LFCC, Birmingham, and Sunden changes of plan

Firstly a big thanks to everyone who came and saw us at London Film and Comic-con at Olympia. For those of you who keep up with my random Facebook postings you’ll know at one point it was touch and go if I’d make it at all! I’m so glad we did, the new layout made walking around a lot easier with wider aisles plus less stair climbing with almost everything on one floor. I’ve already booked for next year, so I’m hopping to make that a regular appearance from now one (fingers crossed!)

 Although this past month has taught me that all plans can suddenly change at the last minute. A combination of transport problems and ill family member two weeks before LFCC caused some very fast change of plans, plus a few sleepless nights trying to re-arrange everything I’d put into place months before. I do dedicate a lot of time and energy before these events to ensure I have everything I need as well as a good choice of some of my best glass for people to choose – but then I also expect last minute things to go wrong, and as much as I make contingency plans forgetting to pack things like enough business cards does still happen!

Recent events behind the scenes means that I am going to have to radically change a few things over the next few months, and regrettably November’s Birmingham MCM at NEC is going to have to be one of the events I am not going to be able to attend. It’s really a shame, as it is such a relaxed event, we meet such great people there, and as a bonus Birmingham has some of the best curry houses we get to visit too! At the moment we may also have to miss the March 2017 one too, but I’m hoping things get resolved before then so we can make our return then. Also I am only able to get to Covent Garden one day a week at the moment, on Tuesdays, and I am also hoping in the next few months that I will be able to get there for more days too. I do also hope to also increase the amount of glass in my Etsy shop too, which not prepping for Birmingham will allow me more time to concentrate on too.

One show that definitely we will be at is London’s MCM Expo at Excel on 28-30^th October. Not only will we be back with as much as I can carry but we will be in exactly the same spot at May, with a ‘booth’ style stall too which makes it much easier to layout and display the glass for you to see. I’m already making new aliens for it, I’ll be extending the range of coloured inks for dip pens too which previewed at LFCC, including three new metallic colours. There will also be pendants, marbles, more rings and earrings, and if we have room some more boxes and ‘B-Movie’ cushions too. I do hope to see you there, so long as nothing else happens in the meantime!

All the best

Glenn

Birmingham Comic-Con

Well, I am back! The Etsy shop is half re-opened, I'm still tried, but still buzzing with ideas after this weekends MCM Expo at Birmingham's NEC. Instead of too much waffling I'm posting lots of photo's here that will hopefully give you a taste of the event, and the always amazing costumes that so many people put together for these Expos that transform them into such colourful events. Ellie has a smart new camera and even managed to get a video clip ( You Tube Video ) of one of the 'parades' of characters - everyone from Darth Vader, Indiana Jones, Xena, to 'Top Gears' The Stig!!! There was even a stall of an R2D2 builders club, with lots of R2D2's wandering around the venue!

A very large and very empty NEC

Home for the next two days, the last set of tables on the end of this row
 

Of course, after a three hour drive the first bit of transformation needed was the hall itself! We got there by 2pm on Friday, ready to unload and put everything together, and transform some unexciting wooden tables into our stall.


A short video of The Parade

R2D2's from the builders club, note the massing Star Wars Stormtroopers at the top right of the picture

Another R2D2, this one hiding in a corner

Fight! Fight! Plenty of chances for some mock posed super-hero/villian fights!

An unlikely group!

Birmingham, here we come! (What have I forgotten to pack?)

Well, it's been months in the planning, and then lots of last minute running around and I am still wondering what I've forgotten! It's the Birmingham MCM Comic-con this weekend, and not only the first big event of the year for me, but also the first time I've ever done this show so am not sure what to expect! Hopefully it'll all be good things, and if it's anything like the London show it'll be full of amazing outfits and really lovely people to chat too! I've got some really nice new large marbles, plus new Aliens Specimen pictures too! OH (Other Half) is on hand again to help out on the stall, and in return I've promised her a trip(s) to some of Birmingham's legendary Balti houses! Yum! As you can see from this quick snap everything is packed (I hope), I guess I've either forgotten something as it feels like this time we've got less to take, I think I've got better at packing!

 I can't wait, although I am still wondering what I've forgotten.

Ah, just remembered..... clothes, toothbrush..... I haven't packed my suitcase yet!

