DICHROIC GLASS & ART ~ silvermoonlyn

A QUIET WEEK...

2012-02-07T11:07:00.008+10:00

It was a pretty quiet week on the glass front. A lot of "behind the scenes" stuff happening so just a few pieces finished.

This first necklace is for a challenge I entered into using one of my FB friend's most amazing beads. You can find Amy over at Etsy ~ "Flamekeeper" or on FB ~ "Torch By Night Lampwork" Her beads are incredible!!!
All of the metal in this necklace is pure copper. I have added faceted opaque crystal rondelles in a sort of soft, bluey mauve and my favourite purple velvet Swarovski crystal bicones.

I'm still playing around with chemical etching and wire :^) It is way fun!!

And this necklace is a "just because" one. I love how this has worked. Antiqued bronze, some amazing crystal beads and a cab set with a CZ.

And now I'm off to do something really thrilling ~ hang out the washing!! Have a great week everyone!!

HOW I MAKE BALLED HEAD PINS...

2012-02-01T08:58:00.005+10:00

These are just a few, quick, "as I went" pictures from the other day.
The photo quality isn't the best, but I didn't really want to keep stopping and checking as I went, so I apologise in advance.
This is nothing terribly new and exciting, especially for others that already make theirs ~ but this is how I make mine and maybe these pics will be helpful to someone that wants to make their own too.
By all means feel free to share, just please link back to this page.
Thank you ~ cheers ~ Lyn :^)

First of all you will need to assemble a few things to work with.
A pair of cross locking tweezers with an insulated handle
A piece of polystyrene foam or florist's oasis foam.
A metal bowl or container filled with cold water.
A torch of some sort (I use a plumbers propane torch, but a brulee torch will also work).
Round nosed pliers and a ruler.
Pickle appropriate for the metal you are working with.
A bowl of water with a couple of spoonfuls of bicarb soda dissolved in it.
A rotary tumbler with stainless steel shot, burnishing powder (optional) and dishwashing liquid.
A safe place to work!! Hair tied back if it's long, and no loose sleeves or clothing to catch fire!

Next on the agenda you need to work out what length of head pins you are wanting to make and then cut your lengths of wire (I'm using Argentium sterling silver here). I allow between 10 & 15mm for the ball and then I cut the wires DOUBLE the length I need. So for 60mm headpins, I have cut the wire into 15cm pieces. (60mm + 15mm) x 2 = 15cm (150mm).
Now poke all those little lengths of wire into your foam block ~ this will save you heaps of time in the long run.
Light your torch and then holding one of the wires mid way with the tweezers introduce it to the flame. I hold my wire almost vertical and the little balls are usually in a nice straight line with the wire. You'll find that sweet spot soon enough and the wire will just whoosh straight up onto a lovely little ball. Don't hold it in the actual flame too long or it'll fall off.
As soon as the red glow has faded, flip the tweezers over and do the other end. **If you flip it over too early, the ball will either become air borne (ouch ~ burnies!!) or fall to one side ~ not really a good look unless that's what you are intending to do. Let the red glow fade again and drop into your bowl of water.

I'm sorry there are no actual torching pictures, but it was a bit hard trying to juggle the camera and hot molten metal.

OK, now we have a bowl of nice double ended head pins. Next we find the centre of each piece of wire, grab it with the very tips of the pliers and bend it in half. The wires should just cross a tiny bit. Find a little end of scrap wire (preferably the same metal) and thread through the loops you just made by folding the wire in half.

Carefully lower the little bundles into the pickle. Use copper or plastic tongs ~ not fingers!
A little note here ~ Argentium doesn't get firescale like regular sterling silver, but it does discolour slightly when you use a propane torch ~ this is why I pickle them. When they look all clean, shiny and brand new, carefully remove them from the pickle and put them into the bowl of water with the bicarb soda. This is to neutralise the acid of the pickle solution.

You can actually use them "as is" now and give them a bit of a hand polish when you have finished what you are using them for, but what I prefer to do next is put them in the tumbler with stainless steel shot, a teaspoon of burnishing powder, a squirt of dishwashing liquid and cold water.

I just run the tumbler for about an hour and voilà ~ beautiful shiny headpins, ready to be cut apart and used for whatever your heart desires.

Grotty looking copper and bronze ones waiting their turn!! Same principles apply :^)

PLAYING WITH SOME IDEAS......

2012-01-30T18:58:00.008+10:00

This last week saw me playing around with some things I've done in the past and trying out some new things as well. Fun and frustration all rolled into one!!

My etching on glass using stencils and chemicals went pretty well. These first two pendants are a couple of the pieces that got finished. I had a bit of a play with a slightly different shape bail as well. I quite like this shape. These are antiqued bronze.

Unfortunately my etching on copper didn't fare so well. It's a pretty scary thing to do ~ you have to mix acid with peroxide and then suspend the copper in the solution. I think the peroxide was contaminated ~ all sorts of things went wrong and it was a total bust. I'm not ready to give up on it quite yet though ~ I will have to get some more chemicals and start over!!

These next two pendants were a couple that I did in a similar dimensional style to the wreath pendants ~ these ones have a loop embedded into the glass at the time of firing and then finished off with more antiqued brass wire.

Another of the "went awry" things this week was me making headpins for a project I have ~ they all ended up too short! So now I have a wonderful supply of sterling and bronze ones for future projects!! Quite a few of them made their way here to this pendant. This is wired up with Argentium sterling and the most gorgeous metallic purple faceted rondelle beads. There are Swarovski crystal beads in there for good measure too :^) I LOVE these new beads and more colours to come in future projects!!

Tomorrow will see me giving the torch a belting and making heaps more head pins ~ hopefully it won't be too overcast and if I can, I'll document in pictures how I go about it. I have a pretty nifty little system I work to and maybe it might work for some of my fellow jewellery making friends.

And finally before I cart myself off to the land of Nod ~ three pairs of dimensional earrings that are bound for a shop where I have some of my pendants for sale. Fingers crossed they are received well ~ they're fun to do...

And now I shall do the disappearing act ~ I've been up since 3.30am and I'm just about totally knackered!! Good night!!

MY BEAUTIFUL BABY...

2012-01-28T11:41:00.005+10:00

No pictures of glass or jewellery just yet (maybe tomorrow or Monday, depending on light), but I just had to share one of Mother Nature's miracles that occurred on Wednesday night.
I have the tattiest, most pathetic looking sort of cactus thing called Epiphyllum oxypetalum ~ she is much better know as Queen of the Night. I've had it in a pot for quite a few years, I grew it from a single leaf cutting and it hasn't fared very well. It's still hanging in there, but between the salt water in the air and the wind and the fact that I'm hopeless with things in pots these days ~ for the first time in about 5 or 6 years it had one single flower!
Gary thinks I'm a bit sad and he just doesn't "get it", but I was pretty excited as I could almost watch it opening up before my eyes. It started to open at about 8.00pm and I took a heap of pictures along the way, at least until I crashed out at about 10.00pm.
The flower is quite big as you can see and the perfume is absolutely amazing ~ it's a shame it only flowers for that one night a year and in the morning it's just a pretty memory...

Isn't she beautiful???

8.00pm

8.46pm

9.30pm

9.58pm

Now I'm off to make some lunch and then I will spend the afternoon pliers in hand I think.
Have a great weekend!!!!

SOME NEW PIECES...

2012-01-22T15:22:00.006+10:00

This week sees me continuing on with some more of the dimensional dichroic glass pendants.
These are really heaps of fun to make and an added bonus is they look fantastic in real life!!
My only complaint would be that colours don't show up anywhere near as intense in photos.
These are incredibly vibrant!! And the foil backed Swarovski hearts just work brilliantly with the glass too. (IMO)

I also completed a few sets this week with the glass that looks like fireworks or sunbursts ~ you can decide that one!! This is just such gorgeous glass to work with ~ it looks great in combination with other dichro, but also stands alone beautifully, either capped with clear or left a la naturale like I have here. Two sets are wrapped with antiqued bronze and one set is antiqued brass.

A couple of stray pieces.
The pendant (which I really like) is actually a very subtly patterned silver ~ it is not air bubbles trapped between the layers.
And the earrings were meant to match another pendant but silly me picked up the wrong coloured triangles. No matter, I may just keep these ones for me ~ or maybe do some more in different colour combo to list in my store (??)

The last four pairs of earrings here are all custom ordered to match existing pendants.

Now I'm off for a bit of a nap ~ hope you have all had/are having a great weekend!!!

A SNEAK PEEK...

2012-01-21T08:37:00.004+10:00

Hope you've all had a fantabulous week!!
Just a flying visit from me for the moment ~ this is only a quick snap (not very good one either) of some of the pieces that I'm going to be polishing up today. I have other sets as well in antiqued brass and bronze. I had a bit of fun playing with the pliers!!
Hopefully sunshine tomorrow morning and I can get the individual pictures taken and then edited and uploaded in the afternoon :^)

A FUN WEEK...

