Makers Market

Christmas Markets.... It is this time of year again!!!!
This year, as usual, I am doing the Makers Market in Newburgh and my work Christmas market! The makers market is only 2 weeks away (5th November) and my crafting mojo is no where to be found! I am rummaging through my cupboards to find things I've made in order to sell them...
I managed to do a few stained glass suncatchers though. Here they are:








Luckily there are 4 of us sharing the stall so we might have a few things to sell...;oD

Inspired by the sea

I've been trying to design a mirror for my grandma for weeks now...Finally, inspiration arrived yesterday...
I knew the color scheme had to be blue, my gran favorite color. I also wanted to use some beads. So the inspiration came from the waves....
The dark color is teal. If you look closer there is some stripes of blue and green.
Dimensions: 30 x 20 cm


At the same time I made a little suncatcher for a colleague who loves sailing and is going to retire at the end of the month.


Enjoy your weekend!

Mirror

Finish at last!
I've started this mirror a few weeks ago and as I was putting the finishing touches, I broke a glass piece! Luckily it was the outside part of the flower so it wasn't too bad to repair.
To consolidate it, I framed it with tinned brass sticks.
Size: 50x50cm.

Now, I am going to wrap it very carefully and my parents will bring it back in France next month (they are making the 1700km journey by car). It is a gift for my godmother.

Mirror mirror

With the first Christmas market only a few days away, I've started wrapping all the little things I made and finishing the bigger projects.
The gloves were done a while ago and I used the left over yarn to make some crochet flower brooches.



I also finished the mirrors this afternoon. They are about 35 x 22 cm.

I might do a few more stained glass suncatchers before the event.
Now I have to think of pricing these items...

Some craft

I am sorry I don't update this blog very often but this year is far too hectic!

However, I've decided to take some time to do 2 Christmas markets with my friends. They are very early, 3rd and 6th of November, so I do not have much time to prepare a few things!
I've only got a couple of weekend free before the events so I've started preparing some stock. I am making stained glass mainly which is time consuming!
This morning, I've wrapped some suncatchers and Christmas decorations:



I've made some progress on one of the mirror:


and I have to come up with a design for this one (I've got the color scheme!):

I have one more mirror (I don't have the color scheme for this one yet) and I will make a few more stained glass Christmas decorations. I also have knitted gloves that I made during the summer and I am making a few matching brooches.

Now, I have to prepare my suitcase, I am away again next week!

For my mum

Oops, I forgot to show you the lamp I made for my mum...


Now, I am enjoying it at the moment because I have no clue as to how to bring it to her in France !

Chickadee

It's been a while since my last post...
Well, I've been traveling a lot lately so I don't have a lot to show you :o(
I now have all the equipment to do stained glass at home and my first piece was a birthday present for one of my colleague: a chickadee sun catcher.

I am now working on a butterfly sun catcher.

Mackintosh style mirror

I finished it in December last year but I didn't take it home before last week.

I am extremely pleased with it :o)

Paris was great, the weather crap and, for the first time, I visited Orsay museum. I'll show you some pictures in the next post... I am having some trouble downloading pictures from my brand new camera, Panasonic Lumix tz65 (fantastic), to my 7 years old computer...

Lantern

Yesterday I took my lantern home!
I bought it a while ago as a candle lantern but I wanted to turn it into a proper lamp so it needed wiring. So after I made some stained glass panels to replace the plain clear glass ones I had to wait a little for it to be ready.
The wait was worth it, it looks great and I love it :o)

Liberty and Tiffany

I am back from my wee trip to France. I spent a few days in Paris where I had the chance to go to a Louis Comfort Tiffany exhibition at Musee du Luxembourg. It was amazing to see the pieces for real, the details are incredible. I took a few pictures but it is much better in reality.

Then, I spent a day at Créations et Savoir-Faire with my mum and a friend.

The theme this year was Liberty fabric.

