Funky fused glassy goodies & contemporary crafts with a retro twist

Dull but important stuff

2009-11-14T20:03:00.002Z

Yep, that's what I am doing right now, hence the blog quietness. I am sorting out all my books/tax at the mo. Ugh. Want to get it out of the way asap so I can enjoy Xmas and not dwell on receipts/invoices!

At the mo, Handmade Heaven is travelling with my friend Tash of TishTash. She's showcasing my work at private events, along with her handmade creations. I'm very grateful to have her as a friend. She's the perfect saleswoman for my glassware :)

Suction hooks for window hangers

2009-11-08T11:50:00.007Z

I've been looking for some suction hooks to go with my window hangers for a while now. I've finally found some and have been testing them out. Seems these ones are just the right size and do their job well so I will be packaging these with each window hanger I sell. Here's one of my smaller hangers on my bathroom window...

Colourful commissions

2009-11-04T10:08:00.005Z

This weekend just gone saw me in the studio making some commission work. I'm sure you've seen the bright and colourful 'Rainbow Lattice' handmade fused glass latticeware bowl on the website homepage? Well, I had an order in for one of these bowls. To be honest, they're a joy to make, especially in these vibrant colourways. The bowl, as with most of my work, is a teeny bit different to the original - every item is unique! I took more pics than these (see flickr) but here's the full and detailed views.

I also made a pair of coasters for a customer who's bought from me before in the popular 'Teal and Chocolate Blocks' design.

TishTash & Handmade Heaven event

2009-10-29T07:51:00.005Z

My friend Tash of TishTash came over last night to pick up my Handmade Heaven stock. She's arranged a selling event with cocktails and canapés where she'll be displaying and selling her work and mine. Tash creates funky and modern paintings, jewellery and art cards over at http://www.tishtash.co.uk

I mounted some of my pendants onto presentation cards last night so above is the result. I think they look pretty good. Each one is certainly very unique! If they come back to me after the sale I'll be putting them up to buy on my website.

Cufflinks & congratulations!

2009-10-27T19:35:00.003Z

Remember the chocolate cufflinks I made for my big bro's wedding? Well, they were in action this weekend just gone as he got hitched. Congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Jones :) Here's a couple of snaps of me in my posh frock and his wedding ring & the cufflinks :)

Developments and delays

2009-10-20T14:20:00.006+01:00

Just to keep you updated...

I'm currently in the process of switching over my webshop from the old site the the new one. I'm really excited about the new webshop and the transfer of stock is nearly complete. Right now I will just be offering my current stock and items you can commission, but soon I will be adding brand new items for you to browse and buy. Watch this space!

New webshop: http://handmadeheaven.bigcartel.com

My website will remain with galleries and info, but the buying will all be done from the new webshop.

*POSTAL STRIKES*
I will not be posting any orders out until next week to avoid items being lost in the post. Sorry about this but I don't want to see stock vanish due to the postal problems in the UK.

New glass colours & latticeware bowls

2009-10-18T19:32:00.003+01:00

Hello! Hope you've had a nice weekend. I've been busy again doing my usual allsorts but I did get round to some glassy goodies. I have just spent a small fortune - can't help it! - on buying in glass so I can get back into making again. My stock was seriously depleted as I've not re-ordered glass for a long while. I'm looking forward to getting lots of lovely colourful glass mid week (I don't think my supplier uses Royal Mail - huzzah!). I've even ordered a couple of brand new colours for me. 'Periwinkle' opaque and 'Tangerine' opaque. Looking forward to trying them out.
I also cut 2 latticeware bowls ready to fire. My plan is to make quite a few to have ready to buy, rather than my usual 'commission me' for these. Will be nice to have them in stock in the new shop when I launch that. Here's the colourways in one of the two bowls as a teaser... :)

Spotted!

