWAH!’
 
I made my way into the station and looked up at the train departure boards, found the platform from which my train would be departing.  I also noticed that I had a good ten minutes to spare.  My suitcase was quite heavy as I had managed to squish my violin case into it on top of my clothes, good job it was on wheels.  My guitar case was quite light compared to the weight in the suitcase.  I had visions of my arms being twice as long by the end of the day, trailing around in Manchester like some sort of monkey or ape. 
 
An announcement was made over the station tennoy that the train for London Paddington was now pulling into the platform and that all the passengers were to stand clear of the platform edge until the train had come to a complete stop. 
 
I boarded the train and found my seat and made myself comfortable, sat back and enjoyed the ride.  I watched the scenery change as the train picked up speed and we travelled through the rural countryside and eventually raced along the tracks into the built up residential areas of the City.  Soon enough the train was pulling into London Paddington.  This is where I had to get on the underground train and go around to London Euston on the circle line before boarding the express train for Manchester, my final destination.  It was an easy journey, with no delays or hold ups.  I listened to the music on my iPod and my mind drifted with the rhythm of the train as it made it’s way swiftly up to Manchester in the north of England. 
 
The train arrived at Manchester Piccadilly Station just before three thirty in the afternoon.  I got off the train with all my baggage in tow and made my way to the station forecourt, hailed a cab to take me to my hotel which was supposedly just less than one hundred yards up the road from the Station.  When i arrived at the hotel I got out and paid the driver but as I was doing so a crowd of six or seven girls were walking past me and one of them stopped, turned around and called my name. 

‘Bea?’ she cried as she walked back towards me smiling.
 ‘Bea Lovett is it really you?’ 
 
‘Katy!’ I replied, ‘Crikey, I haven’t seen you for gosh, oh at least seven years. How are you?’
 
‘Yep, it’s me.’ She replied ‘I’ve only just returned to the UK.  I’m up here for a weekend with my girlfriends. We’re all going to a concert at the Arena tomorrow night.  What are you doing up this way then?’ she spotted the silver guitar case, well you couldn’t be off it really.
 
‘Well, I’m doing a musical show case here in Manchester tomorrow afternoon and it was better for me to travel up today and be bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for tomorrow.”  I told her. 

She dipped her hand into her handbag, pulled out a business card and handed it to me.

‘Bea, call me, it would be good to catch up with you at some point.  I shall be back home in London next Wednesday.’  Then she ran to catch up with her friends, who had walked on ahead of her. 
 
I picked up my case and guitar and walked into the hotel, made my way to the check-in desk and gave the young man on the desk my name.  He tapped some details into a computer and produced a keycard for me to use whilst I was staying at the hotel.  He also asked me if I wanted to book a table for dinner that evening, I told him that a table for 7.30pm would be great if they could find me a table around that time and he said it was not a problem.  I had decided earlier on the train that it would be easier for me if I ate at the hotel restaurant later in the evening, because I was beginning to feel tired after such a long journey.
 
I took the lift up to the fourth floor and used the keycard to enter the room, it was a basic room but it still quite cosy and was to be my home for the next couple of nights.  I unpacked my case and flopped down on the bed and flicked through the programs on the television using the remote control.  I flicked the TV off again and wandered across the room to look out of the window, well at least I had a decent view of the City.  I stood there for ages looking at the different architectural structures and just daydreaming really.  Eventually I trotted off to the bathroom to have a shower and freshen myself up before I went down to the restaurant for dinner. 
 
I returned to my room after dinner and pulled my mobile phone out of my pocket and made a quick call to my Mum to let her know that I had arrived safely and was now tucked away for the night and yes the door was locked on the double latch, so that the bogie man couldn’t come and take me away at midnight.  
 
At ten o’clock I was falling asleep so I decided it would be best if I went to bed and got some decent shuteye.  I got myself undressed, cleaned my teeth, washed my face and brushed my hair.  Set the alarm for the morning and snuggled down onto the bed with the cool white cotton sheet draped around my body and I slowly drifted off into a lovely peaceful slumber.