Workshop/Studio Progress

The snow did hold up work on the workshop temporarily, but bless him, my hubby continued to work during some snowy, blustery weather. He certainly needs a pat on the back for that! His work partner has also been helping out, and they have really cracked on and made great progress. They had to knock down a 12" thick wall, the length of the building, hence the needs for some mechanical help in the shape of the quad and trailer. It took a whole day (and some) to dismantle the wall. The latest work is digging down to one level. The hubby has to excavate an area of ground to approximately 2 feet so it will be the same level as the rest of the ground floor. No wander he's napping right now! The next stage is concreting the floor ready for the internal framework. I have to say it is a slow process, but hubby certainly has been working hard.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy xx

Tutorial - Glass Tile Pendant

This tutorial will show you how to make glass tile pendants (as above).

Materials required:

Glass tile (7/8" x 7/8")

Paper (scrapbook paper, scraps, photo)

Dimensional glaze (Diamond Glaze, Glossy Accents)

Bail

Square cutting template (made from card)

Pencil

Glue (to fix bail)

Scissors

Paintbrush

Step 1 - Choose your pattern paper. I have chosen Japanese pattern paper in the pendants above, but you can use your scraps of paper or even print a photo for a personalised pendant (great for mothers day, fathers day, birthdays etc).

Japanese Paper

Step 2 - Make your square cutting template by measuring a 7/8" square from card (I recycled a food cardboard box), cut out the square using a craft knife. This will be used as a 'viewfinder' over your patterned paper. Move the viewfinder over the paper and select an appropriate section that makes a pretty frame. Try to select near the edge so as not to waste paper :

Square Cutting Template (Viewfinder)

Step 3 - Draw a square on to the paper, cut the paper square out and snip small rounded corners (because the glass has rounded corners, your paper will need to match):

Step 4 - Apply a generous layer of glaze to the back of the glass tile (the flatest part of your tile). Make sure to coat all the surface and slightly over the rounded edges. Place your piece of paper over the glass tile (remember to place the paper face down on to the glass), move the paper into place with your fingers and turn the tile over. Push down firmly on the tile to rid of any air bubbles that may have occurred. Leave to dry. Your tile may slide over the paper slightly, if so, move it back into place. TIP - use a grip seal bag as a base, this will prevent a sticky mess on your work surface:

Step 5 - Once dry, apply another generous amount of glaze on top of the paper. Spread the glaze over the paper, paying particular attention to the corners and edges. TIP - lightly glide your brush over the paper to minimise brushstroke marks in the glaze. Let to dry and set. Once dry, the texture is very smooth and shiny, like glass.

Step 6 - Apply glue (suitable for metal) to the back of the pendant and apply your bail. Let to dry/set.

I used E6000 glue for attaching the bail - this is an industrial glue I use for my glasswork. There are a couple of options for bails. You can use a flat bail (right in the photo) or an Aanraku jewellery bail (left in the photo). If using the flat bail, you will need to attach a jump ring to hang from a chain, the Aanraku bail already has a loop for a chain.

Two different bails (above)

(two bails - front view)

You can create all sorts of pendants - here are some examples:

You can even add a touch of your own artwork or personalise by drawing on the prints. You can see from the pendants below that I have added the word Diva in bright pink. I used a Sakura glaze pen for this as these are very bright and do not run when the glaze is added:
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy xx

Breast Cancer Auction - Dichroic Glass Pendants

I have donated two of my dichroic glass pendants to Helen, who runs http://www.triagefromhome.com/. Helen is trying to raise as much money as possible for British Columbia Cancer Foundation and she is also competing in a walk for the charity later in the year. Helen has asked for people to donate their handmade products to her auction, hence my donation of the dichroic pendants. I saw her ask on Twitter a couple of weeks ago and thought it would be a worthy cause. If you would like to help towards her charity auction and would like to view my pendants, please have a look here: http://www.triagefromhome.com/?p=375

Helen, as well as being a Triage Nurse, is very talented in the craft world. She makes Juicy Bags:

They are bags made from recycled and sanitized juice pouches and recycled denim. They are very colourful and well made. You see more of her handmade bags on Etsy, where she has a shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6256441. Aren't they creative fun items?

A big thank you to Helen for running her online auction to help raise funds for the Cancer Foundation.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy xx

Latest Designs - Hand Etched Dichroic Pendants

Before Firing (above)

After Firing (above)

I had a chance to use my new Easy Cut Circle Cutter and Dremel to make these dichroic pendants. They are hand etched using a scribing tool in the Dremel. Once the discs have been fired, you can see quite a difference - after firing the pendants look very sparkly.