2012-01-14T15:13:00.005+10:00

Tons of tiny triangles, a fair bit of wire, a couple of Swarovski crystal hearts and NO kiln gremlins!! A pretty good week I'm thinking :^)

Some may remember the Pick Up Stix style pendant I did ages ago in this shape. I thought I would try it with the little triangles like I use in my wreath pendants. I'm really happy with them ~ I think they worked out great!! The first one has a Heliotrope heart and the second is Vitrail Light.
All wire is sterling.

And some more of the heart shaped wreaths but in much stronger colours than the last lot. They're quite big, but I love 'em!! Hopefully someone else will too :^)

And still more triangles!! Two solid heart shaped ones in different pink/purple combos.

A few of the pendants from the group photo from last week.
The first one is wrapped with oxidised copper and the second is antiqued brass wire.

And this one was a special request ~ what do you think T.M. ? The earrings will be getting done tomorrow hopefully.

And my final piece for this week ~ playing around with some copper, beady bits and a cab I had cut with a channel..

Now I'm off to add the pictures to my facebook page and then grab some more wire and the pliers and have a bit more fun!!
Have a great weekend all!!!

TREES, TREES & MORE...

2012-01-08T15:04:00.005+10:00

There's almost a forest growing here this week!! I had an order for a couple of pendants with the Tree of Life design, so decided to do a few more at the same time.

The first seven pendants here are all on the uncapped satin finish dichroic glass.

This isn't the clearest of pictures, it's actually taken while they were still in the kiln ~ these little guys were still pretty warm when I snapped this one. These all have a glossy finish and a channel through them so they can be beaded or wired up. School's out on what will become of these ~ I do have someone that was interested in one of them and one of them I am attempting to make a beaded necklace for.

These are all waiting patiently for someone to extract the digit, pull out the wire and pliers and get stuck into it!! That same person even bought some absolutely gorgeous beads to use with a few of these!!

My first attempt at actually stringing something on more than one strand of beading wire! It may be very simple to some, but I'm pretty proud of this!! I'm also very easily amused!! LOL.
This will be for one of the Tree of Life slide pendants above. The beaded sections will be either side of the focal and then I think I'm going to finish it off with a sterling silver chain.

And finally ~ this is as good as it's going to get for now!!
I have a usable desk again ~ YAY!!
Under the work desk ~ drawing pens and stuff in the basket, the reclaimed little set of drawers holds my pitiful collection of seed beads and satin, silk and nylon cord for braiding and crocheting.
And this drawer unit I fluked for half price, has all my "special" beads and wiring stuff.

I hope you all have a great week!!
I'm off to sit on the balcony for a bit and have a nice quiet G&T before I make dinner.....

7 DAYS ONLY...

2012-01-02T16:00:00.002+10:00

The super summer sale!!
Would you like to save 50% on pendants, earrings, sets or cabochons in my Artfire studio?
Just enter SUPERSUMMERSALE when you checkout and you can!
Starts today ~ ends in 7 days.

HAPPY THIS YEAR!!!

2012-01-01T08:29:00.006+10:00

Well hello everyone and HAPPY HAPPY 2012!!!!
I hope the New Year is everything you are dreaming of.
A year of happiness, good health, good friends and prosperity all around!!

I for one am very happy that 2011 is now behind me and am looking forward to a whole new year ahead! Not dwelling on the past either ~ it's been and gone, done and dusted....
A New Year = NEW opportunities ~ YAY!!!!
Lots of ideas I'd like to play around with and new things actually in the works right now. It's going to be a fun year :^)

And NO New Year's resolutions for me either ~ a waste of time and energy and then you get a case of the guilts. Not going to happen!! I think this little cartoon says it all!! lol...

And the annual Christmas / New Year clean up is well under way. One third done and the biggest mess yet to go (my desk).
Fingers are crossed I will have work space by tomorrow night XX XX

This is a little pendant for a last minute custom order I made in the week before Christmas.
I really like how this worked ~ the bow was a bit tricky to do but worth it in the long run...

A FEW NEW PIECES...

2011-12-22T11:57:00.007+10:00

Still more or less MIA but slowly catching up on everything!! LOL.
I have quite a few new pieces, but can't upload piccies just yet as some are possibly Christmas presents and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

A new Spicks & Specks pendant with a fancy copper bail and three pendant & earring sets.

Two pairs of earrings to match existing pendants.

And this is an example of how one of my pendants can be incorporated into a necklace. This is a custom ordered piece. I love how this one looks and I'm thinking I might have to do some more like this next year.

Now I'm off to the shops to brave the madding crowds and then it will be back home to catch up on emails!!

M.I.A...

2011-12-11T19:26:00.010+10:00

Actually that should probably read ~ missing and in oblivion!! LOL.
After my last visit here I fell to bits!
I had an appointment with a skin specialist to get a couple of spots checked out and then the same day a cancellation from the dentist meant I could go to have a back molar taken out ~ sounds like fun doesn't it?
I thought the doctor's visit would just be a consultation. Nope, two great holes on my face from punch biopsies ~ OUCH big time! Those little needles hurt like sh*t!!
Worse part of that is I have to go back tomorrow and have a skin cancer cut out. Blonde hair (used to be!!) blue eyes and fair skin and the sun is NOT a good idea! All those years of 'go outside and play ~ get a bit of colour' have definitely taken their toll. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!! ha ha....
I could have cancelled the dentist but had this really dumb idea if I was going to feel a bit yuck I might as well get it all over and done with in one hit. BAD idea!!! A hero I am not!! A sook I am!!
The dentist visit turned into a marathon effort ~ a surgical extraction and stitches.
I went down in a big way....LOL. I ended up with an abscess where the tooth was taken out and a mega dose of neuralgia up the whole side of my face. All I can say is thank God for Panadeine Forte!!

So the upshot of that is not a lot of work got done.
I do have orders in varying degrees of progress, just not quite finished yet.
The last couple of days I decided to just finish off some pieces I already had fused that were waiting for wire.
This is them :^)

These are all antiqued brass wire and are complete on their own neckwire, also antique brass.
The first one has a tiny dichroic glass bead, the second one Swarovski crystals and the third one is just wire.

Two of the 'bag bling' clip ons ~ both custom ordered pieces. I love these!

Two views of the same piece ~ I haven't decided yet if this will end up as a sun catcher or if I keep going and turn it into a longer length necklace. Wrapped in copper and the most awesome colours in the glass!

And this is one of two sun catchers I also made. This is a really pretty transparent lavender.
The other one (a gorgeous bright orange) had a bit of an accident ~ I dropped something on it, so will have to replace the broken dragon's tear and finish it off sometime in the next couple of days.

this is after the trip to the doctor but before the dentist! I have no idea where that grey hair came from though ~ I could have sworn it was a different colour to this!!
Now I think I'll trot off to bed, another fun day tomorrow ACK!!
Have a great week everyone :^)

GLASS PIECES FOR THIS LAST WEEK...

2011-11-28T12:08:00.006+10:00

Running a bit behind again ~ we had interstate visitors come to stay this week so not a lot of time spent in the studio.
Eight new finished pendants for this week and another new sun catcher.
I'm really loving using the glass in this first one! The most gorgeous combination of pink and gold.
The next five all with engraving in varying degrees.

A while back a friend gifted me some tree of life decals. They fire up very well I think.
The first one here is a stunning emerald satin glass with the white tree.
The second one was a simple white slide pendant that I did a while ago. To this I added a hand knotted white satin and bead necklace with sterling ends. I am very happy with how this piece finished!! I may not be a beader ~ but I do remember how to do macrame knots :^)

And finally sun catcher number two. This time with translucent purple glass, Swarovski crystals again and a faceted purple pendulum crystal. All wrapped in antiqued copper wire. I LOVE the colours in this baby!!

Have a great week everyone!!

SOME OF THIS WEEK'S GLASS...

2011-11-20T12:37:00.005+10:00

This week was mostly spent working on orders, but I did manage a bit of quiet time to get some more engraved pieces done and have a bit of a play with some wire as well.
I made a simple little pendant and wired it up with a "messy" wrap in bronze wire. It's actually pretty cute in real life but the picture doesn't even begin to come close to the colour of the glass.

This is a cab I was also playing with ~ I might even see if I can remember how to do a bezel setting for this one! Or get very cranky trying...lol.

Two of the ordered sets I was working on. There are others but I can't post them as they are supposed to be surprises :^)

And finally ~ just for a bit of fun.... I love sun catchers and have quite a few, but not a single one I've made!! Gorgeous shaded art glass, a bit of dichro,a heap of copper wire and Fire Opal Swaros.

Now I have about another hour before it gets too hot to sit in here ~ so back to editing some more pictures and getting some pieces listed on Artfire.
Have a great week everyone!!

BITS OF THIS AND BITS OF THAT.....

