I was looking for something (can't remember what) and I came across a watch face, waiting to be beaded...

but beading wasn't on my mind...

Well I've got my new tank of gas - got it last week actually, and have been working like one of santa's little helpers all week, making beads for the Stourbridge Bead Fair next weekend.

However today I was at home - doesn't often happen on a Sunday, so I thought to myself  'what shall I do today?

So I started looking through books, magazines and the Internet, sorted through my stash of glass (more of that later) and decided to award myself some technique time:)

Today I've used some glass from CiM, not my usual effetre, I've tried some different ideas and  I've even been pulliing stringers!

Stringers are thin rods of glass that you 'pull' from a regular rod of glass (those on the right).  My previous efforts are the real thin, not much good to man-or-beast, ones on the left, and today's more substantial, though shorter, are in the middle... cool eh?  I can start start doing more delicate work and swirling now.  I have done some experiments, but the beads are still in the kiln - so watch this space:)

Hmmm... a bit dramatic maybe, however, the mica powder has nothing to do with my crisis.

Only 2 weeks to go to the Stourbridge Bead Fair and I've run out of gas!  No more glass bead making till tomorrow when I've been down to the hardware shop and bought a new tank :(

Anyway, before that I was experimenting with some mica powder I've got and never used - Sparkle Silvery White Satin. You make your basic bead, and while its still pretty hot roll it in this shiney powder, and heat again to set the powder, being very careful not to burn it off .The effect is almost ethereal, and doesn't show up very well on my photo, but I thought I'd show you anyway... in real life the beads have a subtle pearly lustre... 

Yes, you read it right - purple beads :)  Although I do like to keep to my limited palette of blues and greens, I've decided to bow to public pressure and do more purple...

I forgot to show you, so here are some of the beads that I took down to The Birmingham Bead Shop for sale last week

To all those stubborn beads anyway - the ones that refuse to come off their mandrels... I will win in the end.

Well OK, I just lose my patience and break them as I need to use the mandrels.

 I did trawl the internet for new methods of removing them, and asked at our local meeting of  Glass Beadmakers UK , but the beads remained on the mandrels, so I simply put them in bag, and took a hammer to them...

They may not be completely wasted as I can fuse some of the bits in the kiln and make them into cabouchons:)

A quick 'Hello' to everyone that came to visit the stand today - so many friendly faces and genuine interest.

As you can see the website is an on-going project,  I have plans for a gallery and a shop - I'll be sending myself some beads and jewellery soon to test how they survive the postal system:)

Please sign up to the mailing list for my newsletter, so that I can keep you in touch with developments, and keep an eye on my blog to see what I'm up to. 

Don't forget you can contact me if you need a special piece of jewellery, as I can make things to order.

Till next time,

Rach x

Just received this  from the organisers of the Staffordshire Bead Fair (12th September.)

Print out the downloadable voucher and present on arrival and you and a friend will both get in for £5!

 Saving you £1.  

 ENJOY:)  

Well the fused glass has a fairly flat surface - ideal for engraving on!  The effect is quite subtle and difficult to photograph, but even so - look what I did!

All I need to do now, is think how I'm going to incorporate this effect into some jewellery designs:)

Till next time

Rach x

I've got quite a collection of remnant bits of glass rods... these are the left over bits where my fingers start to burn when I'm getting too close to the flame when making beads.  Its a shame to waste them, such pretty colours... How can I use them? What about fusing them in the microwave kiln?

The little pencil marks are where there's holes on the base of the kiln - leaves a lumpy bottom, so I try to avoid those spots... After 12 minutes in the microwave, here's what they look like :)

Result! well with a bit of tweaking of a few sharp points:)

Now what can I do with these?

Until next time

Rach x

Last Friday, my friend Heather and I drove down to WaterPerry House near Oxford for the Art In Action Festival.

What a treat!  The place was bursting with artists and craftsmen - metals, glass, textiles wood, ceramics - much of it for sale, and most of it being demonstrated by the artists themselves. And,  the weather was kind to us this year - mainly dry :)  We took some time out to do a workshop, most of those were already booked by the time we got there, so we plumped for glass engraving with the Guild of Glass Engravers.  Here's Heather doing her stuff...

We were a bit nervous at first - we were presented with a drill and a drinking glass, and told to stroke the glass with the tool..  It was a bit strange at first, working on a curved surface was a bit odd, but once we got going the ideas and possibilities began to flow - how easy would it be to engrave beads?  My test glass was mainly textures, some interesting effects, but here's my finished masterpiece (apparently the plant I copied  was honeysuckle)... The tutor tried to get me to add shading, but with my artistic skills, less is more...

