Endings and new beginnings

Times are a-changing here at glass HQ and that means sorting, organising, packing, unpacking, decluttering and generally finding space for things I hadn't anticipated having here.

So this wk I ventured into school with a friend and boxed up the majority of my things ( still another car load to go tho I reckon) and as I unloaded it into the kitchen created a small ...ok large amount of chaos. Boxes boxes n more n more stuff.

I asked the question on Facebook of where to put it all and have to say my sis came u with a grt plan.... Put it in the spare bedroom and if it's not been used in a couple of yrs then bin it. I like her thinking :)

So I sat in the kitchen decanting useful folders, filling up the recycling with non useful bits n pieces, putting all my books into the study and then hid the left over boxes in the loft cupboard in the spare bedroom....

Bye-bye school *happy waving goodbye*

Experimentation

Every artist, crafter or designer needs to experiment with ideas and techniques in order to get better and to develop their work. It's something I teach students every day at school and even try to encourage them to take chances / make mistakes. If they don't give things a go how will they ever know how to explore ideas and experiment? ....and ultimately how to get better.

Since January I've been 'playing' with new ideas and trying out new products....here are some of the results of my efforts so far. I've still got lots and lots of other things to try out :)

beads to bracelets

You might have seen posts on here or facebook about the new beads I've been making, well over the bank holiday I've been turning them into bracelets....that was until I ran out of toggle clasp findings :( 2 are completely finished but the others will have to wait a while until I can get to the shops for more sterling silver.

I've been refreshing my skills and getting used to the heat within this flame as its different to the torch I'd previously been hiring. Now its time to try something more tricky and to get reading more of my Corrina Tettinger book- aka the lampworkers bible!

Using all that black and red got me thinking....so here's what I tried and I am so pleased with them. I didn't expect them to survive but now I know it works I'll give it another go.

Springtime

Spring has sprung and in typical British fashion it's raining on a bank holiday weekend....here we are in the middle of a draught as it's not rained for so long and just as everyone has time off the weather is rubbish.
Right I'll stop being quite so British and not mention the weather again!

The garden is full of cheerful flowers which are half hiding my metal duck sculpture, the nursery is selling young strawberry plants (I'm hoping they fruit either side of my current plants....you can't have too many fresh strawberries in summer can you )and in place of a monstrous bamboo I've bought a budlia to plant.

Each yr I try to find unusual Easter eggs to give to my family and this yr spotted the eggs with other sweeties in the chocolate yum yum. On Thurs I took them over to my sister only for her to laugh, run into the kitchen and give me the same egg in return :) great minds eh
Happy Easter everyone :)

Lampworking

Back in feb I went to the Essex bead fair and bought myself new beadmaking equipment. It hadn't taken me long to get fed up with Mapp gas and after running out of bottle 2 I realised it was going to be more economical to buy the proper tubing and regulator so I could use a full size bottle. Who knew that this would be so tricky though? I took myself to b&q and bought a mini bottle thinking it would make my life easier as it was small enough to carry, yep I'm a little weakling ;) however I'd not banked on the fact the fittings didn't go with my regulator!!! It took several hrs to realise it though and a few fb messages, tweets and phonecalls! Then good old dad came to the rescue telling me I had a bottle of propane in the shed!!! Typical huh.

This eve I finally got round to a lengthy play on the new equipment and refreshed a few basic skills of dotting before giving a new implosion bead a go. I saw it demonstrated a few wks back at a lampwork day at Glass From the Past in Billericay. The 1st go was too small to see the full effect and the 2nd didn't attach properly to the mandrel :( you can see it in the picture as a large disk with dots.

Oh well now for try number 3 as my mandrels are now ready to go again :)

National press

As many of you know I sell my fused glass locally in a few shops. The 1st of those was Glass From The Past at barleylands in Billericay. After a chance meeting years ago in Hylands House car park Caroline(the studio owner) and I have become friends. I've been to several different glass workshops at the studio, did eve classes and am now an apprentice each Friday. Well getting back to why I mention this and that because the gallery has this wk been featured in the national magazine Your Home. My little claim to fame can be that some of my glass can be see in 1 of the photos :)

On the opposite side of the page is Make Do and Mend which is based in Chelmsford, and another place where I display and sell my glass. Hannah is featured with her knitting and crochet workshops.

Big smiles all round for crafting in Essex :D

Spring at xmas

We may still be in the middle of the festive season but I've been stepping into spring over the past 2 days.

These designs are destined for 'a Passion for Fashion' in Maldon and 'Glass from the Past' in Billericay. What shall I make tomorrow?

