Jellybeans anyone?

Hooray, Lush Loops connectors are back in stock.  

So I could finish off this stash of Jellybean Bracelets I was working on.

I'm hoping these might keep me going till Christmas!

Hoop-la-la!

Hoop-la-la bracelets using the tutorial on Lesley Watt's blog, The Gossiping Goddess.

Cotton cord, large seed beads and Lush Hoops from my website.

Odd lampwork buttons from down the back of my sofa (metaphorically speaking!).

I got rather carried away with this one, its a double wrap bracelet to celebrate the mad wonky button.

My friend Lesley Jane Dixon makes gorgeous bracelets from the same tutorial - hope you can see her pics in her Facebook album.

New Hoops!

"New Hoops" ... I can't help but think of Julie Walters when I say that, tottering along in a waitress uniform! (two soups ... get it?)

So like I said, I've got some new Lush Hoops.  There's 7 new colours in the medium and large size: a couple of lovely festive reddish shades, Red Red Wine and Vimto; some useful neutrals - Lentil, which is kinda yellow, kinda green, and Sticky Toffee, a creamy caramel colour; Basil is a gorgeous soft green with a hint of blue, I think I'll be using that one a lot; Jade is actually an old colour that disappeared and I'm very pleased to see its return, in all 3 sizes, yay; Bye Bye Baby is a soft baby blue, not quite as pale as Bubble Bath; and finally Milk Chocolate in the Large size.

Click here to see Lush Loops and Hoops on my website.

I've restocked all the Collections and Mixes, and these options include the new colours.  And for a limited time I've also listed packs of just the new colours if  you want to top up your collection without trawling through all the listings.

Lush Loops and Hoops got a mention in the December issue of Beads and Beyond which has just come out, resulting in a flurry of orders and serious depletion of Loops connector stocks!  Not to worry, lots more will be here in a couple of days.

Speaking of Lush Loops, I recently added a new shade of light pink, perfect for girly girls!

Getting Stuck In

My lovely friend Kaz came to stay last weekend and we had a ball, chatting, eating and playing for hours on end in the studio.  

I've been busy busy ever since, working on all the new ideas we came up with and preparing for Malvern Arts Market tomorrow (Sat 10th November).

At last I have lots of stud earrings for all those ladies that tell me they don't like drops.  I think these are my absolute favourite pair - so far ...

I got rather carried away with the cufflinks! 

These may look a little familiar - they used to be ring toppers, but now they're permanently attached to some cheap and cheerful adjustable rings.

And finally, I made more Heavenly Hanging Hearts to take to market, and some simpler ones too.  They look quite Christmas-y, but I think mine will be hanging up all year round!  

I hope to update the website with some of these new pieces next week.

PS Thanks to Dawn Turner for all the advice :0)

A Sense of Achievement

You may remember my earlier post about the commission from Anna Clifton to create glass beads for the sculpture she is working on for Edgbaston High School?  

Well, I've finally delivered around 4 kilos of plain, large, clear glass beads to Anna!

Every single one of the 700 beads was shaped in the flame one by one - if you  haven't seen lampwork beads being created before, I made a little video to show you how its done.  

The glass starts out as rods, made by Stourbridge glass manufacturer,  Plowden & Thompson, which I melted in the flame and applied to 4mm wide stainless steel mandrels.  I first dipped the end of each mandrel in a clay like substance which prevents the beads from permanently fusing to the steel. I used a graphite "bead roller" to help with the shaping, and then I placed the hot beads into a kiln to cool down very slowly.  This slow cooling process (annealing) takes around 9 hours and is vital to ensure the beads are strong and stable and that they will last pretty much forever.  (Thanks to Max Bristow for filming the video - apparently he's my favourite nephew!)

After cooling I removed the beads from the mandrels and cleaned out the powdery residue left in the holes by the separator substance, at the same time checking every bead for quality and integrity.  Then the mandrels were ready to be re-dipped for the next session.  I had originally planned to make 10 beads at a time, but as time slipped by there were a few long - usually late night - sessions when I'd manage to get around 50 beads in the kiln at a time.

So now its over to Anna, to finish her beaten shapes and assemble all the components at the school by the start of the September term.  I just can't wait to see it!

