Snow More!!

As I look out of the window,

There's still plenty of snow,

Have only one thing to say,

Please take our snow away!!

We went for a walk this morning (just to get out of the house and see some scenery other than four walls). It was a very pleasant walk apart from my walking boots being 1/2 size too small - ouch!! My feet have expanded. As you can see from the photo above, the snow is up to the windows. Some photos from this morning. The three humps you see in the photo below are - cars!!

A road that doesn't see a snow plough:


This is the rural hamlet I live in:

I love this photo - please mummy take me home, I'm far too cold to smile:

We made our way home and had some warming meatball and tomato soup - yummy.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Make Jewellery - I'm in Print

It's official, my name is in print. Make Jewellery magazine contacted me some time ago and asked if I could write my domino pendant tutorial for them as they were printing a rock chick feature edition. Welcome to my Punk Rock Skull Domino Pendants - this is my double page spread - initially they told me I only had a single page, but I sent enough items for two pages.

I'm thrilled as this is my first ever tutorial in print. You can find my domino pendants for sale here at Folksy. The domino charm bracelet below was also sent in and will be used as a magazine giveaway.

I couldn't wait to tell you all about my special news - I hope you enjoy the domino tutorial.

Weather update - we have had constant snow and weather is very bad here in rural Scotland. We lost our power earlier so I may not be contactable in the next few days as the snow is not letting up.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Happy New Year

Happy New Year - I cannot believe that 2009 went by so quickly. I haven't ventured out much (not even into the studio) as the weather is quite bad. as you can see from the photo above, we have lots of snow.

We were invited to our friends house yesterday as a New Year tradition of theirs. Although the roads were pretty dicey, it helps to have a 4 x 4 vehicle!! It was well worth the journey as we were given stovies for our supper - delicious.

Well, I have a few busy days ahead now as I will be designing and making new fused glass goodies for the Spring Trade Show in Glasgow at the end of this month. Time really has flown - yikes!!

My New Year resolution - try to blog as much as possible, but not to spend hours on the laptop. A contradiction I know, but I must stop 'researching' so much. Time is very precious and better spent in the studio and playing with my daughter.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Santa and his Reindeers

I haven't been very busy blogging these days as I am concentrating on designing new products for the Glasgow trade fair at the end of January and keeping up with Christmas orders. Pressure is definitely on and have been beavering away in my studio.

I took a well-earned break yesterday and took my daughter to visit Santa and his reindeers. I drove to the Cairngorms near Aviemore and we had a fantastic day out. Christmas is not Christmas without seeing reindeers in the mountains.

We walked along Loch Morlich - it was very atmospheric. Thick frost covered the ground, the beautiful forest surrounding the loch and the white tipped mountains in the background. Loch Morlich is in the heart of the Cairngorm National Park:

Not forgetting fat Robin Redbreast - he really was a well-fed birdie:

On the way back we stopped in Aviemore itself and had a late lunch - the restaurant looked out to the mountains and it was just picture perfect. The white tipped mountains were surrounded by a pale pink sky after the sun had set, which reflected off the snow. Didn't take any photos of this as we were eating inside, but believe me it was beautiful.

And to top it off, we saw the steam train puff by with Santa in it - it had finished for the day and was going back to its station.

A perfect day with my gorgeous daughter!!

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Recent Firings

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought I would let you see what I've been making. This firing was a mixture of experimental things and some items for fairs. It's all very colourful.

I have the kiln programmed for a firing tonight - I raided the local pub for some bottles and will be making cheeseboards. These have proved very popular lately - a good christmas gift - a great idea to give to someone who has everything!

I will be at Delgatie Castle in Turriff tomorrow from 10am - 4pm. The castle is holding it's annual Victorian Christmas Fair.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

A Tidy Studio

Have some units in my studio now and everything is tidy (for now). As time goes on, it will not continue to look like this!!

Hubby has been working very hard lately to get my studio finished and units installed - so a big thanks to him. He's yet to install some units opposite so I will have plenty of workspace. One side will house my cold working tools/machines and the other space is for all my cutting and making. It all sounds very organised - one tries!!!

Here's my latest tool - a work station to hold my drill. I will now be able to make holes in glass. I have just ordered some clock movements, so will now be able to experiment with clocks.

I have so many ideas - never enough hours though.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

We've been having some weird weather lately - one minute it's sunny and mild, the next day it's -4. I was waiting for a friend to visit last week and looked out of the window and saw this amazing double full rainbow. I fetched my camera and took these colourful shots. It was so pretty.

"I love the rainbow with its shades of blue and green

I love the way the rainbow tells itself to you

I love the way the rainbow lights up the sunny sky

I love the way the rainbow tells the truths that are a lie

I love the rainbow with its every brightly coloured shade

I love the way the rainbow lights up a sunny day"

A poem by Paula Glynn

Hope you enjoyed that

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Bring Your Own Bottle

I decided to slump a batch of bottles as my first firing - just in case anything disastrous happened and didn't want to ruin my fusing glass.

But as it happened, everything turned out great. Now I have some nice bottles to sell as cheeseboards/platters. I have slumped a few in my small kiln, but could only make one at a time (I did say it was a small kiln!!) - which is not cost effective or efficient. However, each one I made sold really quickly so there is definitely a demand for them. People like them because they are quirky.

