Year: 2020

Day 306. Hendricks Limited Release Gin, Fever Tree Tonic and recycled sterling silver beads all layered in this pair of earrings. Love the shiny/etched contrast of the gin bottle beads.

Day 305. It’s quite a process going from an empty Bombay Sapphire Gin bottle, all the way through to a finished pair of earrings! First you have to soak the bottle, cleaning the inside and removing the labels from the outside. Next you have to smash the bottle with a hammer to get workable pieces of glass. Next I use my torch to melt the glass and form the beads. Then they anneal in the kiln to strengthen the beads. Once they have cooled down I need to remove them from the mandrel and clean out the holes. I can then use etching solution to take the shine off the beads, or leave them shiny. I like the contrast here. The bottom bead is made from a Fever-Tree tonic bottle.

Day 304. Another thing you can do with dots is move them with a sharp pointy tool, and turn them into love hearts.

Day 303. Another interesting thing you can do with dots is to poke holes in them while they are still hot!

Day 302. Today’s earrings feature dots stacked on top of each other, and not melted in, giving a spiky effect. Love the retro inspired colours!

Day 301. Today I have layered the dots again, but this time I have melted in the bottom layer, and kept the top layer raised or bumpy!

Day 300. I was thinking about some of my favourite lampworking skills, and dots are definitely at the top of the list! There are just so many things you can do with dots. Today I have melted the dots into the bead, and over the next few days I will share some other ways of using dots on a bead.

Day 299. Recycled sterling silver and recycled glass. Melting the silver is almost as mesmerising as melting glass, just a lot quicker!! And at the moment, still unpredictable! But I am loving making my own silver beads.

Day 298. A lovely friend gave me this jug quite a while ago, and it took some time to find the courage to smash this lovely piece! The test beads are awesome, the glass is a gorgeous green. Sorry it took so long!

Day 297. Gin and tonic earrings, this time featuring the small blue beads made from a Citadelle Gin bottle.