Tuesday 20 July 2010

On The Button!







Everybody needs buttons!  I'm almost tempted to whip out my knitting needles and whip up a woollie!








I'm running a promotion till 26th July - spend £10 or more on anything in my website and you can get a free sample button.


Just visit the Button page, scroll down to the bottom and add the Free Sample to your shopping cart.


Cute as a .....



Sunday 11 July 2010

Hearts of Brass make Hearts of Glass


I love hearts, I love presses ... I have lots of heart presses!



I've got presses from Holland, Spain, Germany, America and Canada here, and I've made hearts with all of them to show you how they compare - unfortunately though they're not all currently available for sale, I have added links for the ones that are.

Here are the hearts in their presses (apart from A, Kaz is currently making great use of this press!) 




And a closer look at the heart beads on their own.
  

All of a-e are from Beadpress.nl and, apart from the Love Triangle, are in the 'puffy' style.  There is also a 32mm version available, similar to 'a', but not 'long'.  



The Beadpress Folk Art trio has changed slightly from the photo - the smallest heart is smaller so should be perfect for dainty earring beads.  
You can see it here alongside the similar Cattwalk duo.

I only have one press, C, from Bavarian Beads but they do have more hearts, including a new longer shape that I'd really like to try. D, the hearts and grooves press from GoodGlassCo is sadly not often available - these hearts are always popular on my website (make more, Magdalena!).  Personally I find the Zooziis Sweetheart too flat, although its a nice size.  F is no longer available, but I think that the Beadpress hearts fill the gap very nicely, particularly the Puffy Trio 'd'.

So, time for my personal favourites ... it is my blog, after all ;0) 

I can't pick an outright winner, but in joint first place are the Beadpress Love Triangle - its not too wide, not too puffy, not too flat, not too small, perfect for simple spotties ... 
... and the Bavarian Beads M Real 3D.

It is quite a wide shape, perfect for more elaborate decoration (all my seaside hearts are based on this shape), and easy to elongate by adding a little glass round the bottom, or across the shoulders.

Here they are side by side


I also couldn't live without my GoodGlassCo press - unfortunately it doesn't have pins, so you do need a Cattwalk-style base to use it properly, and it is hard to get hold of; the hearts are small but nicely proportioned.  

I wrote a simple tutorial on how to use this press, and had a version printed in Beads & Beyond magazine, February 2010.  This technique is really the same for all the heart presses.

I definitely recommend the Beadpress Puffy Trio - this is my favourite of all their Puffy shouldered hearts, I think the largest heart of the three is nicely proportioned, the smallest is great for earrings or dangle charms, and together they make a useful addition to your studio.   I like the Cattwalk shape too and  the Beadpress Folk Art Trio.


Spotty heart anyone?! 

(other colours are available, haha!)













Wednesday 7 July 2010

Busted!

Okay, okay, its true, I am ... the Tuffnell Glass Secret Tester!


Saying it loud and saying it proud :0)


So, without further ado, let me tell you about some lovely glass that I've been playing with this week.


Sedona 591255 and Striped Pink 591253: When I first opened the package I thought I had been sent two lots of EDP - Sedona and Striped Pink look very similar to each other and to EDP.  After trying them out I did a bit of reading and found similar comments on Lampwork Etc, where I also learnt that apparently Striped Pink is EDP with a Rubino core - whatever it is, I like it a lot!

Both Sedona and Striped Pink devitrify just like EDP, giving a good heat bath at the end does remove most of the devit - but it could be better to embrace the bit of chalkiness!

The Striped Pink is so gorgeously purple, I think it should be renamed immediately (Striped Purple will do!), it reminds me of Zimmerman Purple Rose.  I made simple daisies in Sedona, Striped Pink and EDP to compare them all, and also made simple encased beads in each colour too - which quite clearly shows the different shades (and puts paid to any evil tendencies!)

 

I like to 'fume' dark ivory with EDP (hold the end of the rod very low in the flame, and the bead above it, let the fumes bathe the bead and the surface will turn matt and devitrify) so I tried it with Sedona and it worked!  By the way, EDP fuming wasn't my idea - I got it from a post by Debra Jennings.   Please only try this if you have really good ventilation.

Both Sedona and Striped Pink work well with silver leaf, fantastic organic reactions.  Oh, and happy bonus, they were both far less shocky than I expected.
Olive Green 591025: I love this colour, although I think its really more of a transparent lime than olive - like green sweets!  Its really fresh and zingy over white, works great with silver wire and accepts dots well, unlike a lot of Effetre greens that tend to swallow other colours.  

Olive makes a nice base for silver glasses.
Butternut 591414: nice autumnal ochre, with a tinge of orange.  Looks great with silvered ivory stringer; I hoped it might react with silver leaf simply melted onto the surface but it didn't really do much (try this with Dark Ivory, roll bead in a scrap of silver leaf then reheat just enough to make the surface 'swim' a little and blur the edges of the silver), still nice though!
Silver Pink 591255: very pale pink when used on its own, turns a lovely pale yellow under silver glasses and makes a great base.  Save it for silver, its too pricey to use on its own ;0)

Hope

I received this wonderful message from a customer recently, it touched me so much, I need to record and share it.

"Thank you, the pendant did arrive today  ;o)
It’s stunning, absolutely stunning.

You are very talented and your love for your work shines through.
I just thought you’d like to know that it’ll be going to a very good home......
I’m sending it to my best friend who lives on the Gulf coast in Florida.

She is heartbroken and devastated by the damage that the oil spill has done to her beloved ocean.
Hopefully your wonderful artwork will remind her how perfect and beautiful the sea will be again in the future, when it’s had the time and opportunity to repair itself."


Thank you, Sarah Baker, for taking the time to send this to me and reminding me of the sad events on the other side of the world.  I hope your friend loves her new necklace and that there will be some recovery of the Florida coastline very soon.