I'm now experimenting with the items and having lots of fun.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Cupcakes - Baking Day

We had our first baking day last weekend - and made these yummy cupcakes. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed herself. She even has her own apron:


She helped mixing the ingredients and putting it onto the cake cases:

When I said she could lick the bowl - she took it literally:

She even enjoyed the washing up - she's going to be a domestic goddess, me thinks!!

And the cupcakes tasted scrummy!!

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Kiln - Up and Running

At last - my kiln has now been connected and it's all systems GO!!

I have done my test fire - this was to check that the program unit is working correctly, I then had to fire the kiln empty - to settle the kiln.

Now, I have some test pieces in the kiln on full fire and these will be ready tomorrow.

I went into my studio today and was sweating - the kiln generates so much heat!!

I will be busy now creating new pieces for the Spring Trade Show at the SECC, Glasgow (January 2010).

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Fired with Imagination - Blog Giveaway

Joy Funnell over at Fired with Imagination is having a great giveaway - you could be in with a chance of winning this beautiful Purple Heart. The heart is made from Art Clay Silver with an enamelled purple centre.

You should check out Joy's work, she is a fantastic art clay silver artist and produces some wonderful jewellery.

Hurry, the giveaway ends this weekend. Good luck

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

A Nice Day Out

I visited Logie Steading today as I had an order to drop off - the weather was so wonderful that I took the daughter to play in the play park, then we talked to the horses and Highland cows (or hairy cows as my daughter calls them). Logie Steading and Estate is in such a beautiful location - in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fields and trees. Here's the Highland Cow:


I then drove on to Nairn - a lovely seaside town. I dropped off some more stock for Caledonian Craft Connections and then decided to go to the beach. If it's nice weather I always take my daughter to the beach for a run around. The weather was lovely and mild, just a little cloudy.

We came across this mermaid in the sand - isn't it fab. Someone took along time to create this masterpiece.

The beach also gave me an opportunity to take some photos of my popular Lazy Bones fish:

I will be exhibiting at Scotland's Trade Fair in January at the SECC, Glasgow and have been lucky enough to have been selected and will be featured in trade magazines. Hence the need to take some photos at the beach - Lazy Bones fish above.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Dichroic Cabochons

These are some of the dichroic cabochons I have recently been making - stocking up for Christmas.

This is a busy time of year for me, as I attend local craft fairs, coffee mornings etc and will be attending the Glasgow Christmas Show on 19/20 December. A two day event in the Royal Concert Halls - I haven't done this event before, so fingers crossed there will be lots of last minute shoppers.

I have made some of these slider pendants:

I bought a few of the silver mounted pendants to try back in the summer - they sold really quickly, so I will now be adding them to my website (later tonight). They look great hanging on leather thong - it really suits this design of pendant.

The circular patterned pendants are also very popular and usually sell quickly. Will be adding these to my website over the next couple of days.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Blog Giveaway - Winners

I have been running two giveaways lately - the first was to win the craft goodies, along with the Raspberry Ripple pendant and the other was to win your favourite chocolate bar (as it was Chocolate Week last week).

I'm pleased to say that the winner of the craft/pendant giveaway was Purple Sparkle Crafts (picked at random through random.org - which picked No. 1). This is one of the pendants that Rebecca at Purple Sparkle will be receiving - yummy, Raspberry Ripple.And the winner of the chocolate bar giveaway was Carolee Crafts, as there were only three entries, it was easy enough to write their tickets out.

Well done ladies - please contact me with your address.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Chocolate Week - What's your Favourite??

Did you know it's chocolate week?

Nor did I, until I saw a feature in a magazine at the weekend. There was even a 2 day chocolate event in London to celebrate (if only I lived closer, I would have been first in line!!).

How to recognise good chocolate

The quality and provenance of the cocoa beans and the manufacturing process is vital just as it is for fine wines.The country of origin & quality of the cocoa bean is far more important than the country in which chocolate is made. If your chocolate is primarily sold on the basis of the country it was made in, you are probably buying overpriced, low grade chocolate.Ideally chocolate should contain a minimum cocoa content of 60%+ for dark and 30%+ for milk. However, just because a chocolate contains 70% cocoa does not mean it is good – if the cocoa beans, original ingredients and the production processes are not good, then you are not buying good chocolate.Chocolate shouldn’t really contain anything you don’t recognise - so if you see an ‘e’ number, artificial preservatives or hydrogenated fats, think again... (Information taken from the Chocolate Week website)

As chocolate is so near to my heart (any belly), I thought I might tempt you with some chocolate goodies:

Chocolate & Fuscia Baby Bootees - Funky Shapes

(not quite edible, but delicious all the same)

Chocolate Cupcakes - Cancer Research UK

Chocolate Cupcake Wooden Hanger - Hutch Potch

Chocolate Bag - Retro Faerie

Chocolate Eclairs - Woolly Duck

I hoped that tickled your taste buds!!

As I'm feeling so generous at the moment (doesn't happen often), I will also be giving away your favourite chocolate bar. If you would like to be in with a chance of winning, just leave a comment letting me know what your favourite chocolate is. International entries welcome!!

Please also feel free to enter my earlier blog giveaway.

Good luck

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx