Christmas presents here we go

I know it shouldn't amuse me as much as it does, but I love being able to blog from my phone.

This is to nights master piece, one of many being made as presents this year. I am really loving this one and once it has it's resin it will be done. I may well do a repeat on a larger canvas at some stage as I'm liking it so much.

Glassy mixed media

Work In Progress

Here's an update of a current work in progress. It's also the first time using a blogger app from my mobile so I'm not really sure how this will work out.

For now I'll let the pictures talk for themselves.

Work in Progress -baby quilt

My brother is expecting his first child in June. I thought I'd do something special for them. This is the quilt.

Initially painted using acrylic paint and a medium that allows it to be used on fabric.. All totally safe of course
.


The embroidered to give some details.


This is the first quilt I have attempted so let's see where it goes

jelly baby massacre

jelly baby massacre
Originally uploaded by Julie Merrett Glass

hahaha mwahahaha

Abstract LIght Painting

Dawn Walk

I got to enjoy the snow for the first time today.  I must be one of the few who made it into work since the snow started.  What that means whilst everyone else seems to be getting fed up I really enjoyed being up and alone in the snow, seeing the beauty and finally able to enjoy it.

Painting with lights

Wisley RHS Lumiere Exhibition

October News

I said I would be back at the beginning of October to update you with where my thoughts have got to.  I can genuinely say that I am in a different place.

I think I have processed the overwhelming feelings related to the miscarriages.  I had my first period this month in years where I didn't burst into tears just because I wasn't pregnant.

I know there are 3 things I want for my life

• A baby
• A family home which my husband and I own – there is a long saga about not being able to sell a flat and living in rented accommodation in an area we want to live in.
• A life skills centre – a place where God is at the centre but people are given the opportunities to learn the skills that life has either stolen from them or not given them the opportunity to learn.

Each of these things I have spent time, energy and money trying to make happen and yet they haven't happen.  I am in a place where I know I can not make any of these things occur but I know I need to live the life that I have been given. 

I do not want to live my life waiting for things to happen.

I genuinely believe each of these things will happen, I guess I just haven't worked out the right timing for them in my life.  But my life is more than waiting… it is living.

So where does this leave me and my creativity.  I guess the bottom line is just where its always been.  Its a really big part of who I am.  In the last month I have knitted, crochet, learnt how to use metal clay, made some beads and started preparing  a story plan so I can participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). 

Where does it leave me and my business, that bit I don't know.  What I do know is that it is important for me to create, I know that I am very good at starting projects and not finishing them, I am good at sabotaging myself so I never start things but I also know that there has been a shift in my thought processes.  What that might look like in the future, who knows. 

But I am genuinely in a much better place than I was a month ago.

Thank you to all of you who have reached out and touched my heart whilst I have not been writing so publicly.

Julie

A diamond shines best when it is cut

I need to take time out from this blog.

It has been a fantastic experience for me, and as a consequence I have found the power of personal journalling. Expressing to myself the things I wouldn't express here.

I spoke last post about how I am finding that I am removing things from my life, to discover who I truly am. Well I need to let go of the blog for a month.

I have been told that blogs grow naturally when you do certain things, and most of them I have been doing. The blog hasn't grown. I was analysing what it is that could be getting in the way. I think there are a number of things

1. I haven't added much content which is useful, other than an insight into me and where I am going
2. I am in that confused state between bead maker and artist. That's gotta mean that I don't attract people from either group

This all sound like I'm being harsh on myself, but the truth is I hope I'm not. I genuinely feel that I am coming out of a deep phase of grief and trying to discover the new me. And its not the me who went in to this, and that included my art. I need to give myself time to truly discover me and what it is I now want to present to the world.

Thank you for your interest in my work, and I will be back at the beginning of October - if not before - to let you know where my world is heading.

J

Studio Update

I’ve come to realise that when a girl features in my pictures that the picture is pretty much a self portrait of what is going on in my life.

I put all the flowers on because I thought they should be there.  If I was an artist and and glass artist, my picture should have more glass in there.

Only I was wrong.

As I looked at the picture I realised I needed to strip away the stuff that shouldn't be there.  But to do that would be painful and do damaging to the picture, but I knew I needed to do it.  Knew I needed to get rid of the flowers.

Its kind of like what is going on in my life, I feel like loads of things are being stripped back, taken away.

Some of it is easy but a lot of it is hard.

I’m now at a point with the picture that I feel like in my own life.  The yellow centred daisies have gone, and the picture really does lock a lot better.  The problem is I think I need to do more.  I think I need to completely sacrifice what I have now to get what it could be in the future.  And like in the picture, I don't know how much that will cost, or what it will look like.

I almost feel as if I need to create balloons which are fragile and can fly away, becoming what they were meant to be, rather than spring flowers which are here for a short season before they die.  In my own life I feel I need to let go of things which I feel have defined me, defined my pain, defined my path to go on the journey I was created to be on.

7 Things You Need to Make Glass Beads - Glass

At a bead fair I was discussing with a potential bead maker about what kit they should buy when they started. So what kit do you need?

