Wednesday 23 December 2009

Seasons Greetings to you All



I was trying to find an appropriate picture to put up with my Seasonal Greetings so here is a photo of the Angel pendant I made for my Mum last Christmas. I have been busy making some commissions in the run up to Christmas and will post my favourite set on here next week.

So

Happy Christmas to you all, may be it a peaceful and joyful time.

Joy x

Thursday 10 December 2009

Last Craft Fair Today


You have probably been wondering where I have been. Can't believe it is so long since I last posted. Things have been really busy. It is great how many people are making their own Christmas presents this year and the Art Clay has been flying out of my ebay shop ArtClayUK. I've been busy packing parcels and getting them posted out to you as quick as I can!!

Today is my last craft fair for this year. I am in the historic and pretty Battle in East Sussex for the Gala Night. Wealden Craftworkers are in the Memorial Hall from 4pm until 8.30pm. It is a lovely evening with all the shops taking part and people dressing up and offering goodies so if you are still in need of a few Christmas presents why not pop along.

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Calling all Metal Clay Enthusiasts....

The Metal Clay Academy is conducting a survey all about Metal Clay. If you are using any type of metal clay then please click on the link on the right hand side (directly under my hamster!) to read all about the survey and to take part. The survey is completely anonymous but your answers really will count!!! The survey is open for all of December.

Thanks

Monday 30 November 2009

My Fab Neckwarmer

Here is a photo of the lovely neck warmer Laura knitted for me like hers but in lovely orange. I shall try to get a photo of me wearing it but sadly I will never look as elegant as Laura does wearing her gorgeous purple one!!! Still the plus point is it should cover up my double chin (just look at the photo of me lampworking in my earlier post! :))) )

I shall be wearing it this weekend at the craft fair in an outside marquee, that is for sure with the current weather forecast!! Thanks Laura.

My Second Go at Lampworking



So... here they are. My second ever batch of lampworked beads made on my one to one workshop with Laura Sparling. I was very happy with the results. A very long way from perfect but Laura did keep reminding me I could not expect perfect in two lessons! :-) I was at a craft fair when these arrived and hubby texted me to tell me. I sent back a message saying open them at once and tell me what they are like! (ok, I was quite excited they had arrived). I got a reply that they were "quite startling!!". That's husbands for you! Laura also sent me a fab burnt orange neck warmer she had knitted for me. I shall have to try to get a photo of me wearing it. It is cashmere and gorgeous!

The beads from my first lesson had rather a rainbow effect with me trying every colour rod of glass I could get my hands on so this time I had decided to keep it simple with just 4 colours. I am really quite taken with ivory so used that with black, a transparent red and an opaque red. I even got to encase a couple of beads in clear. You can sort of see my progression in the flower design as I eventually managed to get the dots big enough. The bead at the bottom is a sort of sculptural bead (!!!) that rather took on a life of its own as it went along as I had started making something quite different. Now to buy my own torch....

I did two craft fairs over the weekend. Saturdays was very good, Sundays was a bit lacking in people but that meant all the craft makers had a good chat and a laugh together so I enjoyed the day anyway.

I am doing an extra craft fair this weekend at Stone Cross Nurseries near Eastbourne. I shall be there on Saturday 5th in the craft marquee. Pop in and say hi if you are in the area. They are having their Xmas Tree event and I think you may even get a free glass of mulled wine. Now there is an incentive to come along!

Wednesday 25 November 2009

Glass Melting Fun


Well did I have fun yesterday? You bet! I even look as though I almost know what I am doing!! Laura really is a great tutor. I am now eagerly awaiting the arrival of my annealed beads to see what exactly I managed to create! I will take pictures and post them here no matter how bad they are - promise!!
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If you want to learn how to make your own lampwork glass beads Laura Sparling will be running more one to one workshops starting in January. I highly recommend it.

Sunday 22 November 2009

A Little Bit of ME Time!

