My first full Rose -- Week 12 & 13

Roses that's why I went to have a lesson with Laney I really wanted to learn how to make roses. Up until now I hadn't made a full rose only buds and a half rose. 


Week 12

Orange petals with the yellow around the edge was still the way to go, as I did have few remaining from the previous time, I made lots more and this is how it turned out.

 

 

Very proud that it survived.


Week 13


My new Ombre style headpins which are two-tone and named from the hair trend at the moment with dark hair on the top part of the head graduating down the hair to a light  or blonde at the ends

Love these colours Ultramarine down to aqua tips

Yumm!


More weeks still to come.

E x

Spot the mistake!!

Can you????

Well now the answer is:  there is only markings on one side of each half of the leaf shape.

I didnt use enough pressure so it only shows on one half of each side, I flipped the leaf to do the other side not swung it so I marked it on the same side but the other half of the leaf. 

I hope that makes sense!!!

^^^^^^ ----------- ^^^^^^


I've been making headpins, I love making headpins  ---   so thought I would try some more leaves and just try out some shapes and markings to see how they come out.

Well can you see the mistake I have made on these?

Marbled Leaves Headpins

These are the other side.  Yes, I promise they are!!

So I thought I would have a little game with you, if you can see the mistake write it in the comments below.

Anyone can comment but if you have not got a google account you will need to tell me in your comment who you are and how I can contact you (email preferably).


If there are more than one person with the right answer, I will pop you in the hat and pull out a winner.


What will you win, well how about some headpins (not these - unless you really want them!!)

I will make some new ones for you or you can choose from a few others I have, if you prefer!


You have until Friday 6th March by 5pm GMT to comment.


Happy guessing!

 

E x

Week 8 -- Practising Flowers

I fired up the torch last Sunday and was eager to do some more practising of flowers and leaves.  I wanted to make some headpins with leaves and then I had a go at pulling some petals for a flower, they came out quite small and so thought I would try making a headpin flower, not sure if its any specific type of flower but it was fun trying.

I also had a go at making some rosebuds too.  Each one improved a little each time I tried but I find I keep over working the petals when I put them on so they lose the 3D texture of each individual petal (like the one on the left).

The one in front is the best one so far!!

More practising required!!

Will keep you posted!!

E x

New pod shape and new glass

Yes I have new glass!


I went a little mad with my purchases, picked them up at flame-off and now finally getting round to trying them out. So more headpins, really loving making them!  

Practising different shapes and ideas, pods being one of them.

I've had a few breakages with them so there are quite a few I cant show you as the have cracked really badly.  Below are a few of my trials....



My new pod like shaped headpins in dark multi, these are also on brass wires

These 2 are a lovely dark teal transparent glass on copper wire

These  below are made using dark fossil glass another favourite glass that does its own thing!  I think I will make some in pod form too.  Yummy ....  but don't eat them!!

The fossil and the teal ones are now listed in my etsy  bead store.  The multi headpins are nearly ready for listing, I need some different photos of those too then they can go up.

So I will be busy listing over the coming days and get ready for my giveaway ........


watch this space ..................

E x

Birthdays

There has been a few birthdays in my world over the last month or so, all needing something special.  My friend Rosemary's birthday was at the end of March,  I wasn't sure what to get her, then I thought why not make her some beads as she is a novice jewellery maker, she loves gemstones and watches the Jewellery Maker TV channel constantly and buying various gemstones that catch her eye!

I wasn't sure what to do so I made some beads and they didn't go to well as I was trying to create a leaf as a focal bead but I need a bit more practice I think and it ended up I didn't have any beads finished for her actual day!  So lots of apologies were given to her and I promised to make her something very soon.

Oh dear it was difficult to get something sorted so I decided to ask her if she wanted any colours in particular. Ah well 'blues' really she said, as she has a new dress to wear to a wedding she is attending in early June.  She sent me pics of the dress and off to the workshop I went.