2011-11-13T18:24:00.006+10:00

A funny old week here ~ it seemed lots was happening and nothing was getting done!!
Truth to tell ~ lots was happening and a little bit got done!!
First of all I'll share a picture you may never see again ~ a tidy work bench. This is the new home of my glass grinder, and for the first time in 5 years (much to "someone's" absolute joy) I have a tidy kitchen bench again. I must admit, it is nice to be able to prepare meals and actually not be super squashy :^) The added bonus ~ I can grind glass in peace without the usual grumbling about the noise....lol.

Twenty new items were added to my Artfire studio this week as well.
All going to plan, another ten will be going in tomorrow sometime.

The new glass order finally arrived and I spent a full day just cutting glass for pendants and earrings. Before I commit the glass to pieces for orders I have to do sample firings to make sure the colours fire up to how they are supposed to ~ sadly, not always the case!
So these are my testing colours and the finished pendants that resulted.
My Art Nouveau leadlight "windows" ~ some may remember similar from a while back.

The next five pieces are new colours in my favourite lightly textured patterned dichro. I'm seriously loving this glass!!!!

A couple of sets, again the new glass in the first one.

This next pendant is the strangest glass I think I have ever used. The picture really gives you no idea whatsoever of what it is like. The glass has had the pattern sandblasted first and then the dichroic coating is added. When you fire it like I have, what you end up with is this gorgeous almost velvety background and slightly raised glossy dragonflies. In this picture it looks just gold, but in real life it shifts colour between green and gold ~ magikal it is!!
And last but not least ~ the beginnings of a "bag bling " piece for a custom order. This one with the initial of the recipient's name. All that is left to do now is add lots sparkling purple (of course) Swarovski crystals on antiqued brass wire and it will be done. And that's where I'm off to now :^)

Have a fantastic week everyone!!! Hoo roo for now....

A FEW MORE PENDANTS & SETS...

2011-11-06T18:31:00.007+10:00

As well as finishing 24 Christmas decorations this week AND actually getting them listed I have made a few new pendants and matching sets as well.

The first two pendants are tiny ones for me ~ approx 25mm or about 1" and I have to say I quite like them :^)

This next one is a stunning coloured glass ~ it has the most beautiful sheen too.
The pendant and earring set is wrapped with bronze wire. It works really nicely with the colours in real life.

Two more glossy stripey sets ~ I think this style will always be a favourite of mine.

And finally a pair of earrings to match my leaf pendant. I would have like to have used the deeper green, but that was not meant to be. Three lots I fired up and all radically the wrong colour. I think it's really strange how glass can have a dye lot like yarn....but it does!! PITA it can be at times too!! LOL.

Those that know me on Facebook will know I bought a new work bench this last week ~ well it's been put together and moved into it's new home ~ I have spent the better part of today trying to make new homes and/or relocate sooooooooooo many things!! A lot of beady bits will be making their way to new residences very soon!! I'm getting lethal!!
Anyway back to it for me now ~ have a great week everyone!!

And I forget to say ~ I have a new section in my Artfire store ~ selected pendants and pendant/earrings sets have been marked down by 30% ~ they might make a nice present for someone you know perhaps :^)

JUST LISTED....

2011-11-05T23:35:00.002+10:00

Yes I know ~ very very late for me ~ 'tis almost the witching hour!! LOL.
I have just this moment finished forty two new listings of Christmas ornaments in my Artfire studio.
These are just an example of what you might find if you wander over and have a look see :^)

And now I'm off to the land of Nod ~ I think my eyes will be shut before my head even hits the pillow!! Good night!

SOME NEW ADDITIONS...

2011-10-30T20:02:00.005+10:00

A fairly quiet week for me on the creative front ~ I lost two days pretending I know "something" about computers and miracle of miracles I actually did manage to fix Gary's!! I surprised myself!! Why is it "boys" big or little always have to fiddle with things?? LOL.
Needless to say I never got everything quite done as I had planned. Tomorrow will be spent pliers in hand and then hopefully getting some more pieces onto Artfire.

I made two very nice pendant and earring sets ~ they look quite dramatic in real life.

And four not overly big engraved pendants as well :^)

I finished wiring up some more Christmas decorations ~ these ones have been wired with silver filled wire. They just need to be measured and priced so they can go to my Artfire studio this week. I have eighteen ready to be listed and more in the works.

The next four Christmas decorations are all spoken for ~ these ones are with sterling silver and Swarovski crystals.

All up a fairly quiet week, but I am really happy with what I did get done :^)
And now it's off to the land of Nod for me!!
Have a fantabulous week everyone :^)

MY NEWEST PENDANTS...

2011-10-24T16:05:00.007+10:00

Here are my newest pieces for this week and a few of my Christmas decorations that have been wired up. There are more decorations in the works, but I ran out of wire so am patiently waiting for the impending arrival of said same :^)
The kiln gremlins got me again this week ~ this time with earrings I was doing for orders. So it will be back to the drawing/cutting board for those. I'm thinking it might be a case of less haste more speed....lol.

7 engraved pendants I had a bit of fun with and a little Pick Up Stix set in gorgeous red colours.
I just went where my muse led me :^)

Two new Funky Chicks ~ this time they fired up EXACTLY how I wanted them to!!
The one on the left is a bit shorter than previously done. The one on the right is for an order.

Some of the Christmas decorations I wired up the other night. As I said there will be more coming. And possibly some little wreath ones too, I'll just see how I go.

That's it for the minute from me ~ have a fantabulous week everyone!!!

A FLEETING VISIT...

2011-10-22T18:36:00.003+10:00

Just a quick visit for now to share a W.I.P. picture.
These are just some of the Christmas decorations I will have finished in the next few days.
I'm hoping to get a chance to play tonight, some will be wired, some strung with a few sparkly little Swarovski crystals and then some will have glue on bails.

There was going to be quite a few more but the kiln gremlins had a field day and things were not quite what they should have been ~ read that as seriously BAD!! lol.

On a brighter note, I have 20 new listings in my Artfire studio. So I'm pretty happy about that :^)
There are more pictures to come and I'll try and get them up tomorrow ~ it's Gary's birthday so not too sure what we are doing.
Hope you're all having a great weekend!!
I'm off to finish making dinner ~ a bit late tonight!!

p.s. I've been having email "issues" again and will try and catch up with all my mail a bit later tonight....

NEW PIECES & A NEW MATE...

2011-10-16T20:08:00.009+10:00

More about the new friend later :^)

I have some new pieces that are for sale and also some pieces that were done for orders.
I didn't feel like I had done very much this week, but looking at all the pieces in front of me now I don't feel so bad!!
Just a few with the glue on bails ~ I had some playtime with my wire and pliers this week too ~ that was fun!!!

Earrings finished off to match pendants I already had done.

One of these hearts could possibly be for an order, just waiting to hear back about them.

Two more Funky Chick pendants, not quite as dimensional as the last lot, but I still think they're a bit of fun!!

And finally a set for an order ~ just waiting for the bails on the earring to cure properly so I can add ear wires, and a pair of earrings (also ordered) to go with the pendant from last week.

And what of my new mate?? The other day my newest tool arrived from the U.S. ~ Nick's grinder mate. It might be Nick's mate, but it's my newest BESTEST friend!! I can't believe how much easier this nifty bright blue clamp contraption has made it for me to hold and grind quite small pieces of fused glass. 6 & 1/2 hours on the grinder and hardly a twinge in my falling to bits hands....YAHOO!!!

And now it's off to the Land of Nod for me ~ a big day coming up tomorrow ~ post office early and then listing, listing, listing pieces on Artfire!
GOOD NIGHT :^)

NEW FOR THIS WEEK....

2011-10-09T16:12:00.012+10:00

A few new pendants this week, a couple of necklaces I was having a play with and a few custom pieces.
A fairly quiet front on the cutting and firing scene, but I did upload some pendants and pendant & earrings sets to my Artfire studio. I'm aiming to get more photos edited this week and list more pieces as well.

Three "not little" engraved pendants. I'm really loving this shimmery aqua colour!! And another of my favourite peace sign/flower pieces.
The set with the pendant and earrings is a gorgeous combo of blues and greens ~ the colours are WAY more vibrant than you can see here!!

This first necklace is a combination of sterling silver and copper with Swarovski crystals and little dichro pendant pieces. I also have earrings to match ~ they are the same as single triangular drop.

This necklace is gorgeous "for real". The shades of orange and gold in the pendant work beautifully with the antiqued copper and little Matsuno seed beads pick up the colours of the dichro.

I had an earring returned to me this week to see if I could make another pair as one had gone walkabout. Mission accomplished and this is what I did with the leftover ~ It's a rather ornate bag clip or purse hanger :^) I LOVE the colours of the Swarovski crystals with the glass and the copper ~ very rich!!

The replacement earrings and two heart sets that were custom ordered.

And last but by no means least ~ three little pairs of colour cube earrings to go with previous pendants.

And that's it for me this weekend ~ I'm off to play domestic goddess ~ blah!!
Have a fantastic week all :^)

ORDERS AND OTHERS...

