lampworking class

I am lucky enough to live near the creative quarter in Nottingham.  It's an area on the edge of the city centre, with a market place and lots of creative businesses, workshops and shops.  I took a lampworking class with Rosie of Bden Glass who also runs the shop which sells lots of different handmade goods.

It was a 2-hour one-to-one class.  I was a complete beginner so Rosie took me through all the equipment, her set-up and safety concerns.  

This is the torch.  It runs on a mixture of gas and oxygen.  I have forgotten which gas!  The silver pipe you can see is an extractor pipe which went out the window.

I made 4 beads.  They are formed on a steel mandrel which has been dipped in bead release.  I couldn't take any in-process pictures as it's very much a 2-hand job.  The beads are made using glass rods which are melted in the torch and wrapped around the mandrel.  The photos above show the beads when I'd made them.  They were plunged into annealing beads to cool down slowly, though you can use a kiln.  Rosie then cleaned them up for me over Christmas and I collected them last week.

This is the first bead I made.  A very simple one-colour bead.  As you can see, I didn't get it round!  There is a lot of skill involved in this technique and it's the kind of thing you need to perfect with lots of practice and experimentation.

This lovely marbled green bead was my second attempt and is actually round on one end!  Still slightly pointed at the other end, but better.

I made this bead from a transparent blue glass, then added opaque blue dots.  I'm very pleased with this one.  The dots aren't particularly even, but the shape is good.

This bead was made from clear glass and then rolled in frit (small pieces of glass) to create the confetti effect.  Unfortunately, it had an air bubble in it.  Rosie did warn me it might break... and it did!  I wasn't too upset though as I'd taken the class for the experience rather than the end product.  I'm going to book another session with her to have another practice, get some more tips and maybe try other techniques.  I'd definitely recommend this if you have a lampworker near you, it's great fun, if a little scary at first!

Craft class - making copper beads

Months ago me and my lovely mum took a class at The Bead Shop Nottingham to make beads from Copper clay.  The photos have been languishing in a draft blog post and I've no idea why I haven't written a post and published it!  Well, today is the day!

Copper clay is like silver clay, other than it's copper, in that it starts life as a pliable clay and after firing becomes a precious metal.  I didn't really get on with the silver clay, finding it too hard to work, but this was much easier and I enjoyed it.

I made a large spiral which is to be a pendant and two smaller spiral beads.  These have been fired and the bead in the middle shows the fire scale.  I need to sand that down and then sand and polish all my beads.  They've been languishing unfinished, just like this post!  The bead on the right broke in the kiln but it might be OK to use, I'll see when I've cleaned them up.

I also made a set of three charms which I envision as a long pendent.  I cut two squares, then I cut a flower out of the larger one using a clay punch.  I used this punch to make impressions on the smaller square without cutting right through.  I used the cut out flower as the final charm which is why it only has one hanging hole.

Again, they need cleaning up.  I wonder if I was leaving this post until I'd made the final pieces of jewellery - I bought a few Swarovski crystals to go with the finished pieces.  How deluded am I?  I'm sure it'll be many months before this gets finished!

I enjoyed playing with copper clay, I'm starting to think I really do need a kiln....



Something New for 2014

  

Craft Book Review - The Art of the Beaded bead

The lovely folk at GMC sent me another book to review.  If you usually click away from my reviews, I do always make something from the book, there are photos further down.

The book this time was The Art of Beaded Beads Before we go any further, the disclaimers.  I was sent the book for free to review but I was not told what to say and all opinions are 100% my own.  I didn't receive any monetary compensation.  Links in this post, as with all my book posts, are affiliated.  If you click over and buy something, I get a few pence towards an Amazon voucher.  

This is a lovely book.  I'd wanted to try beaded beads for a while and thought they'd be hard, but they're not.  The book opens with an introduction to beaded beads, a section on materials and then several pages on beadweaving basics before moving on to the 40 patterns.

Some, like the beads above, are beaded around a core bead, others are made from scratch.  Each project has a clear list of what's required, the finished size and the beadweaving stitches used.  There are also plenty of Gallery shots, like the one above, showing what can be done with beaded beads.

Each project has step by step instructions and clear diagrams.  I found them really easy to follow. And, as I said, there are 40 projects in this book!

The one above is my favourite, it uses 3 different sized beads.  I'm going to have a crack at this one.

There are also a few projects woven around a mini spool!  I've got some upstairs, I just need to check they're the right size as I love these beads.

This is the project I had a go at - the Puffy Mandala Bead.  The instructions were clear and easy to follow.  I have done some bead weaving, but I'd consider myself a beginner so this book is very accessible. However, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who'd never done any beadweaving.  I'd learn to do a few stitches before trying projects from this book.

I could NOT get a photo of my finished bead.  The light was wrong, the camera didn't want to zoom in that far...

See?  Crap photos...  The beads are delicas.  Mine isn't puffy as I ignored the bit about stuffing the bead.  Why do I always think I know best?!?

Book Information

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Lark (7 Jun 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 160059588X
• ISBN-13: 978-1600595882
• Product Dimensions: 25.4 x 21.6 x 0.9 cm

Disclaimer:

I was given a review copy of the book by GMC however this review and all opinions are 100% my own, I was not told what to say.  Amazon links are affiliate links.

