Shirley Giles

Here I am!

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:36:00 +0000

Five hours of torching today. Made a pile of flower beads, mostly for the Essex bead fair on March 1st. Nearly ran out of mandrels.

I'm really looking forward to the bead fairs again. It's great to have a look and see what's around, and I do like it when something of mine sells. I still get a little thrill knowing that somebody wants to buy a bead that I made from scratch.

I know, little things and little minds :)

I'm a lazy blogger!

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:18:00 +0000

Yes, I know, you're thinking what's the point of having a blog if nothing's ever written on it? How do I know if anyone is reading it anyway, and if they aren't, why bother writing at all? Do I need to write for me? Well obviously not, otherwise I'd write more often.

So, maybe I will, maybe I won't. I'm not sure how I feel about my little contribution to all the cyberjunk that is floating around out there, or is that out here?

Write tomorrow.....maybe ;)

Beadies on the way!

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:55:33 +0000

Well, once I'd got my propane I thought I'd better do some torching. The results are in the kiln even as I type, and with a bit of luck I'll get them cleaned and ready to show on here tomorrow evening.

There's one focal I'm really excited about - it's the variation on the travelling vine, and the colours are just yummy. Let's hope the kiln doesn't change them too much

Early start!

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:35:16 +0000

Well I had to go and get more propane, so it was up good and early this morning.

I've been working on a set of travelling vine design for a regular customer. I love making that style and suspect it will become something of a signature for me. I've found a great colour combo too, so will be developing that one as well.

No tidying up today, a girl's got to have some time to torch

Day 2 - Mixed fortunes

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:16:10 +0000

I've worked flaming hard to start sorting this garage out, and here are a couple of updated pics.

Still plenty to do, but I've got the glass a bit better organised, and moving the kiln means I'll be able to anneal as I go. What's so special about that? Lentils and big beads, and ones with lots of yummy silver in that hopefully won't crack.

All good then? So why mixed fortunes? Well, after a couple of hours of tidying this morning I just sat down to torch and promptly ran out of propane!

A work in progress

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:09:31 +0000

Here's where I melt my glass

You can't fail to see how neat and tidy it is. I can thoroughly recommend the B&Q 98p orange bucket as a glass storage device.

Actually, that bit of the garage isn't bad at all. This bit, however....

is another story

The good news is that I've now sorted through all the stuff on the right, have found a pile of CDs I thought I'd lost, given away a box of books on Freecycle and nearly filled my recycle bin. I've been and bought loft boards so I can store stuff in the roof space and have 80 more bits of plastic pipe for glass storage.

More pics on the way as I get things sorted. My aim is to be able to fit in a second desk to use as a teaching space. And to be able to get to my work station without needing mountaineering gear to get there

Phew!

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:25:34 +0000

I'm a bit tired! Just been to Norwich bead fair helping do some demos of lampworking. Bit mad, very hot but good fun.

Just put a couple of new focals up on the site, as well as some big hole beads for Pandora or Troll-type bracelet systems. These have been a real challenge, but now I'm enjoying making them, so much so that I bought 8 more mandrels today.

I've got more beads to come, including a couple of sets, and also a few more individual beads that I'm really pleased with. Better go and rescue them from the kiln and get them cleaned up.

On Being a Perfectionist

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:50:05 +0000

I'm a perfectionist. No doubt about it. That'll be why I've made about 40 spacers in order to get a set of 10. And I bet I won't be satisfied when I sort them through.

I've also got another 30 beads to get a set of 7. All good practice, I suppose

I love my Bobcat!

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:38:57 +0000

I guess any torch with the word cat in its name would be a good one, and I have no regrets about buying myself a new torch at all. Still keeping the old hothead, though, far too sentimental to let it go.

Have been having lots of fun getting used to the new torch, and hope to have some new beads for sale very soon.

New Torch?

Sun, 25 May 2008 08:20:10 +0000

I need to make a decision. Should I go for a new torch? Thing is, I love the torch I use now, but I can see the restrictions - mainly the slowness of it, and I'd really like something more adjustable. Then I make something I really like and I think, no, I'll stick with the old one.

If I were doing this full time I know I'd go for the flashiest, fastest, biggest torch I could get. But I'm not, and the money would buy an awful lot of glass!