2011-10-02T19:58:00.006+10:00

Another fairly quiet week on the workfront.
I'm just waiting on a new little gizmo to arrive from the U.S. that should make my life a whole lot easier when it comes to grinding glass. At the moment it's slow going because of not being able to hold things properly ~ I'm hoping that will all change pretty quickly!!

These first three pendants do have co~ordinating earrings, they are waiting their turn patiently by the glass grinder. Hand wrought sterling silver bails that have an antique patina applied.

Another heart which was a total surprise when it came out of the kiln ~ the colours changed radically, but I am very pleased with the change :^)
My peace / flower design revisited ~ I'm rather partial to this one!!

My Funky Chicks have returned for a quick visit too. This first one is a bit shorter in length than usual, but she is a pendant this time around. The next two are both brooches. The middle one looks a bit of an odd shape, but that is only because she is leaning to one side because of the pin back.

These next four pictures are all ordered pieces.

And now I'm off to the land of Nod!! It was a 4.00am start here today and I am absolutely knackered!! So good night and have a fantastic week!!

WHOOO HOO!!!!!!

2011-10-01T17:51:00.000+10:00

MY LATEST PENDANTS...

2011-09-25T17:17:00.006+10:00

Twelve new pendants from me this week ~ I would have loved it have been more but my wrists have decided otherwise! Hopefully the glucosamine and fish oil will do it's job and things can get back to whatever normal is!! LOL.
Two smallish (30mm) variations on my bubble flowers. The shaded dichroic glass in the first one is gorgeous with just a hint of green. The emerald in the second one is a bit deeper than the picture here shows ~ it's a really rich colour!!

Playing around with different heart sizes and shapes too this week.
The first one has a hammered silver bail which has yet to be softened down with a bit of antiquing.
The bright pink and purple one is a custom order.
I haven't done any of my Spicks & Specks ones for a while and had a request for one, so decided to do a couple, the bigger one with the sterling bail and a smaller one with a plated bail.

These next two are my wreath pendants but playing around with coloured bases instead of the white.

This next one is quite a bit smaller than usual and ALL white and sparkly glass ~ no colours at all.
And my final piece here which is actually a bit big for a pendant (even for me!!) was an experiment to see how many little bubbles I could pile on a background to sort of look like a Christmas wreath a friend had made. It would look a lot more like it if I had used bubbles with a black background, but this was just what I had on hand at the time. I think I will fuse some more and go again if I get the chance.

All going well I'll have some nice new pieces to share next week, but it will also be on Sunday.
I'm having most of Saturday off!! The AFL footy grand final is on and my team is playing ~ I'm hoping it will be party mode and celebrating!!!
Have a great week!!!

A BLAST FROM THE PAST.....

2011-09-24T08:09:00.004+10:00

I came across this a little while ago and thought I would share it here.
Never was a truer word spoken!!
I remember when I posted this, at the time I was working pretty well exclusively with wire and beads and I'd just been playing with the glass for a few months....it's funny how some things work out ~ now it's glass, glass, glass most of the time and just recently I've started playing with wire again :^)

Pictures of my current pieces will be posted here tomorrow afternoon sometime ~ I'm having a bit of a problem with my wrists at the moment, so things are progressing a bit slower than I would like.

AUCTION LISTINGS....

2011-09-18T11:06:00.003+10:00

I had a bit of a clear out and have now listed 21 pendants for auction on eBay....all starting at 99cents. They will run for 7 days.
These are just a few of the ones I have up.
Maybe a cheap and cheerful little extra for someone at Christmas??

MY WEEK IN PICTURES...

2011-09-17T19:36:00.003+10:00

A few new engraved pendants from me this week, an idea I was playing with and a few orders.
That's the week that was!!

These first two pieces look a bit bluish where they are actually silver ~ for some reason the camera decided it would play silly games, so before they get listed they will have to have portraits redone!! And the wussy aqua in the second one is really quite a vivid teal!

Two new heart pendants ~ these little babies are only 36mm across, so quite small compared to what I normally do. The hand made bail on the second one is antiqued bronze.

The next one is just a really nice shaded blue colour with a touch of hand engraving and some glossy bits. Just playing around :^)
The Art Deco style one is a piece I did as a give away on my silvermoonlyn Facebook page to celebrate having reached 500 fans. I thought that was a pretty cool achievement, so decided to have a mini celebration :^)

An idea I was playing with and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Cute little cup cakes. A little bit of fun!! And probably a lot safer than me actually trying to cook real ones too!!
These are both fairly big pendants and I will keep experimenting to see if I can do smaller and still have them look in proportion.

This next piece is one of my orders for a birthday present ~ the letter "C".
And finally the group of four are for four friends that all turn forty this year. They're pretty bright and cheerful!!

So now the decision is do I go and read the kindle or watch the footy on TV?
The kindle is winning I think!!
I've got another sorting out day tomorrow ~ I'm going to go through all my pendants and have a clear out of older stock. I will be putting some 99 cent auctions up on eBay in the next few days, you never know you might find something you like, so get in early and grab some stocking stuffers!
That's it from me for now ~ I hope everyone has a great week!!

A FEW NEW PIECES...

2011-09-10T19:27:00.007+10:00

Most of this week was spent doing custom pieces and I'm still going with the spring cleaning, but I did finish some new pendants and two new wired up necklaces.
My first two pieces are fairly simple engraved ones. The shaded glass in the first pendant would not photograph how it looks in real life no matter how many pictures I took ~ it goes from a soft grass green though to a gorgeous peacock with just a hint of blue. This is probably my favourite style of glass to work with ever ~ there are some gorgeous colour combinations. The only one missing from the range of colours is a purple and pink....bummer!!

Two pendants I have wired up ~ the first with Argentium sterling silver, the second with antiqued bronze wire.

Purples and pinks (YUM!!) in multi layered pendants with a glossy finish

To date this is the smallest engraved heart I have done and these are definitely the smallest engraved earrings!! I will do more hearts this size (about 35mm across) but won't be doing earrings quite this small again. They were almost impossible to hold when I was grinding them and I have just about killed one of my fingernails...I was so busy concentrating on what I was doing I wasn't taking a lot of notice of how I was actually holding the glass!! LOL.
This set is for an order.

Another requested set, although the colour change gremlins had a field day in the kiln!! These were going to be predominantly reds and oranges ~ working with fairly high temperatures can be unpredictable to say the least!! So not too sure what will happen with these pieces.

And these last two pictures are the wired necklaces I've been working on . These are just quick pictures ~ I need some sunshine so I can lay them out and photograph them properly.

So now I think I'll grab a quick cup of coffee and then continue adding some new pieces to my Artfire studio. I've just listed 12 pendants and would like to get at least another four or five in before I go to bed :^)
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and for those that are following the footy finals ~ good luck!!
GO CATS!!!

MY NEWEST PENDANTS...

2011-09-04T16:22:00.006+10:00

A day later than usual ~ I'm in the middle of a spring clean and it is very easy to get sidetracked!! Finding lots of treasures I'd forgotten I had so that's great!!
I have a few new pieces to share, but not as many as I would have liked ~ the kiln gremlins decided to have a bit of a party, so it'll be a do over for some of them....

Some pendant and soon to be earring sets. The first three here all have matching earrings ~ they're just waiting to be fired.

A slightly different version of my Bubble flower pendants.

Six more Pick Up Stix pendants, the multi coloured ones are really bright, the green and aqua are a beautiful combo of colours and the magenta/purple and blue are just plain gorgeous (IMO) ~ these will be up on Artfire by tomorrow night, if not sooner :^)

And lastly these little guys are off travelling down south....

Now I think I'll go and get an early start on dinner...
Have a fantastic week :^)

A FEW MORE PENDANTS....

2011-08-28T19:09:00.004+10:00

These are the pictures that didn't quite get finished yesterday ~ some more pendants and a couple of pairs of earrings for orders.
All the pendants have wired bails ~ sterling silver, antiqued bronze or antiqued brass. These are heaps of fun to do, although my wrists are paying the price for being out of practice..I suppose that's what happens when you get "older"..lol.
These first two are sterling ~ the second one has an an antique patina added.

This gorgeous variegated amber glass has an antiqued bronze bail.
The heart is a custom ordered "M".

Antique brass looks really nice with the colours in this next heart.
The gorgeous terra cotta heart has matching earrings ~ pics are just not done yet.

This set I absolutely love!! Definitely not for the shy and retiring, it's quite large. The vivid pink shifts to gold when you look at it side on ~ it is a stunning colour!

And finally two pairs of earrings that were ordered to match existing pendants.

And that's it for me this weekend ~ hope you've all had/are having a good one!!
I'm off to watch TV :^)

A FLYING VISIT...

2011-08-27T15:31:00.004+10:00

A flying visit for now with a few photos of my latest pendants.
I have more to upload, but the pendants have to be finished off first ~ I'm just about to go and mix up some stinky LOS and then hit the polishing :^) Hopefully there will be a window of opportunity with a bit of sunshine tomorrow morning to get some pictures done and then all going well, I'll add some more pieces tomorrow.

