Year: 2016

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Thanks

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to chat, look at and buy my jewellery yesterday. There are many, many places where you could have spent your time and money, and I am so incredibly grateful that yesterday some of you chose me.

thanks

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Etsy Made Local

Last year the first ever “Etsy Made Local” market in Adelaide was simply amazing.  The weather was perfect, the street was beautiful and filled with some great vendors selling beautiful products.  I had a super time there, and I’m looking forward to being part of the event again this weekend.  The event in Adelaide runs alongside the French Market, so two for the price of one…even though it’s free entry!

I have made lots of things for this market, and I’m hoping that it’s enough, but I’m also happy to post orders to people for anything that I don’t have, and I’ll even do that for FREE!

Happy Christmas shopping…

eml-social-media-woo-hoo

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View from my studio

I’m spending as much time in the studio as I can (in between everything else).  I’m getting ready for my final market of this year!  It’s on Saturday, in Unley.  It’s the Etsy Made Local market, and it’s going to be massive.  I’ll have all sorts of new and old pieces available on the day, and if I don’t have what you want/need, then I’ll post it to you for FREE the next week!

studio view

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View from my studio

I have been running this business for nearly 8 years now, and I’m still surprised at how busy things get in November!  I tend to do more markets in November also, and that seems to add to the general busy-ness.

I just wanted to take a moment to let you know how grateful I am when people choose to buy my work.  There is a LOT of choice when it comes to jewellery, and I am always very humbled when someone makes their choice my jewellery.

studio view

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Penny Lane Market

I haven’t been able to do this market for a while now, so I am really looking forward to heading to Mount Barker to be part of the Penny Lane Market.  The Christmas Pageant is also on Saturday, so this makes a good option for those people who don’t want to watch the pageant…or want something to do after the pageant ends.

penny lane market

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Recycled glass jewellery

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed…but I love making beads from recycled glass!  It’s quite a process going from the empty bottle to the finished necklace, so I thought I would list all of the steps for making recycled glass bead jewellery here:

  1. Empty the bottle!  My husband quite likes a bottle of beer, so he takes care of my beer bottle needs.  I’m quite partial to wine, so I am happy to take care of those wine bottles.  I have a few friends who drink gin, and donate their empty bottles to me (thanks everyone)!
  2. Clean the bottle.  This includes removing the labels, and making sure the inside is clean too.
  3. Smash the bottle.  I carefully wrap the bottle in a pillow case, and then I smash it with a hammer.  All of the shards are collected and stored in containers.
  4. Make the beads.  To do this I need to heat the glass on a hotplate, so that when I put it in the flame it doesn’t explode!  I then pick up the warm glass with tweezers and using the flame and all sorts of techniques I am able to make the glass beads.
  5. Anneal the beads.  Once I have made the beads, they are placed in my kiln to go through an annealing process.  Glass is temperamental, and it like to be heated up and cooled down slowly.  Letting it slowly cool down in a kiln is essential when making strong, resilient beads.
  6. Clean the beads.  After the beads have cooled down (usually overnight), I then take the beads off the mandrels, and clean the core of the beads with a diamond drill bit.

And voila!  This photo summarises the process:

Bombay Sapphire Gin recycled glass jewellery