My New Blog...

Well I thought it was about time I started blogging about my brand new lampworking adventure!

To be able to lampwork has always been my dream! One of my main aims when I started jewellery making all those years ago was to eventually be able to make my very own glass beads to use in my jewellery designs. In July 2012 that dream finally came true. With the help of my lovely partner Andy I finally had a fantastic Lampworking/jewellery making studio at the bottom of our garden.

We travelled to Cardiff, Wales, and stayed a few days with a friend of mine Debbie Dew who has been Lampworking for a few years. She let us 'play' on her torch and we (myself AND Andy) were instantly hooked! Debbie sold us her spare torch and oxycon which were 2 of the main things we needed to start the adventure.

The lampwork journey had begun!

For weeks after we got home we spent almost every waking moment in the new studio. Painting, drilling, putting electrics and light in there, adding ventilation and safety precautions. Within a month we were ready to go...

The photo above shows the studio on the day it was finished, it is now nothing like as tidy!! There are rods of glass, frit, silver in various forms, tools and beads, beads, beads everywhere.  I will get new photos, I promise! I may tidy up a little bit first though... haha

The area in this photo is now my jewellery making area, I have a workbench and lots of storage full of beads and findings here...along with a heater, a stereo and lots of mess! I have heard that a creative mind is an untidy mind...Perfect for me! ;0)

By the end of August 2012 we were both producing beads! Ok most were not very good ones, but everyone has to start somewhere!  It was great because Andy was just as hooked as I was. The bad side of this is that we had to share the torch time lol...first out of bed was usually the first on the torch!

I've learnt a lot since then, both by buying tutorials by various lampwork artists and also trawling the internet for advice and doing a 'helluva' lot of reading and research.

It's now January 2013 and I'm looking forward to sharing the rest of my glass adventure!