Bubbling under the Sea!

January and another year begins and I have had a great start, I have a few courses lined up for this year and the first one was with a glass artist I admire greatly : Diana East .  I had been drooling over her mini seascape paperweights for some time and my husband organised a one to one course for me which was fantastic.  These photos are what I produced in class.  I came home brimming with excitement and ideas and went straight to the studio to experiment with the techniques we had covered which included these, some blown Boro beads, Fuming and Cane making.

Here are the first attempts!  All the pieces you see within are premade and then positioned and the whole design encased in clear.  It takes time to produce the little gizmos to make up the design and then you have to get the clear over them without melting them in the heat.......

I found myself waking up in the night thinking 'Hey maybe I could include that!'  A while ago I bought a tutorial on how to make Jellyfish from Mary Lockwood and thought it would be fun to try and incorporate one into the design It worked well :

Whilst I was on the course Di had also shown me how to make a little clam to put inside so I had a play with that to

 These little paperweights are really addictive I am loving playing with the designs

I have also been experimenting with some other ideas which are very much work in progress but this will give you a clue.   I think you could make some lovely pendants and ring toppers with this technique, I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head!  I am also on the verge of upgrading my kit so the extra charge of Oxygen should improve things too so watch this space!!

I was also given a book by another artist I admire hugely : Stephanie Sersich and as I had a pile of orphan beads from last year I sat down and made a couple of necklaces using her techniques:

It is so clever, actually weaving the beads into the design which makes them really secure and I really like the button detail from the clasp

It also worked well for just a single focal bead like the one below

February should be an exciting month too I have a course booked with Anouk Jaspere and I have my new Oxcycon and hopefuly my new GTT Lynx Torch arriving.

On the home front it has been a certain young lady's second birthday so we had a meet up of 6 Lakelands on the beach to celebrate!

Here are three of them Milly at the rear!  Thank you for visiting my blog and hope to see ya next month!

Jennie ;0)

Here comes 2012

So firstly HAPPY NEW YEAR!  and apologies for not having posted here for what seems like an age....indeed it almost is!

2011 was a big year for Raspberry Rings and me personally.  We moved into our new house and I opened up my little studio to the public for the first time last summer and was overwhelmed with the response.  Appledore is a beautiful village, right on the estuary and it attracts alot of summer visitors. Here is Milly my lovely Lakeland Terrier checking out the view!

The visitors came and came and the studio was buzzing right through the summer.  In terms of glass I experimented with different designs, the Mandela Wheels were still top of my creation list though!

 But during the year I experimented wth the shape and created these Daisy Beads.....

Marbles were another exploration of 2011 which I definately want to explore more in 2012..

And a few mini paperweights....

Looking at this reminds me that in the summer I created a second' Etsy Shop Lovely Lily Beads in memory of an Airedale Terrier, Lily who died from Addisons Disease. I was friends with her hooman Mum and we hatched a plan to create some dollars for Airedale rescue and www.lovelylilybeads.etsy.com was born.

Most of what was posted in this shop had some paw prints on to represent Lily x

In my own work I was getting more and more into the 3d and was creating some swirl beads that I was  very pleased with:

 So the year unfolds and I was lucky enough to do a course with the so talented  Carla Di Francesco  at my friends Amanda and David's Studio in Barnstaple: Mango Beads what an inspiration!

 

So weeks passed and more Mandela Beads came out of the kiln....

And then the thoughts turn to next year and the need for a more 3 dimensional design bubbles to the surface again...

So here we are 2012..I have lots of plans, I have a days class booked with the extremely talented Diane East, I also have a course booked with Anouk Jaspere  in Febuary and a couple of other courses in mind for later in the year. I definately want to experiment with Boro Glass and am excited about the year ahead.

Thank you everyone for your support in 2011 and I hope 2012 fufills all yur dreams x

Jennie

And the message from Milly and her new friend Roo the Spaniel is:

LIFE IS A BEACH.....SO JUST ENJOY!