I'd like to say a big 'Thank You' to everyone involved - to the organisers & helpers and all the artists we spoke to for answering all our questions, for all their help and inspiration.

Watch this space fpr developments....

Till next time

Rach x

Ok, so I went on holiday, forgetting all about my gravity swirl frit beads, leaving them soaking for a week in the toilet cleaner... they still looked ok, thank goodness, but still stubbornly sticking to their mandrels...

This is turning into a battle of wills, so to teach them a real lesson I put them in the freezer... so they could think about what they've done, maybe reconsider and become lovely beads... That was Monday, so they've been in there for the best part of a week - and guess what? they're still stuck!!!

Anybody got any ideas? 

Spent last week in a cottage in St Dogmaels just outside Cardigan, Wales. Had a very peaceful time, the main highlight being the boat trip where we saw dolphins! Real dolphins just off the coast of Cardigan Island.

Other than that we spent a lot of time realxing, visiting castles, galleries and artists. 

We drove out into the country to find Jewellery by John & Victoria . I spent  a good while chatting to John and appreciating their jewellery -  its good to be reminded sometimes just what you can do with metals. However the best thing, I found, was the folder of photographs showing where they get their inspiration - thanks for all the advice John:) 

Then we moved on to Newcastle Emlyn where I came across a mosaic artist,  Gabrielle Dudley .  Her work is stunning, and handmade from scratch! I know it's not jewellery, but you can sure appreciate her skill and hours of work.

We then drove further on to Moriath Glass ... What a find! A whole studio full of shimmering glass - jewellery and sculptures all fused in Moira's studio. As Moira will tell you, we chatted for ages, swapping tips for fusing glass and making jewellery, I had a great time! Thank you Moira:)  Maybe see you at the Festival of Glass?

Till next time

Rach x

Well... since the bead cleaning extravaganza I've...

1) Been to Flame Off - the annual glass beadmaking festival - had a great time, watching demonstrations, looking at other glassbeadmakers beads, networking (talking), buying supplies, but FORGOT TO TAKE ANY PICTURES... sorry 

2) Had a stand at The Bead Fair at Towcester - this is how the beads looked after all that cleaning and packaging:)

3) Had a stand at the Craft Fair at Hatton - this is how some of the beads look made up into jewellery

4) Been to The Birmingham Bead Shop to arrange for my beads to go on display there - Thanks Kate:)

5) Been off to Guide Camp in Worcester, where I taught the girls some jewellery making... we made earrings, phone charms and bracelets :)  Well done to all the girls :)

Apologies that I can't remember names, but here are some of the finished pieces...

5) Put some jewellery on display with Pretty Vacant at The School of Art & Design University of Wolverhampton

6) Booked a stand at Artisan  where I'll be joining Penny from Clayaround , promoting, demonstrating and selling polymer clay - beads, buttons, jewellery and embellishments.

Well that's all that's bead and jewellery related, so until next time...

Well, here are the beads I've made this week, all annealed and waiting to be cleaned and packaged ready for the bead fair in Towcester on Sunday.  I really need to get it all done today, as tomorrow and Saturday I'm off to the 'Flame Off' - a glass beadmaking festival:)  - there'll be lampworking demos, famous beadmakers friends, beads and plenty of kit to buy - can't wait!   

Well, my bumpy beads aren't quite the same as Ray's - but look what I made!

They are very sparkly and will look just great in a bracelet or a pendant. I'm a bit addicted to making them now so watch this space to see what happens to them.

I've also aquired a couple of lamporking DVDs from Red Hot Sal , and have been inspired to try  frit (very small pieces of glass). I love the random effects that you can get - I wonder what would happen if I etched one? 

What I forgot to mention in my last post was that I took some beads (plain, clear, etched) for the bead swap and I was lucky enough to get Ray's beads in the draw:)  Thanks Ray!

Sorry missed doing my blog again last week...