2009-10-15T12:15:00.002+01:00

Just browsing some nice websites, as I do, and I thought these cufflinks looked familiar! They are mine, of course, being sold through Blueberry Park, via 'Not on the highstreet'. Is always funny when I come across my work unexpectedly :)

Chocolate cufflinks

2009-10-12T19:17:00.001+01:00

So, cufflink samples made in chocolates. Let's see which big bro prefers...

My faves are the ones with the thin cream ring.

Shock horror, a blog post!

2009-10-11T14:08:00.003+01:00

I expect you've been wondering where I've been, what I've been doing and if I & Handmade Heaven were still alive! Well, good news, all is tickety-boo :) I've just been on a break from glass-making. I guess it was another of those creative block times. I wasn't feeling it. I think one of my major stumbling blocks was my studio. I've got limited space - I was asked to teach some ladies for a hen do event not so long ago, but had to turn them down unfortunately. I wish I had the luxury of a massive, purpose-built studio but I don't. I use a room in my flat that often has to double up as a spare room! This means it is hard to keep the room functioning as a studio. I find if it stops being functional, tidying up and rearranging before making any glass kills my creativity.

Well, today I have sorted out my hall - another bugbear of mine - to make that more cosy. That meant taking my fold-up table out of there and needing somewhere to put it. "Ah ha!", I thought. I know where I can use that. So, new studio set up below. It means I can watch movies and work at the same time, or chill on the sofa. This new table gives me double the room I had before so I can work unrestricted. It also means I can leave the drill set up and I might even have the grinder/saw rigged up too so I have all my tools out and ready to use. If I fancy doing some sewing I can also move things aside and put up my sewing machine here too. Oo, it's making me want to make stuff already! Best get to it then, got to make my big brother some cufflinks - he is getting married in a couple of weekends time. Eek!

Here's how the hall looks now, should you be interested?! To be honest, these photos are really to prove to my mother that I have been sorting things out! ;) I intend to put some of my square-framed artworks up in the hall soon, to have a gallery. Seems a shame to keep them in their boxes until they are sold.

New webshop underway

2009-08-01T16:34:00.003+01:00

It's not quite ready yet but I've spent a few hours working on transferring my products from the old site to the new shop. I think it is looking really good and showcases the products well. I hope you like it too. Let me know your thoughts. I will keep some pages on the old site and have this new one for the shopping elements.

http://handmadeheaven.bigcartel.com

New shop

2009-07-31T14:00:00.002+01:00

So, I've been mulling over the new website idea for a bit as, of course, it is an extra expense in time and money but I think it will go ahead. I much prefer the functionality of the big cartel shop over my current one. I was on my own website today and there are lots of little errors that creep in and annoy me. The new site seems much more easy to use and more reliable. I will probably keep my non-shop pages where they are and have the shop hosted elsewhere. I am actually really looking forward to spring-cleaning the shop and making it that much better to use. I will then have good incentive to get it stocked up! Glass-making has been on the back-burner for a while and I need a boost to get back into the swing of things. I think this weekend I will focus on Handmade Heaven and see what comes of giving it more attention!

I have had some commission enquiries this week which has perked me up a bit :)

Watch this space...!

New website?

2009-07-18T11:02:00.008+01:00

Hmm, undecided. I am not 100% happy with my website as is. I know most folk who see it like it so I should probably leave it be, but I am a designer after all and I know what I like! I've found a new website host (via a friend's site) who seems to offer the kind of site I'd like. Big pictures, simple navigation, product descriptions, managed shopping, pages with sensible names(!), and cool modern design. It's called 'BigCartel' and is aimed at designers, artists and crafters so it seems a good fit. It would be a lot of work to transfer all my stuff over and redesign my site but I am tempted. Annoyingly I did just renew my current hosting. Decisions decisions!

Take a peek at a quick mock-up using their free version (you only get one template choice in the free version)...

http://handmadeheaven.bigcartel.com/

Looks pretty smart and I am getting more and more tempted to make the move!

Drilling success!

