Wordless Wednesday – Lampwork Jewellery

The Week Ahead – New Beads!

I recently went to another lampworking class with the lovely Helen and was so excited when my new beads arrived!  We went over a lot of new techniques such as feathering, creating different shapes using a mould, and creating flat pendants.  We even made some adorable head pins with small flat glass beads on the end.

This week I am going to be working on making some new jewellery with my beads but I think I’ll use the bulk of them to make a bracelet for myself.  However, I do think that the pendants and head pins will make some wonderful earrings and necklaces – so keep your eyes peeled!

I’m saving up for my first house at the moment and should be looking to buy at some point next year.  It couldn’t happen any sooner for me though – the first thing I plan on doing is setting up my own lampworking studio!

What else is on this week?  I think I’ll be finishing my basket weave scarf and moving on to another stripy one.  It seems a bit mad to be knitting when Spring is finally in full swing, but it’s always cold and wintery somewhere in the world!

P.S. I don’t have a top tip lined up for tomorrow’s post, but if you have one you would like to share feel free to get in touch!

The Magical World of Lampwork

I recently discovered the magic of lampworking – using a torch to create glass beads.

Using a blowtorch, glass rods can be melted onto a mandrel to create colourful beads of wonderfulness!  The glass comes in a rainbow of colours and an amazing array of techniques can be used to create dots, lines, speckled patterns and mosaics (to name just a few).

I had come to Helen’s studio (who has her own Etsy shop selling wonderful glass beads and unique jewellery) for my first lesson.  After a hesitant start (the blowtorch looked quite threatening!) I started to loosen up and really enjoyed using the intense heat to melt the glass into my desired shape.  I had a half day lesson which was by no means long enough to enable me to master anything, but I started to get a feel for the glass and how to get it to do what I wanted (most of the time!).  I cannot wait to get back behind the blowtorch and practice my newly discovered techniques – especially when the finished and annealed beads arrived through the post and I saw for the first time my little creations – each one was a miniature work of art and because of their handmade nature, they are each one of a kind.

I had been waiting with great anticipation for my beads to arrive in the post and as soon as they did I got straight to my beading table to create a new bracelet.  I had managed to make a range of rainbow beads encased in clear glass and I loved the finished effect (as you know I have a thing for rainbows!).  I was originally going to keep the beads for myself but the way I see it, if I sell this bracelet it means I can pay for more lessons.  Before I even managed to get it listed in my shop, my partner’s mum spotted it and just had to have it!  Not only has my bracelet found a home, but I’ll still be able to see it from time to time.

I’ve also made a pair of 14k gold filled earrings using the shiny, metallic effect beads that Helen and I made – I absolutely love how they turned out.  Helen made the two larger beads, and I made the two smaller ones, so it made sense to create an alternating design with one of each colour on each earring.  If you’re interested in buying these one of a kind earrings, simply click on the photo above for more info.

I cannot wait to be able to set up my own lampworking studio – I’ve definitely caught the bug – but for now I’m more than happy to continue my lessons – thanks again Helen!