Monday is the new Sunday

Where have the weeks gone? It seems like a million years since I've had time to update the blog or add new items for sale. Greenwich market has been keeping me very busy, even when it's a quiet weekend I still seem to have run out of something and need to make more!

Monday has now turned into the new Sunday for me, I drag a huge case on a trolley and rucksack to and from the market every weekend, and it's quite a load. So far I've managed to break two trolleys and one wheel! Monday morning I'm left somewhat battered, bruised (from lifting the trolley up and down onto trains and buses as I don't drive), and more than a little tired. However I've never been fitter!

This Sunday I decided to take a much needed break; it was marathon day and I expected the market to be quieter as the route goes around the market, blocking entrance from nearby Cuty Sark DLR station. It's actually taken me a couple of days to feel ok, just ready for a very long four day weekend! I plan to be at Greenwich for Good Friday to Bank Holiday Monday, hopefully I might see some of you there!

I'm trying to make lots of new razors and bottle stoppers ready, and feeling a bit rested today I've even found a little time to polish a few new ideas that I've had on the back burner. I'll try to get some photos taken! In the meantime here are some of the new razors I've been making, plus a new 'publicity' photo of me melting glass.+

Selling Happy

This Saturday I dragged my increasingly battered case up to Highgate for a new-ish fair in North London. As I'd booked last minute was put outside, which turned out to be great as the sun came out, and the tables were bigger! It was in a pub, and setting up on one of those beer-garden tables with seats was a bit odd, but I seemed to make a fairly good job of it (unlike the photo I took which didn't save!)

To be honest, it wasn't really as busy as I'd expected, however I did ok, and really quite enjoyed it after a slow start. I've met and seen a lot of different stall and stall holders lately, and I am really surprised the amount of different ways they approach selling. Personally, I just turn up and waffle to anyone how wants to listen about glass!

I've certainly seen a few people struggling too, and I've been there too. However tonight on my way home I compared it to my 'old life' where I was selling electrical engineering stuff that people had to buy, and how little joy there was in that. People were buying it to fix problems, but now I feel like I am selling people a little bit of happy.

Today there was a lovely lady who really liked the pendants but was torn between two, until her husband offered to buy both, which made her really happy! The funny thing is I've done the same thing, because treating my other half makes her happy, which makes me feel happy. Does that make sense? I am not making something that people have to have - like cornflakes, or soap - but something they like which is going to make them feel good when they wear it, or something they are going to give as a gift which they hope is going to make the recipient smile too.

So when I am struggling with a broken wheeled trolley, ends are quite meeting, or I'm standing on a packed commuter train after standing all day behind a stall, I can at least try to remember why I am now doing this, because when I think of it in this way how can I not think how lucky I am to have such a great job!

Out and about!

A bit short notice, but I am out and about with 'stuff' including lots of new marbles too! Wednesday I am (fingers crossed) at Greenwich market, the covered main market, as I am doing a trial day there from first thing to close, which will probably be about 4-5pm.

Saturday is even more exciting as I am attending a new market in Highbury that is running about there times a month. It's 12-5.30 at 'The Boogaloo' bar at 312 Archway Road in Highgate, London. More info at http://www.facebook.com/wonderhillhigh I will be there with lots of new pendants, marbles, stoppers, and all manor of glassy 'stuff!'

Decisions, decisions

It's been another tough week, I normally am quite good at making decisions and then going and getting on with things, but not this week as I try to decide 'where next.'

I've been hoping to take a semi-permanent stall somewhere, but as with everything it's all about the location. I wasn't really happy with Spittlefields market, although the people are nice I did feel like my stall must have been touched by the plague as no one really wanted to come and look, and they don't run a Saturday market. Camden was 'interesting' but I was so tired out from doing Spittlefields (plus the nightmare tube breakdown at the start of the day) I had to cancel the Sunday.

I'd really like to be at a dedicated crafts and art market, this week I went to chat to the Greenwich market manager. I am due to do a trial day on Wednesday, but they have a 'no more jewellery' policy which means I'd might not be able to sell my pendants there. That might make it unviable, I am hoping they will see how unique and unusual they are and let them in. If not, I guess it'll probably back to Camden for now, but it's tough trying to sell hand made goods next to cheap imports. As I planned to be at a permanent location I've recklessly turned down a couple of one day fairs, and wondering about trying to book up some now just in case.