2009-07-13T21:36:00.002+01:00

Hooray! The drill testing is done and dusted and I can thankfully say it went pretty well. It is always very scary drilling anything, but drilling glass is terrifying! I've drilled my glasswork on a small scale with a dremel before but the 8mm holes I needed to do for the clock faces required a bigger set up. This is how things looked before I began. Took a while to set up the drill stand as there were no instructions with it! Not helpful :P I used an electric drill on a slow speed with a carbide drill bit. The glass has to be drilled under water - or you need to rig up some other way of keeping the glass and drill bit lubed and cool. I've done it with a little well of olive oil before but that wouldn't work on this scale. If I do make the 30 x 30cm glass clock faces then I will need to find a bigger tray!

The first attempt, as usual, I tried to rush. This didn't agree with the glass! The result is below. Hmm, it's all about learning. Slower speed required I think :)

This is the second and successful attempt. I am really pleased. It didn't take too long either. I might need to file a little but the edges seem very smooth and if the clock workings are going to fill the hole it should be fine as is.

And just to prove it was 8mm... ;)

The world is now my drilling oyster! :D

Grr!

2009-07-08T07:46:00.001+01:00

The 8mm drill bit I need to use on the clock testing won't fit my dremel. Annoying. Got to wait 'til Friday now to borrow an electric drill. Was all set to try out the new carbide drill bits. Hey ho. Patience is a virtue!

New purchase - carbide drill tips for drilling glass

2009-07-05T12:45:00.004+01:00

Save as Draft

I needed to buy some drill bits to do some tests for the clocks. I only needed an 8mm but I decided to get a pack of 5 which contains a 3, 5, 6, 8 and 10mm set of carbide bits. Hopefully they will work well on glass and will prove to be useful additions to the Handmade Heaven studio :) I will get to try out my drill stand too. Hopefully, accident-free!

More wholesale enquiries

2009-06-25T10:03:00.002+01:00

I've been contacted again for wholesale. This time it was an enquiry for making clock faces. Different! Would be very cool though :)

Update

2009-06-17T12:06:00.005+01:00

No new photos today but I thought I'd let you know what's going on with HH. I am waiting to hear back from the NYC boutique on which of my cufflink designs they'd like to stock. I have offered my current range of designs, as well as some new cufflink styles. As I design and make all the cufflinks myself the choice is quite vast!

I am also working on other wholesale opportunities and, if you have done this yourself, you'll know there is a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing to finalise the deal. It would be nice to get one of these to go ahead as they're after my latticeware bowls which I really love making.

I am a little distracted from work as I just succumbed to buying a wii! It's such fun to play and unwind after a busy day at work. Now I have to juggle the day job, the glass work, an allotment, a social life and a wii! One has to have some time off eh! ;)

steph, steph, where have you been??

2009-06-06T14:41:00.003+01:00

i've been the other side of the world! been off on my sabbatical in New Zealand via Hong Kong. very spectacular in NZ and hong kong is very unique. i'm so glad i went, but won't be emmigrating!! it certainly was no relaxing tour. we were mega busy each day and saw so much. usually on the bus by 730 to head off to the next place. got a float plane flight in and a jet boat safari. went up a 62nd floor revolving restaurant in hong kong and did a nighttime boat trip round the harbour. went on a cruise around milford sound, saw loads of waterfalls, a glacier, went on a steam-driven paddleboat, explored the jungle, the beaches, went in a glowworm cave, visited LOTR locations, milked a cow and so much more! busy holiday :D

came back to glassy work - orders to complete. the latest being a 4x 'beached' coaster set, a birthday present for the recipient's friend. hope they go down well. also another wholesale enquiry, this time from a boutique in NYC. exciting!

Finally!!!! Got some unframed glass art listed on my website

2009-04-23T07:46:00.005+01:00

It's taken FOREVER(!) but I have finally listed my current in-stock unique unframed artwork on my website. I was prompted by an enquiry for a wedding present commission which reminded me I'd had 'coming soon' on these for a long time. Another 'to do' job I'd had to do!