And these little guys are part of a bunch headed down south :^)

NEW PENDANTS...

2011-08-20T19:22:00.008+10:00

And a mini sale in my Artfire studio. All cabs are 50% off the marked prices ~ you just need to add the code : save50 when you get to checkout.

Ten new pendants and two pendant / earring sets from me this week.

These first two are both big babies :^)
The triangular one is 56mm across x 44mm long.
The rectangle is 30mm across x 49mm long.

Pendant and earring sets.

An older design revisited ~ I absolutely love how these have worked ~ on a red and white spliced base overlaid with a gorgeous shaded orange dichro ~ very cheerful!!

And four more pendants with hand crafted sterling silver bails.
Medium to larger in size ~ the second with the cz's is big ~ the glass is about about 30mm across the bottom and 57mm long.

Now an early night for me I think...
HAPPY WEEKEND!!!

2011-08-13T19:27:00.004+10:00

Another relatively quiet week with glass work in the studio here, but I did manage to get some quiet time for a bit of engraving. It's truly lovely to just be able to zone out and forget everything else :^)
I have eight finished engraved pendants.

A curvy variation of my Pick Up Stix and a transparent stripey one wrapped with sterling silver.

And lastly 3 pairs of earrings for a custom order.

Now I'm off to the land of Nod ~ I had a very early start today and my eyes are finding it very hard to stay open!!
Have a great day/night!!

A FLYING VISIT...

2011-08-08T08:34:00.002+10:00

Good morning all :^)
This is just a quick hello to let you know that I have now over 30 new listings for earrings in my Artfire studio
They make a great little present for someone special or just to spoil yourself !!

GLASS + METAL...

2011-08-07T10:19:00.005+10:00

These are the pictures of the pieces finished yesterday.

These pendants combine antiqued sterling silver, copper and my glass. The pendants hang really well and have lots of movement. I may possibly make matching mixed metal earrings.

The glass in this set is the same as the small set from yesterday ~ it is just so pretty!!
I have cut a very narrow channel around these pieces and wrapped them with sterling silver wire.

Two of my dimensional wreath shaped pendants, both wrapped with sterling. The white one is much more freeform and organic looking than the pink one. I would be hard pressed to choose a favourite style...

A rather decent sized dichroic / art glass pendant suspended from a heavy antiqued copper bail.

And finally an idea I have been playing with for a while. The pendant frame is hinged at the bottom ~ the idea being the cab can be swapped out for totally different looks.
I think the idea has great merit and will be playing more in the coming weeks with different design ideas.

That's it for me this week ~ hope your week is a fun one!!!

p.s. I am currently in the throes of listing quite a few different earrings in my Artfire studio, they should all good to go by this afternoon if you feel like popping in and having a look :^)

JUST A FEW NEW PIECES...

2011-08-06T18:56:00.004+10:00

Another relatively quiet week on the home front ~ hospital visits and doctor's appointments severely cut into my creativity. I will be very happy (as no doubt will Gary) when life finally gets back to normal!! He is getting a mite frustrated not being able to do very much.

I did manage to get a little bit done ~ a couple of small pendant & earring sets, some pendants and some wireworked pieces as well.
This first set is satin and glossy dichroic glass with a touch of engraving, the second set is clear capped and full on glossy in a gorgeous patterned glass.

These next two are also clear capped.

More of the brilliant glossy red glass with silver and black.
This last piece (not the best photo sorry ~ the light disappeared on me!) is a slide pendant in plain white, but very beautiful dichro. The dotted lines show where the channel runs through the glass, so it can have just a chain or choker threaded through or be used in a beaded creation.

I do have more pictures to add, and I will take and edit the photos first thing tomorrow morning. By the time I'd finished polishing everything this afternoon it was too late to get decent photos.

SOME OF THIS WEEK'S GLASS...

2011-07-31T06:41:00.010+10:00

Not my most prolific week every, but I am pretty happy with what I did manage to get done :^)
I have listed 7 pendant and earring sets in my Artfire studio and will try to keep listing new pieces every couple of days.

I had a wonderful day engraving on Friday and these are the pieces that came out of the kiln on Saturday morning . I was over the moon when I unloaded the kiln!!
Pink and purple are ALWAYS a favourite with me! The squared off pink flower is the prettiest colour ~ as it catches the light it reflects a very soft green.

This stripey one is way more vibrant for real!! And the next one goes from a hint of pink in the gold through to a gorgeous green ~ I think this is just about my favourite glass to use.

The curvy triangle is an awesome colour ~ it is super metallic and the shading of the background glass is just so pretty. This next pendant looks a bit ordinary in the picture, but in real life actually looks almost 3 dimensional.

Two Bubble Flower sets ~ I love both colour combos! The silver set has a very soft lavender cast and the deep cherry bubbles work really well with the colour.

The red in these next two is the full on bright red, much brighter than the picture.

Playing around layering colours with different art glass and dichro. The first two are quite small ~ about 27mm long.

And lastly this week I got a chance to play with some wire :^) Not the greatest pictures in the world, they need to be redone. The antique brass chain and the hand made artisan bead were purchased, everything else was made by me. It looks pretty nice on too! I think I will make a few more and then add a finished necklace section to my Artfire studio.

Have a fantastic week everyone!!

PLEASE STAY TUNED.......

2011-07-30T21:15:00.002+10:00

I will have pictures to upload in the morning ~ there are some gorgeous new engraved pieces out of the kiln today :^)
I have a killer headache and have to go to bed, so will be back bright and early.....

MY NEWEST PENDANTS...

2011-07-24T10:34:00.008+10:00

Here are my newest pendants, a couple of orders and W.I.P's.
The first 8 pieces are all variations of my PickUpStix pendants. Matching earrings for these are all available and they won't be too far away :^)

This next set is a really gorgeous, very metallic looking lime green.

These next two pairs of earrings are custom orders for T.M. to match existing pendants.

And these are the pendants ~ works in progress that I am going to attempt to wire up this afternoon if I can get a little bit of quiet time. I'm not too sure how yet, nor what type of metal I will use ~ I'm hoping as I come to each one they will tell me!!
If anyone has any queries, please don't hesitate to shoot me off an email or FB message and providing Bigpond is working at the time I will get straight back to you. We've been having a few "issues" the last couple of days and it's pretty hit and miss!! GGGRRRR!!!!

Have a great weekend all!! I'm off to the shops to stock up on stuff for the walking wounded's lunches and snacks..

A QUICK VISIT...

2011-07-23T17:30:00.002+10:00

For now...
I have a few photos to upload here, but due to an unexpected sojourn to the Gold Coast hospital I have been slightly delayed in getting them edited.
No not me ~ I'm all fine and dandy, if not a tiny bit stressed.
I was going to tell you all the why's and wherefore's but that'll take forever and bore you senseless.
Wonder boy came off a ladder backwards yesterday afternoon and instead of landing on his nice soft bum, put his arm out to break his fall (as you do).
So what happened? A fractured radius and scaphoid bone in his right arm :^( No work for 6 ~ 8 weeks!
I will be back tomorrow with some pictures ~ a few sets, a couple of orders and if I get them done tonight ~ a couple of new pendants that I have yet to wire up.
Catch U later ~ I need to go and tend to the needy .. lol :^)

M.I.A...

2011-07-19T12:22:00.002+10:00

Missing in action ~ that was me this last week!!
Thank you to those that wrote to ask me if I was OK.
I am fine and well, albeit another year older ~ but not necessarily any the wiser...lol.
As you have no doubt noticed there were no new pieces last week and for the first time in I can't remember how long I did not cut any glass or even have the kiln on.
It was a behind the scenes kinda week. Book work, sorting out and editing some photos and finally uploading some new pieces to my Artfire studio.
There were about 30 pendants and 12 pendant and earring sets added on Saturday and Sunday.
I've just finished cutting some experimental stuff, and now we have the hum, click, hum, click of the kiln for background music ~ so fingers are crossed for that.
Now it's back to cutting glass for me today.
Have a fantastic week and I'll be back next Saturday :^)

NEW "WIRED UP" PENDANTS....

2011-07-11T13:15:00.004+10:00

A few new pendants and a couple of pairs of earrings for an order.
These are the pendants I was working on over the weekend. Finished and now polished and good to go :^) All done with Argentium sterling silver.

I decided not to use the blue beaded necklace for the square pendant this time around ~ I wasn't happy with how it sat with the bail so back to the drawing board with that one!!

And the two pairs of earrings that are an order for T.M.

And now I'm off to do that most wondrous thing called food shopping...blecccchh.
Have a fantastic week!!

WIP's & SOME NEW PENDANTS...