Christmas creativity

It's so nice to have time away from school to really think about new designs. I had so many ideas the other night I couldn't get to sleep for thinking about them all.... Maybe sketching in bed isn't such a gd idea after all! :)

Until I've tested my new ideas I'm going to continue with a few I'd been testing in the run up to Xmas that flew off my stall. Stock is so low that I need new things quite quickly ....and to replace the Xmas themed pieces I have in shops!
So here I am a few days after Xmas and the kiln is on firing testers and new pieces too.

The Versatile Blogger Award

 

Tonight I was reading one of my favourite blogs by Love from Lynne http://lovefromlynne.blogspot.com/2011/07/versatile-blogger-award.html?showComment=1310678285881#c964585329463313258 and saw that she has nominated me for 'The Versatile Blogger' Award. It was such a nice surprise and has made my evening.

I try to blog when I have something extra specially interesting to say and am hoping to get time to do it more from mid Aug....I am going down to 4 days at work to spend more time crafting. I can't wait :o) I love reading blogs by other likeminded crafty people and hope that other people enjoy my ramblings too.

So now I need to tell you 7 interesting things about me and then nominate 7 of my favourite blogs to pass the award onto.

1)  I like growing my own fruit and veg in the garden so that I can pop out and pick exactly what I need for my dinner. I get fed up buying pack of things in the supermarkets who don't cater for singles like myself and throwing food away is such a waste!

2)  Although I am now a glass crafter I actually trained in Theatre (Design and Technology) at Bretton Hall University College up in Wakefield, Yorkshire. I loved it but the reality of working in theatre I'm afraid just isn't me so teaching beckoned.

3)  I hate cooking but for some bizarre reason am turning into a jam-maker-a-holic this summer. If its fruity and not being used for something it get turned into jam!! I am finding it quite theraputic and have decided to have a 'making as many presents as possible' type of Christmas....so get your jam flavour preferences in now ;)

4)  I also hate clothes shopping. Going into cramped changing rooms to try on clothes that just happen to be in fashion but don't suit your body type in my idea of shopping hell. I'm afraid to say I end up in a supermarket far too often.

5)  I love animals and have a cat and budgie- yes that does make for an interesting arrangement. The budgie is 10yrs old and his cage is suspended from the ceiling so that Annabelle (my cat) doesn't get him for dinner!!! but in her defence she rarely eyes him up and is more interested in the ones she thinks she can catch in the garden.

6)  I am a member of The Guild of Essex Craftsmen. I applied around 6 yrs ago and was lucky enough to get in straight away. I can proudly say I was the 1st glass fuser in the Guild! I regularly go to their craft fairs and can often be found demonstrating how to work with glass.

7)  I've recently come to realise that without art and craft in my life I don't feel whole somehow. I love learning new crafts and carrying on with what I do at home too. If I start feeling unhappy I need to get crafting and then start to feel more human again :o) I'm trying a needle felting workshop in Aug and am in the middle of an Emily Peacock 'Hug' x stitch cushion.

Right so now for another 7 blogs to pass the award onto....mmm....who to choose?!?

http://cupcakejojo.blogspot.com/

http://www.lovemakethink.com/

http://www.dotsandspotsdesign.blogspot.com/

http://laurahambleton.blogspot.com/

http://beautifulthingsbyclaire.blogspot.com/

http://threadwirecloth.blogspot.com/

http://www.pictureitinstitches.blogspot.com/

Hope you enjoy seeing some new blogs

new designs

This week I had my new business cards and sticky labels delivered. I love the daintiness of the design. Sometimes it can be difficult to fully appreciate whats on the screen shot when you order things like this.

While I was demo'ing at Horndon on the Hill Feast and Fayre 2 weeks ago I made lots of card toppers. Tonight I finally found the time to sit down and make up the card designs. Once there's daylight I'll take some better photos and set up an etsy shop to sell the cards.

What kind of home do you live in? I've got bungalows, houses, town houses and flats in the designs.

Its wedding season so I just had to do some wedding designs too.

I also got a little carried away with the new baby cards. These are backed with felt rather than special papers like the other cards. I wanted a softer feel for new arrivals.

Its also the end of term when we all like to thank our teachers for all the hard work they do all year (ok so I'm a teacher, but in secondary school its very rare to get thank you cards/prezzies. The exception would be my 6th formers who bought us 2 goldfish and everything we needed to look after them too. How lovely is that?!)

We always seem to know someone with a birthday coming up. I don't know about you but I'm partial to a slice of cake at celebrations.

If you would like any of the cards above before I list them on etsy please leave a msg here or email me helen@helenroseglass.co.uk They will be priced at £3.50 and postage will be worked out asap.

Thanks