April Showers!

My May Blog post has arrived early. The grizzley weather in the UK and a day off mean that I have time to sit down and tell you my news.  

First things first... I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has bought from me during April, I had a crazy month and it was so exciting to feel that people where liking what I am creating and are not being detered in buying by all the doom and gloom that our various ecomonies are heaping on us.  A few colourful beads is what everyone needs to cheer themselves up and I have been buying some too!!

So what news..........

Prior to my trip to the US earlier in the year I made myself a lovely big necklace with big chunky beads in lots of lovely colour that all measured in the region of 35mm in diameter (3.5cm) so it made a real statement. 

 I was asked so many times if it was for sale that I sat down when I got home and started making similar beads to sell and the option of buying a bespoke one in colours of your choice.  My first commission one was black and white which was a hard one for me....I love colour and most of my work is full of colour so this pushed me to the limit, but I really enjoyed it as I had to think much more about pattern than I sometimes do with colour and I was really pleased with the result.

 

I then had a customer who wished to make her own up so she bought beads over the course of a week as I uploaded them.  I found this really interesting as some I would have chosen for a bespoke random colour necklace but some I would not have so it showed me an entirely different combination of beads to my own.  These beads and the ball chain necklace are going to be a permanant fixture in my Etsy shop as they are proving really popular.  I am going to endeavour to upload a few a day which means that there will be ongoing choice for everyone.

 I have always loved creating big mandala style glass wheels and have up untill recently always tried to stick with colours that don't react against each other or bleed or web as I felt that comprimised the design.

I have tried experimenting with colours that actually react together and can cause some interesting effects and these new wheels have also proved very popular......

I love the way some glasses react creating lines that almost look like they have been painted or drawn onto the bead and the slight smudgy effect which also looks like it has been painted on rather than being created in the flame.

I also had a delivery of cupcake murrine.  A Facebook friend of mine had a beautiful Airedale Terrier who sadly passed away after a battle with illness.  At the end of her life the only thing that she could be tempted to eat was cupcakes so when I saw that Lori Peterson had created some cupcake murrine I bought some straight away and made my friend a 5mm pandora style bead to have on her bracelet as a reminder of Ruby.  

 

I had a few murrines left over so decided to do something abit mad with it and this big P!nk Sputn!ck was born!!

So there we are I have written far more than I usually would...I hope you are still with me?  So onto Milly my Lakeland.....she has to feature in my blog each month it has become abit of a tradition.

So we have had the UK Flame Off in April organised by Tuffnell Glass It is a great place to meet other flameworkers, buy lots of glass and watch some international and uk artists demonstrate their skills.  One of those artist was Claudia Trimbur Pagel who makes the most lovely beads with meticulous stringer work (fine lines of glass) and she makes great DOGS!!  I had to have one and this one just reminded my so much of my Milly!

 I think it is the ears!!

Thank you for reading my blog and Happy Melting to all  you Flameworkers out there :0)

New Toys to Play with.....No time to Blog!!

So yet again time has escaped me!  So much happening in the real world that the beads seem to have slipped behind.  My father got married again last week....age 71!!  My sister is moving to LA!!  We  are moving house!!  So these three events coupled with abit of ash in the sky which threatened to keep most of the family from the wedding has meant a really busy and stressful April with a greatly reduced torch time.  

April was also the month of Flame Off! one of the events for British Lampworkers hosted by Tuffnell Glass  This was a fantastic opportunity to get my hands on some lovely glass and alot of new toys!!  With demonstrations from Lavender Creek Teresa Laliberte, Diane East and Sharon Peters the whole event was really inspiring and with three very different demos and lots of glassy chat I came away full of ideas and tips for my own work.

I have still been playing with Clio, Glow in the Dark Dust and big bumpy beads.  I love bright colours  and the combination of transparent glass with Clio Double Helix glass creates some great effects.  The three beads above are a selection using those effects.  The big wheels continue to sell well and I am experimenting with putting some flowers into them instead of bumps.  This is very much work in progress as so far I am having a frustrating time trying to make them perfectly round.......

My flowers have improved so much since I discovered a Japanese tool, the 3D Flower Rod this really simple tool creates real depth too flowers...here are a few beads using the same tool.....

Talking of making things perfectly round I purchased a Marble Marver at Flame Off!  No one warned me how addictive they can be so I have spent the last week or so chasing hot balls around my bench and floor and burning little tread marks in my carpet..

These are all made with soft glass but my plan is to buy some Boro and start experimenting with hard glass once we have moved house.........Now because I can't wait I thought I would try some off mandrel pendants anyway (in soft glass) and actually I was quite pleased with the results, like the marbles they have become a hugely addictive way of playing with glass LOL!   Here are a couple of experiments.  I am loving this off mandrel work and the freedom it  brings, I would just love to have a go at paperweights I am in awe of the work of Chris Buzzini

I would just love to have a class with him.......A girl can dream can't she!!

So there we are, a short overview of April!

Milly also had her first ever haircut in April, here are the before and after shots.....seeing them together makes me realise just how much she needed that!

One for the Boys!

Hi Everyone!

Well who can ignore One World One Heart! What an incredible response 212 comments and prize entrys....I know what Ian and I will be doing on Valentines Day!! Good Luck and thank you to all my new visitors, I have really enjoyed visiting other blogs and am thrilled to have so many visits from around the world.

I have had a busy week on the torch and we have been really busy in the shop which is fantastic news, infact Raspberry Rings took a large percentage of the turnover in January..... Whoop Whoop! So a HUGE Thank you to everyone both online and in Devon you know who you are :0). As a result of all this lovely activity I have had a week of trying to catch up with myself and have torn myself away from the torch today to dedicate myself to cyberspace. LOL!

I have listed a whole lot of new 5mm beads on the website and there are also some new ones in the shop (Bazaar, 3 Gammon Walk, Barnstaple, North Devon). They are all one off so get them while they are hot!!

The piccy above is of a few of them! I have also been doing some BIG beads, below, due to a huge demand for them.....not keeping up on my website at the moment but I promise i will!



I have also been busy with the beads 'designing' some ready to wear pieces. I have had a few requests for more for the men so I have posted a few on my website : www.raspberryrings.co.uk here is a taster inspired by the movie Avatar! All are on chunky leather with 'manly' clasps!!



And I have added some more for the girls too and with Valentines at the front of my mind.



So that is all the news from here. Oh I almost forgot and my posts would not be the same without her....Ta Da...... Here is the photographers assistant today, who is looking abit sleepy after a huge romp on the beach with an extremely fast Springer Spaniel called Ed earlier!! Puppy lovexxx




Thats all for now folks, I am out of cyberspace just updated everything & I have decided it is SO boring compared to the Flame!! Hey if you would like to read more check out my Facebook : Raspberry Rings, Lampwork Beads & Jewellery

See Ya!! Jenniexx