In the meantime I'm melting glass like a manic, and it's become a creative time for me again as I re-explore marbles. I've been experimenting with some new design ideas, again based on sci-fi and space themes. I've got no photos yet, they still need some baking to really bring the colours out, but I'll try to post some photos here or on my Facebook page within a few days. If anything fiddling around with stalls and making display equipment is really cutting into time I prefer to be creating. In the meantime I am trying to list at least one new thing a day in my Etsy and/or Folksy shop. I am using the Facebook page a lot more now when I do, so if you haven't found it yet it's on https://www.facebook.com/SteamPunkGlass

Boiling pink, and getting ready for the weekend

Since the sudden removal of the day-job, it seems there are less hours in the day than I previously believed! Gone are those hours of staring at spreadsheets that turned five minutes into an hour, and replaced by... oh, staring at spreadsheets working out if I can afford to do this! This time though what feels like five minutes is usually an hour!

I think almost everyone who I've spoken to have been amazing positive and think that I am doing the right thing. Certainly looking at the alternatives (a 'proper job') seems both a step backwards, and the options and positions open are very limited. That's not to say I do keep getting that little voice in the back of my head wondering if I am doing the right thing. This weekend though, fingers crossed, I shall be in London with a new stand and new pendants! I am more than a little nervous!

I've been ploughing into making new pendants ready, and having more time at the torch has had some unexpected bonuses. Along with exploring new shapes and styles I've dusted off some 'troublesome' colours that haven't worked in the past. One of these, Solara, was supposed to be tones of yellows and purples, but just bubbled horrendously, and either stayed clear or went and unappealing 'ear-wax' colour! However with more firepower I've started getting some rich amber tones, and although there are some bubbles left trapped inside they actually add a more organic feel to the pieces. Here are a quick couple of shots in different lights, this is one where the purples seem to come out in certain lights which doesn't really get picked up well by my camera, along with the patterns I've added to them.

One other is a wisteria colour, which also was like handling boiling jam. I've managed to get this to stay smooth, and now rather like it, which is great as pink is closely related to this colour. I had a try again with pink, but I still have trouble with it, but I think I am getting there! I've also managed to get some shaving brushes made and listed on Folksy too!

At present I am hoping to have a stall in Spittlefields market on Friday, between 10am-4pm - although I don't have a guaranteed place, so won't know if there is room until I get there, so I am keeping my fingers crossed! Saturday and Sunday I will be in Camden market, in the crafts and handmade area just over the bridge. The weather is supposed to warm up this weekend, so lets hope it stays dry as well, maybe I'll see some of you there!

Stepping off the Ledge

I have some rather momentous news. As you may or may not know until now I've been having to divide my attention between glass and a 'dayjob.' I often have other full time crafters asking how on earth I manage to do both, and it is tricky at times, normally it's making glass which suffers though when my job becomes too busy and stressful - although going off to spend a few hours melting is a great antidote to stress, which was one of the reasons I got so into it in the first place! (Plus it's addictive!)

However for sometime now I've been really struggling with the day-to-day 'difficulties' of work, and last week things came to a head with some rather grim meetings and I decided enough was enough. So I quit!!!!!!

I won't bore you with the details, after all that's now part of my old life and very negative, I am more interested in moving forward to a more positive future. I don't have a job to walk into, but it feels like the right thing to do if only for my sanity and health! Added to this there have been so many strange coincidences and bits of synchronicity lately, it just feels like the right time. My other half always used to say 'let the universe provide' and would have faith in herself and just go for it. Years ago she moved to London to live with me, with no job, and by noon the next day had a job a short walk from my flat! So many times lately I read the quote 'leap, and the net will appear,' to which I always remember the part in 'Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade' where he steps off the ledge of the cliff, to find there was a bridge there all along hidden in plain sight by an optical illusion. You just can't see it until you are on the bridge. I think it's about having faith in yourself, something the cooperate world seems unable to inspire anymore.

I am still weighing up my options, but it's between going and getting another job and carrying on like I was, or going for it and striking out on my own. After a particularly nasty meeting last week, which left me feeling a bit battered, I called a number I'd had got of a market manager in a very large venue to test the waters. After 20 seconds of telling him what I made the reaction was amazing - and so opposite what I'd just endured - and was offered priority of a stall any day I wanted, whenever I wanted and was hugely positive and upbeat.

