Custom glass - for the obsessed, fascinated or just plain gorgeous!

Published in Issue 21, February 2013

Written by Sally from The Bead Bounty

www.thebeadbounty.weebly.com

Custom glass - for the obsessed, fascinated or just plain gorgeous!

Why buy ‘off the shelf’ when you can have custom designed so easily?

For as long as I can remember I have had a fascination for glass. I love it’s many and varied colours and the ways in which it can be formed and manipulated to create wonderful objects from the practical to the decadent.
When I was a youngster I remember visiting the Victoria and Albert museum in London on a trip from boarding school and the one thing that sticks with me from that visit, is the glass that they had on display. I remember being mesmerised by its beauty. I even bought a post card with a picture of a gorgeous red glass goblet I had seen, as a reminder of the experience. The post card is, of course, long gone but my memory of that stunning goblet is as vivid as ever.
I have even earlier memories of my joy and delight where glass is concerned.
My family moved quite a lot and one of the houses we lived in for a short time near the Pennine hills in England, before we crossed the pond to Africa, had the most spectacular stained glass arched window. It reached from the cellar to the fourth storey attic and when the sun hit it, it cast the most beautiful colours down the stairs and hall ways. At only seven years old, I can remember being awestruck on more than one occasion when I saw the light dancing and bathing everything, including me, with the most glorious rainbow of colours.
As a designer I love to produce original one of a kind pieces of art work and over the years I have tried every craft that has been available to me, but never found anything that truly fulfilled the thing that I was obviously looking for. I came close once with pottery. The way glazes melt under extreme heat fascinates me and with my wheel and kiln, I have made many a pot that has had an amazing finish to it, but even that did not hit the spot, so to speak.

Five years ago on the 14th of February, having spent many years making jewellery, I decided to go for broke and set up “The Bead Bounty”. The concept was to bring glass beads, bead making products and handcrafted designer jewellery to the public. After a short time I became frustrated by the lack of quality and the fact that the beads were mass-produced and too commonly available. I decided to do something about it and learned the art of Lamp work bead making. The skills I had acquired over the years helped and once I bought the equipment I needed, I started to produce good quality beads I could put my own designs into. I had finally found the thing I had been looking for.
I was now able to offer my customers one off, good quality originals, that only they could own. A whole new world opened up.

I started to receive orders for bespoke pieces of jewellery.
One customer saw the beads on a bracelet I had made and ordered a large Hole European style bead for a silver bracelet in that design.
I have had Order requests for jewellery to go with prom, wedding and special occasion dresses.
One lady even requested a bracelet to match her team colour at school. One of the pieces I am currently working on is a child’s bracelet with pink and blue beads. The mother wants her daughter to have a keepsake that she can treasure forever and that will be unique to her.

The beauty of Lamp Work is that I can produce, within reason, any style or colour of bead that is requested.
One of the most exciting requests I have had was to make a full range of jewellery for a local museum, to accompany an exhibit that they were about to put on show. A Saxon Princesses grave had been un-earthed at Loftus in North Yorkshire and was the first Saxon Royalty to be found in England. The museum wanted to have jewellery to sell to mirror the colours of the main gold and garnet pendant that had been found in the dig.
I produced many pieces of jewellery for the museum and named it “The Princess Collection” as my name means Princess.
I never know from one day to the next what exciting ideas my customers will come up with and ask me to produce for them. That is one of the true pleasures of my job.
As well as making the beads into jewellery I also produce beads for the customer to make into their very own one of a kind pieces.

Which ever pieces I sell, be it ready made jewellery, bespoke items or loose beads, I feel greatly privileged that people part with hard earned cash to purchase my products.
There is no feeling like it and I would like to thank customers past, present and future for their appreciation of just what an amazing art lamp work is.
It is a joy when people understand that they are purchasing something truly unique.