1. Glass
2. Something to heat the glass with
3. Mandrels to wrap the glass round
4. Bead release to stop the glass sticking to the mandrel
5. A way to cool the beads down so they don't thermal shock
6. A way to clean the bead release out of bead
7. … and a kiln if you want to sell your beads

Yup it really is that simple. But I have to say it’s scary that this is the minimum you need to make a glass bead, given the amount of tools I have hidden away in my shed.

Glass

There are a number of types of glass on the market but in the UK the cheapest and most easily available glass is soft glass with a CoE of 104.

OK so what does that mean? A CoE or coefficient is about the rate of expansion of the glass. Basically different glasses cool at different rates. A bead with a two different types of glass in will crack with what's known as a compatibility crack, when one glass cools quicker… not good if you’ve spent ages making a bead.

Satake Glass

This is amazingly soft glass has a CoE of 113 or 120. It is favoured by Japanese bead makers, and wow can they make some lovely beads. They often have a very distinct style due to the lower melting temperature and wonderful colour pallet. In the UK it’s quite hard to get hold of this glass, the main supplier being Satake Glass USA. To use this glass effectively you need a special burner.

104 Glass

When people talk about glass beads they often talk about Murano glass.

You can get Murano glass rod or another brand Venice glass Effetre (3 brothers who split from Murano glass) to make glass beads. Effetre. In the UK Effetre is often what people start with.

There are a number of brands of glass which are have a CoE of 104

• Ask
• Effetre
• CiM Messy Colour
• Double Helix
• Lauscha
• Northstar
• Reichenbach
• Vetrofond

Theoretically they can be used together in the same bead. I say theoretically because every now and again glasses that you think should work together give you cracks that look like incompatibility cracks.

The supplier I use in the UK is Tuffnell Glass, or Off Mandrel who I think give a great service.

Bullseye Glass

Bullseye has a CoE of 90. It is slightly stiffer than 104 and cools when you are working it more quickly. This means it is great for fine stringer work. Bullseye also has the most amazing pinks and purples. The best place in the UK to get it is Warm Glass, Off Mandrel or Creative Glass.

Borosilicate Glass

Pyrex is a brand of borosilicate or boro glass. Boro glass has a CoE of 30 to 33 and is classed as a hard glass… and wow is it hard in comparison to soft glass. You need a hot torch to work it but it does have some fantastic advantages. The colours you can get from Boro are amazing due to the amount of gold and silver in the glass. It is also great for sculpture and making glasses. Available Tuffnell Glass, Off Mandrel and Creative Glass

There are other glasses on the market and I guess that this is only an introduction to the glasses out there.

So what do I use?

I tend to use Effetre glass coloured glass and Lauscha clear glass for encasing my beads. I tend not to use the silver glasses or reactive glasses, but that’s because I tend to make beads with a sculptural quality. It’s also because I’m a bit of a miser and some of the glass can get really expensive… especially if you are importing them from the states.

End Note

The only way to know for sure if a glass is compatible with another is to do a compatibility check. I will write another article explaining how to do this.

Studio Update

Last night the friends I was supposed to be visiting cancelled as Hannah was rushed to hospital with difficulty breathing and suspected problems with her pregnancy.  Clearly this touched many of my buttons and left me feeling a bit shaky.

I spent today with her 3 kids 2-13 years old looking after them as dad was at hospital.  It was generally going well till the 13 year old decided to do lunch and ended up serving me a single piece of toast with butter, less than she had given all them including the 2 year old.  Turns out there was no other food in the house.

Any way, I got home tired with a very low sugar level knowing the good news is that at the moment they have found nothing wrong with Hannah but there will be ongoing tests.  That didn't stop my irritability because I was so hungry. 

There was a parcel waiting for me which was full of some affirmation cards I have been working on for a little while.  The otters above are from the series.  In there were reminders to breathe and that I am enough as I am.  Seriously good timing.

I have completed 11 cards and I hope to either get to 15, 20 or 25 cards in a set.  Look out for them in the near future.

Pink Fritties Giveaway

Its sad but the winner of these little beads hasn't come forward.  So I’ve re-done the draw and the winner is Aster Sadler. 

Please get in contact so I can send them out…

J

Love, Joy, Peace

Taken at London Zoo last week

So where has this whole happiness thing come from.  How come I’ve finally got to a place where I can say that I’ve woken up and feel happy?

I was mulling the Christian concept of the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control.  For years I have thought I can do those but I realise there is a difference between doing them and being them.

For me the key things in this are receiving love, joy and peace. 

Why specifically receiving love?  I think that giving love is about patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and faithfulness.  For me if I am automatically behaving in this way it is because I feel loved, peaceful and joyful.

Self control is important because it means I am actively deciding to put my self in a place where I can receive love, experience joy and be peaceful and actively avoiding situations that steal love, joy and peace.

So receiving love

• Spending time with my DH
• Spending time with family
• Spending time friends
• Generally being around people who love me and accept me as I am.

So Peace

• Eating and drinking right
• Exercising
• Getting enough sleep
• Journaling
• Meditating

And joy – and this is where I have to say I’ve realised that I’m struggling.  What I have learned over the last few months is sorting out how to do the love and the peace thing.  I’m just short on the joy. 