 

 

It is from Phase 8 and its called Edith Blossom Dress its very pretty, I tried to match the blue colours, so I picked some blue glasses in various shades and also included a new CIM colour Antique Lace which is a cream colour and some splashes of black too.

 

Edith Blues Set

I was quite pleased with the match.  I popped round to see Rosemary yesterday and we did a little match up with the actual dress and the transparent blue (Effetre Lagoona) was a bit dark but the other blue was really spot on, along with the cream too!  she liked the beads but they weren't quite right.

Now I have seen the dress up close there was a few other colours in it that seemed interesting so I am going to try and recreate those by doing a little colour mixing to see what I can come up with.  I will let you know when I have had a play and see what happens!



The next birthday was my Mum's, her birthday was last weekend she was 78 and I didn't have a clue what to give her.  She doesn't really want for much, I often make her something but wanted to do something different this year, so I decided that it would nice to take her up to London and go to the Theatre to see a show. I told her what I was thinking as I wanted to take her to see something she would like to see, so I gave her a little list.

I fancied seeing 'We Will Rock You' and few others but when I told her what one interested me she agreed that she wanted to see it too.  If you don't know what that is well its based around Queen songs but the story is set in the future when there are no musical instruments and everything is online including music.

 

 

I found some tickets for us both to go on Saturday (10th), its on at the Dominion Theatre in Tottenham Court Road.

We went up on the train and had a great time, it was really fantastic. It was like going to a concert really the singers were really good. She loved it and so did I.

 

 

 

Yes it really did have a motorbike on stage!

 

 

We had a bit of dinner up there too. She was pretty worn out when we finally got back home but she said it was well worth it.




I have been making lots of different headpins again, I love making them so much scope for using them with the glass finials on the end of the wire.  I use mostly raw wire like copper, brass, bronze and I will also try some sterling silver too. I won't use plated metal as it will be difficult to clean it as I think the plating metal will probably come off during the cleaning process.

Hoping to get some of the headpins listed very soon in my etsy shop, here is a bit of a preview for you

 

Marbled Ice Headpins

 

Multi Leaves and Drops Headpins

(previously seen but now annealed)

Also a nice pair of round beads in the new colour from CIM called Poseidon

Great for a pair of earrings, loving these may need to keep them for myself!!  80))


Till next time

E x

Having fun with Headpins

Yep I've been making some headpins.

I love making headpins, I wasn't sure how to make them in the beginning as I didn't know the best way to hold the wire while I added the glass. So I chatted to a few fellow lampworker friends and came up with using scrap wire and wrapping them onto a mandrel with it.

This works really well but is a bit time consuming getting them prepared. I saw Linda from Earthshine Beads on fb showing a photo of her demoing at a show at the weekend and she was using a pin vice to hold the wire. I think I might try it out and see how that goes!  So thank you to Linda for that idea, very helpful.

Dark Multicolour glass by Riechenbach

I love this glass one of my favourites at the moment, made by Riechenbach Dark Multi is a reactive glass but it just reacts in the flame with not much or no effort at all really, it just does what it does, just like MAGIC!!

                                    

Right then, I made drop headpins first the browny/red ones at the top, then I made the bluey, greeny, purpley ones next (Yes it really is the same glass) then I made the leaves at the very top of the above photo and they had more greens in them, with some brown and purples too.  In the first photo at the top of this post you can see some ivory beads and these have some d.multi dots and trails on them.

Now I went off to this years Flame-off in Uttoxeter a couple of weeks ago, had a great time because it is a lampworkers convention which happens once a year (not often enough).  It is an event for glass beadmakers hosting demos, supplies, beadmakers selling their own beads and the torch area, so we can get our fix if necessary and beginners can try out torches and have a go at making a bead or two possibly for the first time! I took a turn at helping out on the torches this year and really enjoyed helping some complete beginners make their first bead and a few others who needed some help with how to control the glass and even reshaping a bead for a lovely lady called Beryl.  It was such fun I may do it again next year. Some of the demos were fabulous and I did end up buying a few 'keepers' from some of the many artists there!