Anyway to keep you up-to-date, last weekend I went to two glass events... one was an informal get together of the west midlands group of  GBUK  at Julie Fountain 's house. I couldn't stop long, because I had get off to a stitching thing with Kate in the afternoon, but I met Charlotte, the new chair of GBUK, George, who gave me a few tips about chainmaille and a couple of others, whose names I am sorry, but I just cannot remember. We had a good natter, compared beads and Julie showed us how to use presses. Thank you Julie for hosting it and I look forward to the next one:)

On the Sunday I drove off to Llantrissant (just outside Cardiff) to the glass event to celebrate the re-opening of the Model House .  Ray Skene (glass artist) hosted it all, with demos from himself, Lorna  and Chris , tea and homemade cakes, and loads of hints and tips. Thank you Ray, it was well worth the drive:) 

I also popped in to see Mike Cole , whose silver jewellery summer school I went to a couple of years ago - I think he was pleased to me, once he realised who I was:)

I've also been back over to The Beetroot Tree for our monthly artists network meeting - its so great to meet up with other artists and share our concerns and ideas.

Then yesterday I went over to Broseley for the Arts & Craft Fair. It seemed fairly well attended and I spoke to loads of people, and even sold some jewellery.   

So, that's me up-to-date, oh, apart from thanks to Pauline, who got me loads of sewing machine bobbins for my polymer bead projects ... 

Today is a good day... My first glass Pandora Style Bead has come (not so willingly) off its mandrel in one piece - hoorah!

I have tried to make others, but the battle between them and me has usually been won by them, notionally... firstly they get gently soaked overnight in water, then if they refuse to leave the mandrel they get soaked in toilet cleaner,  the more stubborn ones get to spend time in the freezer, and if that doesn't work they finally get a bit of mandrel bashing - you see, my glass beads have usually been abused by me far more than you can imagine before they find more caring homes... those that can't take heat, prefer to stay on their mandrel or break, get discarded , ready to be melted and fused in the microwave kiln... its a harsh life for a young bead.

It's next step is to have its insides cleaned out and then left in a kiln overnight to anneal, so that hopefully it won't break due to thermal shock, then insert the silver tube rivet without breaking it.

I know its a bit late, and those of you who know me will not be surprised, but I spent some of the money Santa left me on a new book - Polymer Clay Color Inspirations by Lindley Haunani & Maggie Maggio.

Money WELL spent.

The book is full of colour exercises, to help you understand how to mix your own colours in polymer clay, and develop your own colour palette. I have this idea in my head that I will use the book as a workwork and work through all the chapters....

Anyway the book is also illustrated using lots of artists' work - one of them a necklace by Cynthia Toops, who made beads using metal sewing machine bobbins as a base... Well as an ex-textile person I was thrilled with this idea!  I have a number of old bobbins that don't fit my machine, and what a great use for them!

So, if, by any chance you have any unloved and unwanted metal machine bobbins (plastic ones react with the clay and become a gooey mess) I can find a new home for them:) All contributions gratefully accepted.

What a blast we had on Saturday!

The day started off with the quiet stuff - AGM and announcing the new programmes.  The beading one looks pretty good, soon to be published on the BPCG Website . Penny from Clayaround joined us with a great stock of clay and tools, and as she is also our current webmaster, told us all about the new BPCG website :)

Janice, Nina and Ange all had displays of their jewellery, but just ask me who forgot to take their camera?

Anyway after lunch we had our round table event - 3 tables of different demonstrations to move betweeen and have a go  - Bonnie, Ange and me. It was all very relaxed, lots of catching up (as our January meeting was snowed off), swapping ideas and experimenting. Some new faces returned from our last meeting, oh and I must say 'hello' to Sheila who travelled all the way down from Skipton :)

Oh, and 'Thank you Gaynor'  for organising it:)

This Saturday (6th Feb) I'll be at the Midlands Region meeting of the British Polymer Clay Guild .

We will have our AGM type meeting in the morning, then a show 'n' tell of work, then Ange and I will be holding a round table event for the jewellery group - Bead Rolling, Simple/Flower Canes & Skinner Blends, Mokume Gane and Wirework/finishing. We will also be looking for feedback/ideas for our 2010 diary.

The miniaturists will also be there, but I'm really not sure what they'll be up to...

You're welcome to along, but please let me know so that numbers can be sorted:) 

I've just started my current listings on my 'where I'll be....' page - more links and details as they become available.

Well so much for the regular blogging resolution! I'll just start again :)

This week I've taken some pendant and earring sets up to The Beetroot tree to be part of their open art exhibition  - What a cool place!

 They've got exhibition space, workshop space, a fab shop (full of all sorts of goodies, paint, mediums, inks, sample pieces of metals, velvets etc etc) AND a Cafe, all in one place! 

