Lampworking Play Days

After a fabulous Diamond Jubilee weekend I was lucky enough to finish my holiday with a visit to my sister's new lampwork studio shed. It's fantastic!! We had such a good day taking it in turns on the torch and talking lamp work, glass, colours and a bit of crochet always sneaks in! We played with our new cabochon mandrels, I learnt how to make a cupcake, use bicarbonate of soda to create bubbles and how to make a pretty little flower detail.

A week ago I bought and downloaded a pdf on Making glass Cabochons from Mango Beads so Kay and I have both been using the techniques suggested. This shows me melting in glass dots on a cabochon...I really enjoyed making this and can't wait to have another go. We have both actually booked to spend the day at Mango Beads in September...I'm sure the day will be very interesting and I'll have lots more to show you. For now its practice, practice, practice!! 

You can see the finished piece below with the rest of the beads we made throughout the day...more images can be seen on our Facebook page.

Summer time!

Fingers crossed for the weekend!

Catching up...

Once again I have got behind with keeping this little blog of mine up to date. I must say with everything that's going on its pretty difficult. I have however been taking photo's of everything and have a few more tips and tricks for you to make your jewellery making that little bit easier. Here's my first tip...

When you first start working with wire or if your using a heavy wire that's quite soft then you can be prone to dent it or mark it with your metal pliers. What you can do to prevent this as much as you can is to wrap a little bit of masking tape around the nose of the pliers to create a little padding without compromising on grip. I have some nylon jaw pliers but find this much more affective.

A Beautiful Morning Walk

Our morning walk at the allotments in Wheatley Oxford.

Our Diamond Jubilee Display

Annie Smith Jewellery Studio

A lovely gallery I found on my recent Easter trip to Edinburgh...I love the imagery on the windows and inside was a pretty range of jewellery from various designers.

Pretty Pieces

 

Precious Metal Clay Beads

I made these fine silver beads, along with many others, over the past  couple of years. Each time I teach I always demonstrate the technique so ultimately I have collected a large and diverse range of components. I rarely have the time to make them into pieces of jewellery so end up with lots of pretty pieces waiting for a home. I have just opened an account with Folksy so watch this space for outlets you can buy from.