Okay, I promise that not every new blog will start with "Day ……." in that Big Brother accent, it just came to mind when I clicked 'new blog'. Still a bit amazed that I'm writing one, and that the odd person may read it. 
Sharon was wondering how Gatwick airport toilets inspired me. The photo in the first blog post was the walls of the ladies toilet, and the wavy lines inspired me to play about with fish pendants; here is one of the 'in progress' photos of a fish and wave design I was experimenting with.

Looking for the other photos that I took, I realise how many hundreds of photos I've taken of my clay projects in the seven or so years I've been claying. So, how did I get started?
I'm an Occupational Therapist. Very few people know what Occupational Therapists do, and if they do, they usually say things like "oh, you raised the toilet seat for my Grandma when she broke her hip".
Yes, some OTs do this, but I'm a mental health OT, and have never raised a toilet seat in my life! I have one of the best jobs in the world, I work with people who have various mental health difficulties and help them overcome the symptoms of their conditions in order to do (the occupation part of the title) what they want to do.  A large part of my work involves teaching people strategies to manage anxiety, especially social anxiety. We used to run a group that used craft as the medium for therapy, and it was my challenge each week to find an activity that adults would find interesting, challenging (but not scarily challenging), and could be finished in two hours. 
I was in The Range and saw a pack of Fimo polymer clay at half price (the NHS likes half price bargains!) so bought it, and made beads with the group. 
I was totally hooked, and made this necklace, which was the start of my obsession, I mean hobby!
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I love this necklace, and although I've made other liquorice allsorts necklaces, with much better beads and proper stringing, this is still my favourite.

So, why have I decided to start a website and a blog? Well, I have an exciting project in the pipe line which requires me to have a website. Can't say any more, but will reveal all in my blog (still can't get used to saying that, I though only people like Towie people had blogs, and I'm so NOT a Towie type person). I've also been toying with the idea for a few  years. Emma, my daughter, had a boyfriend about 5 years ago, bit of a weird one,  but he said he'd set up a website for me so I tolerated him. Anyway, she dumped him before he'd finished it. While I was pleased to see the back of him, I found it quite inconsiderate that she'd not hang of a couple more weeks so he could finish my website! 
Anyway, I looked into it and found out that with a bit of effort I could do it myself, but at the time it cost too much and I didn't really need one. Now I'm starting to teach more, and my first book is out, I feel it's time to struggle into the 21st century.
I hear the oven 'ding'.  My secret project prototype two is cooked...……….must go!

Welcome to my first ever blog. I've never read a blog, didn't understand them, yet I'm writing one!  
Wonders will never cease. Whoever said you couldn't teach old dogs new tricks underestimated the determination of a woman on a mission. 
So, what's this blog about? 
Basically it's about my world with clay. I love the stuff! Everywhere I go I look for inspiration for my designs, colour palettes, patterns, you name it, I see if it can be useful for clay designing. Even Gatwick airport saw me getting my phone out and excitedly snapping the walls in the ladies toilets.
It's a huge learning curve, this blogging. So, let's experiment. I buy all my clay and clay paraphernalia from Clayaround. It's run by Penny Vingoe who has that real old fashioned opinion that customer service is paramount. I have had the pleasure of visiting her at 'house of clay' as I call it, and all I can say is that I made a serious dent in my bank balance. 
Anyway, back to my steep learning curve, let's see if I can make a link to Clayaround. www.clayaround.com/
Right, that's enough for today, I'm going to see if this works, and if so, more ramblings, with a bit more clay stuff, will be posted tomorrow.