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Is this useful – post #6

Recycled glass beads | sometimes the colour disappears!

I’ve been having so much fun making beads from all of these new objects. I’ve been excited by the new colours of glass that have worked really well.

And then…well, let’s just say I had very high hopes for this beautiful gin bottle. I thought the colour was great, and it would mix well with some of the other gin bottle colours that I am using. But then I heated the glass, and all of that beautiful colour disappeared!

Recycled glass beads | sometimes the colour disappears!

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Is this useful – post #4

Recycled glass earrings | made from this beautiful cup

I was given this cup a while ago, and I loved the colour of it, but I hadn’t had a chance to use it until this week. This week seemed like a good time to test it out, and I’m glad that I did. The colour is really unique, and the beads that I made from it are lovely. I’m looking forward to making more beads from this glass and adding it into some of the jewellery pieces that I make with recycled glass beads.

Recycled glass earrings | made from this beautiful cup

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Is this useful – post #3

Recycled glass beads | sometimes they don't work out!

A friend of mine recently gave me this lovely purple bottle. It was “not useful” to her because it was cracked, so she thought maybe I could make some beads with it instead.

That same night I was chatting with a glass collector, and he told me that the bottle had no value, and that the colour in the glass was from being out in the sun for a long time. I can’t remember the exact science behind it, but essentially, as the bottle was exposed to UV rays over years and years, it slowly changed the colour of the bottle from clear to purple.

This made me wonder….how would the glass handle being heated by my torch?? Would it make it more purple? I kind of hoped so, but I was also doubtful.

Anyway, I thought this was the perfect week to give it a go, so I broke the glass, melted it and made a few beads, but I could kind of tell while I was melting it that things were not looking good for the glass.

When I took the beads out of the kiln, I could see they were all a bit of a mess really! So it turns out that this glass was not useful for my friend, not really useful for me either, but I did learn something about glass, so maybe it wasn’t so useless after all??

Recycled glass beads | sometimes they don't work out!

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Is this useful – post #2

Recycled glass | check out the earrings made from this Dior perfume bottle

When Helen gave me this Dior perfume bottle I hoped that the colour would stay true, and would not burn out when I melted it. I was thrilled when I opened the kiln to find the most beautiful beads. I love the silver sparkle on them too, it makes them look perfect for a romantic night out!

Thanks Helen, for thinking about this glass bottle before throwing it in the bin!

Recycled glass | check out the earrings made from this Dior perfume bottle

Recycled glass earrings | these earrings were made from a Dior perfume bottle

 

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Is this useful – post #1

Recycled glass earrings | handmade glass beads made from a sake bottle

I love that people are starting to look at their glass bottles before they throw them out. I am often asked “is this useful?”

This week I am sharing a bunch of items that I have been given, and the things that I am making with them.

This first item is a sake bottle that someone had thought about throwing away, but then they wondered if I could use it. I thought the colour might be a bit like Bombay Sapphire Gin, but it’s actually even more vibrant than that! I loved melting this glass and making some pretty little beads. The earrings are super cute!

Recycled glass earrings | handmade glass beads made from a sake bottle

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Up early

Recycled glass earrings | pretty earrings made from a wine bottle

I do like to get up early. I feel like my brain resets to 100% over night, like a good night’s sleep recharges it fully! And as the day goes by, and I have interactions with all sorts of people, and work to do, my brain slowly, but surely loses it’s charge, until I’m running on about 20% by night time!

I know some people are night owls, and that is their time to shine. But for me it’s mornings. Always has been, always will be!

Recycled glass earrings | pretty earrings made from a wine bottle

Recycled glass earrings | handmade glass beads made from a wine bottle

Recycled glass earrings | handmade glass beads made from a wine bottle

Recycled glass earrings | pretty brown beads made from a wine bottle

Recycled glass earrings | pretty recycled blue/green recycled glass earrings

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2 more

Recycled glass earrings | pretty earrings made from a wine bottle

Today I made two more pairs of earrings ready for Friday! On Friday morning newsletter subscribers will get a special offer in their inbox….are you subscribed??

Recycled glass earrings | pretty earrings made from a wine bottle

Recycled glass earrings | pretty pink/green recycled glass earrings

Recycled glass earrings | pretty long green recycled glass earrings

Recycled glass earrings | pretty pink/purple tones

Recycled glass earrings | pretty green recycled glass earrings made from a wine bottle

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Making for my newsletter subscribers

Recycled glass earrings | colourful earrings made from a wine bottle

I am spending the week making earrings for my online shop. I’ll have eight pairs of earrings ready by Friday, and newsletter subscribers will receive a special offer in their inbox Friday morning.

Have you subscribed to my newsletter? It’s fairly easy to do. Just click on this link and enter your email address. I send a newsletter once/month. I also giveaway a pair of earrings each month! You never know your luck.

Recycled glass earrings | colourful earrings made from a wine bottle

Recycled glass earrings | beautiful blue recycled glass earrings

Recycled glass earrings | beautiful earrings in red and pink tones

Recycled glass earrings | beautiful blue recycled glass earrings

Recycled glass earrings | beautiful red and pink toned earrings

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The fourth heart in the series

Recycled glass necklace | beautiful heart-shaped bead made from a wine bottle

It’s funny how one idea can spark more ideas. I started the heart challenge thinking I would just try making a heart bead like this one.

But as soon as I made that bead, I thought, well, what if I ran the holes vertically, rather than horizontally? That sparked this bead.

Then I thought, maybe I could add some colour by melting some frit into the bead. That idea made this bead.

It took a little while, but I did get back on the torch to make this bead, featuring frit, and a horizontal hole, it looks so sweet!

Recycled glass necklace | beautiful heart-shaped bead made from a wine bottle