Also I've been busy getting organised, applying for craft & bead fairs

 keep an eye on my 'where I'll be' page.

Otherwise, I'm just getting my books up-to-date so that I can get my tax return in by sunday :)

...And one day I'll put photos into the gallery and open the shop!

There, its out there in print now, so I'll have to do it :)

A big Hello to everyone that came to see me at Highbury Hall yesterday:)  The venue was fantastic!

Things are stepping up a gear here at Silverfusion...I've been making up loads of jewellery, getting it hallmarked, scrubbed and polished ready for a huge photo session this week, to load into the shop here on the site. Payment will be through paypal, and postage may look high, but it will be sent through the Royal Mail, covered for compensation for loss/damage.

I'm also starting to look at marketing material to send off to Galleries, so you can buy my work in person instead of using the net ...

I'm thinking about jewellery parties - either for you to simply purchase finished jewellery, or have a night in with the girls making your own... or even classes/workshops - let me know what you think!

So, if things are quiet on the blogging/facebook/twitter front, you'll know I'm just busy doing other stuff:) 

Well, this week has been quite exciting - I took my first batch of work into the Assay office for hallmarking - many thanks to the staff there for taking away the mystery and explaining it all to me.

I've got loads of samples to show you, glass and clay - so watch this space!

I've made up quite a bit of jewellery and booked loads of fairs for the next few weeks - check out the 'where I'll be' page... I'll be sharing with my friend Heather , so just come along and see us. 

Today I have booked a table at The Pelsall Community Centre Craft fair on November 14th. Its open for selling from 10am till 4pm. The address is Station Road Pelsall West Midlands WS3 4BQ. Make a date in your diary to pop along and meet me and Heather (oimillie - www.lampworkglass.co.uk).

OK, so I'm a bad blogger - I haven't done Twitter or Facebook either...

But I have got a new laptop, so technical problems are a thing of the past - just got to get into the habit:)

Anyway, done loads of stuff recently - got myself onto the committee of the British Polymer Clay Guild (www.BPCG.org.uk), went to the AGM of Glass Beakmakers UK (www.GBUK.org), joined a new group, PolyclayAddictsAnnonymous (www.polyclayaddicts.blogspot.com), but haven't contributed yet... had a great day out at Tintern Abbey playing with friendly plastic (rarelizzie.wordpress.com scroll down to Sept 29th entry), been to a few craft and bead events, only for market research you understand, and I've decided I need to get stuff on my website to sell, amd get myself out there at craft fairs etc.  I have applied to a few, so watch this space. 

I've also joined the Artist/Designer/Maker Community,  Creative Open Workshops at the Custard Factory - click on www.creativeopenworkshops.com to keep up-to-date.

Well, I've spent a lot of time cutting jumprings and assembling them into jewellery....

My first experiment was 4-in-1 chainmaille - I have already   made bracelets with the links going from end to end, but I wasn't happy with the edges, so I tried a sample with the weave going top to bottom   ...

Well, the bracelet is still slinky ( the only word I can think of to describe the movement), but now there are much better loops to add charms, or it would sit nicely as a choker:)

For my next project, I have to thank Bead and Button Magazine, for their excellent tutorial on the Full Persian Link. I've also started making beads in earnest for the bead fairs (see 'Where I'll be' page). I've started with glass and I'm concentrating on just getting them round, although there has been a foray into etching solution - just love it! I've also got this idea buzzing around in my head of jewellery   where you can have different components and change it yourself... watch this space.  

Well now its back to cleaning beads, finishing my collection ready to take out to galleries, looking into sorting out my shop, flicker,   twitter, facebook, my other blog... the list goes on.

Just pop over to my friend Heather's website to see a short video on how we make glass beads.

11th August I travelled across to Gillians Crafts in Derby for a Friendly Plastic workshop with Liz Welch  .

I have worked with friendly plastic before (many moons ago) and just wanted a refresher :)

What a fabulous workshop! Gillians Crafts is in the centre of Derby, with a well stocked shop - papers, stamps videos, and downstairs an open space for workshops.  Liz was fantastic as usual, and just couldn't help herself showing us loads of techniques for texturing our friendly plastic, loads of samples andideas for using it, jewellery, embellishments for cards and scrapbooking - we all came away bursting with so many ideas and things to try:)

Thank you Liz, and I'll see you at Tintern :)

On 8th August I travelled across to The Model House , Llantrissant (just outside Cardiff) for a day course with Mandy Nash making aluminium jewellery.