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Craft book review - Jewelry for All Seasons
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Craft book review Mini Eco

Good afternoon ladies, I hope you've all had/are having/will have a lovely Sunday.  I'm getting to the end of mine and wishing I didn't have to go to work tomorrow!  I did manage to pack plenty in though.

The lovely folk at Cicada books agreed to let me do a couple of craft book reviews for them, and today I have the first one for you.  I'll show you the book and then show you the project I made from it.  The book was provided to me free of charge so that I'd share a review with you, but I was not told what to say, all opinions are 100% my own.  The links are affiliate links, so if you click on them and then buy, I will get a few pence towards an Amazon voucher.

The book I'm going to review today is MiniEco: A Craft Book.

I was a bit worried when I got it.  I don't want to completely trash a book, but I do want to be honest and I wasn't sure this was my cup of tea.... I was wrong!

Projects are over a variety of media.  It opens with some paper projects including pop-up cards, origami and these fab fruit boxes.

image: Garry Maclennan 

There are also sewing projects such as a funky triangular cushion and a toy snake.

                                                           image: Garry Maclennan 

Other projects covered include signs made of Lego, a space invaders Pinata that no boy (or man) would sneer at, pots and earrings made from Hama beads and a section on macrame. 

                                                           image: Garry Maclennan 

I decided to tackle the geometric beads first.  This is what the project in the book looks like:

 image: Garry Maclennan 

Now, I couldn't find any wooden beads this big, nor did I correctly read the supplies list before buying some round wooden beads at the Bead Shop, I should have bought cubes.  No matter, the project still works, it just has my own twist on it!

I started with the largest bead and attacked it with my Dremel and a sanding attachment.  You could of course do this by hand, but it's so quick with a Dremel.

Not so much geometric as abstract, but I love the effect!  I'd bought some coloured beads too.  I knew they were either painted or dyed so I had to keep the sanding shallow.  If I attempted something like the bead above, I'd lose all the colour.

The dye on the purple beads seemed to be a lot thickr than on the blue beads.  As you can see, I was able to sand bigger areas and the colour still showed, albeit lighter.  With the blue ones, it was easy to go down to the wood.

Wondering what's going on between the beads?  I also had a go at the macrame section in the book, I tried the twisted square stitch and it works great.  I used my macrame board and my Kumihimo bobbins - great investments, both of them.

So what did I make?  I was going for one of the bracelets in the book, but didn't like my first choice of cord, so made beaded "dangles" instead.  OK, they won't catch the light, but they look nice hanging from my window.  The photo is upside down in case you're wondering!

If you want to buy MiniEco: A Craft Book you can get it on Amazon, and probably a lot of other places too!  I'd love to know what you think.

craft class fimo

Guess you can't guess where I went to a craft class?  Yep, The Bead Shop Nottingham.  This was was using foils with polymer clay.  I can't remember what the foils were called but they were thin sheets which you could rub onto the clay before it is baked.

The photos aren't brilliant as I really struggled to capture the shine from the foils.  I used pale blue and dark blue clay and different colours and patterns of the foils.  As you can see, the foil didn't transfer completely.  I found it really hard to get the foil to transfer.

I do like the cracked and crackle effect that you get with these foils. 

Of course, I also played with the blue foils.  One was solid blue, the other a very garish holographic effect which was too much as a sheet but works well on these small shapes. 

I cut the hearts using heart cutters and poked a hole in each one as I'd like to make a dangly necklace.

The tutor also showed us how to do rolled beads.  The blue ones aren't that great, I'm not keen on the colour of the clay.  I rolled over the foil after it was applied with an acrylic roller.  That flattened the clay a bit and so broke up the foil.  I do like that effect.

I much prefer the black ones though.

I struggled to get a good photo of these too, but I think this one isn't that bad!

Done!

Morning ladies!  I only woke up at 10 this morning, and that was only because Mr CA was crashing about.  You know how noisy men are when they're trying to be quiet?  I've got a lovely day planned.  Mr CA has taken the girls to town, so I'm going to catch up on a few blogs, then I'm going to make stuff.  Loads of stuff.

Something terrible has happened though.  I mean, really, really, how will I go on terrible.  My coffee machine has died.  Just like that.  Last week my GHDs died, then my hairdrier - that was bad enough, who wants to walk around looking like they've got a mop on their head?  But now my coffee machine?  I've got some seriously bad Karma going on.

I haven't managed to make much this week, but I have finished a few things off.  Want to see?

Remember I showed you the polymer clay beads I'd learnt to make?  Well I finished off the canes we'd made in class, then I made some more in red, blue and white.  Not terribly successful this time, the red and white were so squidgy.  I made them into beads too and then baked the lot.

I've also finished off my Geisha and the sewing lady and added them to my gallery.  I think it definitely warrents being called a gallery now.

By finished off, I mean the backs.  Before they were just laced at the back, but now I've added the felt.  Like this:

(didn't have a bit enough piece of felt and so had to join two).  And this:

I also added felt to the back of the teeny tiny embroidery that started it all off.  Before I'd just folded the fabric over the back of the hoop and stuck it down with washi tape.  I think this is more secure.

What do you think of my gallery then?  Coming along nicely I think!

Don't forget to enter my Something Old, Something New competition.  The deadline is 31st July and there is a prize!