The last few weeks have been really hectic. This weekend has been the first one for ages where I have not either been doing craft fairs or teaching, so yesterday I got into my workshop and had a good old sort out. It was getting in quite a pickle and definitely needed it. By mid afternoon it looked a lot better so I opened a packet of Art Clay Copper Clay that I had not had a chance to try since returning from the Art Clay conference.
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When you are used to using Silver Clay opening a 50g pack of Copper seems an awful lot of clay, especially as I wanted to use it all up in one go. I started off by using a bit of Gloves in a Bottle on my hands. I am fine with Silver Clay but I did notice when I tried the Copper Clay at the conference it made my hands itch a bit so I had bought a bottle of this ready. It coats your hands and prevents the irritation.
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The photo above is just some of the pieces I made. I still have a large fish and a pendant which need finishing off and firing. I was mainly working with the idea of making elements to combine with Art Clay Silver. The Copper clay has to be fired first as it fires on the open shelf in the kiln at 970c for 30mins. At this temperature the Silver Clay would melt if you tried to fire them together.
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Why the large holes in the flowers I hear you asking. Well the next stage is to combine the silver clay with the fired copper pieces, but silver and copper will not actually fuse together so to join them I need to have silver clay through the hole which will hold it all together after firing. Sounds a bit complicated? It will make more sense when I get a chance to finish them off.
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I was delighted with the way the Copper Clay worked and felt. A bit softer and wetter than Art Clay Silver it took the textures well and moulded beautifully. Best of all once dried the baby wipes worked fantastically well on it. Any of you who have taken a workshop with me will know I am the biggest fan of baby wipes for cleaning up the edges of dried clay pieces. No dust and mess and lovely smooth edges. I had heard it suggested baby wipes might not work well with the copper but no - they were fab. Even better than on the silver clay.
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The pieces come out the kiln literally red (well orange actually) hot and are dropped straight into a bowl of cold water. This makes the black firescale ping off, and then they go into the pickle to finish removing any black from the surface. After that these pieces have just been given a quick brush up with a brass brush under running water.
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I wont actually be getting to finish these off for a few days though as this week I am off to do a workshop myself. Whoppee!! I am going to Oxford to learn a bit more about making lampworked beads with the wonderful Laura Sparling. I did a one to one workshop with Laura at the beginning of the year. I had never tried making beads before but I just love all the fabulous beads Laura creates. I had a brilliant day last time and under her expert tuition I was amazed to produce all the beads below.

Of course I came home full of great excitement and enthusiasm to make more beads but then hit a very big logistical problem. My workshop is upstairs and a cylinder of propane needs to be stored outside for safety. I still have not gotten round this problem. Back in the summer I decided the solution was to clear the garage (full to the brim with years of junk). Hubby agreed he would have a go, but as it was the start of Wimbledon it would have to wait a few weeks. Then came the cricket, and then autumn and it was getting a bit cold etc etc and guess what!! - still no room in the garage. Oh well. I shall thoroughly enjoy my workshop this week and when I get back I shall see if I cant get something organised.
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I shall also be doing my best to post here more often.
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I only have 3 more craft fairs before Christmas so maybe I will see you at one of them.
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28th November 2009
Wealden Craftworkers
Memorial Hall
The Tye
Alfriston
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29th November 2009
Christmas Fair at the Llama Park
Ashdown Forest
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10th December 2009
Wealden Craftworkers
Memorial Hall
Battle

Monday 16 November 2009

Ooooh now I'm Online!

If you missed the article about my Carnevale Venezia Mask pendant in Making Jewellery Magazine you can now read it online! Just click this link to the Making Jewellery website :)

Friday 13 November 2009

Almost finished....


It has been a really busy week and in amongst everything else I have been trying to make a few bits of new stock for the craft fair this weekend. Here are some of my efforts all made using Art Clay Silver. Now I just have to add all the findings! They are a bit of a mix muddle. I have found it is the more moderate priced things that are selling well so I just went for a bit of a variety. You will probably notice a bit of a lack of colour as well for me, but these are the sorts of things I sold well on last week. The gorgeous blue beads are by Laura Sparling.
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This is also my first "evening" photo with my new daylight lights. Normally I always photograph everything in the natural light in the mornings. Now I will be able to photograph in the evenings as well. It is not perfect and needs some playing with but it is not too bad a photo for my first quick attempt.
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Ok, now where did I put my pliers.......

Mitchelham Priory Christmas Fair



Sorry I have been a bit lax on the blog this last week. Last week I sold so much I have been trying to sort myself out for the next craft fair at Mitchelham Priory tomorrow and Sunday. It is a wonderful venue and I am there with the East Sussex Guild of Craftworkers and as usual we are in the Elizabethan Barn. The forecast is not too good for the weekend but this is normally a busy fair regardless. Do come and say hello.

Friday 6 November 2009

Teaching Assistance (Assistants?)

When Karen was here for her two day workshop she took these lovely photos of my two cats who do like to know what is going on in their house and keep up to date with things.