Wedding Wonders With No Wonga

Published in Issue 20, December 2012

Written byKerry from Scrapbookerry

http://www.scrapbookerry.com/

Wedding Wonders With No Wonga

Mr L proposed, I said yes and now we are trying to get the wedding of our dreams with the least amount of money possible. Some things we are making ourselves, some things are being given to us, others we are getting through hard labour and lots of rooting around for bargains and other things just can’t be budged. So we will try some haggling instead.
If you are interested in helping us along the Wedding Wonders with No Wonga journey then please do contact us at weddingwonderswithnowonga@gmail.com

Centre Pieces Centre pieces can be very simple or really elaborate. They can range from the traditional to the quirky and even to the slightly insane. They can be
handmade or they can have a lot of money spent on them. But one thing is for sure they are a bit of a minefield to be honest.

We have been looking for centre pieces for a while now and we are in a land we really don’t understand. We want something that caters for both of our tastes but also will fit in with our wedding. It doesn’t necessarily have to fit in with our theme of Vintage Tea Party but it does need to work with us and how people know us.

Traditionally and most popular for weddings centrepieces are flowers, and we have seen some beautiful ones. They have ranged from very expensive and elaborate displays, to the very simple and easy to do. You can have low displays or high displays, ones just in tin cans or jam jars and others in fabulous displays that cover the whole middle of the table.We have also seen unusual flower displays, with flowers around fish bowls, or a couple of lilies stuck in a box of elegant stones. All of these are beautiful and they are lovely but we are not really flowery people.

The only flowers we would be tempted to use would be lilies and these really are not cheap flowers when trying to do something on a budget.
We have seen some lovely candle displays, some with just candles in a row,
some with candle floating in bowls and others with the more traditional candelabras. These are all lovely and we could buy the candles in the exact colour scheme of the wedding, (which has actually changed from cream and brown to aqua blue and brown) which would be lovely.
However safety could be an issue and as we have a lot of children on our wedding list and potentially could have some very small children attending the wedding, neither of us think the candles, however lovely, are really the best idea for us.

We have considered using sweets. We have been to a few weddings which have had bowls of retro sweets as table centrepieces, and we both love this idea. But again we have to consider the number of children attending and we don’t think it would be such a good idea to have a massive bowl of sweets on the table, especially when they should be eating their dinner. We are going to have sweets but we think it will be best to have a specific sweet table, rather than sweets as the centrepieces, as then they don’t have to all be put in one bowl and we can separate them into different old glass jars and that way people can see what they are taking.
After looking around for a while we seemed to come up with an idea that we both really wanted as centrepieces. Mr L really wanted something fun and silly, a small game or something for people to play with while sat at the table, as he really is a great big kid and it shows his personality.
While he wanted something silly, I really wanted something sentimental, specifically something to do with paper, as everyone knows my love for scrapbooking. I want to keep as many things from my wedding as possible and I would really like to include the centrepieces if possible.

We have come across a couple of game ideas, e.g. having Scrabble in the centre of the table, and using the word boards for the guest’s name places. Or having Jenga in the middle and getting all the guests to write their own wedding messages on the wooden pieces for us to keep a very sentimental Jenga game for life.

Then Mr L came up with the idea of Lego! He decided that it was the play thing that both adults and children would love, and that he wanted a huge bowl of Lego on each table for everyone to be able to make their own Lego piece.

It has been discussed in length with his Ushers and Best Man and it seems that he is set on the idea of Lego. It is original and something that we can add to gradually as the months go on preparing for the wedding. So unless his ideas change, it looks like he will be having Lego!

 

I was still set on my idea of having some sort of Scrapbooking sentimental items on the table as well as Mr L’s silly play things. I have been finding lots of different things which would fit into this category. I have thought about giving all guests a little accordion book, but then decided that this would be too big for each individual.
Then I found a perfect idea! We had no idea for what to do for our Table Numbers until I came across this idea of using books with the table numbers on. We can decorate the books by putting the table number on the cover and then every person on that table writes a message with advice on how to cope with that year of marriage. So table one writes advice for the first year, Table two writes advice for the second year. Table three writes advice for the third year, and so on. It means that we can keep these books throughout our marriage and can always look back at the messages that our friends and family have written to us.
So it seems that we have two ideas that we both really want, Mr L with his Lego and my Table Number advice books. I think both of them will make the tables a little bit different to anything else that we have seen, but will also completely work with our personalities which is just we want.