I'm really pleased with my first attempts. What do you think of them?

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy xx

Crafteroo Shop for Comic Relief

A member of Crafteroo.co.uk came up with a fantastic idea of setting up a shop on Folksy for Comic Relief and members of Crafteroo have joined forces and given donations of their wares for sale. All proceeds will be going to Comic Relief, so please have a look at the shop and purchase an item - it is for a very worthy cause. All items are handmade by some very talented people. I have also donated a couple of items and will be adding some more later today. To view the shop on Folksy click here: http://www.folksy.com/shops/CrafterooShop
Kathryn, Lazy Daisy xx

Crafteroo - Craft-zine - Glass Fusing Tutorial

I am in the process of producing a glass fusing tutorial for Crafteroo.co.uk. Crafteroo have decided to produce the Crafteroo-zine - an online craft magazine. This document will contain useful advice relating to all things craft, plus 2-3 tutorials. I volunteered to produce a glass craft tutorial and will be showing my make shortly. My piece is currently in the kiln 'cooking', I then have to do further work to it and it will go in the kiln for the last firing. Will update you all when it has been finished.

Crafteroo is a craft forum and covers all types of crafts; jewellery making, pottery, glass, wood, art, cardmaking, soap making and a whole lot more, too many things to mention. There is also an invaluable amount of advice from website building to promoting your crafts. If you like all things crafty, why not pop along to Crafteroo: http://www.crafteroo.co.uk.
It's a very friendly forum and you never know what you might learn!
Kathryn, Lazy Daisy xx

Glass Circle Cutter - Update

These are my first attempts of using the Easy Cut Circle Cutter. A great little tool and makes cutting circles so easy - the only trouble is then getting clean cuts. You can see that the edges are slightly jagged, which does not really matter when glass fusing as the glass becomes molten and all edges become smooth and rounded anyway.

You can see by the photo above that you can create really small circles.

However if you were using stained glass, you would need to have near perfect circles. I was lucky enough to have a person visit my blog who gave me some very useful information:

"If the glass is transparent (or semi-transparent), you can flip the glass over and place it on a piece of very short pile carpet) press on the "cut line" and you will see the glass "run" as you press. Continue all the way around and your circle will be much smoother when you flip it back over and score your "run off" lines - per the instructions. Let me know if this works"

Thanks to Alan from http://www.stainedglassconnectionfl.com/

I tried this technique and it works. My circles now have a smoother finish and do not require any grinding. Making circles is so much easier now!

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy xx

Latest New Tool - Circle Cutter

This is my latest tool to play with - it's the Easy Cut Circle Cutter. It will allow me to cut circles in glass to make circular pendants. You can of course make circles through the fusing process, by cutting two squares of glass and layering them on top of each other and fusing. This does create circles, but they are domed. By using the circle cutter, I will be able to create circular shapes that have a flat surface. I have tried it, the first circle wasn't successful, but thereafter I got the hang of it. Will post photo soon of my first attempts.

The glass is also new editions to create new designs. Will post photos when I have fired them.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy xx

My New Studio/Workshop

This is going to be my new workshop/studio and can't wait to get inside and start working. Unfortunately, it will not be finished that quickly as my hubby is building it, in between his full time job. At least work has started. But.....

Work then came to an abrupt standstill - it's snowing again.

The outbuilding used to be the old toilet block for the school. We live in the old schoolhouse which belonged to the headmaster of the school. The school is now closed and is being converted into a large house. The toilet block was left in its original state with the wood toilet seats still in place over a concrete made seat with metal trays to be emptied when 'full' from behind the toilets, through the wall. The two toilets can be seen in the photo - the green doors at the front of the building. Behind the toilets, was a separate area, still cobbled.

Hope you enjoyed the history lesson today.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy xx

Valentines Day

As Valentines Day is fast approaching, I thought I would change my banner on my blog (mainly in the hope that my hubby will take notice and surprise me with a gift - no harm in dreaming!). I chose this banner as it was more subtle than some of the ones you can choose from, plus if you have one with a dark background, it doesn't work well with your writing, as nobody can read it.

Joking aside, I am spoilt most of the time, last year I had a beautiful orchid plant and chocolates given to me for Valentines Day. Not bad after 16 years together.

I have been busy making valentines pendants in fine silver for a supplier, with the hope that it will lead to more orders. I hope to be making some more fine silver heart pendants over the next few days to add to my website.

If you are looking for something a little different for that special person in your life, why not take a look at my website, and if money is of short supply right now, I have some sale items too.
Kathryn, Lazy Daisy xx