What A Fab Week!!

What a fab week I've had! First there was Flame Off! Such a fest of glassy goodness, so much glass, tools and wonderful things to look at and buy, then there are demos by some inspiring artists and finally friends galore to catch up with, what more can a glassy girl want? !! I had such a great time, the only downside is that it whizzes past so quickly! I did take my camera, and I brought it back home again - without even remembering to open the case - ah well, there's always next time!

Then there was a brief evening of trying out Bev's lovely new graphite marvers, Manda's fabulous 5mm mandrels and a rod or two of the new glass acquisitions! Just a brief play, though, so now I just need to find some more time to get back to the torch.

Yesterday saw us take a trip up to Rudston for Martin's New Studio Open Day. What can I say, it's just perfect! A lovely, new, huge studio just crying out for some classes..... There's a couple of photos on my FlickR (yes, I did remember to get the camera out, briefly!)



I had another chance to watch Kaz making her lovely murrini and also managed to see a demo from Caitlin as I missed this at Flame Off. Then there was another chance to chat some more, too!! Another great day with special thanks to Martin and the team.

Then today, we finally put the finishing touches to beaujolaisbeads new studio and tidied it up. Yay!! So here it is:



I don't think I can top all of that this week, somehow!!

Hope you have a good one.

Ta-ra,

June
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15% Off at Beaujolaisbeads Etsy Shop !!

Happy New Year everybody! I hope 2011 is a happy, healthy and prosperous one for you. I also hope you have all had a happy holiday.

With the festivities all but over, it's now time to start thinking about getting back to normal. It's been a busy time for us over the last couple of months as we have been moving our studio from one room into another, and we are not quite there yet! So I haven't been at the torch for about a month and I am not quite sure when I will be either, though I would hope it will all be set up and ready to go within the next week or so... (fingers crossed!).

In the meantime, I have listed a couple of sets and a vessel I made a couple of months ago on Etsy, so here's a taster

Pashmina



Maple Blossom




AND..

I'm also having a sale! I am giving 15% off all of my items in my Etsy Shop - even the newly listed ones. Just add Newyear2011 in the coupon box and 15% should be automatically deducted for you. The sale will be on until 31st January, so please do pop by. If you should have any problems, please convo me.

Have a good week.

Ta-ra,

June
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A Couple Of New Sets

With thanks to Yvette of Blue Kiln Beads I have managed to add a widget on my blog to take you straight to my Etsy shop! So I am very pleased with myself!!

And I have added a couple of new sets to my shop, too.

Misty Hills is a set of 6 beads in three shades of green all finished with pixie dust to give a lovely shimmer



Raspberry Shake is also a set of 6 beads but these have a base of pale pink transparent that have been swirled in a pink frit and then etched for that velvet feel



But my favourite set at the moment is Tigers Eye, I just love the colours in this beautiful frit by Jolene of Kitzbitz Art Glass



These were all made a few weeks ago and I still have a few more to list over the coming weeks, too, which may be as well because I don't seem to have any time to get to the torch and make any new sets up! I wish I knew where all my time went!!

Have a great week.

Ta-ra

June
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Beads From Astrid Riedel's Class

I had a great time at Di's a couple of weekends ago when attending the Astrid Riedel class. What a lovely and clever lady she is! The weekend went in a flash, but here are most of the beads I made whilst there - some are still on the mandrels because they are cracked and are not going to come off in one piece, unfortunately!




It was the first time I had tried a crunch press, too, so I now have one of those on order from Maria Louisa! So it's just finding some time to practise. I did have a go after the course, but unfortunately those two cracked, too. Oh well, if at first you don't succeed...... !!

Have a great week!

Ta-ra,

June
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Busy, As Always!

Since last updating I did go to the GBUK AGM and bead fair and had a lovely day catching up with a few people and selling a few beads. I was also lucky to have spend a couple of days at Di East's studio in the company of Astrid Riedel. Her beads are just beautiful and I learned loads - though unfortunately I haven't taken any pictures as yet! Nor have I had much time to practise any of the techniques!

But in the meantime, I have managed to take a few pictures of some beads that I will be listing in my Etsy shop in the next few days.....

Eqyptian Silk



Ink Splat!


Springtime


Thanks for looking!

Have a good week.

Ta-ra,

June
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It's Been A While!

It's been a while since I have updated here but the summer (what summer?!) has whizzed past. The 6 week school holiday flew and we had a lovely relaxing week in France towards the end of it. My 2 DD's have been in a show at the theatre which was great, but manic, and now, I hope, things will settle down a bit for a few weeks!

Although I haven't had much to show lately, I have been quite busy on the bead making front, too. I have a stand at the up and coming GBUK Bead Fair in Ardington on Sat 25th September, so I have been getting together a few sets to take with me. It will be my first Bead Fair, so I am looking forward to it. It will also be the GBUK AGM in the morning and a chance to catch up with friends, old and new, many from the Frit-Happens forum.

I have also been busy trying to create a couple of items for the Beads & Beyond Jewellery Maker Of The Year 2010 Competition - for which I was a runner up in the chainmaille category last year. So fingers crossed..!!

Anyway, I hope to post a few pictures of some of my sets in the near future. Most have been cleaned and batched up now, so it's just waiting for a nice day and some free time (very difficult to achieve both of these at the same time!!)

Ta-ra,

June
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So What Have I Been Doing?

It's been a few weeks since I have updated here, so what have I been up to? !! Well, we spent a lovely week in Normandy during the half-term holiday. The weather could have been better during the first half of the week, but it was lovely to have a break. Since then, it's been the usual round of work and all things to do with DD's school life! I haven't even had that much time at the torch, though I did snatch a couple of hours at the weekend. These bits are still to be kilned, so they will be for another time, but I do have a few pictures of beads created before I went to France.

Firstly this was the necklace worn for one of the days at Flame Off (wow, that was 2 months ago now!!)



This was my first attempt at a flower inspired by Sabine's fab tutorial at Flame Off



Then came various attempts at raised floral beads, so here's a couple of the better ones





And finally I have had a thing for grapevines lately, so here's one of those




I am still enjoying making vessels, so there will probably be more of those in the coming weeks!

Ta-ra,

June
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