My name is Vicky and I'm a glass addict (amongst other things). I make glass beads - this is also known as lampworking - by melting rods of 'soft' glass in a very hot flame. I also make jewellery. I currently live in Dundee, Scotland.

How we came to here...

I've always loved art and crafts - and books. As a child I either had my nose between the pages of a book or was hunched over a piece of paper, drawing. I grew up in the seventies in North Wales, more or less in the middle of nowhere, between fields and sheep. The sort of place with a hay barn and a couple of old railway carriages in a field, where you have to amuse yourself while your mother is busy running the smallholding.

At about age nine I was taught to paint by Michele Coxon, an artist who paints wonderfully detailed animal pictures. (She is now well known for her illustrated cat books, and some slightly controversial sculpture.) She suggested I do a foundation course at art college when I finished school.

Fast forward through the next ten years of school where the most useful thing I learned (it seemed at the time) was how to touch type. At sixteen I left and, disenchanted with education, went to work in an office.

Ten years of secretarial, admin and pensions administration later and I was bored and in need of a new direction... I studied for a degree and started a new career in IT. Meanwhile, I was searching for the missing outlet for my creativity - I dabbled in cross stitch and tapestry, jewellery making, rug hooking, drawing and painting, scrapbooking and card making.

Finally I came back to jewellery making, almost accidentally. And I discovered lampwork beads, had a stray thought "oh I might like to try making those..." and the rest, as they say, is history. A one-day starter course with the lovely Sally Carver aka Red Hot Sal, and the result was a full blown passion - some might say addiction!

Nowadays my time is split between making lampwork beads and jewellery, drawing and painting. I have a full time IT job, and in my spare time (ha ha) I read lots, cook and write.

Thanks for reading, those of you who are still awake... if you are interested in reading more about juggling glass, beads, life and work, check out my blogs.