Week 47 - BOLLYWOOD

When I think of "Bollywood" the first thing that comes to mind is exotic looking Indian women, draped in gorgeous colourful silk saris and literally dripping with heaps of gold, rubies and all manner of precious gems.
This week I've made a pair of earrings in 12k GF. , big ol' vermeil beads and baby faceted garnets. I didn't have rubies (I wish), so garnets were it!
These earrings aren't overly huge - they measure about 2 + 1/2" from the bottom of the hook, but they hang really well and feel very nice on.
The wire sizes used are 18g. for the frame, 26g. for the wrapping and 20g. for wrapped loops and ear hooks.

Week 46 - TWISTS & TURNS

I am WAAAAY late - yet again..... :^(
I got majorly sidetracked & am attempting to catch up over the next few days.
Yesterday was the first time in over a week I actually picked up a pair of pliers.
This is my piece for "twists and turns" - it's not quite what I had in mind when I suggested this theme way back when, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
At the moment I have it hanging on a chain as a pendant - but I think I am going to repeat this piece and make a pair of earrings instead.
It's 7cm (2 3/4") from the little triangular top loop to the very bottom so I don't think it will be too long.
The frame is 18 gauge hammered silver and all the wrapping is done with 26 gauge. The amethysts used here are facetted 8mm and the small beads are matsuno seedies again (I really like these little guys!)

IT'S A DONE DEAL!!!!!

Hello everyone (or whoever is reading this),
I HAVE FINALLY DONE IT!!! YEAH!!
After spending the better part of a day or 2 fiddling and fluffing with every type of light set-up known to man - I finally got some fairly decent pictures of the new glass.
The main thing I have problems with is that this glass is REALLY glossy - like mirror-finish, and to show the true colours - I lose the shine, but with the shine the colours in the picture all but disappear! It's a catch 22 - I WILL find a "happy place" (eventually...lol.)
Yesterday afternoon I finished uploading 26 pictures into my picture trail albums. So if you're interested - just pop over and have a look-see :^)
There are lots more to come (already done), and I am working on a heap of new ideas for some pieces that are a bit "out of the box". So, in the not too distant future - I hope to have some really exciting new things for you all to see!

WWWWAAAAAAY CLOSER!!!!

I was hoping to have pictures of my new dichro cabs up by now!
Sorry guys - with one thing and another - things don't always go to plan!!
These three are a sample of what is coming - I'm tring desperately to figure out a top notch way to make the photos look as best as I can get them. Dichroic glass is sooooooo hard to get a good piccie of. This glass is totally GORGEOUS and I really want to do it justice :^)
So please bear with me - I "WILL" have some photos up the day after tomorrow!!!!!

THEY'RE NEARLY HERE!!!

This is a preview of one lot of my new cabs fresh from their first firing in the kiln.
The shapes have been refined and are now back in for their final firing - photos don't really do this beautiful glass justice - but I promise I will do my best!!!
All going well - they should be up in my picture trail album by the end of this week.
I'm also going to be doing glass with rings embedded like in my fsoj piece for this week -so they can be used for pendants and also with chain-maille or just as links in bracelets.

Week 45 - MIXED MEDIA

This week sees me not really on theme - but sorta, kinda, almost!! lol. We have glass fusing, chain-maille, beads and wire-work (I made the "S" clasp at the back!).
As a continuation of me playing with & experimenting with dichro, this piece has evolved.
The pendant started life with 4 rings embedded into the glass, but due to a firing glitch has ended up with only 2. It's actually a happy accident 'coz I like the way that this hangs, and think I may end up doing more like this one.
Originally, I was going to put this together with mutiple strands of strung glass and silver beads, but decided at the last minute to go off on a different tangent and use this style of chain instead.
The glass seed beads were part of a box of goodies sent to me by one of my sisters and I thought they were perfect to use here.
I'm really happy with how this turned out - it's just a shame dichro is soooooo hard to photograph well...

DICHRO IS ON IT'S WAY!!!

What, some of you may ask is she babbling about now?
Well, in the next week or so (fingers crossed) I am aiming to have a range of fused dichroic cabochons for sale. These will be available for sale on my photo album site - see link at the side.
In what seems like a previous incarnation, I used to do leadlight, copper foiling & glass slumping - well, after doing a workshop with Maggie Bergman on using dichroic glass with PMC my love of this medium (glass) has been re-born!!
Then my next step on this journey came in the form of Elizabeth Smith, whom I met at the Brisbane Bead & Gem show. She very graciously walked me thru this process and a new "obsession" was in the throes of being discovered!
This is so much fun - it oughta be illegal!! lol.

At this moment in time a brand new tutorial is being written over at Studio Heath using one of my cabs. You gotta check this out - this one's a freebie and it promises to be an absolute ripper!! This girl's work is awesome! and if you want to learn some great techniques - this is the place to go.

I have a heap of cabs cut and ready to go - now the fun begins!
When I have more news to tell I will let you know here.

cheers - Lynette.