New Classes in The Lusherie

I've devised two new class formats, mainly aimed at the local folk - although they are of course open to all!  For those wanting to just have a go at melting glass and making a few beads I have a one hour Taster Session, costing just £25 for one person, or £20 each for groups of up to four people.


And for a fun girlie trip out (fellas can join in too), you can Make Your Own Glass Bead Bracelet - following one hour's tuition in making simple rounded beads and decorating with dots, you get to choose a coloured thong bracelet then spend a happy couple of hours filling up the kiln.  This class can be taken by up to 4 friends, for £40 per person (£45 for one) and would make a fun hen party or birthday gift.  

Look at how many beads the first Bracelet class students made.  I think they might need more bracelets!

Following either of these sessions you can either come back for Torch Time if you're feeling competent to "fly solo", or book another tuition session - from 3 hours to 2 days, whatever suits.

A lovely bundle

Look at this lovely little bundle of glass I got in the post last week.  It came from Creation is Messy HQ, via Tuffnell Glass.


Rarely do new colours inspire me as much as these to run straight out to the studio and get playing.  The first colour that really got me excited was the beautiful glowing opal blue called Poseidon.


To be completely honest, I was a little concerned to find that the first bead I made with Poseidon and Cardamom (more about that beauty shortly) actually came out of the kiln cracked.  I'm not sure if I admired it too long before putting it to bed, so the next day I reheated it in the kiln, carefully introduced it back to the flame and thoroughly warmed it through to heal the crack.  Its actually about a week now since I made it and no crack has reappeared so I'm pretty certain it was my fault and the glass is not to blame!

So I'd describe Poseidon (bead 2) as a greeny blue, sitting somewhere between Chalcedony (bead 1) and Kryptonite (bead 3) ... mmm, gorgeous! 

Have a look at the other side, aren't these just lovely colours together?

However, it does have a tendency to over strike and become a little muddy as in these two beads.  In no 1 I have used Poseidon with another of the new CIM colours, Linen, and quite a lot of SIS and silver wire - its possible that the silver has fumed the Poseidon and caused it to darken.  Bead no 2 is the one I  mentioned earlier, that I had to reheat, and I think the colour has lost its clarity due to overworking.  It doesn't look too bad on this photo but bead no 2 is not pretty!

Look at this!  Both the Poseidon (bead 1) and the Kryptonite (bead 2) have reacted in the same way; they've gone opaque at the bottom and retained their semi-transulency (is that a word?) further up.  Presumably this is due to the relatively large mass of opal glass and the more gentle flame I've used compared to when I made the first beads.  Great effect.

The next new colour on my shopping list is CIM Cardamom, its such a pretty, fresh, delicate green, lighter than Elphaba or Effetre lime and sharper than Dirty Martini.  I really can't think of another opaque green to compare it to.  So bead 1 is the aforementioned Cardamom with Poseidon, bead 2 is with Fremen (my favourite combination), bead 3 with Dirty Martini (on the bottom) and bead 4 with Celadon.  SIS sits nicely on Cardamom and isn't swallowed up into a thin line, as is the case with a lot of greens.  I'm yet to try dots on Cardamom, but there's plenty of time for that because I'll definitely be ordering this colour.

Now onto Peachy Keen, the very pale transparent rod you can see in the top photo.  I was surprised by how dark this colour actually became when it was worked, closer to ginger beer than peach, I think.  Its a nice colour and etches well.  In this photo bead 1 is Peachy Keen with Linen and SIS; I think bead 2 was the same combination but I wrapped rather too much silver foil around it; and bead 3 shows how nicely Peachy Keen etches.


The last rod was Linen.  Its a nice neutral, one rod wasn't enough to play around with it much.  You can see it in the above photos with Poseidon and Peachy Keen, and I also used it in the Poseidon heart bead instead of the Effetre ivory I've used in the other seaside beads.  Sorry, I don't have any better pics of Linen as it took a supporting role.


Just to add, thanks to Emma at Tuffnells for sending me a second rod of Poseidon and Cardamom to continue to experiment with.  I still have a little bit of each left and will post if I find anything else interesting!