After welcoming us, Mandy was straight in with all the information - she showed us that we could draw on the anodised aluminium with permanent pens, then dye it - WOW! what an effect!  We all set to, making a couple of samples to see just how the pens and dye reacted with each other. Here's the results...

Then before lunch we coloured our main piece, and when we got back set to sawing, and filing and making it into jewellery.

Mandy was very patient and laid back, nothing was too much trouble and she answered so many questions:)

Just go the link above to see her work - so detailed, dainty and colourful...

Thank you Mandy for a great day:) 

Well it's been a busy week, but not too sure what I've achieved...

Just remembered to post my projects off to Mybeadsclub.com , but you'll have to pop over there and have a look :)

I got my fused glass back - thank you Kate for adding the findings and posting them - don't they look good?

 I must do more out in the workshop, but with all this rain, we have a leaking gutter that is pouring down onto the corrugated plastic roof and deafening me! Instead I've been working on some polymer clay techniques courtesy of Cindy Leitz  but they need some finishing before I photograph them - as usual, watch this space...

Ok so I've been a bit slack keeping my blog up-to-date, but I've been busy...

Sunday 12th July - Midlands Branch of the Polymer Clay Guild

Our workshop was with the very talented and generous Bonnie McGough

  We started the day making Rose Canes - Bonnie gave us each some samples, so that we knew what we were aiming for, and a new tool each for poking and prodding the clay.

      Bonnie showed loads of diffeent caning techniques and in the afternoon to finish off a new mokume gane technique.   I've just realised I forgot to take pictures of my finished cane!

Also last Wednesday (15th July)   I went on a glass fusing workshop at The Red House Glass Cone .   Katy was our tutor and set us cutting the glass.   We had a great time layering up the glass, but had to leave it behind to be fired and collected later... my samples are being posted back to me so watch ths space.

On Friday (17th July), me and Heather (Oimillie ) went to Art in Action at Waterperry House on Oxfordshire and boy did it rain!

However, in-between dodging the rainstorms we had a fascinating time.   It was great to see all the artists in action and be able to quiz them!   Special thanks to Dora Schubert ,     Karen Green , Jane Moore , and Rachel Gogerley who all spent ages answering our questions and explaining how to do stuff:)

We've been down the coast for a few days relaxation - now back to work:)

I've been doing more sampling..

This is what happens when you put 4-in-1 chainmaille into a frame...it keeps it's movement and now has the potential for taking rings out and embedding beads...

I managed to enamel silver for the first time, without melting it! Its a shame you can't really see the texture underneath the colour...

And I did a pendant for my friend's birthday

Hmm... note to self - sort out picture sizing before loading up to website.

I'll get the hang of this sooner or later, maybe later, as I have more jewellery to create:) 

I know its a bit late, but just a quick word about my day at the Creative Open Workshops Handmade Saturday Market... what a great day! I met loads of other creative folk. Most were new businesses, and most of us work on our own, so it was good to meet up with people having the same issues. 

Sarah Roberts (www.sarah-roberts.co.uk) was next to me. She screen prints stationery and pictures - her work is somehow very calming, yet crisp. She told me lots about herself and how she has developed her work - very inspiring...  Danuta (I hope I've spelt your name right!) from www.lemon-aide.co.uk had  some wicked graphic prints on t-shirts, bags etc, she was so bright, happy and enthusiastic! Also Richard (www.richjohnson.folksy.com)  with his photography and paintings, Laura (www.lauracameron.co.uk) who did jewellery, another Sarah (sorry I didn't get your card) who did beaded jewellery (and baked some yummy cupcakes), Gosia with her leather goods, and Emma with her rustic stuff.

I think Francine the organiser deserves a big 'Thank you' for organising it (it'll be on almost every Saturday in July and August, if you want to pop along, just check before you go, as there is one day it clashes with another gig), and for supplying more cakes. Just check out Francine's blog for more info and pictures - www.francine.posterous.com  (I did take my camera, but managed to leave the card at home with my laptop).

At last, I've finally taken the plunge and published my website!

What a swift learning curve. Getting good photos was harder than I thought, and what with my laptop and memory stick conspiring against me... anyway never mind, it's not set in stone and I can change it any time I like, lol:)

Have a good look round, and tell me what you think.

Now I've got this sorted I need to get on with some work - a new project for My Beads Club, a couple of commissions, oh and some funky stuff for the Creative Open Workshop Saturday Market (next week eeek!).

Watch this space:)