In the background of the photo above, I have created some coasters with the new Graffiti design. I am working on making some Coast Curve Clocks in the foreground. This the Coast Curve Clock when wall mounted, it is very pretty when light shines through it:
Instead of taking the A95 main route home, I decided to take the scenic route from Grantown and we drove 24 miles and only passed three cars - talk about gridlock !!!
I've received this special award by Charlotte of Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics - a big thank you to her. Charlotte has also been poorly this week, but I'm sure the Blog Award given to her cheered her up. Welcome back to blogland Charlotte.I'm supporting my fellow Cornishmen today - these are the Singing Cornishmen, known as the Fishermen's Friends. They meet every Friday evening (summer months) on the beach front in Port Isaac and sing sea shanties. They were spotted by a music producer who had been in the audience last year - long story short - they have now signed a £1m recording contract. How great is that.
You may have heard of Port Isaac in Cornwall, it is where Doc Martin is filmed.
You can pre-order their album here - http://www.fishermansfriendsportisaac.co.uk
I heard a sing from their album on the national news last night, it sounded fantastic, something I had never heard before. I will definitely be buying their album, released next month.
It's finally here - my pallet of glass. My stock was so low, I was in desperate need of more glass. The glass was very well packaged in its own crate/pallet. It just needs to be carried to my studio now, which is going to take many, many trips as I can only (safely) carry two sheets at a time. They are full sheets, so very big.
Greypuss Jewellery are running a fantastic competition - your chance to win £100 worth of silvery bling. They sell wonderful silver jewellery, including tiaras and wedding jewellery.
This was my pasty - it even looked good. 
I'm in total shock - lost for words.
Do you support contemporary crafts? I think most of us would answer yes to this question. Well, now you have a chance to have your say about the subject of all things craft, whether it be glasswork, painting, pottery, or cardmaking. 
I will be attending the Spring Craft Fair at Banff Castle on Saturday 13 March. The fair will be open from 10am - 4pm and there will be 16 other crafters selling their wares.
Charlottle Hupfield Ceramics is running a fantastic giveaway. She is celebrating her first anniversary of blogging, so decided to have a 'blogiversary' - a great idea. 
Ooh.com is a free general noticeboard for trips, courses, workshops, accommodation and events. We spend a lot of time digging around trying to find exciting and unusual things to do - all events listed on Ooh.com are by individuals or companies. Listings are from passionate people who really care and offer the chance of participating in something you do not normally hear about. 
These photos were taken this morning, just to show you how much snow there is still lying.
I have recently been accused of 'stealing' and 'copying' designs on another blog. As you can imagine, this fuelled a lot of debate and comment from others. Here's my side of the story. The lattice bowl you see above is one item. Latticework is not a new concept and one of the first things I learnt - there is even a tutorial in 'An Introduction to Glass Fusing' book. Albeit tac fused, but I did not like this version, so fully fused it, which in my eyes is a much better finish. 
The 'Burns' range (above)
Moving on...
Don't these look familiar?? - By the way's this is not my work (above). These are Fused Erin AdamQuilt Tiles
.JPG)
My creations (above) - so similar it's uncanny. No, I didn't copy the colourways above, I only found this site yesterday.
These glass nuggets were also created in my early years (yes I have been working with glass for more than one year, since 2003 in fact, I started in stained glass initially). The first thing to learn is layering and test firing - to see how glass pieces look after firing at different temperatures. This technique is also in the book mentioned earlier. You first start with clear, so not to waste, but move on to colourways - it's a natural progression. These nuggets also form part of the Spey and Burns range - they had been arranged in picture frames and made into wall art. I don't have a photo of the finished product, but can be seen here on my website. I do agree that they are similar to ones I have seen over the internet here is another framed wall art, I love this one (not my work):
But inspiration for my designs were in part due to Brenda Griffith - the queen of fused glass Pop Art. She has written a book ' A Beginner's Guide to Kiln Formed Work', the second book I bought when I Started. She's been fusing since the mid 80's so a very accomplished artist (and a brilliant one - I love her designs). I also make Pop Art ranges - pendants, rings, cufflinks. The other part came from a glass artist (can't think who it was now, it was a long time ago) on the Warm Glass USA website gallery - glass nuggets were arranged in a black box frame, but using a lot black glass - I didn't particularly like this version, so created my own variation.
Coasters..... 
I love the lattice coasters and still make these. If you read the newspaper article mentioned earlier, it was stated that I was to exhibit at the Royal Cornwall Show (I'm Cornish and proud). I thought it would be a good idea to make the lattice coasters, which look similar to tartan, in the three Cornish tartan colours. Cornwall has tartans too! So I made the Hunting Tartan, National Tartan and St Pirans Tartan colourways (St Pirans is above and my favourite - black, white, red). Each colour from the tartans have been used in each of the coaster designs. The colours in the tartans also have meanings i.e., the national tartan contains black and gold which were the colours of the ancient Cornish kings - hence I now call the coasters Black and Gold - clever! It's actually really interesting, if you would like know about the Cornish tartan colours here. I thought this was an ingenious idea and don't think they exist anywhere else (but don't quote me on that, as I could be wrong!!). So again, if I was to copy the colourways, a Cornish glass artist should be banging on the door. Whilst exhibiting at the show, I was one of EIGHT glass workers - WOW, that was a lot of competition. I also made some St Pirans cufflinks, thinking this was a great idea - low and behold, there were two other fusers who made exactly the same. Is it possible for people who I had never met/seen/knew of to make the exact item. I didn't know who was going to be exhibiting, I hadn't visited the show in years, due to moving away and certainly do not any Cornish fusers (oh, apart from Jo Downs - who's big business down there). The answer is yes, creative people do often think alike, especially when using the same glass/equipment from the same suppliers (glass supplies in this country are limited compared to the States). That goes for equipment - moulds are readily available, designs are going to be similar, I am not that blinkered to realise this fact. This is why as an artist you have to think outside of the box - which I think I do. Feel free to disagree on this one!!
As for stealing the words 'glass love tokens' - this expression has been used for years. The glass company Spaceform make lots of them, and they have been calling then glass tokens for years, since the mid 90's infact. I saw another glass artist making the same ones as mine at a show - also calling them love tokens.However, I'm not going to beat them up about it. I never invented hearts, glass, the design etc. Besides mine are called Dinkies and include the cute Highland Coo.
I started making heart hangers, then latterly coasters as I always get people asking for 'heart things'. Copper heart inclusions in coasters has been around for as long as I can remember, so added the swirly frit as 'something different'. Well at the time of making them, I thought they were different. I have a paper punch with the same swirly pattern and tried to incorporate this design in copper, but it just chewed the copper. Hence the creation of the infamous 'swirl'. Here's some more frit swirlyness - not my creations - I love the swirly coasters:
I could ramble on for hours, but you're probably zzzzzzzzzzz by now. Oh, one final thing, one particular comment made was that I am the same as the first word in my business name 'LAZY'. I think not! I work very hard at making my business work (it's not a hobby). And I take such comments and accusations seriously. As they say 'Frit Happens'!!
Kathryn, (not so) Lazy Daisy Glass xx