I currently offer unframed art in two shapes - square and long. There are also two styles - full-fuse which creates a flat piece of art (such as 'Peppermint Fondant'), as well as tack-fuse which forms a wonderfully tactile piece (such as 'A Splash of Colour'). The unframed artwork creates gorgeous coloured shadows you just can't get with the framed artwork and each piece changes with the light throughout the day.

'Rich Red Patchwork' - available to buy now on my website, here.

'A Splash of Colour' - available to buy now on my website, here.

'Peppermint Fondant' - available to buy now on my website, here.

'With friends' - sold artwork, but available on commission

'Earth Blocks' - sold artwork, not available on commission - this one was a one-off!

Fun, funky fused glass commissions

2009-04-22T17:40:00.007+01:00

A photo-tastic post for you! Finished lots of commissions and got started on another - this one's a latticeware bowl for my aunt in reds and blues. It's looking promising! The other photos are of the commissions I made this weekend which went to new homes today.

'Harlequin multi-square' coaster set of 6

' HH rainbow' coaster set of 4 coasters

' Ginger marmalade patchwork' set of 2 coasters

'Cath lattice' fused glass latticeware bowl WIP

Still no individual photos of the chunky, funky fused glass 'Blackjax' rings yet. It's looking likely I'll get onto that next week now. Damn not having enough time in the day! Managed to wear one today though :)

WIP - 3x commissions

2009-04-18T09:50:00.004+01:00

Here's a photo of this morning's work. 3 commissions ready to go in the kiln. Top left is 2x ginger marmalade patchwork coasters, the middle ones are 6x harlequin multi-square coasters and the ones in the bottom right are 4x HH rainbows. 2 of the commissions are repeat customers. The ginger marmalade coasters are going to a lady who already has two and wants two more, the HH rainbows are off to the lady who bought the rainbow lattice bowl which is currently my homepage image :)

ginger marmalade patchwork coaster duo

harlequin multi-square coaster

HH rainbows

next job for today is to go down the allotment and get some prep and clearing done. should keep me busy most of the day then this evening i hope to photograph and list the chunky, funky fused blackjax rings from the previous post whilst watching my 'kate and leopold' dvd which just arrived. ah, hugh jackman *sigh* ;)

Funky chunky 'Blackjax' rings nearly ready

2009-04-16T23:04:00.002+01:00

Here they are! All done and dusted :) My new fun, funky fused glass 'Blackjax' chunky rings are made and ready to be listed on my website very soon. Just need to photograph each one as there are 30 unique designs here! I've already sold one so I am hoping they will do well. I'll let you know when they are listed on my website.

I've got an allotment!

2009-04-13T09:17:00.004+01:00

I actually got the allotment last week though I've not got around to posting about it here yet, I have had time to set up ANOTHER blog - The Green Grower: Allotment Antics. People wonder how I find the time to do all the things I do already (so do I!) and now I have one more string to add to my already very busy bow!

I applied for an allotment sometime last year and was told I had to wait at least 3 years, so the phonecall from 'Ken' at the parish council last week was quite unexpected! 'Do you still want an allotment?' You bet your bottom dollar I do!! Ha! I live in a flat with no real outside space - a balcony doesn't count in my book. I have missed having my own little plot of outdoors to go to when the weather is nice and to be able to grow things is very exciting. I was really lucky and have bagged a dream allotment. Keep up to date with my progress - mainly success, I hope, on...

http://allotment-antics.blogspot.com

my fab shed! - it even has a proper front door and a letterbox! ha!

Wholesale order ready to go

2009-04-13T09:11:00.003+01:00

Although I am officially on holiday, I managed to finish off my wholesale cufflinks order for Blueberry Park which I have blogged about previously. I love seeing cufflinks piled up like this together. I hope they sell as well, if not better, than the last batch made for BP.