Hello! I thought it might be nice to introduce myself for the start of a new year. I am Julie and I started making jewellery when I left school. That was 30 years ago, and although I did try to stop once, when I lived in London for a couple of years, it wasn’t long before I found the bead shop in Covent Garden and started again!! I love making jewellery, and when I discovered that I could make my own glass beads, it took things to a whole new level. When I had my first child (nearly 12 years ago) I started thinking about the world quite differently and I started making beads from recycled glass sources. In this way I am trying to make my own small difference to how rubbish is perceived and can be reused in many different ways. Making beads from recycled glass has become one of my favourite parts of this creative journey. And it makes me happy when people also love this idea and start saving glass bottles for me! I have a few plans for exhibitions and collections of jewellery this year, and I look forward to sharing images of this process with you. A big thanks to the talented @rosinapossingham who took this photo a couple of years ago.