This is the girl, Shuki, checking out if the paint brush is edible or not


and this is the boy, Inu, looking very superior and in charge of everyone.
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They did not really help too much with the workshop but just wanted to make sure we did not ignore them.
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If you fancy a one to one workshop tailored to what you want to learn you can find details on my website or just email me for details. The cats' assistance comes free!!
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I forgot to tell you I am doing another Craft Fair at Cooden Beach Hotel. Today was great and I am there all day tomorrow from 10am - 5pm.

Tuesday 3 November 2009

Great Beginings

Last week Karen Taylor flew over from Spain for a two day one to one workshop with me. Karen was a complete beginner with silver clay having only had one not very successful attempt at home on her own. As we never got as far as photographing the pieces Karen has kindly just emailed me these photos.

Karen obviously is very talented and took to Art Clay Silver really well. She made some great pieces. You can see more of her lovely jewellery she makes using Swarovski crystals and semi precious gems on her website Precious.

Over the two days she made

this beautiful owl brooch (my favourite piece I think)

An angel wing and a feather silver pendants

A jewel encrusted syringed heart



and a silver cross pendant with a fused gold top surface using Art Clay Gold Paste.

She also made a ring and set some small stones into flower shapes for future use. We really covered a lot in two days, but having travelled all that distance for a workshop we were trying to cram in as much as we could.
Certainly these are great first pieces. Well Done Karen.

Sunday 1 November 2009

Rings Rings Rings


For some reason I have never really made many rings to sell in the past. I guess I have always been wary of the "whatever size you make it is always the wrong size" syndrome with them. Recently though I have had so many requests that I decided I would start making them to sell. So here is a little stack (they really did not want to balance on each other very well!) and I have three more in progress. They all have fired in place CZs and are made using Art Clay Silver.
What do you think?

And the winner is.....


CHERYL!!!


Congratulations Cheryl, please email your details and I will get the Purple Heart pendant off in the post to you.
Well that was fun. I'll do another sometime.
Hopefully this week I will start to get back to normal a bit as it has been so hectic for the last few weeks. More pictures of new work coming soon I promise.

Blog Giveaway Officially Closed

Ok as of this posting the blog giveaway is officially closed. I am off to write out all the names, pop them in a hat and get hubby to draw out one lucky winner.

I'll post the name later today...

Wednesday 28 October 2009

Blog Giveaway Reminder

Don't forget my first blog giveaway winner will be drawn on Sunday 1st November so leave a comment now to be in the draw for my unique Enamelled Accents Purple Heart Pendant.

If you don't want to leave a comment on the blog just email me on joy@joyfunnell.co.uk and I will add you into the pot!

Thursday 22 October 2009

Craft Fairs


Oops sorry I have been helping out with family so I have neglected my blog a bit this as my internet connection has been a bit iffy at my parents home.

This weekend sees the beginning of the Christmas Craft Fair season for me and we start off in style with 4 days on the run starting this Saturday.

Here is a list of all the fairs I am doing up until Christmas.

24th & 25th October 2009
Crafts at Lancing College

26th & 27th October 2009
Christmas Craft Fair
Sissinghurst Castle Garden

6th & 7th November 2009
Christmas Fair at Cooden Beach Hotel
East Sussex

14th & 15th November 2009
Michelham Priory

28th November 2009
Wealden Craftworkers
Memorial Hall, The Tye, Alfriston

29th November 2009
Christmas Fair at the Llama Park
Ashdown Forest

10th December 2009
Wealden Craftworkers
Memorial Hall, Battle

This Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th I am at Lancing College. It is a stunning venue and a really high quality Craft Fair. Everything is handmade. Do come and say hello if you are in the area. It is organised by Woodland Crafts who do a great job and are lovely people.

On Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th I am at Sissinghurst Castle Gardens. This is a new venue for me. It is a National Trust property so it should make a great day out.
If you live nearby do come and say hello.

Sunday 18 October 2009

Art Clay Charms










I have had quite a few requests for close up photos of my charms so here are some more photos.

I'll be posting all about my Paper Texture workshop I did with Lynne Glazzard next.

Don't forget to enter my blog giveaway below. Everyone is welcome.

