Worry Stones

When I was little I was a real worrier.  My innocent, over active imagination would worry up ridiculously impossible scenarios. So, one day I bought some 'worry dolls'.  Every night I would whisper my worries to them and tuck those fears tightly away under my pillow.  Admittedly,  I did worry that I had missed out some crucial information when passing on my worries but I liked having a quirky little way to settle my childhood anxieties before bed time.  It was this memory that led me to create worry stones.  I created five different coloured fused glass stones, each one for something different.  Green for health, yellow for happiness, pink for love, blue for protection and purple for harmony.  I got my mum to pen a cute little poem to go with them and they come in a little velvet pouch.  They have proved popular with kids or as a quirky little gift for a worrisome adults.  Check them out on my etsy page >here<

An update on the kerplunk! bowl

So I fused the strips together.  They fused nicely  and the thickness of the strips was just right but it looked a bit sparse.  I could have done with a few more strips of glass.

 I knew it wouldn't  look great after I saw the full fuse because it'd need more pieces to fill it out and make it look more bowl like but I slumped it anyway.  That's the thing with glass and kiln work, it's always a bit of an experiment and you never know for sure how things will turn out. 

I'm not completely disappointed with the outcome but its not as nice as I'd pictured it in my head.  I thought it'd be a bit larger and really edgy looking.  It's a nice bowl though with it's own little quirks.  It'd make a nice candleholder for a big church candle.  I've put it up on my etsy page so if you do fancy a charming little display bowl or candle holder, click here.  It could do with a loving home ;-)

Kerplunk!

I've just started a new bowl.  I made a similar design last year and wasn't too sure what I thought about it at first but I had a lot of positive comments on it and after a while became quite attached to it.....then it sold! So I've decided to make another one.  I'm doing it in clear this time cos I think it could have a bit of an icicle look about it which could be pretty cool (pun intended!)  I cut out some thin strips of Bullseye clear irid 3mm glass and arranged them in some kind of random fashion.  I like how it looks before it's fired, it reminds me of the old game kerplunk.  It's gone in the kiln on full fuse now so I'll let you know how it turns out.

New year, new blog post.

Well happy new year everybody! Here's hoping 2014 holds lots of fun and fortune for everyone.  I'm a bit rusty on the old blogging front but I have started the year as I mean to go on...as a super blogger.  2014 is gonna be a big year for Designs by Neelie and I want to share it all with my lovely followers.  So keep following my journey and tell all your friends too!

World's Worst Blogger...

Yep, that award goes to me!
So I've been a bit absent on the blog front lately.  I aplogise to anyone on here who actually follows my blog.  I've been ill for about a month and so I've not got round to doing much and have neglected my poor little blog.  I promise to make more of an effort from now on!  An update for all you lovely people tho; with the help of my dad and boyfriend, I have managed to make progress with that damn mould that was proving rather difficult to make.  Pics coming soon! Yay!

A poor workman...

I'm well aware of the phrase 'a poor workman blames his tools' (or something to that effect), but I'm gonna go ahead and do that right now.  Today I  had to chuck out my shabby old wallpaper table I've been working on for months. It was in a terrible state. It was wonky and leaning backwards and the water from my bandsaw had ran down all the back of it, causing it to rot. It was gonna give way at any moment. I have today learnt the importance of the correct tools, especially in business.  I don't quite know how I have been working on it for so long after seeing the state of it today.  I now have the tedious task of sorting out my mountain of glass in my studio tomorrow.  Hmm, should be fun....

Checkout my new super (hero) shoes!

I've found another use for my glass fusing skills.  Jazzing up shoes! My mum was gonna get rid of a pair of simple blue shoes she'd never worn. Seeing them, my creativity kicked in and I snapped them up.  So, my mum's a size four and I'm only a three but no big deal, I'll pad them out or wear extra thick tights, they will fit me damn it!  I instantly had plans to turn them into Wonder Woman shoes.  I lovingly stuck each rhinestone on and created the stars like on Wonder Womans knickers.  I then set to the fiddly task of cutting out the logo. I cut it out on my diamond bandsaw and tack fused the yellow on to the red to keep the lines nice and sharp and voila! There you have some super revived shoes!

The kindness of strangers

A couple of weeks ago whilst at a craft fair I met a very nice man.  He makes walking sticks and attends the  fairs on a regular basis.   He is a wise and worldly man who was taken by my lovespoons and jewellery.  He talked to me about a coffee shop in Bute park, Cardiff named Pettigrew's Tea Rooms and said they have a gift shop that I should try and get my stuff into.  Well, last night I was taken aback when this man rang me telling me he had spoken to the owner of the tea rooms and told him about me and my products and the owner was interested.  I went to the coffee shop this morning with some samples of my work and they now want some of my spoons and necklaces for their shop!  I did not expect that lovely man to go out of his way to mention me and promote my stuff to somebody else and it's these simple acts in life that really restore my faith in the human race.  It was a small yet thoughtful gesture and I am very grateful to that kind gent.  It's true when they say 'it's not what you know, it's who you know'.

Getting there....

I'm advancing in my quest to make my mould.  I've made a plaster slip mould and I'm now onto the next stage of figuring out this slip casting business.  I've hit a bit of a wall at the moment as I'm struggling to get my clay to dry enough for me to get it out of my mould but I'm definately making steps in the right direction. Yay!

Just a little scratch....

I had a stall in Caerphilly Castle a little while back.  When you have a stall there you're allowed to drive your car on site to unload.  I used to like doing this cos it made me feel important.  I don't anymore!

