Fused Glass Workshop No’s 2&3

Since the jewellery workshop I went back and did two more glass workshops where I worked on a panel. Most people did theirs in one workshop, but I had to go to two as I cannot work for three straight hours, so I spent a lot of time taking breaks on the sofa and did not stay until the end.

This is what I made:

It is about A4 (letter) size and is based on a view of a favourite beach in the evening.

I am quite pleased with it, though I don’t think it is my best creation! I enjoyed going to the workshops and being part of a group activity. That said, I won’t be going to any more in the near future as I am not really well enough and I did suffer for this more than it was worth… such is life.

 

Fused Glass Workshop

I recently went on a workshop to make jewellery from glass. It was great for me as it was two hours one saturday morning, then two hours the next. I do appreciate a paced approach!

I am really pleased with what I made, and am hoping to go back later in the year to make a larger landscape style panel. Exciting.

Here are my creations:

These are cuff link and they didn’t come out quite right. One piece of patterned glass was upside down (very hard to tell when making it which way was “up”) so it looks different and melted into the white glass differently too. As cuff links are rarely seen side by side, I think they are ok. I have given them to a friend.

This is a piece I have made into a bracelet with some leather thong. This angle shows the middle part as lilac.

This angle shows it as gold.

Here is a brooch I made for my mum. It was a real rush job as time was running out, so I picked nice bits she would like and did a quick arrangement. It worked really well!

The last one is a pendant – two pictures to show the way the colours change.

 

Shell Stickers

I have been to the coast a few times in recent months and have found some beautiful shells, sea glass and bits of coal.

I had been thinking about doing something with them, but had not come up with anything specific. Then a friend’s birthday was coming up and I wondered if I could make some stickers to decorate her presents.

I spread out the shells but needed a background, then remembered another friend had given me some postcards she made which had a sandy background! Perfect! So I had a photo shoot and really enjoyed it. The fiddling about with the sticker set-up for the printer was less fun, but I got there in the end and I made a sheet of tiny but lovely stickers. I stuck them all over my friend’s presents and also gave her a sheet so she can decorate letters and packages for other people too, as she loves that kind of thing.

The best bit is that it is all set up so I can print more off or change the images quite easily for new stickers!

 

National Glass Centre

Yesterday I went to The National Glass Centre. It was really good with plenty to see and I came home with some gift shop booty too!

We saw a demonstration of making things of glass using a sand box as a mould, which was interesting as well as very hot! Usually they do glass blowing but we happened to see something different, which was good as I have seen glass blowing before.

The building was really interesting and very wheelchair accessible, you could even get up onto the roof and look back down into the centre as well as at the view over the river.

It was nice to see some actual sunshine too.

As well as lots of various products and creations made from glass, which were really inspiring to see in terms of colours, textures and patterns there were also other mediums, like an artist who does paper-folding, for example!

I have come away feeling really inspired and enlivened. A little trip out can be worth so much!