Saturday 16 March 2013

Inspiration

I'm always a little embarrassed when asked the question "Where do you get your inspiration?" because I know the expected answer is anything other than "Everywhere!" or "Dunno.".

The truth is, I rarely know where my ideas for beads come from.  I tend to sit at the torch with a handful of colours that I like, start playing and wait to see what happens.

I'm constantly revisiting Design Seeds for colour ideas (I'm subscribed to their feed so I don't miss anything!) but more often or not I grab a glass rod or two at random and just start to play.

There has been at one notable exception though.  Like many people, I have an account on Pinterest, partly because I like pretty pictures but mostly because I find it easier to find items I want to bookmark for future reference by scanning a page of pictures rather than by a text list.

I came across a few pictures of rocks and caves, eroded and shaped by the wind in Antelope Canyon, Arizona:

Credit: Ian Parker
Credit: Nick Melidonis
Credit: Andrea Peckl

"Ooh, nice colours!" I thought.  Then "It looks a bit like etched glass.".

Ting!

For the first time ever, a real piece of inspiration!  I even knew exactly which colours to use.  The next time I was at my torch I tried them and it all worked first time; Arizona Ombré was born:


In case you're wondering what it looked like before it was etched...


I think it's nice enough, but I do prefer the etched version.  It seems to highlight the graduated colours more.

Still, as far as being able to put my finger on inspiration, that's the only example I have!  I can't be the only person who seems to grab their inspiration out of thin air... can I?

Sunday 17 February 2013

Showing off your poppers

Poppers, snaps, chunks, whatever you call them, they're pretty popular amongst the lampwork community, not to mention their customers and have become highly collectable.  I have a modest selection of them, some of which are in my Etsy shop:


Most people wear them on leather bracelets but there are also other ways to wear them as I'm about to show you.  I've stayed within Etsy for all of these otherwise I could have been here all day, cutting and pasting links!  So without further ado, I'll start with....


Wear them on your wrist...


There are plenty of fantastic designs of popper bracelets out there, not just in leather but in other materials too:

Leather "Mangopop" Bracelets from Mangobeads
Leather popper bracelets from RASPBERRYRINGS
Leather popper bracelet from AtelierZilverglas
Leather bracelet by MadelineBunyan

I'd like to add here that I bought one of Madeline's bracelets to match with one of my Dragon's Eye poppers and they went together wonderfully!

Dragon's Eye popper by janehamill on leather bracelet by MadelineBunyan

Which leads me onto two of my own bracelet designs:

"Quattro" leather cuff bracelet by janehamill
"Circles" suede cuff bracelet by janehamill

And now for more bracelets in different materials:

"abaco" adjustable bangle by mizgeorge
Etched Purple Copper Cuff by blueberribeads
Silvertone metal bracelet by JustMade


Wear them on your fingers...


Sterling Silver ring by EnchantedCobwebs
Ring by BeadTreasures4You


Wear them on your ears...




And finally, wear them in your own creations!


Until I did some searching for things to include in this post, I didn't know someone had made a popper component that you could use in your own piece of jewellery!

Pendant or component by BeadTreasures4You

So there you have it, plenty of ways to show off your poppers!  Not a comprehensive list but certainly enough to be getting on with.  Do you know more that should be included here?  Or do you know of any distinctive popper jewellery designs outside of Etsy?  Let me know in the comments box - I'm happy to share the links with the world!

Saturday 9 February 2013

February Giveaway - we have a winner!

Apologies for not posting this sooner. I drew the name of the winner of my giveaway at 8pm last night as promised and then had trouble publishing a post to my blog to announce it. I did post the result on my Facebook page though so at least I managed to let some of you know :)

The winner of the draw was Linda from Earthshine.co.uk - congratulations Linda! Your prize will be in the post to you ASAP.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the competition and for all the lovely comments you left both here and on Facebook. I hope to be back in the workshop soon to make more shiny things for you to include in your beady creations.

I know what you're really wondering is "When is she going to hold another giveaway?" ;) Well, I'll feel like celebrating once I get back to the workshop... and if you check out the "likes" on my Facebook page, you'll see I'm not all that from from 1000 followers (yes, really!). Maybe we'll have a double celebration on our hands...

Friday 1 February 2013

February Giveaway

At the beginning of January, my Facebook page had reached 900+ likes and to celebrate I promised I'd hold a glassy giveaway.

Well, better late than never, eh? :)

So here's the prize - one of my signature Rainbow Tie-Dye art glass beads in the shape of a heart, hung on a sterling silver snake chain. Either keep it as a gift for yourself or give it to someone special on Valentine's Day!

It doesn't matter where you are in the world - this giveaway is open to international entries.

To enter, all you have to do is comment on this post. I don't require you to "like" my Facebook page (Facebook does not look kindly on that sort of thing) but I'd appreciate it if you did and would be kind enough to share it with your friends :) It'd be great if you could follow my blog too - that way you'll know when the next glassy giveaway is happening...

I will put all the names in a randomiser app and will use it to choose the winner at 8pm on Friday 8th February. The winner will be announced here and on my Facebook page. Good luck!

Edited to add: Some people have had problems posting below and I know some would prefer not to, so if you'd like to leave a comment on my Facebook page, under my post about this giveaway or  under a photo I posted of this pendant I'll add you to the list - thanks!

9th Feb Update: The winner has been announced