2011-07-09T19:22:00.005+10:00

These first two pictures are what I am just about to adjourn to the nice and toasty warm lounge room to play with. I have bails to make for all of these. Most will be sterling, although one pair of earrings will be getting a combination of antique brass and silver. School is still out as to whether I use the beaded necklace for the first pendant. I'd like to figure out an easy way to make the pendant detachable so it could be worn on a chain or leather or whatever. The cap ends on the necklace will mean it won't slide through a bail unless the hole is humungous and I don't think that would look particularly great. hopefully I can rise to the challenge!!

These sets will be going to Artfire over the next day or two. I just have to finish editing the rest of the pictures. The pendants are little baby ones ~ approximately 25mm and the earrings are about 14mm.

A few more of my little bubble flower pendants ~ the first two are 30mm across and the others are 35mm.

So that's it for me tonight ~ all going well I may have some pictures tomorrow. If not then, it will be Monday. Enjoy your weekend!! :^)

MORE BABY CABOCHONS...

2011-07-09T17:34:00.004+10:00

Some more groups of little cabochons.
Same as last week all are under $10.00 a bunch.
They range in size from 11mm to the biggest at 22mm.
If anyone has any questions I'll be back a bit later to add some more pendant pictures ~ it's feeding time at the zoo and the grizzly bear is getting grumpy...lol :^)

LITTLE BABY CABOCHONS....

2011-07-03T08:57:00.005+10:00

Just some really quick pics of a bunch of little dichroic cabochons I made this week.
Most are under 20mm.
All groups are under AU$10.00
These are all really too small to have bails added, but would be perfect for wire wrapping, setting in a bezel of some sort, used with metal or polymer clay or used for bead embroidery.

PENDANTS FOR THIS WEEK...

2011-07-02T18:38:00.009+10:00

Here are some of the pendants that I made this week.
There are some more silk'n'satin ones. Two of these have the beautiful brilliant red glossy glass in them.

This set is using the crinklized dichroic glass as well.

I love this simple little swirly design with the tiny touch of lime in the baby bubble.
The pendant with the multi coloured bubbles is very vibrant for real!

This week also saw me having some fun with different types of wire.
The first pendant is antiqued copper. The necklace is antiqued bronze with black onyx and clear quartz crystal.

The heart is using antiqued brass and the fat teardrop is square sterling silver.

These are custom ordered earrings.

And this very last set is also (possibly) a custom order.

I made a heap of cabochons as well this week ~ lots of littlies!! I'll post those pictures tomorrow ~ for now I'm off to get warm by the heater, it's pretty cold up here!!

ANOTHER SIX PENDANTS...

2011-06-26T12:59:00.004+10:00

These are some of the pendants that were still in the kiln last night when I posted the previous pictures.
There were to be a couple more, but the gremlins got me again!! Pesky little monsters..grrrrr. They'll make lovely crushed up bits to add to other stuff, so not a total write off!!

Have a fantastic weekend/ week ahead....TTYS :^)

SOME OF THIS WEEK'S GLASS...

2011-06-25T20:20:00.004+10:00

A rather small offering tonight ~ we had kiln gremlins out in force this week which threw a bit of a spanner in the works!! I had the kiln on and was working on the computer with the blissful sounding hummmm, click, hummmm, click sounds going on in the background and all of a sudden there was a hummmm, click, BANG!!! It was the weirdest thing ~ three layers of glass and the middle one exploded. The top and bottom pieces didn't even move!! Lots of pieces shot out sideways at all different angles and embedded themselves in the kiln elements. Thank goodness it wasn't at a huge temperature and the glass wasn't exactly molten or even sticky. A fair bit of time later picking glass out with long tweezers, everything was back to normal. Next firing after that one and one I thought nice and easy ~ hah! Not happy Jan!! I had to refire the lot *sigh* A few other minor irritations and that was the week.
I do have some more pieces done, but they are still in the kiln at the moment and won't be out until tomorrow. I'm hoping to have pictures by tomorrow or at the latest Monday.

I got some new plain coloured glass in a couple of weeks ago and this is the first time using this glorious green as a base glass for two of these pendants. I'm pretty pleased with how they came out!!
The last two cabs are a beautiful baby blue (not as aqua as the pics) with the deeper blue being a dark navy super sparkly glass. They are rather gorgeous ~ well I think so :^)

And now I bid you good night ~ all going well I shall be back tomorrow, probably in the PM.

PENDANTS AND CABS THIS WEEK...

2011-06-18T21:17:00.006+10:00

A pretty slow start to this week, but in the end I am extremely happy with what did come out of the kiln!
Some engraved pieces ~ including a few previous designs revisited.
This first one is pretty big (39mm x 39mm) and fairly simple, but I really love it!!

Two more hearts waiting to be wired up ~ that's a job for a quiet Sunday afternoon :^)

These next pieces are all the result of at least 5 layers of glass and as many trips to the kiln.
It is highly unlikely they can be recreated because of the way they were made, but I will be playing lots more with layers like these ~ they are absolutely magikal in real life and a lot of fun to do!!

The last two in this group have had channels cut around them so they're good to go to be wired up as is or they could have a beaded or metal bezel added.

That's it for me tonight ~ it's waaaaaaay past the time I normally go to bed and I'm pretty sure I just heard my pillow calling my name!!
Good night :^)

PICTURES OF YESTERDAY'S PIECES...

2011-06-13T17:56:00.003+10:00

A flying visit from me with a few quick pictures of the pieces I was working on yesterday.
Two large heart pendants, wired up with Argetium sterling silver.

A gorgeous little multi layered one, also with sterling wire.
The white shell shape has been done with bronze wire, but I'm thinking I may change it over to antique brass.

And these next two have 14kt gold filled square profile wire for their bails.
The little triangle on is on a base of dichro, but for some strange reason it has almost disappeared in the firing. Nonetheless I love how it worked out :^)

Off to make some dinner now and warm myself by the heater....another chilly one here!!

FINISHED PENDANTS....

2011-06-12T18:06:00.003+10:00

I have six pendants wired up ready to go but no individual pictures yet....
It has been the greyest day with no sunshine, so fingers crossed for a better morning tomorrow :^) I may even get a couple more finished ~ who knows????

NEW PENDANTS....

2011-06-11T17:38:00.005+10:00

A few new pendants, a preview of pieces to come and playing with metal ~ that has pretty much been my week.
And hasn't it been cold??? BBBRRRRR.....can't love winter!!

Four new Bouquet pendants...

This next one is all art glass, a little bit different ~ I really like how this one worked out :^)

These pieces of glass are actually quite large, the second one here is over 10cm across. In the near future the glass saw will be put to good use I think! It probably won't be for a while though as I have orders I need to get finished first.

And this was my foray back into playing with metal and a hammer. Copper and sterling silver with a heart of dichro. I'd forgotten how much fun it is!! Hopefully more will follow.

Now I'm off to have my dinner and then I have pendants to wire up. If we have a bit of sun tomorrow (and they get finished!) I will post more pictures then.

JUST A QUICK VISIT...

2011-06-04T19:52:00.005+10:00

Just a few new things to share this week.
I have been busy sorting and editing photos for most of this week. I did get 33 pendants listed in ArtFire this week....not all of them by a long shot, but hey it's a start!!

Four more of my mosaic pendants this week ~ in more earthy colours and antiqued frames.
these colours work really well with the frame colour. I did make a ring too, but I forgot to get a picture of that one ~ it is living with my other rings, the ones I wear myself :^)

A couple of "stray" pieces that were just waiting to be finished off.

Earrings for an order (T.M.) to match existing pendants.

And finally a collaborative effort between a friend and myself.
Remy made this cab a while back and was not happy with how the colours came out, so I suggested it come for a holiday to Queensland. I had a bit of a play with it and refired it.
We are quite happy with the final result!! The little flower murrini works really well and some of the colours altered significantly when it was fired.

That's it from me for now, off for an early night. It was another VERY early start and I've absolutely had it!! So goodnight / morning and HAPPY WEEKEND!!

JUST A FEW MORE PIECES ...

2011-05-29T09:37:00.004+10:00

Back for a flying visit...
A few stray pieces I never quite finished editing yesterday.

This pendant and co~ordinating earrings is a custom order.

Another pair of earrings for an order.
And my final piece here this morning is a prototype for a design I've been playing with.
It started life going to be something totally different, but I really like the direction it told me to go! :^)
It's a shame I rushed it into the kiln and there is a tiny little missing spot on the silver lustre... that'll teach me to be impatient!!

Hope you have a great week ahead!!
Mine will be spent getting my ArtFire studio up to scratch!!

SOME NEW PIECES...

2011-05-28T16:34:00.006+10:00

This week saw me playing around with some different glass combos and slightly higher than normal temps in the kiln. I love how both of these have turned out. The green and golden one (even though not my favourite colours) is gorgeous for real!!

Four new bouquet pendants.

And my first foray into the world of mini mosaics. These were fiddly, but fun to do and I have a few more of the settings so will play a little bit more I think :^)

I do have a few more photos to add here, but was unable to get them done this afternoon due to it getting very dark here very early ~ I really do miss summer!!
I will be back tomorrow as soon as they are done :^)

A FEW NEW SETS....