It's a tight squeeze manoeuvring through the historic monument that was very obviously not built for cars.  At one point I had to do a three point turn to let another car out and that 's when disaster struck and I accidentally scraped my car on a low iron fence.  As I started reversing a heard a big 'eeeeeee' noise that left a real hideous scratch on my car.  It wasn't the best start to my weekend but luckily it wasn't an indicator to my time at the castle and I had a good time there.

A Latex-plosion

My latex mould worked out well.  I've made a couple of wax models out of it but I decided I wanted to make a model out of lead so it would be more solid.  My dad's a keen fisherman and makes his own lead weights so I enlisted his help in my mould making quest.

Off we went into the garage and melted the lead in an old battered saucepan over a tiny camp stove.  I set my mould down on the floor and watched as my dad poured the lead.  I don't know why I thought pouring molten lead into a latex mould would work, needless to say, it didn't!  The lead bubbled and spat as it melted away the latex leaving a shiny mirror like puddle on the garage floor.  I think this is what you may call an epic fail!

Am I living in a box?

Aargh! I'm feeling the need to vent right now.  I so need a studio.   Having to conduct my business from an old cardboard box is really not ideal! Being the creative that I am, I like to finish my work  before I tidy up the resulting mess.  Unfortunately, my mother (understandably so) does not appreciate my tornado of mess that whirls it's way through our house so I've had to 'discreetly' hide my mess in a cardboard box under the dining room table.  I do fear the untimely demise of my 'mess' when my mum is on one of her crazy 'cleaning trips' though :-\

Update No. 2

I'm making progress with my messed up spoons.  I'm determined not to let all the glass and hard work go to waste so my next plan of action is gonna be fire polishing.  I'm gonna grind all the manky, ugly bits off, sand them down with a coarse sandpaper then a finer one, then a finer one again then I'm gonna put them back in the kiln for a fire polish that will melt the glass just enough to smooth out the top layer.  I'll let you know how I get on!

Warning! Alcohol is bad for you!

I've been up and filling my kiln up at 6am most mornings this week.  I've got a couple of lovespoon orders to get through and things just seem to be going wrong.   I did a batch of six spoons that I wanted to get done as soon as possible.  I'd cut them all out and thought they were going to turn out good.  In my attempts to try and speed things up a bit I thought to myself  'alcohol is drying, I'll clean them up with that before I put them in the kiln' So I put a bit of isopropynol on them.  Big mistake. It left a residue on them that even after dremmelling it off and refiring twice again didn't get it off, wasted my time, effort and money and generally caused me a whole load of stress.  The moral of the story; don't use alcohol! It is bad for you!!

My Shameless Plea

So as I'm now a regular blogger I thought i'd make use of my little corner of cyber space for job searching.  Shameless I know but hey in this recession needs must!  I'm looking for some little part time flexible jobs in the South Wales area doing something creative or with animals or kids to boost my income.  I'm loyal, trustworthy and willing to try new stuff so give me a try    :)

(Unofficially) Sponsored by Samsung

I've not updated for a while because i've not been able to access my account.  I was using the family computer to do all my business stuff but our computer is pretty old and tired and doesn't always do what you want it to do, which is really annoying when trying to run a business.  However, I have now been forced into the 21st century! I am the proud owner of a tablet.  This is all new for me cos I'm not much into all this technology malarky, I'm a creative not a techie.  I needed a new phone too so I did a bit of smart shopping around and found a deal with the Carphone Warehouse.  I got a Samsung Galaxy Ace phone, Samsung Galaxy tab and a Samsung camera for £21 a month.  I am now unofficially sponsored by Samsung.

My Super Awesome Craft Day!

So, I'm still buzzing from yesterday.  I was at a craft fayre in The Paget Rooms in Penarth and had a really great day.  Sold out of lovespoons! And had loads of interest.  Days like that really boost your morale when you've not been selling much, I'm sure any humble crafter will agree.  I really like craft stall holders.  They're always so nice and friendly and they are always willing to help you out.  I met some nice people yesterday.  The craft industry is a lovely little community that I am proud to be part of.  I think I would have forgotten my head yesterday tho had it not been securely attached to my neck!  I was a big jumble of nervousness and excitement.  It was a super awesome day which I hope was an indicator for future events to come.  Bring it on!!



This is my 'Mega Chuffed' face



Me and my little glass creations



Hmmm, not completely bowled over....

Since I've had my kiln i've been trying to use a slump mould to slump bowls but have yet slumped one correctly.  This is probably because i've got a habit of skimming through instructions and just trying things out for myself.  So I recently made a new creation in readiness of slumping it.  In my feeble attempts to save money I decided to create an 'arty' bowl, using as little glass as possible.  I think it's got an 80's feel to it myself, it reminds me of the copious amounts of 'edgy' black furniture my parents amassed from the 80's/early 90's.  I'm not sure what to think of it right now, it did slump all the way into the mould this time though which is a plus point.  My instructional ignorance has allowed me to create an array of different shaped bowls with just one mould too which is pretty cool.

My most recent creation







The Lovespoon

I've been making lovespoons today.  These are proving really popular.  They're really selling well.  I draw up my own designs and work out the best way to cut them so they fuse together well.  I then put them in the kiln and hope all goes to plan.

The cutting process

They come in a nice little box and I even got my mum to write a poem about the tradition of the Welsh Lovespoon.  I think it's a nice little anniversary gift or even just a little token of love to bestow on your beloved one.

The packaged Lovespoon

The Lovespoon and it's tradition