March Snow and Challenge Necklace Auction

Yes we have yet more snow this morning! The poor mini daffs that were doing their best to flower in our garden look a bit weighed down don't they!? I don't think the snow will last long, the sun has been out a couple of times but we do have heavy snow showers forecast for during today so maybe we will get even more.

On a different note....Incy and I have decided to auction off the necklace we made to raise a bit more cash for Comic Relief. So we are taking e-mails for bids over £20!! Come on folks...it's a gorgeous bright necklace and will look great in the spring and summer months!! It's also a one of a kind...what with the lovely embroidery done by Incy and the handmade lampwork beads that I made there is a lot of value in it!! But best of all it will mean more money for Comic Relief so all proceeds will be going to a really good cause!!! I will even pay the p&p myself so no extras to pay. Send an e-mail to either myself (see my profile page) or Incy with your bid and we'll announce the winner on Comic Relief day!!!

Combined medium challenge!

Over on the Crafter...oo forum we decided to do a different sort of challenge where we worked together in pairs so that we could make something using the mediums of both people. We could make anything we like but it was to be in vibrant colours!

I had Sam from Incy Wincy Stitches as my partner which was great and we decided we would make a piece of jewellery combining felt beads which she would decorate and glass beads that I would make. Sam also stitched a great little pouch to put the finished piece in.

So, this is what we came up with...

We will be selling the necklace to raise money for Comic Relief!

Lampwork glass beads and bead giveaway!!

I managed to actually make some beads that had no blue purple or turquoise in them which doesn't happen very often! I received my new batch of oddlot rods from Bridgetown Glass in the US and the colours were great so I combined 3 of them to make this set. I have put them up for sale on my website here.

Also, don't forget today is the last day to enter the bead giveaway so if you'd like a chance to win some beads just leave me a comment on the giveaway post!! Thanks for entering!!

Lampwork beads and knitting

I've finally got round to lighting the torch and making some more lampwork beads! It's been a while as I've been distracted with other things. Mainly playing with polymer clay and making buttons as you may have noticed! Anyway, here are 2 sets of beads, one made in pandora glass which strikes in the kiln to all sorts of colours and it's a case of waiting to see what comes out. These ones were great... lots of purple, blue and soft green! I've put some black spacers with them to make them even smarter.

The other set are a lovely, deep ruby red heavily encased in clear with white spots. These are fun to make and I think I could get addicted to making them.

The other thing that was distracting me from my beadmaking was that I actually started doing some knitting! Having bought my lovely new knitting needles from Pennydog I just had to have a go and see if I could actually remember how it was done...it have been at least 15 years after all. Well, apparently it's like riding a bike! So, I found some soft, fluffy mohair that I have had sitting waiting all that time to be turned into something. I have several colours but when I saw the purple it matches the needles so well I just had to play with that. Of course, in retrospect, the colour matches the needles so well that I can hardly see the stitches! Well, I thought a scarf would be an easy thing to start with and decided to add a second colour in random stripes. I think I'm also going to add some beads and buttons, after the knitting part is finished, to jazz it up some more. Here's how it looks so far...

Don't forget to add a comment to the bead giveaway post as I will be drawing a winner in 2 days time!!

Polymer clay buttons

I spent all day yesterday making more buttons to put in the Crafteroo Folksy Shop for Comic Relief. I ended up with 3 sets so not bad! 2 of the sets I sanded and polished to a lovely shiny finish so they look extra smart. They'll all be on sale here later today!

Busy weekend!!

I've got an exciting weekend coming up this weekend!! Tomorrow I'm off to attend the first UK date of the Bullseye Lecture Tour. This should be a fabulous day with two amazing glass artists...Richard Whiteley and Heike Brachlow speaking.

Then on Sunday I've been invited along to the official opening of the new glass studio at Retro Glass in Alloa! This promises to be quite an event...I've already had a sneak peek inside the studio which doubles the space they have at Retro and means they will have more facilities for hire. I already have my name down for a session with their new sand-blaster!

I've also got a kiln full of beads which are annealing as I type, so hopefully I will be able to get them cleaned and photographed at some point in the next couple of days. With any luck there will be fresh beads for sale at the beginning of next week.

Spring is around the corner!

There I was lying in bed this morning trying to pretend that it really wasn't time to get up when I heard a noise. As soon as I heard it I realised that I hadn't heard that noise for some time! What was it? Birdsong! Ok so it was only one bird so no great morning chorus but it did make me think that the start of spring might actually be approaching. Which, after all the really dark, rainy, grey days we've had recently, was quite a refreshing thought! Just to confirm this I looked in the garden and there were the first snowdrops of the year bright white in the darkness underneath the trees!
And right there next to the snowdrops was a whole bunch more bulbs coming up through the soggy leaves! So it won't be too long before the garden is bright with daffodils again! Spring is definitely in the air!!

Giveaway!! A set of lampwork beads!!

Ok! I've decided to run a monthly giveaway here on my blog! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below! This time, as it's the first giveaway, it's something a bit special that's up for grabs - a set of 5 sparkly pixie dust beads complete with 6 shiny black spacers!! Anyone can enter, I will mail worldwide! This will run until midnight on the 26th February and on the 27th I will draw a winner and e-mail the person for their details. So, good luck and don't forget to leave a comment!

Silver stars

No disasters in the kiln overnight...both the fused glass coasters and the circle came out ok. The coasters don't look hugely different from the pre-fuse picture but it's now possible to show the other side of the circle.

These silver stars will be going in the kiln for a slump today.

And now for something.....

a little bit different. After the long complicated process of putting the pink plate together I thought I would fuse something smaller and slighter less labour intensive. I had an idea of something to try with irridised glass so to test my theory I have made what will hopefully end up being a bowl. Not much to look at for now as the main design is face-down. All being well I'll take pictures tomorrow of the fused circle, before it goes in the kiln for a slump. Then of course I had the rest of the kiln shelf to fill...I don't like to fire the kiln with wasted space on the shelf unless I really have to. So, what would fit nicely around the circle....a set of coasters! Haven't made coasters for ages and they are fun to do sooo...black and pink coasters now baking in the kiln too. Fingers crossed that all is well when I open the kiln tomorrow morning...

Hearts Entwined

Well I finally got this fused glass plate finished. Been working on this pretty much since the start of the year and it was a bit of a challenge! So pleased it came out ok, definitely my most ambitious project to date. I think I went through a whole pack of sticking plasters during the making process but I think it was worth it in the end!

Fused glass drop vase

A couple of weeks ago I attempted my first drop vase! It still needs some polishing work around the rim but that will have to wait until I can spend some time out in the shed with the wet belt sander.

Finished bracelet

Really pleased with how the woven treasure bracelet turned out! These bracelets feel really great to wear and this one is especially nice because it is so full of 'treasures'. Not sure yet but think I may have to keep this one...

More beads!!

Well I really am in a beading phase at the moment. Yet more beads from me today. Once I start lampworking its difficult to stop but its the same with fusing too. Once I start making fused glass things I find I want to do more. So I end up either in a beading or fusing phase. Need to work out a good way to do both at once. Not sure the electric bill could stand having both kilns on at once though.

Anyway, here's some pics of the latest beadies

Midnight Rainbow

This morning I have another fused glass dish to show. Fresh out of the kiln is Midnight Rainbow. A really dramatic look to this one, lots of contrast between the colours and the black and the straight lines and the curves of the finished piece.