2011-05-21T18:48:00.006+10:00

Just a few new pieces from me this week.
I seem to be in slow motion of late and I really do need to find second gear!!

I had a request for a little bubble flowers set this week, so thought I would do a few others at the same time.
The pendants in the first three sets are approx. 30mm square. Earrings are the same length.
The following three are 25mm square, one set has rectangular earrings (25mm long), the other little square ones are about 12mm.

This first pendant is a custom order for M.R., the others are available for sale at the moment.
I really like the darker star ones with the pink CZ's (35mm across)

Three slightly smaller (31mm) ones with sparkly bubble centres.
and lastly a pair of earrings to match a pendant for T.M.

I had big plans for what I wanted to get done, but the lovely person that shares this abode brought home a cold with him from work. He's fine.... GGGRRRRR!! I'm doing my best to shake it off!!
Hopefully a peaceful day tomorrow to get a few pendants listed in my ArtFire studio :^)
Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend and doing fun stuff!!

JUST LISTED...

2011-05-15T21:29:00.002+10:00

Hi ~ this is just a quick note to let you know that I am having a sale in my eBay store.
I have just finished listing quite a few pendants that I have marked down from 25 ~ 50% of their original prices.

I will be closing the store sometime in mid to late June, so you never know ~ you might just find an early Christmas present or two!!
A huge thanks to everyone that has supported me over there ~ it's been a lot of fun and I have met some fabulous people.
As most of you know I am moving my pieces over to my ArtFire studio so if you get a chance please drop by to see what is on offer :^)

THANKS AGAIN!!
cheers ~ Lyn.

NO EMAIL....

2011-05-15T14:03:00.002+10:00

GRRRRRRRRRRR...stupid BigPond!!
I just sat down to catch up with all my belated email replies and find I am totally without email capability at the moment ~ and just on the off chance anyone is reading this ~ SORRY!!
I have internet, just no email..
I will catch up as soon as I am back up and running!!!!

WORKS in PROGRESS ...

2011-05-14T19:32:00.005+10:00

These first four pictures are all variations on my Bouquet pendant from a while back.
Different glass this time around and I'm really loving the colour combos!
The first one here is probably my favourite one ~ any combination of purple and lime green will do it for me every time!!

This next purple and silver triangular one is good to go :^)
The stripey one has a channel cut around it and is waiting to be wired up. This is a bit different to most of my pieces in that it is on a transparent background ~ it's a very cool effect!!

These next two are me revisiting a previous design idea. Instead of using silver like I did last time I have used brass and then antiqued it. It's a lovely soft colour with a really nice sheen to it ~ I'm quite liking using this wire all though it is a lot harder to work with than silver or copper.. They're not quite finished yet ~ they need to be really well polished. I'm hoping to sit in the sunshine some tomorrow and get them done.

It looks it will be another early night for me ~ I can barely stay awake.
So goodnight all ~ hope you are having a great weekend!!

PLAYING CATCH~UP...

2011-05-08T11:42:00.004+10:00

Well, I'm giving it my best shot!!
It feels like forever since I've finished and posted anything and up until a few days ago it seemed like forever since I felt vaguely human!
The intentions were good ones, but unfortunately I went down in an even bigger screaming (almost literally) heap!! It ended up in yet another trip to the dentist :^( Abscesses are not a lot of fun...
Anyway, enough boring stuff ~ I have some pictures to share :^)

Two heart pendants ~ with hand crafted sterling silver bails.
These are both available ~ if anyone is interested, please send me an email or a FB message for details.

These next two pendants are off to their new homes tomorrow morning.
The heart is a variation of my favourite pendant, but done with the initial of it's new owner.
I do have more of these as well, but at the moment can't add the photos to my blog as they are for gifts and they need to reach their new owners first :^)
The gorgeous silvery green coloured one is off to the U.S.

The next eight pendants are also available at the moment.
All have hand painted silver lustre and the last one (which is actually more purple than blue) has two super sparkly CZ's fired into place.

Finally, a pendant and matching earrings for an order. These have come out a bit softer in colour than the original pendant I was asked to see if I could duplicate, but they are just so pretty, I'm hoping they will suit (?)

Now I'm off to do boring mundane "domestic goddess" type stuff for a while and then continue trying to catch up on emails :^)
I hope you're all having a great weekend!!

HAPPY EASTER...

2011-04-23T14:51:00.002+10:00

I hope everyone is having a lovely Easter break :^)

Just something a bit silly from me today.

All going to plan, I'll have some pictures of glass to share mid/late week.
Lots in the works, but due to me falling in a heap with an abscessed tooth and then removal of same, not a great deal got done here these last few days.

MY WEEK THAT WAS...

2011-04-16T17:20:00.006+10:00

It's funny (weird) ~ it was one of those weeks where I didn't feel like I done very much, but I did actually manage to finish off a couple of orders and a few stock pendants as well.
This is them :^)
Quite a few with either hand painted gold or silver lustre, some with little golden critters and some with holes drilled to either be wired up or sold "as is" for anyone that would like to do it for themselves.

The two blue/green multi coloured triangular ones are whoppers!! They're 65mm across.

And these last two pictures are an order for TM to match existing pendants.
There were a couple of other pairs of earrings too, but some dill used the wrong glass!!
Back to the cutting board for me!!

I got some really good news yesterday ~ my old kiln is just about brand new again and will be coming home next week!!! YAY!!! It will be sooooooo good ~ it will now fire heaps hotter, so will open a few new doors for me experimenting with a few things I couldn't do previously.

And now I'm going to drag my sore and sorry little backside off to bed!! Actually my backside is fine (a bit big!! LOL) I'm fighting an abscess under one of my teeth and I have so much codeine running through my system at the moment I'm just about falling sideways off my seat!!
Tomorrow is a new day and fingers crossed I wake up without a sore mouth!!

MY LAST EBAY AUCTIONS...

2011-04-10T18:44:00.004+10:00

At least for the time being!
Here are the four pendants I have listed for auction on eBay this week.
These will be my last ones for a while as I am having a bit of a break from eBay.
I've had a couple of fantastic years there, met some great people and had a lot of fun, but I think the time has come for a change of pace.
I could be back later this year, but at this stage I'm not too sure which way I will go.
I will still be making new pieces and doing custom orders every week and sharing them here.
My intention is to get my ArtFire Studio up and running to it's full potential ~ I have lots of ideas for new pendants and cabs as well as finished pieces of jewellery.
And then there is also my artwork ~ I would dearly love to get some of that listed too :^)
It may be a little confusing at first ~ ArtFire is listed in US$ but PayPal handles the conversion stuff for you, so it's really quite easy. Any questions and I'm only an email away :^)
A big thank you to those that have supported me on eBay and I hope you will pop in and visit my ArtFire Studio.
At the moment there is not a great deal listed, but over the coming weeks I hope to change that!! If there is anything you would like to see ~ please drop me a line and I'll see what I can do :^)

THANK YOU!!

A FAIRLY QUIET WEEK...

2011-04-09T19:47:00.006+10:00

It was definitely a pretty quiet one on the finished pieces front!!
I did manage to get a heap of pieces into my ArtFire studio so very happy about that :^)
I actually got in excess of 40 cabs cut and fired (first firing) this week, but most are waiting for either the grinder or to have little golden decals added and then to be refired. It's a promising start for next week anyway!!
I revisited a previous technique with quite a few of these pieces this week and I'm very happy with the final result.
This first cab is quite large to say the least ~ 34mm x 45mm, but it is sooooo pretty in real life!!
The circular one is 34mm across.

Another big baby ~ 36mm x 42mm ~ the colours in this are just stunning!!

And a few new pendants.
Pretty much the same technique as the first two cabs, but just using different types of glass.

These three little square pendants are so much nicer "for real" ~ fairly simple with just a touch of colour :^)
And the last piece ~ a slide pendant in a very unusual colour combination!! I've photographed this on a silver chain, but I'm thinking a gold one or even black neoprene or leather might look a bit nicer (??)

Well that's it from me tonight ~ I think a quick visit to see what's happening in the world of FaceBook and then I might have an early night!!
Good night world!!

EBAY AUCTIONS...

2011-04-07T06:58:00.003+10:00

Here are the four pendants I currently have up and running at auction on eBay.
The first one pictured is an amazing shaded green glass that runs from a citrus colour through to a gorgeous peacock. A combination of satin and glossy dichroic glass that has been hand engraved in a sort of tribal design.
The next one in an oval shape flashes a lot more magenta than the picture shows ~ stunning colours!! A combo of sparkly, satin and glossy dichro with little hand made murrine.

Number three is a really simple abstract design for those that like big and bold! The colours in this piece are beautiful in real life ~ the engraved golden sections reflect green as it catches the light and the red is as red as it gets :^)
My final piece here is one of made of mostly hand made art glass with flashes of dichro. This is one of the nicest pendants in this style ~ soft and pretty with a bit of a kick!! I love how this piece has worked!!