If you are interested in helping us along the Wedding Wonders with No Wonga journey then please do contact us at weddingwonderswithnowonga@gmail.com

Photo Credits
Tin can flowers http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/231015/50-great-wedding-centerpieces/@center/272419/youre-engaged#103584

Fish bowl with flowers
http://www.wedding-flowers-and-reception-ideas.com/fish-bowl-centerpiece.html

Candles http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/231015/50-great-wedding-centerpieces/@center/272419/youre-engaged#177196

Jenga http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenga 

Lego http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego

Beaded Bead Necklace

Published in Issue 21, February 2013

Written by Sally from The Bead Bounty

Beaded Bead Necklace 

You will need

Beading thread

Beading needle

Size 11 seed beads

Size 6 seed beads

Scissors

A clasp if you wish to add one, but this necklace works well as a continuous piece that just slips over the head. 

Method

Step 1. Thread the needle with approximately 2mt beading thread and pick up 3 size 6 beads.  Pass them down the thread and leave a 6” tail.  (This will be used to tie off the necklace later).

Steps 2 & 3. Pick up 2 size 11 beads, 1 size 6 bead and 2 size 11 beads and pass the needle through the first 3 size 6 beads to create a loop .

Steps 4 - 7. Pick up another 2 size 11, 1 size 6 and 2 size 11 beads and pass the needle through the first 3 size 6 beads again to create another loop.

Repeat this process until you have 7 bead loops with the original 3 beads at their centre.  This is your first beaded bead.

Step 8. Pick up 10 size 11, 1 size 6 and 10 size 11 seed beads.

Step 9. Now start a new bead by repeating steps 1-7 and making sure that you keep the first 3 size 6 beads tight up against the 10 size 11 beads so that no thread is showing.  Add another four beads in this way so that you have 6 beaded beads with bead strings in between. 

Step 10. At this point for the necklace shown, I added 7 beaded beads with 1 size 6 bead in between each one to give a central focal point.

You can continue to add beads and bead strings for an even longer necklace. 

Tie the ends together and thread the ends through several beads to tidy them up. I always run a second thread through the length of the necklace to add strength. (Just make sure that you have the same spaces between the beaded beads)

To make it the same way as I did, only do four beads at point 6 instead of 6 and add a clasp. 

My necklace measures approximately 20 inches long (you will need to add an extra 10 size 11, 1 size 6 and 10 size 11 seed beads to each end to keep it even before you add the clasp). Either way will give you a very attractive and pretty necklace to wear or to give as a gift.

A secret valentines’ love message

Published in Issue 20, December 2012

Written by Nicola from Cutie and The Feast

A secret valentines’ love message 

What you will need

Some cardstock to use as the base of your card

Scraps of card or other embellishments as decoration

A long match

Double sided tape/glue to assemble your card. 

Pilot  Frixon pen

Ordinary biro (in a colour that matches the Frixon pen).

Single hole punch

Step 1. You’ll need to decide on what you want your hidden message to be and then the text that will hide the message. 

For  example, my hidden message will be “ I Love You” The text that I’m going to hide this in will be:

The principle is that anything you write with the Frixon pen will disappear when exposed to heat as this is an erasable pen. 

You will need to write your hidden message with an ordinary biro and the surrounding text with the Frixon. The text in red should be written with the biro and the text in black written with the Frixon. But remember to use the same colour pen otherwise it won’t be a secret message!

When you think about hiding your message you can use whole words, letters or just parts of letters to make up the text. 

Step 2. Decide on the size of your text. If you want to include a cupid’s arrow match then you’ll need to make your text a little bit smaller than the diagonal length of the match. 

Step 3. Write out your message and remember to swap pens! 

I’ve used a piece of white card cut into the shape of a heart and mounted on some red glitter card.  Its quite simple but I want the focus to be the magic text. 

Step 4. Make a cupid’s arrow match by cutting a small piece of red card into the same of a heart and gluing to the end of the match.  Lay your match diagonally across the heart and mark where you are going to punch holes. Using a single hole punch, awl or anything you can make a hole with punch two holes so that you can slot your match through. 