Part of that has to do with a very strong work ethic, part of it to do with a lack of money thing but primarily to do with my tendency to hibernate when I feel down.  Given that I’ve been feeling down for a while I’ve stopped doing stuff.  I no longer sail, ski, scuba dive, canoe, go to the theatre, dance… so this is the next step.  Doing stuff and avoiding hibernating. 

Good plan I think

Studio Update

This week has been one of those week which would typically shatter me, but it hasn't.

My period is with me, and for all of those of us who are trying for a baby, this indicates another cycle where our hopes have not been fulfilled.  Certainly since Christmas I have been devastated with the start of a period.   My DH also lost some contracts this week as the company he works for as a freelancer went into administration… hmmm must change side bar… Clearly that hits us financially, and causes me to worry – normally.  Oh and its his birthday today.

On Tuesday this all hit, my hormones and pain at its worst and Andy’s news… and I don't feel shaken by any of it.  I have been praying about the idea that I cant continue to live with this persistent sadness.  Regardless of whether I have a child or not, I need to be pain free,  I just can not live this life completely absorbed by the pain… and I guess it makes my blog a really hard read to consistently hear me say I’m struggling.

As I said last Friday I think I’m working out how to manage the pain, and given this week, I really think I’ve found something that works for me.

My plan is on Monday to write it up rather than a Bead Basic Tutorial as I feel that at the moment this is the most amazing thing I could share.  so please pop back then

Wednesday Giveaway – Pink Fritties – the result

Good morning… well actually its not. I missed the morning teaching a guitar lesson which turned out to be a girly bonding over cups of tea. I like that.

Well done Sam for getting in there before the result, I included you in the draw.

www.random.org gave me the number 5 out of the 9 posts which is Natasha. I hope you pop back because I have no other way to contact you. Please give me your address and I’ll get the beadies out to you. Well done.

6 Steps to Great Lampwork Beads Using Bead Presses

Why Use a Bead Press?

There are many reasons to use bead presses.

• You can ensure consistency in size
• You can relatively easily create a good shape
• Your buyers have a fairly good idea what the bead will be like and can design more easily
• Buyers may prefer different shapes presses can provide
• You can create shapes you would find difficult by hand

Guidelines for Using Any Press

The thing about presses is that they look easy but creating a good bead with them is not guaranteed.

1. Over filling

This creates little ridges around the seams which if the bead is meant to have a flat edge will seriously affect the quality of the bead. With lentils you end up with a very fine edge which kinda makes it look like a fried egg. They can be disguised or melted in or take some of the glass off the bead. Having said that melting them in doesn’t always work and you can still see the poor design.

2. Under filling

This will mean that the glass doesn’t get all the way to the extremities of a shape meaning you have duff corners or a lentil that doesn’t quite work. It kind of defeats the whole purpose of using a press

3. Unbalanced bead

This tends to be my speciality. These are the beads where the mandrel didn’t quite stay in the middle of the bead. Some buyers may like this as they can guarantee that the bead will hang that way, however if they are part of set it really isn’t going to help your reputation.

The bottom line is that wonky beads are not good beads although they might be sellable to the right person

4. Dimples

There is a huge debate about how dimples should look on pressed beads. It is however incredibly easy to make sharp pointy holes on beads using a press which is not good.

If it is a bead with a flat edge, normal indent dimple rules should apply. With lentils it is good to have a decent dimple that a spacer bead can fit in. The reason for this is that the glass is going to be very thin around the hole and with wear over time this can cause the glass to break, or at least become very rough which could cause the threading material to break. As a bead seller, not a great way to get repeat business.

5. Chill marks

Pressed beads are always going to get those little ridges across the surface of the bead. They really do need to be smoothed out and smoothing them out has an added benefit that you are adding heat which will help with the whole thermal shock thing.

6. Pressed beads are more likely to thermal shock

As the bead is thinner on one axis it will cool quicker here and will more prone to breaking. The way to work round this is to put pop the beads into a warm kiln and to heat the area nearest the mandrel so that the bead can cool more evenly.

Pressed beads make up a large number of the beads that we make as a community. With the whole practice practice practice idea you can get to a place where you can make great pressed beads that you will be proud of in a few years time.

Links to Tutorials for Specific Presses

I have presses from a number of places. Some of these links are to sites which sell presses. I’m not specifically endorsing them, just highlighting their tutorials

• Cattwalk Tutorials They have tutorials including Bicones, Crunch, Emerald Cut, Lentil, Puffy Pillow, Triangle, Tabs (Round Emerald)

Friday already studio update

My plan had been to show you my pictures I’ve finished this week which I am really proud of.  Unfortunately It’s been raining all day and all the pictures I have are just well… really duff. 

So what you have today is a picture of the cushion Jess made in our home schooling lesson over the last few weeks.  I’m so proud of her she worked really methodically and designed it herself.  Go Jess.

I want to thank you for the comments you have made both publicly and privately about my current struggles.  As it goes, today is a good day and I think I am beginning to work out how when my emotions get out of control I can get them back more quickly.