That's it for me now ~ best I get a wriggle on and get some work done, so there will be more to share come Saturday.
I hope everyone is having a great week!!
cheers ~ Lyn.

THIS WEEK...

2011-04-02T18:50:00.006+10:00

A bit of a mad dash at the end of this week to get a few pieces done, but I got there in the end :^)
Firstly a couple of the art glass/dichro cabochons. Number one is quite large and the colours are just stunning! The second one is a baby by comparison, but if you like lime green and golden colours, this one is really pretty.

These next two have been drilled so they can be wired or beaded. The one on the left has a bit of a hiccup that magikally appeared in the final firing, so I guess it will be mine. It's an awesome colour combo and could very well end up being something along the lines of my competition piece.

Still in the same glass but as different as chalk is to cheese ~ two quite petite pendants.

Yesterday afternoon just for a bit of R&R I had some fun with my little bubble pendants.

Quarter time at the footy is just about over, so best be getting back ~ sad as it is!!
The new Gold Coast team is getting a flogging of epic proportions :^(
I hope everyone is having a great weekend.......

AVALON...

2011-04-02T11:27:00.004+10:00

The Delphi Art Glass Festival is on once more.
The number of entries across all categories is phenomenal!!
If you would like to go online and see mine and all the other entries, you can just click HERE.
There is a drop down box that has all the different categories listed ~ if you have a bit of time to kill, check it out!!
There is an amazing piece called "Torso" in the sculpture section and another called "Dot Pot" that is an absolute ripper!!
In the mosaic section there is a panel called "Tropic Dreams" ~ that was made by a friend of mine called Cathy and it is just gorgeous!!!

This is my entry ~ AVALON.
Fused dichro and art glass.
Lovingly hand wrapped in a lot of sterling silver wire.
And finished off with a hand made (by me) chain.

And a few extra pics ~ this is my baby on it's journey into being :^)
It's amazing how different the silver looks before it is antiqued!!

AUCTIONS ON EBAY ...

2011-03-31T08:08:00.003+10:00

Here are my four auction pieces I currently have up and running on eBay.
This very first one is another of the multi layered dichro and art glass pieces. I think this is my favourite colour combination so far, the colours in this are just so pretty together :^)
The photograph really does not do the next pendant justice! The sparkle that this one has is stunning and the pink engraved sections have a beautiful greenish cast to them as they catch the light. I've also used a sterling bail here and this comes complete with a sterling silver chain.

From soft and pretty to bright and bold!
The colours in the red/orange engraved pendant are very intense, again much brighter than the camera will show!!
And finally one of my little engraved Victorian patchwork pieces. I used to love doing this with fabric and I really enjoy doing these with glass!! Lots of different colours and a lot of fun!!

That's all from me at the moment ~ I hope you're all having a great week!!

MY WEEK SO FAR...

2011-03-26T18:37:00.011+10:00

It's been a week of doing lots of different things for me again.
A bit of glass and a bit of drawing :^)
I was working on a couple of competition pieces too, but as is sometimes the way, things don't always go to plan. So it was a quick trip back to the drawing board for me and just maybe I'll pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat by Tuesday night!
Anyway ~ here is what I did manage to finish :^)
Four smallish pendants...

A couple of little multi layered cabs ~ these could have bails added yet.

This first one is telling me it would like a soldered silver setting ~ we'll see!!
The others all have a hole drilled in them ~ to be either wired up or beaded.
The very last one in this group will be getting worked on tomorrow ~ all going well it will become a competition piece :^)

These are two of the pendants that were waiting to be wired up ~ I have used antiqued brass wire for these and I'm very happy with how they have worked out! They are on their way to their new homes now.

A pair of earrings custom made to match the pendant from the week before last.

And this is a card that I made for my step~niece who got married today :^)
The first 2 pictures are just before it was finished and the third one is a pretty bad photo of it all together ~ it got a bit late and I lost the light.

So it's goodnight from me ~ I'm just about to take some painkillers and zonk myself out ~ I have a very bad headache and think I need to go to bed.
I hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

HOW DICHROIC GLASS IS MADE...

2011-03-24T18:28:00.002+10:00

I'm hoping this link will work ~ this is a really interesting video.
This is how the amazing glass I use is actually made.
It's like something from a science fiction movie!

I could go absolutely crazy there!!!

There are some amazing art works also in the gallery at CBS.

http://www.easywebvideo.com/video.php?v=938f0bb5

EBAY AUCTIONS FOR THIS WEEK...

2011-03-22T07:49:00.004+10:00

These are the four pendants that were listed to start at auction on eBay on Sunday morning.

This first little baby is a personal favourite. I think I said in the listing there were five different types of glass used in this piece ~ there are actually six! Four times through the kiln and presented with a sterling silver bail and chain. I really love the soft, but not wussy colours in this pendant.
The triangular one kind of "just" evolved. It started out life going to be something totally different, but when I started engraving, my muse had a mind of her own and far be it from me to argue!! LOL. I really like how this one has worked, so very happy I did what I was told!

Next in line is one of my engraved rainbow/chakra pendants ~ a very simple design, but great colours that will go with so many things :^)
And finally, this is my most favourite for this week. Black and white always looks quite stylish and this gorgeous red with the BIG cubic zirconia and a simple engraved blossom really makes this pendant "pop".

That's it from me at the moment :^)
I have a huge week planned ~ two competition pieces I'd like to finish by Friday, a wedding card to make, some pendants to wire up, a tutorial for a bail I want to write and some orders I also need to finish. If I manage half of these things I'll be a happy camper!!
Have a great week!!

THIS WEEK...

2011-03-19T19:23:00.006+10:00

Well another week has flown by sooooo fast!!
It's been a week of mostly doing orders, but I did manage to get a few stock pieces finished too :^)
I have a heap waiting to be engraved and some (hopefully) gorgeous art glass and dichro ones coming up ~ they will still need two more firings yet.

A couple of simple engraved pendant and earring sets. I really like these ~ the pink is a very pretty colour and the bluish set is actually a gorgeous shaded lime/peacock/blue glass. The colour doesn't show up in a photo very well which is a real shame.

Two more of my dimensional slide pendants. The blue in the first one is a really vivid cobalt blue and the purple in the second one is a very definite salmon pink when viewed from the side.

These next two pairs of earrings are for an order ~ these match existing pendants.

This little trio is yet to wired up. I'm going to do these with antiqued brass wire I think.
Then they will be off to their respective homes in the U.S.

The Bead Mavens are having another of their fantastic beading challenges and this is the cabochon I am donating as part of their prize pool.
If you have a chance nick over to their site and have a wander around. You will see some gorgeous work from some amazingly talented people on display!

And lastly, this took a fair chunk of my time this week. Another custom ordered birthday card.
These are pretty intense to do, but probably because I don't do that many I really enjoy it when I do!! It's actually quite a challenge but also fun trying to come up with little bits and pieces to personalise these :^)

cheers ~ Lyn.x.

MY CURRENT EBAY AUCTIONS...

2011-03-17T17:30:00.003+10:00

These are the four pieces I have currently up for auction on eBay ~ finishing Sunday morning.

The first one is a big curvy triangle~ glossy and satin dichro with a touch of hand engraving.
This next one is a simple striped one, again with just a touch of engraving and finished off with three litlle dimensional bubbles.

The icy white one is a five layered piece, hand painted with silver lustre and finished with a hand crafted sterling silver bail. It has lots of colour, although it's very hard to tell from the pictures.
And lastly, a Spicks and Specks heart pendant. Lots of colour and pattern in this one!!

Hope you've all had a fantastic week so far!!!
Now off to get ready to go out to dinner ~ YAY!! No cooking for me tonight :^)

NEW PENDANTS FOR THIS WEEK...

2011-03-12T20:27:00.006+10:00

This week I seem to have a bit of a theme going ~ all of these pendants are shades of purple, two with a touch of contrasting lime green.
With quite a few of the pieces pictured here it seems they have deep blue in them ~ the colour you are seeing is actually a deep violet in real life. This is one of those strange things dichroic glass and the camera does sometimes...it is a very tricky colour to get a good representation of.
The first four are my Batik pendants, full gloss and hand painted with silver lustre.

Four of the Silk'n'Satin pendants.

This next slide pendant is a very soft lavender and white.
The curvy engraved triangle is purely purple with a silvery pink bubble accent.

A custom ordered set for A.J. Fine silver loops fused into place, sterling silver bail on the pendant, sterling silver hooks on the earrings. What looks to be blue here is actually more lavender with a slight blue tint. Of a night time it is all purple :^)

And lastly two pairs of earrings for T.M. to match existing pendants.

Now it's time for me to trundle off to the land of Nod ~ if anyone has any questions or would like any info about any of the above pictures, I'll be back in the morning.
Hope you are all having a great weekend so far!!
Good night :^)