Alien Sea Huntress

Or it might end up just being called Sea Huntress, or The Huntress. In my mind it's just 'why have I got this crazy necklace idea in my head? I've got enough half finished projects already without starting another one!'

This nearly did stall, and I know that I could still be tweaking it, but I'm trying to get back to one of the earliest lessons' I learnt with glass - stop, move on; that's as good as you can do for now, learn by it and take those lessons to the next thing you make. Easier said than done, I even posted some earlier pictures on Frit Happens to get some feedback to see what needed tweaking. I almost ended up with too many ideas of changes, so after a dozen more times threading and unthreading it, moving elements around, adding and taking them away, it ended up going very nearly back to how it started. I did find adding a few small Tibetan spacer beads helped some of the claws sit more neatly, which ended up being the main tweak. I wasn't going to put the spike in the centre, and just have the two claws facing each other, but when I did it was just crying out for something major between them. I even had to make beads for it - yes beads! I hardly ever make beads, and I hated the first ones, but then remembered some 'bumpy' style ones I'd seen somewhere, so made some like that which I really liked, and as a bonus kept more of the metallic lusters.

It's been an interesting project, and bizarrely came from working on the Alien monsters, where I'd developed some interesting ways of adding colour and texture. With this one the colour has a really, really, high silver and metal content, so in real life has some wonderful metallic lusters. Oddly though parts of it show up as yellow when light shines through them, but green-blue when the light hits it straight on!

I am still deciding if I should list this on Etsy, or take it along to the May Expo. When I make things like this, I tend to think 'would this look like something someone of 'Farscape' would have worn?' If the answer is yes, or at least possiably, then I think it's right.

Talking of which, I have some news about the Aliens, but it's not confirmed yet, so you are going to have to wait until the next post, but I will post on my Facebook page as soon as I know it's going to happen.

In the meantime, here's lots of pictures of the necklace.

Silver Lined Big Holed Beads

I've finally had a chance to make some silver cored beads! I started by using brass tubing before using more expensive silver, and the first couple I made went really well. I used some reject beads with dents and imperfections on them. Once polished up the brass was really bright, they almost look gold! The hole through the middle is about 4.9-4.7mm, and the metal is put in after the beads have been made and cleaned.

I also tried some copper, but it was much thicker and I kept cracking the beads, but I'd got more confidence using the press and so switched to silver. I had some breakages, I seemed to go just a little too far at the end as one broke into three bits. Typically it was a really nice bead too! The next couple came out ok, then I had two nice ones chip, I guess I was getting too over confident at this point! Both were made with blood red glass with purple lusters and sparkles, I will certainly make some more of those as I really liked how the effect came out. I took some photos of them before I have to smash them up to get the expensive silver back out.

Finally I got three nice silver ones made, including quite a chunky one with some nice green swirls. Oddly even though I used the same silver tube the hole came out a little smaller (about 4.4mm, the others are between 4.9-4.7mm which I am told fits alot of the bracelet chains made for these beads) I guess as there was more silver in this one.

It's been quite expensive buying the press, silver, mandrels and bits and bobs, but overall I really like the effect, and boro really lends itself to these sorts of focal beads. I should have tried doing these years ago, especially after prowling around shopping centres this weekend. I am so spoiled looking at some of the amazing handmade ones from other UK lampworkers, I didn't realise how boring the mass produced ones are! I am certainly going to make more of these, I am going to have fun dreaming up new colour combos, so please let me know if there is any you'd like to see!

Christmas is Over & Synchronicity

It's been a crazy few weeks, what with two craft fairs and a welcome influx of orders, plus various 'dayjob' things that need my attention at the same time! Last Thursday I was at the Museum of London's Docklands branch for their Xmas evening fair. It was nice to be in the warm, but after a frantic hour of getting the stall up, three hours of chatting to customers and stall holders, then a frantic half hour packing up the dry air started taking it's toll as I begun loosing my voice! Luckily a couple of old friends turned up (including Miss Alice who seems to know every interesting corner of London!) who insisted I stop for a quick drink before trundling back on the DLR to get home, like Cinders, by midnight.

With nothing else planned now, it suddenly feels like xmas is over for me! I'm still adding to the Folksy and Etsy shops, and a good job too as one of my razors has been featured in the Folksy Festive Sampler, which is both an online newspaper, and a real paper that's being given away around the UK! I need to make more shaving brushes and razors (they are quite time consuming) and I am in two minds whether to continue to sell them on Folksy or sell them on my website to save people the hassle of opening accounts on Folksy, although I suspect I'll carry on just selling them on there for the time being.

At least now it feels like I might get time to sort out one or two projects I've been mulling over for a while, including some custom metalwork for the shaving brushes. The night before I was about to order in supplies I was chatting to my other half about silver cored beads, as I know boro versions of these would look fantastic. Spookily the next morning I logged into Frit Happens (a forum for lampworkers) and found someone offering a special press to help core them! Such strange synchronicity, I had to buy it, and now added to my 'to-do' list is practice big-hole-beads too. I suspect my Xmas break is going to be quite busy after all!