I stocked up on many different things but of course I couldn't come away without buying some lovely glass!! Oh boy was there some lovely, gorgeous and definitely delicious glass. 

CIM glass is my favourite glassmakers and they have some lovely new colours, below is one of them but its not quite come out a very good colour likeness. It still looks gorgeous but I will try and get a better photo tomorrow.  Sadly both of these headpins have cracked.  I don't think I got them into the bubbles quick enough as well as I may have pushed them to far into the bubbles and maybe they were touching the side of the bowl.  I always batch anneal my headpins as I always put them on the bottom of the kiln floor, instead of putting them into the kiln while I am making them.   

CIM Poseidon 

Must make some more as I love this new colour, which the name escapes me right now!!!  
Updated above ....

There are some lovely new oranges, pinks, lilac and all with great names for them as well.  Sunset, Frangipan (pink), Alleycat (orangey/yellow), Trade Winds (very dark blue), Gypsy (very dark purple), Rudolph (red), just to name a few!


So lots of making to do and some photos to take as well.


I will see you again very soon.

E x

Updated with names!   8.5.14

Christmas Smash Sale

I am having a little SALE in my Bead shop on Etsy.

Christmas Smash on some of my new items - buttons and headpins.

I haven't been making much at this time other than getting Christmas sorted out. This is very rare for me usually I rush around in the last week before Christmas, not this year! I was determined to get organised and I am afraid creativity has ceased!!!

So all I have for you is my Red hair!!!

 

Swoosh

I love it this colour, my favourite!!!



80))

 

E x

 

Top Tip Tuesday ~ Jewellery Basics Tutorial ~ Turning Loops

Jewellery Basics Techniques

I will be adding a number of Jewellery Basics to my blog along with other techniques in wirework.

 

In this tutorial I will show you how to make a turned loop using both methods, I have used one single bead to show how to do it with a bead in place.  I recommend that you try a few times on some spare, old or cheap headpins to practice before making a pair of earrings, for instance.

 

A Turned Loop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. On a headpin place on beads in desired pattern/design.  

 

 

 

2. Trim headpin down to approx. 1cm above the last bead.

 

 

 

3. Take the round nosed pliers, grasp the end of the headpin between the blades at the very tip.

Tip:

Ensure the tip of the pin does not protrude above the blades of the pliers, run your finger across the top of the blades ~ you shouldn't be able to feel the tip of the pin.



4.  Turn the pin around the blade pushing down with your thumb to form the loop, until you can't go any further.

                                 




5. Reposition your blades to continue with the loop until it closes, straighten you hands to allow you to continue comfortably

         

                                                           

 

this should resemble a ‘p’ or ‘q’ shape 



                                           



6.  To finish the loop, place blade of pliers into the back of the loop

       

 

NB:  take careful note of the position of the blades in the loop

  

7.  Bend back the wire to centralise the loop above the bead  

     

You may need to ‘tweak’ the loop as the bending can cause the loop to open a little, to close it up, just place your blades into the front of the loop again and just pull around to remove the gap, making sure you have fully inserted the blade into the loop, otherwise the loop can distort.    

You could also squeeze the loop together using flat nosed pliers, very slowly and carefully ~ too much pressure could end up completely distorting the loop and destroying the circular shape of the loop.

 

 

                                         A Turned Loop

 

 

Turned Loop – Alternative Method

1.  Place beads onto a headpin, bend the pin back at 90° angle just above the bead

2.  Trim headpin to 1cm.  Grasp pin with round nosed pliers at the very tip.

 

 

 

3. Bend the pin around the blade to form the loop in the opposite direction to the bend        

                                          

Tip:

Use your other thumb to help guide the wire around the blade as before.

