Beadmaking workshop

Something totally different for me this week as I spent the whole day yesterday at the Lochgelly centre doing two informal demo and teaching sessions. Rachel from Retro Glass was a star as she gave up her day off to come along as chief navigator, photographer and moral support! I've never done anything like this before so it was pretty nerve-wracking but it was lovely to meet such a friendly group of people and everyone was great about my novice demostrations.

After I'd chatted about safety and setup and shown the basics everyone who wanted to then had a chance to have a go at pulling stringer and then making a bead of their own!

There were some really good first attempts at making beads. Here's a shot of all the beads that were made by both groups. I'm now going to pop them in my kiln to anneal and they will then go back to their owners for safe keeping.

Big thanks of course to Rachel and to Gillian at the centre who organised the day and everyone who came along to the sessions for making it such an enjoyable time. Special thanks also to all those who supported my habit by buying beads!

Autumnal beads

It's been really pretty in the woods recently when I've been out walking the dog. With all the leaves changing colour and falling it's made for some colourful scenery. It's also inspired me to try and make some autumnal beads. One set were autumn colours with some leaf beads.

So a new location for the blog now and hopefully one that will be permanent! Should make it easier to keep it up to date.

Been doing more fusing recently, tried my hand at glass weaving which is great fun! Here's a pic of the second attempt, the first time I used a mostly clear glass with black which didn't give enough contrast to show up the actual weave so the second time I used red and black!


I also made a green bowl using a new mould and I was really pleased with the way it turned out. What do you think? I love the way the light shines through this one!