Tuesday 13 October 2009

My First Blog Giveaway


At the recent Art Clay conference in Jersey I taught my Enamelled Accents workshop. I really enjoyed it and hopefully so did everyone who took it. I had people from all over Europe, South Africa and of course the UK on it. As it was only a 3 hour workshop it was a bit of a rush (to say the least!) but we got there in the end and everyone made really good pieces. I could not have managed without my good friend Lynne grinding enamels and overseeing the enamelling in the kilns. Thanks Lynne.
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Anyway to celebrate the workshop going well and as I am in happy mood after my wins at the conference I thought I would have my first blog giveaway.
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This Purple Heart pendant was a piece I made as an example of the technique of Enamelled Accents. It measures 23mm across is hanging on a dainty 16" sterling silver snake chain. The photo above shows you the front and the back of it and you can wear it either way round.
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All you have to do is leave me a comment on this blog post. On Sunday 1st November I'll put the names in a hat and get hubby to draw one out and this lovely little pendant will be winging its way to the winner.
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Everyone is welcome to enter no matter where you are in the world so tell your friends. Only one entry each though :)

Monday 12 October 2009

Art Clay Copper


So the really big news at the Art Clay Conference was the launch of Art Clay Copper. Unlike the two versions of copper metal clay which are currently on the market this one is really easy to fire. The existing ones have to be fired in a stainless steel container filled with charcoal to get a reducing atmosphere and the firing is fairly long and requires ramping the temperature up etc.
Art Clay Copper is so much easier. You just fire it at 970c on the open shelf in a kiln for 30mins and then quench in water immediately and pickle if required to remove the firestain.
I did one of the short workshops where we used the AC Copper and this is a picture of the flower pendant I made. First we made and fired the copper part of the flower and then we made the silver part around it and fired again. The two metals do not actually fuse together but the silver goes through a hole in the centre of the copper piece so as the silver shrinks it captures the copper piece. Clever eh.
I shall be playing this and testing it out in the next few weeks so check back for photos of new pieces and what tips I may come up with.
We expect it to be available to sell in a few weeks time and I shall be stocking it in my ebay shop ArtClayUK.

Sunday 11 October 2009

Beautiful Jersey



Here is a photo looking across St Aubins harbour in Jersey. The buildings on the waterfront are where most of the conference events were centered. How about that for a stunning location. Not that we had time to look out the windows much as we were all so busy. I took some great workshops and made some lovely new friends as well as catching up with existing ones. I'll be posting updates this week on all the things I learnt and photos of the pieces I made.

Watch this space....

Saturday 10 October 2009

Home Again

Ah..

just got back home to Hastings. Hopefully I have sorted out the photo in the last post which was not displaying properly.

Loads to tell you about the Art Clay conference etc.

Dinner and unpacking tonight - more blogging tomorrow.

Monday 5 October 2009

Do I look pleased ..... ?










Here is a photo of me with Dice and Ryota from Japan after winning the trip to Japan. Aida, the makers of Art Clay sent them over to the conference to teach us workshops and to launch the new products. Aida also supplied all the Art Clay we used at the conference which was really generous of them. A big thanks to them from me for everthing.




You can tell I am chuffed with winning can't you!! Thanks for the photo Lynne.




By the way in case you are wondering I uploaded the photos of my competition entries in draft before I left for the conference and I see when I posted the entries on my blog they came out dated 30th Sept instead of 4th October! If you have not yet seen them just scroll down to the earlier entries.

Sunday 4 October 2009

Wow - That Was Fun!!

What a conference! Gosh!!!

Aida launched two fab new products -

Art Clay Copper which fires in just 30 minutes in the kiln without any charcoal or stainless steel box so is REALLY easy to use

Art Clay Lite (which has a percentage of glass so is lighter and great for large scale pieces)

AND.....


I WON A FREE TRIP TO JAPAN to see the Art Clay factory where Aida make the Art Clay plus we will be doing some workshops while we are there for the week.

I am so excited about it all .....

Photos and more info on it all to come ........

Wednesday 30 September 2009

Up Up and Away


And also ...

This was my second entry to the Art Clay competition. We had to make earrings or charms. I had the idea of the hot air balloons but it took me a while to think what to use for the baskets. The Purple CZs worked out quite well.

These won the members prize vote where everyone attending voted for their favorite piece.

Thanks again :-))








I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside



So .....

The competition pieces I was making.

This is the bracelet that I made for the Art Clay competition at the conference in Jersey. The theme for the competition was Travel. I called my bracelet I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside. I had a lot of fun making the charms.

I am really chuffed. It won 2nd prize plus the members prize vote where everyone attending voted for their favorite piece.

Thanks everyone :)


Sunday 27 September 2009

More Enamelled Accents...