Step 5. Assemble your card and add any additional embellishment. You will need to hold the card a little way above a flame so it’s best not to use anything that could get in the way and catch fire. 

Millie - Mae, Toby and Mummy Makes - Rocky Road and Chocolate Truffles

Published in Issue 21, February 2013

Written by Tracey from WowThankYou
www.wowthankyou.co.uk

Rocky Road

You will need:

150g Unsalted butter

200g Dark chocolate

2-3 tbs Golden syrup

100g Mini marshmallows

100g Milk chocolate chips

100g Raisins

100g Mixed nuts

200g Shortbread biscuits

Step 1. Place 100g of mixed nuts into a pan and lightly toast them until roasted. Remove from heat

Step 2. Break the chocolate block into small pieces and place in a bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the bowl. Heat over a pan of boiling water until totally melted. Set aside to cool a little.

Step 3. Add 2-3 tablespoons of golden syrup.

Step 4. Place the roasted nuts into a sandwich bag, and give them a bash with a rolling pin to break up. 

Step 5. Crush the shortbread biscuits into small pieces, and then add to the chocolate mix. 

Step 6. Add all remaining ingredients and stir well. 

Step 7. Wet some greaseproof paper and wring out – this makes it nice and pliable. Line a square tin or glass dish with the paper.

Step 8. Pour the chocolate mixture into the tin/dish. 

Step 9. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Step 10. Remove from dish and with a sharp knife slice into fingers or squares. 

Step 11. Arrange on a plate and lightly dust with icing sugar.

Step 12. Enjoy!

Chocolate Truffles

You will need:

100g Unsalted butter

100g Dark chocolate

2 tbs Golden syrup

200g Icing sugar

Few drops of vanilla essence

Chocolate strands/sprinkles

Step 1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Step 2. Add 2 tablespoons of golden syrup. 

Step 3. Add 3-4 drops of vanilla essence.

Step 4. Add icing sugar while continually mixing. Keep adding until the mixture thickens and has a consistency that will allow you to roll into balls. 

Step 5. Take a teaspoon sized lump of mixture and roll into a ball. Roll the ball in the chocolate sprinkles and place on a plate to set. Continue until all the mixture has been used up.

Step 6. Place the truffles in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours.
Place in a decorative box lined with a pretty paper napkin and offer around the grandparents when they visit. Guaranteed to impress!

Millie-Mae (6) and Toby (4) are the children of Tracey Kifford, founder and owner of the online marketplace WowThankYou.

Chunky Cable Tea Cosy

Published in Issue 20, December 2012

Nicola from trulyscrumptiousknittedfood

http://www.trulyscrumptiousknittedfood.co.uk

Chunky Cable Tea Cosy

Abbreviations
K—-knit
P—-purl
C6b—-place next 3 stitches on a cable needle and hold at back of work.
Knit next 3 stitches then knit 3 stitches from cable needle
Materials needed
Approximately 150g chunky yarn us bulky weight yarn
2 straight needles 6mm uk 10 us
Cable needle

Instructions
Make 2
Cast on 34sts
Row 1 p2 k6 p2 k6 p2 k6 p2 k6 p2
Row 2 k2 p6 k2 p6 k2 p6 k2 p6 k2
Row 3 as 1st row
Row 4 as 2nd row
Row 5 as1st row
Row 6 as 2nd row
Row 7 p2 c6b p2 c6b p2 c6b p2 c6b p2
Row 8 as 2nd row
Repeat these 8 rows 3 times more

Shape Top
Dec row K2TOG to end(17STS)
K2 TOG 4 times Knit 1 KNIT 2TOG 4 times (9STS)
K2TOG 2 times Knit1 K2 TOG 2 times (5STS)

Thread yarn through remaining stitches and fasten off. 

Make a second piece the same

To make up
Sew seams top and bottom leaving enough gap for the handle and spout of the tea pot.

Make a Pom Pom and Sew to top.

Forme Millinery

Published in Issue 21, February 2013

Written by Forme Millinery 

www.formeonlineshop.com

Hat Blocking (block·ing) v.