Now I wasn't planning on doing lots of fairs or a regular stall originally, and I'd want to check out some more venues first, but the idea is very tempting. Faced with a return to cooperate life where saying 'no' to added stress earns you a black mark what would you choose? Live in fear, or make the leap?

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Note; The picture is one of my own that I did a few years ago, if you look very, very closely, you might just see a little man on a treadmill who's driving the big rusty machine ;)

Upcoming Fairs

I am out and about, and at large again soon! First of all I will be at West Bergholt, which is just outside Colchester on Saturday 20th. It runs from 10am till 4pm, and there is more info here; http://creationsfayre.blogspot.com/2010/08/meet-stallholders.html

Also on Thursday 9th December I will be in London, at The Museum of London's Docklands venue for their Christmas fair. This is an evening event, and runs from 6pm till 9pm, I understand there will be about 50 stalls, mince pies, mulled wine, and even carol singers (although I can't vouch for them all being called carol!) More info; http://www.museumindocklands.org.uk/English/EventsExhibitions/events/eventDetails.htm?eventID=2733

Excuse the lack of blog and Twitter postings of late, I've been frantically making for both of these fairs, plus items for a shop in Cirencester called M.A.D.E at 9 Silver Street. They don't have as large a selection of my work as The York Gift Gallery, but they do now have a selection of my Steampunk Whistles and Marble Bottle Stoppers! Please do check it out if you are in the area and let me know what you think!

The York Gift Gallery (19 The Shambles, York) I am pleased to hear from owner Kate that it is going from strength to strength. They managed to raise £100 last week towards Breast Cancer, and I was more than pleased to help it along with a pink pendant from me. You may have noticed a lack of 'pinkness' in my shops, it's one of the colours I find hardest to work with, so it's quite a rare pendant!

You may also have noticed a lack of new 'stuff' in my Etsy and Folksy shop of late, making the recent batch of razors has taken up a lot more time than I realized, plus I am making lots of new stuff for both the upcoming fairs and the York Shop, but I will try and get some new bits listed soon! It's great to be so busy, I even had to order a 'little' bit of glass - 32kg of clear rods!!!! That should keep me going for a few months! I have lots of ideas of new things to try, including a still half finished glass Steampunk sculpture, but I guess I might not get the chance to do them until the xmas holidays!

Last Minute Threading!

A quick reminder that I will be at the Dark Mills festival this weekend in Collingwood in London http://www.darkmillsfestival.com/market.html , I'm still working like mad putting everything together, I have my tick list so I hope I don't forget anything! One thing I have been checking is the weather, especially after the winds and torrential rains of last weeks bank holiday weekend. The good news is it looks fine and warm, ideal as so much of the event is outdoors, and I am sure there will be some amazingly dressed people at the event to make my currently purple tinted hair look rather tame! I am very much hoping my new cyberpunk pendants will find some new homes to go along with some amazing outfits!


A quick couple of photos of some luscious red pendants, each with some lovely Gilson Opal heart-shaped inclusions! These will be on the stall this weekend, so long as I get a move on and get the ends crimped and them boxed and packed in time! Must dash, there are some last minute glass snakes that need putting on cords! If you are coming along I hope to see you there, if not have a great weekend! :)

The Value of The Dry Run

One of the limitations on doing fairs for me is that I can't drive. In all these years I just never got around to learning. Living for so many years in London didn't help, as it's easier there to hop on a bus, tube or train than sit in a jam too. I figured whatever I would have spent running a car I'd spend on tube and occasional Taxi fares.

It does make getting to fairs tricky, especially if I want to take plenty of stuff with me. For the upcoming Dark Mills festival I wanted to improve my stall layout, a lot of other crafters have mentioned adding height to their stalls too. If I was a car driver no doubt I'd invest in some nice glass display units, but I had to come up with something light I could flat-pack.

My solution is this simple stand which is designed to take the new boxes I am now using. It starts as two thin planks, two flat panels, and a bundle of wooden dowels. Four bolts lock the corners together, which isn't that strong until all the dowels are pushed into place, then the whole box becomes much more rigid. The jewellery boxes are then laid onto the dowels which holds them up at a nice angle, with two holding the back and another acts as a register to support the bottom edge - the new boxes even have a lip which helps with this. When I first tested it out I found I could fit 60 of the large sized boxes in this, on a table space I'd originally have got less than half that onto. They look pretty good too, as each pendant is framed by the white foam they are on. Also the inside area will act as a neat storage area for lids and spare stock - much better than a suitcase on the floor which is what I used before for storage!