Ah got there at last! Now it is letting me upload photos.
So here is a new piece I have finished as an example for the conference. Haven't quite decided on a name for this one yet. Any suggestions? I rather like this flower. The enamels are Catallya Japanese enamels from Zama UK. I love this yellow.


These pieces are examples of the sort of things that we should have time to make on the workshop at conference. I am trying to stick with fairly simple for everyone to just get the idea of the technique with the short time and limited resources that are available. The workshop is only 3 hours long and we are making the piece from start to finishing the enamelling. I think the main issue might be queues at the kilns :-)
Can't wait to get to Jersey now for a great weekend.

Don't Blame Me!

Well I am trying to upload some photos of more Enamelled Accents pieces to show you but Blogger is just not playing ball tonight. I'll post them later or tomorrow when they have fixed it.

Tuesday 22 September 2009

Getting Sorted Out

My pieces for the Art Clay Competition at the Conference in Jersey are now in the post. Phew!

Now I am sorting out everything I need for the workshop I am teching there. I am also going to finish off a couple more examples that I will be posting here soon.....

Thursday 17 September 2009

What Am I Working On?

At the moment I am working on my pieces for the competition at the Art Clay conference in Jersey next month. The pieces have to be posted off next week. I am doing a set of charms and a pair of earrings and the theme is Travel.

As it is a competition and we have a members vote I can't show them to you yet though :(

So here is a photo of my two cats Inu and Shuki just for something to look at :)


To be honest they are seldom this loving to each other. They are brother and sister, Inu on the left and Shuki on the right. I took this photo just after my parents' cat had gone home after a two week stay. I think it was a bit of a "phew thanks goodness she has gone - peace at last" moment!

Monday 14 September 2009

It's that Mask Again!!!


I bet you are getting fed up with my Carnival Mask :)
Anyway I was excited to receive my copy of the latest Making Jewellery magazine issue 7, which has my mask as the Inspirations feature this month.

Saturday 12 September 2009

Website Updated

My website updates are now all done and I am really pleased with the result. joyfunnell.co.uk . I think that now completes my image re branding which has been fun.

Michael Ball at Beyond the North Wind has been great. He specialises in websites for artists and makers so if you are thinking of a new website you might want to check his website out. I highly recommend him :)

Friday 11 September 2009

Patinated Rainbow Flower

Yep, that does it for me. I do love things better with a bit of patination. (still not a good photograph of the colours though - they just don't seem to want to come out well) I think it brings up the enamels more and really highlights the texture. Mind you I know lots of people that hate it and prefer their silver bright and shiny. Which do you prefer?

Thursday 10 September 2009

Rainbow Flower - Enamelled Accents


Here is another Enamelled Accents piece. The colours have not photographed as well as I would like but you get the idea. A bit bigger (34mm in diameter) and a bit more complicated than the last one. I can't quite make up my mind whether to patinate this so I thought I would photograph it first and then try to see which I like better. I'll post the patinated version tomorrow when I have got it done. It has a very light texture to the whole surface so I am thinking that will emphasise it more. We shall see...

Wednesday 9 September 2009

Purple Heart - Enamelled Accents

I am currently working on some sample pieces to take to the Art Clay conference in Jersey showing my Enamelled Accents technique which I am teaching there. Here is a nice simple one.

Watch out for a larger piece coming later today....

Tuesday 8 September 2009

Stamping Joy!


I have been trying to work out for a while what to put onto the back of my jewellery pieces. I have tried various options using stamps I have made myself with photo polymer plates but with small type they don't last long and I was never very happy with them. Over the last year or two I have tried

Handmade by Joy Funnell
Joy Funnell
Handmade by Joy
Joy
JF

For quite a while I have been using a small circle with JF in but since I make a lot of reversible jewellery I always feel this detracts from the reverse side because people don't necessarily want to have my initials on it. As I have redesigned my logo I decided it was the ideal time to settle on Joy, which hopefully people will like to wear, but now I could make it more distinctive as me by adding my squiggle (technical term!).

I ordered a proper stamp from Babette Cox in the USA. I wanted it to be quite small and Babette was really helpful with advice to make it work well. It only measures about 5mm across but is lovely as it is such a crisp clear image. It arrived last week so I used it on the simple piece I made at the workshop I taught at the weekend. So here is a photo of the front and back of the finished item which I fired yesterday after finishing off the decoration.
I'm really pleased with the result, hope you like it too.




Thursday 3 September 2009

Golden Flowers



Here is another set of earrings I made last week. I called then Golden Flowers, the leaf patterns are patinated and the stones are pretty little yellow CZs.

