GlaesDesign

21/05/2026

Finished this one off today and dropped it in to Goody Goodness.

17/05/2026

If you like your glass a little bigger...

13/05/2026

A customer has asked for a pair of pink poppy hook earrings, so I made a few flowers in different pinks to see which she might like best...

12/05/2026

Rainbow beads

11/05/2026

A lovely customer came into Goody Goodness a few weeks ago and asked me if it was possible to incorporate some hair from her dogs into a glass bead. At first, I was sceptical, but she showed me a picture of a glass paperweight that someone had made for her with dog hair, so I thought – why not give it a go? She brought in some husky wool last week and I had a play round with a few options yesterday. I have to say, my entire studio smelt like burnt carpet for the rest of the afternoon, but the smell was gone when I went to check the kiln this morning.
Surprisingly, it worked. The hair burnt on contact with the glass and shrivelled away to leave a thick layer of carbon on the base bead. I then encased this in transparent glass, being careful to keep the base bead away from the flame to try and prevent the carbon layer burning off as much as possible. The surface of the carbon layer is slightly rough, and this creates lots of bubbles in the clear glass so the end result is quite pretty and reflects the light to make it look almost silver. I was a bit worried that, with so many bubbles in it, the beads would crack in the kiln, but they all came out fine.
I tried a few options in terms of colour with ivory, white and clear for the base, and one bead using a light blue transparent to encase it. There were a few less bubbles in the blue, but not sure if that was down to technique or chemical composition!

06/05/2026

04/05/2026

The Fishbowl Art Collective group exhibition opens at the Odlin Gallery tomorrow (5 May) and runs through to Saturday 16th. Drop in and have a look - there are some very talented people out there!

01/05/2026

If you are stuck for gift ideas for Mothers' Day, I have a variety of pretty earrings available at Goody Goodness which might just fit the bill. Pop in and have a look!

01/05/2026

I have had fun making this set of four knotted necklaces. They all fasten with a sterling silver clasp and are knotted onto heavy-weight nylon cord. I will be exhibiting these at the The Fish Bowl Artist Collective exhibition at Hutt Art next week.