 

 

NB:

 

If the end of the wire sits above the bead, too high, then you can trim the wire and carry the loop round to close it once again.  This shortens the wire so bringing it down lower, nearer to the bead.

 

 

 

 

That's it all done!


Next time ~~

I will show you how to make a Wrapped Loop ~  a little more complex than the turned loop but definitely worth the effort to master this technique as it has many uses and is a very fundamental wirework technique.


Til next time

E x

 

Blogtoberfest DAY 21

Oh dear dear me!! 

I have failed to keep up on my Blogtoberfest every day posting!!    Slappy Handy!!

Days just seem to be whizzing by and I haven't been around to organise what I wanted to post about!

I really am going to have to play catch up now but not necessarily in the order of my original schedule!  I am not good a time keeping so why I thought I could keep to a schedule I really don't know!!!  Ha ha!!


So Saturday Snippets

I headed off to the Big Bead Show at Sandown Park in Esher, Bead Magazine's Bead Show and their British Bead Awards, the winners where announced and Best in Show voting by the Bead Show attendees, I placed my vote but I didn't win any giveaway prizes though!

I did, however, get a bit carried away and my 'flexible friend' suffered a bit!

Tools were on the list amongst other things ~~ wire mainly but I did need that for my workshop which I might add is looming up fast on the 2nd November.  I have some students booked on it so its a Goer, YAY!   Need to make sure I have the necessary wire for that.

Well back to the TOOLS!

Top of my list was Letter Stamps for metal. TICK got those!  You might see my endeavours in the future.

New pair of wire cutters.  TICK got those with orange handles no less!

Pin vice, TICK.  Another pair of Nylon coated pliers, TICK got those!  Digital Calipers, TICK. And a Center Punch, TICK to them all! 

I did get a few beady things which included some solder paste and some st. silver beads and bead caps from Palmer Metals.  Gosh won't I be a busy beader!!! Whoahoo!!!!


I didn't get the wire as the supplier wasn't at the show so will need to order that on line, but I think I did quite well!  80))

And it was also my Wedding Anniversary so a lovely Chinese Takeaway for Tea!! Yum yum!



Next ~ The Sunday Gathering


I have got a few new beads to show you along with some new headpins which I have listed in my Etsy store

 

 

 

 

 

Jumbo Chatelle Beads

 

Leaves Headpins on copper wire

 

 

 

Sea Urchin Buttons and beads 

Just as few new things.


I do need to do some forum bits and bobs but will pop back to do that when I have sorted it out.



That's about it for now

E x

     

New Glassy Goodies

OOOO look at me 2 posts inside a week!!!

But I was itching to show you my new goodies, I've been looking to have a go at them for weeks now and finally got going! 

Here they are

Yes they are glass headpins for all you jewellery makers out there!!

The main problem was how to successfully make them without burning me!  So the first go was with the red berries/rosehips and the red heart, I thought I would try tapeing them to a bead mandrel with some duck tape.  It did work but was very messy and sticky.

So then I decided to try a different idea and thought why dont I just wire them onto a mandrel and that worked a treat, it was good as I could spin them just like making a bead and didnt burn my fingers which was great!!

The bluedrops I also added some frit and then pulled them into a lovely pointy drop shape which I think are so pretty.  So I will definitely be making more.  These aren't annealled yet as I decided to batch anneal them, then I hope what will happen is the copper wires will darken as they will get annealled as well.  I will need to hammer them to harden them but they will look antiqued, these then could be used as earrings by using the wire as the earring hook all in one piece.

I will show you how that goes once I have annealled them so you can see what I mean!!




I have lots on this week as its my daughter Billie's School Prom on friday and still haven't made her tiara yet along with some bobby pins for her hair.  And I am writing the next tutorial for Bead magazine as well ~~~ what am I doing now ~~ well writing this of course!!!!!


So better fly and get cracking with the tiara ~~~  like now!!!!!


Right bye for now

E x