Wednesday 2 September 2009

Ho Hum...





OK, so my last post was last Friday and what did I say - photos tomorrow!!!

SORRY - where does the time go. Rushed about getting ready for the craft fair - took lousy photos while I was there as I had forgotten on Saturday and am in the process of getting the website updated this week.

Anyway cut the drivel. Here is one set I made last week. Cherry Blossom. I really like these and am going to make myself a similar kind of thing.

More coming - I promise - yes, really!!!

Friday 28 August 2009

Busy Having Fun

Things in the kiln firing and in progress. Watch this space....

Photos tomorrow.

Don't forget I am at the Llama Park in Ashdown Forest on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday.

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Fusing Accident

When I was fusing glass last week I managed to put this pair of cabs for earrings too close together so they fused.

The more I look at this the more I can only see one thing.

Sooooo.... anyone want to buy a dichroic glass bra?!!! :-)

Friday 21 August 2009

Fused Colours


The sun came out so I took a quick snap of some of the glass I have been fusing this week. I haven't finished cleaning them all up yet and still have to add the findings but it caught some of the colours quite nicely. Dichroic glass is sooooo hard to get a good photo of.

Thursday 20 August 2009

Hearts Desire


I do love making fiddly little things! This sweet little pendant measures 22mm x 28mm and is reversible. It has just come back from hallmarking so I thought I would take a photo quick in case it sells this weekend at the Shoreham Airshow. If you are coming to the air show don't forget to find me in the craft marquee.
I'll post some dichroic glass I have just fused tomorrow if I can get a nice photo.

Saturday 15 August 2009

Hastings Net Shops




Here in Hastings we are famous for the wooden Net Shops in the Old Town used by the fisherman for storing their nets.

Here is a little prototype I have made using Art Clay Silver. I think it may need to be a bit taller and in reality the planks run the other way but it is more just giving the feel of it rather than an exact likeness (well that is my excuse anyway - ok - I didn't check before I made the first one :)! ). It has a little clapper inside and makes a pleasing tinkling sound when worn. I shall make a couple more and experiment with different sizes and plank directions.


So does it look like a net shop to you?



Thursday 13 August 2009

Craft Fairs


I thought I would just update you on my next craft fairs.

22nd and 23rd August I am at the Shoreham Airshow in the craft marquee. I am very excited about this one. I have not done it before and even if I sell no jewellery at all I know I will have a great time because I love airshows!! Mind you if hubby is outside watching planes all the while I might be stuck in the marquee listening to them but I am sure I'll get my fair share of watching!

The following weekend on Sunday 30th August and Bank Holiday Monday 31st I am at the Llama Park in Ashdown Forest. A lovely place for a day out, cute llamas and they do good cream teas as well.

Do come and say hi - I love meeting people.

Monday 10 August 2009

Finished At Last!!!

Maschera da Clown

Well you will be pleased to know I have finished enamelling the latest mask at last!!
Blimey that has taken me a while from start to finish. I much prefer projects where I can find the time and just keep at it until the end. It is a nice feeling to actually have it all completed. I finished it yesterday but had to wait until this morning to photograph it in some decent light.
Anyway here it is. I was after a clown look I had seen in my lovely book of Venetian Carnival Masks. I think I have captured that so am quite pleased with the outcome.
As it is the second in my series of carnival masks inspired by the Ventian Carnevale I am sticking with the Italian names so this is called "Maschera da Clown". The mask measures 42mm high by 32mm wide.

Tuesday 4 August 2009

The Enamelling Mask Go On!!!!!


OK that was dreadful!
So this week I have a bit more free time and the good news is I have started on the mask again. If you don't know what I am talking about then you need to read some of my earlier blog posts about the latest mask I am making, but above is a picture of it before I started enamelling just to give you an idea (or remind you where we were as this has been a bit drawn out!!). Don't worry about all those reflections they will be gone by the end. It is all going well and I am off back to my workshop in a mo to carry on.
Last week I taught the most lovely person Level One in Art Clay Silver. Keay has lived in Ireland for the last few years but is soon off home to her native New Zealand to live. We had a great week and she did really well. Here is a photo of all the pieces she made. Well done Keay. Have a good journey home.

I am now teaching both Level One and Level Two as well as all my other workshop subjects (or anything else related to Art Clay you can think of possibly : )) on either a two to one or one to one basis from Hastings. If you are interested just email me to see what we can sort out. You can find more details on my website here - Art Clay Courses.

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