Gaffer Tower

Gaffer Tower, originally uploaded by Glittering Prize - Trudi.

Well after playing with this gorgeous gaffer glass for a while now, I finally managed to get lots and lots of colour out of it! Wonder if it's due to a change in the weather???

Anyway - I worked it hot and hotter and yipeeeee!

I'm a winner!

Woo hooo - I belong to a beading group, and I had 2 of my beads nominated for Bead Artisan for October, and I won. I can't tell you how chuffed I am - it's always a nice feeling when people like your work!

And just to let you know that Pudsey Bear sold on Ebay, raising money for Children in Need, thank you for all your support!

I have also listed some new beads on my website, I hope you like them.

Take a look on www.glitteringprize.co.uk

Trudi

Pudsey Bear on the Bay

Well it's getting to that time of year when a certain yellow bear pops up all over the place!!

And right now this little bear is on Ebay, raising money for Children in Need. If you want to see him click Pudsey on the Bay and it should take you to the listing.

But even if you don't get this little Pudsey, still join in the fun of Children In Need, and show your support!

Creations

Well, I'm always busy making beads and jewellery for other people, so I decided to make something just for me!!

Using the theme Chinese Water Garden (see previous posts) I made the shell (I can't capture it on here but the shell does contain silver glass that sparkles and reflects the light!). And then I found a swarovski starfish in my stash, and I came across the Jet Swarovski fish while "just looking" on Jilly's beads - I just had to have it. I put it together and strung it simply on black rattail - very soft! So there you have it, it may not be summer, but I love wearing it!

I've also been busy in the studio making some focals:

What do you think?

These ones I made, inspired by autumn - and the Acer Tree in my garden

(aren't the colours in the tree just gorgeous!)

These proved to be popular as they were bought by the same lady at Harrogate! It's a new technique that I was working on, and I'm quite pleased with the results!

Once again, thanks for reading my rambles!

Trudi x

Halloween Goodies

As it was Halloween, I organised a special bead swap in one of the groups that I'm a member of, and I thought I'd share a picture of the haul I received!

I am incredibly nosey, and I just love to see other people's beads, so I was thrilled with all the beads/pendants I received! They make great charms for phones and bags! The large bat in the middle I made into a simple pendant, and that is what I wore on Halloween (I hasten to add that wasn't all I was wearing!!!)

Inspiration Flash

One of my customers emailed me today about the beads she had received, she said:




" I love these beads...simple but beautiful and very stylish."





And that was just the very look I was going for! So I decided to share with her, and you where some of my inspiration comes from. These are the beads that she bought:

And they had been inspired by - ok you guessed it Strictly Come Dancing Costumes!! I do love a bit of glamour and I really love watching the show (and Take Two of course!) - so not only am I enjoying the show, but my mind is thinking - WOW, those colours look great together, how do I get that look into a bead!

If you look a the bodice of the dress, you can see that it has a layered depth, so I started with a white base - I then added on "Antique Clear" - a super lovely colour, and then it needed the black. I wanted the black to compliment the bead and not take over, but at the same time it also needed to be bold - so I placed some kissing flowers around. Popped the beads in the kiln - and they were great when they came out - but still not quite what I was after, they were still glossy and shiney. So I then decided to etch them - this is basically putting them into acid that gives the bead the matt/frosted look. Voila - the beads were ready!

So now you know!

Mojo A Go-go

Ever have one of those days where things just don’t go to plan??? Well last Friday was one of those days for me!!

The next bead fair was planned for November, so we had lots of time. But then there was a cancellation for the Bead Fair at Harrogate in October – too good an opportunity to miss, so we’ve booked up to be there. But not only is this a big fair, it’s also a 2 day fair. So I’m thinking not a problem, I’ll go into the studio and have a session. Only problem was any new design I worked on just didn’t work out as I wanted, and then my mojo went AWOL!!

So I then decide – let’s leave it for now – no point in forcing something that’s just not going to happen! So I decided to head home, and hey it’s Friday night – there’s Strictly Come Dancing and the Tudors to watch. I was off with a spring in my step. Only to discover that Strictly was now just on Saturday’s now and the Tudors had finished the week before!!! I was heading downhill fast, so I had to contend myself with NCIS and Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Brownie - I could have more as it was the low fat yogurt version – yay, something was going my way.

Happily the mojo has returned now, and I’ve made a few more Halloween beads for my bead swap,

and I’ve made some new style beads too! - I'm calling these Chinese Water Garden.

As a side note - the other week I went to see Julie & Julia - a film about someone who admired a famous cook, and she decided to set herself a challenge to cook all her recipes from her book in 1 year, and she would write about it on her blog. She came across the same question as me - am I just rambling on into cyber space, or does anyone actually read this at all? Well, I know I'm not completely alone on here as one of my customer actually told me that she did read it, and she did enjoy me ramblings .......... thank you x