Looking back at 2013....

 Well there we are....2013.  It just flashed by for me and it wasn't until I was looking back over my photographs that I realised how much has happened this year. 

I am going to give you the highlights or we will still be here next year!  The best bit about this year gone was the weather....wall to wall sunshine in North Devon and in our little village of Appledore, which was good as I was seriously thinking of moving somewhere with more sunshine.  The workshop was humming with visitors and sales. Thank you to everyone who visited and to  Daryl Burton for this fabulous shot of my Milly running on the local beach.....it really was a great summer here.

The year started with a course at Mangobeads with Sarah Wadley where I had my first dabble at Silver Clay and went on to do some one on one with Sarah learning how to combine sterling silver with my glass.   Respect to all the silversmiths out there it is an intensive art and work in progress for me!

I also launched my new Feather Bead Tutorial which is still available in my Etsy shop  and a big thank you to everyone who bought this.  I have really enjoyed playing with this design through the year......

The basic technique can be adapted to all sorts of size and design of bead....the options are fairly limitless!

Flame Off 2013, the UK's biggest glass gathering was held at Silverstone this year and I had a fabulous few days catching up with glassy friends, buying toooooo much glass and was lucky enough to have a class with the master of glass : Lucio Bubacco

This month also saw the publication of an article that was written about me in Craft and Design Magazine which was one of the highlights of the year for me, a real honor and came about via a visitor to my studio last year.

My big beads were still as popular as ever and it is a design and bead that I will never get bored with, lots of these found there way into the kiln during 2013 and a huge Thank you to all my customers around the world who keep buying these colourful beads.

 As always my beads seemed to grow before my eyes.....tried some new shapes this year including these  bicones which incorporate my swirl technique So many of my beads incorporate this and as with the feather design it can be used in almost any style of bead.....

 This one below is a combination of the feather technique and the swirl technique.....I love the depth that glass provides for a design...

Here is a small vessel also incoporating that swirl technique......see loads of options!!

I have had a love affair with Goldstone this year and it is creeping into alot of my designs, such a good option to add abit of sparkle....

Talking of sparkles.....lots of new colours from Double Helix this year.....always a joy to experiment with this glass as all the colour and effect is drawn from the flame...not always succesful as with this first bead that had a crack but I loved that pink metallic look...

I got a call mid year from Tuffnell Glass to ask if I would like to join their team of testers for new glass, a chance that I jumped at....what an opportunity to play with all the new glass colours hitting the UK....Thank you Tuffnells!

My experiments with colour continued throughout the year and I kept playing with new shapes, like these Colourblast Beads that sold so well as simple but funky necklaces

I also splashed out on some different glass  to broaden my palette.....now that is always exciting and look at all these colours......

So the summer unfolded and my days were split between the beach and the workshop.  I have two furgals an older Spaniel called Roo and my Lakeland Terrier, Milly Lamb, who has her own Facebook page and oooodles of friends and they all come down this way in the summer so I become a furry taxi service most mornings in July and August!!

Milly also helped me and my husband design a water feature using all my broken and smashed beads....she now thinks it is her own private water fountain......which of course it is!

The up side of lots of friends visiting is the opportunity to watch fabulous sunsets from our local The Beaver with a chilled glass of something at the end of the day..

or a picnic on the beach..........

As the summer started to draw to a close I got a message from  Chloe, the editor of Bead Magazine asking me to write a tutorial for their readers....I of course said YES!  I have also written another for this year April time so watch out for that....

2013 was also the year I conquered TAG Dali Lama a glass that creates its colours through heating and cooling in the flame.   I had until this year never been able to get much from it but now I can...

 The Mandala is still one of my favourite beads and this year was no exception.....

I also launched a new tutorial at the end of the year after lots of requests from vistors to my Facebook page on how I created the depth within these beads..

So that is my year in a nutshell!

And what of this year?  Well I am thrilled to be able to tell you that I was approached by Diana East at Studio 19 and asked to teach a class this year - June 2014.  I am taking bookings for that currently the details are here
I am also excited to be taking a table at this years Flame Off 2014  This is the event for anyone who is interested in Glass, Beads and Fire!  Come say hello if you visit.