A mold or form on which an item is shaped or displayed: a hat block. The term used to describe the action of molding a hat shape

I am an Award Winning Couture Milliner and have been making handmade hats for the past 5. It all started when I collected vintage hats as a child and years later when I learned one could have a career making Couture Hats, I went for it. My collections always have a vintage feel whether it is using a vintage hat block I found from the late 1800’s, or finding that perfect vintage embellishment hidden in the corner of an antique store. When it comes to making hats, I love working with my hands and have gone back to the basics by learning the ancient techniques of blocking hats on old wooden hat blocks. It is a process that takes a lot of patience, but having the reward of a spectacular hat that you can call your own is worth all of the hard work. My hats represent a creative journey which allows me to keep this craft alive. Being able to give new life to a hat block that was once used many years ago, or with a vintage embellishment that was once loved by many, it gives me great joy to share my love of hats with all of you. 

Jenny Pfanenstiel

Couture Milliner of Formé Millinery

www.formemillinery.com 

Photography by: Rick Stewart Photograph

The Art of Hat Blocking

I gaze at my wall of old wooden hat blocks determining which hat I am going to make today. Will it be a cloche, a large brim, or maybe a fascinator? Today… I will make a variation of a cloche hat out of recycled wool.

Step 1: Soak

I begin by filling up a small tub of hot water. I take the wool that I will be molding with and place it into the water until the wool is completed saturated (this process can take a while depending on the thickness of the material - steaming can also be applied if necessary to insure that the material is very pliable).

Step 2: Stretch

Once the wool is ready to be formed, I take it and stretch it over the crown of the hat block. This takes a lot of patience and elbow grease to get every wrinkle, pleat or bubble smoothed out. A spray bottle may be needed to keep the wool wet. I do this process over and over until I can feel the fibers in the wool stretch apart enough, so when it dries, it will dry into the shape of the form. I repeat this process for the brim of the hat.

Step 3: Secure

To complete the blocking, I tie down the wool to the block in the “rope line” using a slip knot. In some cases, I will also nail the wool in place to insure it does not move around and lose its shape. It will then dry in this position for at least 24 hours until completely dry.

Step 4: Cut

The hat is now ready to be assembled. I start with the crown, trimming the access wool, but leaving just enough to turn under at the crown line to make a nice finished edge. Then, I cut a hole into the top of the brim where the crown will eventually be hand sewn on top. I trim back the unused wool to about a ½ inch seam allowance which will be sewn inside the crown. 

Step 5: Sew

Now the crown is ready to be attached to the brim. I start by folding over a small edge of the crown line to create a finished look. I then take the prepared crown and place it over the brim matching up the front and back and making sure that the brim seam allowance is laying nicely on the inside of the crown. I pin in place and begin to hand sew the crown to the brim. I use small loop stitches in the edge of the crown so they cannot be seen - I have found this to be the best and most secure way to attach the two together. 

Step 6: Wire

Wiring the brim of a hat is sometimes optional depending on the thickness of the material you are using and how well it holds its shape. For this example, I will be putting a wire into the brim to insure it holds its shape. I first measure how much wire I will need by laying it gently around the brim. I cut it carefully with a wire cutter. With the wire, I “break the back”. Essentially, I am taking the curve out of the wire so I am working with as straight of a wire as I can so I can then create my own curve while I am sewing. I attach the wire joiner on one end and then begin sewing it to the brim of the hat. Once I have sewed the wire around the whole brim of the hat, I attach the other end of the wire joiner and complete the final stitch on the brim. Now the brim has a nice, sturdy shape.

Step 7: Sweat Band

The sweat band provides a finished look on the inside of the hat. It also provides comfort where the hat meets the head and provides protection from makeup and perspiration. I measure the sweat band to fit where the crown meets the brim. I hand sew the sweat band in place.

Step 8: Embellish

The hat is almost completed. It needs the last finishing touch of an embellishment. This can include a flower, button or beads – whatever your imagination brings.

Now you have a completed hat that is beautiful and you can wear with pride.