I set up a dry run of this in my living room, which turned out to be invaluable. Since first making it I'd added runners so I could slip a black card down to hide the storage area, but they now stopped me getting the bolts on! Plus the paint now clogged up the holes so the dowels now didn't fit! So glad I found that out when I could rush to my shed for tools rather than at 7am on site! Once that was done I tried laying out the other side of the table with the busts and new bottle stopper display (a funky new acrylic holder I've made too.) It took a while of moving bits around, but got it looking 'ok,' but it wasn't quite right still. As this was a dry run it meant I could leave it and come back to it, and move things around at leisure. That was invaluable as it took just moving one thing to go 'ah ha!' Not only had I got a layout I liked, but realised that I could use one of the busts to fill in space when (thinking positively here!) the ribbon necklaces sell out! I just need to make a device to hold the little world stud boxes next.

One of the extra things I realised from the test setup was the digital picture frame looked lost, and took up valuable space on the free side of the stall. I picked it up and lent it on the main stand meaning to shuffle things around, and suddenly saw that was actually the best place for it! Out with the drill, a few extra mounting holes (stab myself with a stanley knife, typical!) and it's now at eye-level! I just hope the rechargeable batteries last all day!

Now as it gets nearer the time I am starting to get nervous, I've spent a lot on bits for the stall so I really hope it does well! At least with this dry run out of the way I now know how the stall will look and have got some daft problems resolved in advance. Fingers crossed the weather stays fine now!

It's all gone a bit mad here!

Isn't it always the way, that everything suddenly happens at once? The big one for me is the Dark Mills festival, which I've been making lots of pendants and stoppers for, and as you can see here some of the pendants ready for quality control!

Quality control in this case is my other half, who volunteered to help out. I'm my own worst enemy, I tend to be very picky on the smallest details, so it's great to get an independent eye (and ex-quality controller at a jewellery warehouse to boot!) I had realised how many pendants I'd actually made until they were all laid out, so it's been a quick (and expensive!) order for more silver crimps and cords!

Even with the extra help my 'to do' list seems to be lengthening by the day, when I got confirmation of the opening of a new gift shop and gallery in York where I will have some of my marble stoppers and jewellery on display! It is opening at the start of September, and I need to have the first parts there..... just before the festival! Ekk! On top of that a 'day job' project is about to come to ahead too. So it's going to be a manic few weeks, so please excuse the intermittent listings and blog posts until normal service is resumed! If you are in the Colchester area I'll also be having a stall at West Bergholt on Saturday 20th November, more details here! http://creationsfayre.blogspot.com/2010/08/meet-stallholders.html

Announcing.... Dark Mills Alternative Festival!

It's finally confirmed, I will be having a stall at the upcoming Dark Mills Alternative festival in London on 4-5th September! This is also a FREE festival - and there aren't many of those these days!

The event is at Merton Abbey Mills, Merantun way, SW19 2RD, close to Colliers Wood tube station . There are going to be quite a range of strange events, from Burlesque dancers to alternative art, live bands, even seminars with actors and actresses, directors and writers of top horror and sci-fi films. A few of the events have to be paid for, but there is lots going on for free too, and I think there is even a regular arts and crafts fair on too. I'm going (unless something changes at the last minute) to be on a corner stall opposite The Coles Shop which houses a restaurant and cafe, and near to the 'Goth Market' at the bandstand.

I'll be taking along many of my new cyber pendants, some which will be UV reactive glowing, so ideal for clubbing! Also I've been hard at work perfecting some new improved versions of galaxy marbles which I'll have as bottle stoppers, along with a whole load of other bits and bobs. There will be a great deal of new things that I have barely listed up, so please do pop along and see me and the glass! It's going to be quite an unusual mix of people going along, so I'm planning on taking a good selection of items from nebula pendants to flower drops so hopefully there will be something for everyone.

Don't forget, it's FREE to get in, and you don't have to be 'into' alternative fashions or lifestyles to come along, it's open to all and it would be lovely to see some of you there!

More info on the Dark Mills website here,
http://www.darkmillsfestival.com/