So there we are.....as I sit here reflecting on the year past and the year ahead we are battling huge storms which have battered our coastline  I can hear the tide thumping against the sea wall and summer is a distant memory.

The car park at our local beach often becomes a lake in the summer but last friday the whole area was a flood as the sea breached the flood defenses and swamped everything.  This weather, both here, and in the US, where they are battling snow, makes me realise how vulnerable we are in this world of ours and how we need to to take, treasure and use each day.....looking after each other and our environment and that is how I plan to live this year.........I hope it is a happy and healthy one for you all and thank you for reading my blog.

 I guess it would be bad luck to finish on a flood photo so lets hope our beautiful burrows and our little village  return to their former glory as quickly as the sea engulfed it

CIM - Sepia and two Limited runs Raindrop and Fiddlehead - Playing for www.tuffnellglass.com :)

So on Friday unexpectedly I found a tube of glass awaiting me when I came back from walking my furgals.   I had read on the Tuffnell Page on Facebook that there where a couple of new CIM colours arriving but wasn't sure what they were so I ripped the package open on the doorstep.....as you do!!

I have to confess the excitement dwindled slightly when I upwrapped the parcel....expect for the Refresher Sweetie which was nommy!  I love my colours and obviously, as you can see, this was not a colourful batch of inspiring glass but I headed over to the studio and started by making some small test beads to have a closer look at the colours

So here they are....from the left Fiddlehead, Raindrop and Sepia.  My first observation was that the Raindrop boiled on me even when I turned the torch right down and was as a consequence  a 'bubbly' finish.   Now the challenge with what to do with them, obviously I had to add other glass so I started with the Fiddlehead. 

I made a base bead of Cim Dirty Martini and used the Fiddlehead for the larger dots and interspersed with small white CIM Peace dots.  The Fiddlehead behaved well and is less streaky than other greens I have used.  I made the dots more interesting by using my knife to flatten the top of each one.

 This next bead was made using Raindrop, Fiddlehead and Cim Peace.   The Raindrop makes a great 'shadow' glass for adding depth to your bead and although it did bubble a wee bit the bumps on this one look like raindrops in the flesh and I am sure it would look great on a turquoise and would make a bead look like it had been splashed in water........hmmmmm!  Theres a thought!

 

So firstly excuse the fingerprints on these ones!  I liked that raindrop look so I made a base bead of CIM Dirty Martini and encased it in Double Helix Oxalis then added dots of Dirty Martini randomly around the bead and melted flat.  I then took my  tungsten pick and pierced the centre of each of these dots then added a drop of Raindrop over each of these dots and melted flat capturing that little air bubble.  Finally I reduced the Oxalis heavily till it created this shiny finish with hints of pink and blue and green that you probably can't see in the photo but is very pretty.   Again the Raindrop boiled and the resulting dots where 'bubbly' but treated with care this is a very useful colour for your palette.

  

Last but not least the Sepia combined with the Fiddlehead green.  I made a base bead of the Fiddlehead and combined CIM Peace with the Sepia to create layers and light and shade.  Again a great shading colour although I think I prefer the raindrop it has a cleaner look to it.

 

And then Sepia.  Well this bead below is made on a black base with CIM Peace providing the white.  The outside smaller bumps are dots of Raindrop.  Those lovely large bumps are a base of Peace dotted with a small amount of DH Kalypso then flashed in a reduction flame and topped with Sepia....Yummy!!

 This one is a hollow base pod of the Sepia, I love this colour it really is like that sepia colour in old photos not really brown, more like a very deep gold.  Again I have used the DH Kalypso and Sepia for the larger spots as above and then the smaller dots are all Sepia on its own.  Pretty Pretty!!

And altogether :

So the verdict from here for what its worth is Sepia gets a big thumbs up.  If you like green then the Fiddlehead is another useful shade to your palette.  The Raindrop......yep I like it but treat with care or it will boil all over the place.

As a note CIM  Peace is a great white for layering spots and fine in small bumps but hates being fully encased and in my experience always cracks.....just so you know!! 

Thats all for now!!  Happy Melting Folks :)

www.tuffnellglass.com is the web address for our friends at Tuffnells :)