We registered for two card workshops and learned new tips.
There were about 250 exhibitors: fabric, cross-stitch, food, cooking, paper, craft, jewellery... It took the all day to go around them all! It was much better than last year's exhibition :o)


To end this post I wanted to show you that knitting is definitively back to fashion as this film advertisement proves it (trailer here):

Stained glass

My blog is being neglected at the moment because I am working on my stock for the craft fayres in November. I have nearly completed my 12th pair of gloves (2 fingers to knit), only 3 more to go :o)
Today I am going to show you where I am up to with my stained glass projects. The Rennie Mackintosh style lamp made it home safely and I found a little bit of space next to the sofa to display it:

The Rennie Mackintosh mirror just need some lead around it to be complete. The teacher doesn't have the right thickness of lead so I will have to wait a bit before finishing it. I am going to a stained glass supply shop at the end of November so I am hoping they will have what I am looking for there.

A wee while ago I bought this lantern:

The glass panels are removable and I designed new ones with hexagon to match the top of the lantern.


I've done one panel and this is how it looks like for now:


The teacher is on holiday for a couple of weeks so I am having a break. It gives me a bit of time to think of my next projects...

Rennie Mackintosh style lamp

It's been a while since my last post, well, three weeks. I've been in France for about 10 days and then I was very busy making bramble jam. I've ran out of jars so I have some time to show you my new stained glass lamp. I finished the shade a few weeks ago but only last week the teacher manage to find a supplier for the right base. I am not entirely sure about it but, unless I have it custom made, I won't find what I exactly want so this one will do.

Initially, I wanted this base but it was far too big for the shade. I kept it anyway as I am designing a lamp shade for my mum and this base will be perfect. I am making sure the shade is the right size for the base. You'll see it in a few weeks, or months...;o)

I've also made good progress on my mirror. The teacher is giving me a hand to tidy up all the soldering as it is very time consuming. The last step will be to lead the edges.


More later...

Rennie Mackintosh style Lamp

I've finished soldering my lamp this week. It took me two sessions. My soldering skills are getting better and I don't need much help from the teacher now :o)


Now, I only need to apply the patina, and most important, find a base which will be quite difficult because the choice is very limited in the UK. I'll deal with it next month when I'll come back from my holidays.

Mirror

Just a quick post to show you the progress I've made on the stained glass mirror, my most complicated project so far.


On Saturday, I am going to Woolfest with Diane, Louise and Andrea. We are leaving Dundee at 6am and we should be on site by 10am.

Lantern, lamp and mirror

Last Tuesday, I finally finished my leaded lantern:

I now have to work on the base. My idea is to have a pine base, a wee bit bigger than the lantern (probably 20x20cm, the lantern being 15x15cm), with a groove to slot it in. A trip to the nearest DIY shop is planned next week, so I am hoping they will cut the piece of wood to the required dimensions, then I'll ask the carpenter at my work to dig the groove. Then, I'll work on the finish...

The other stained glass project I am working on at the moment is a Rennie Mackintosh style lamp. All the pieces are cut and ground but I can't solder it together because I don't have any black coated copper foil left and the teacher didn't get delivered this week :o(


So, I had to start on my next project :o)


It is a Rennie Mackintosh style mirror. I found it on the Internet here. No pattern was available so I just increase the size of the picture to an A3 size. The one on that website is much bigger, it is leaded. I am doing it with copper foil, it is not as strong as lead so I have to make it smaller. I will finish the edges with lead though.

leaded stained glass lantern

I had my first lead class yesterday.
I made a simple design for a square lantern.
It is 15x15cm. By chance, my friend had 5x5cm square bevels, which are perfect for the centre of the panel.

Then, I had to choose the glass. I decided on several shades of yellow/orange.

I didn't take pictures of all the steps. Leading is much more time consuming than copper foiling but it is very interesting to learn. In 3hours I just had time to cut all the glass and lead came pieces for the 4 panels and to assemble one panel. I still have to solder the lead joins. I couldn't do it for this panel yesterday because my friend didn't have flat lead came needed for the top and bottom of the panel. I will ask the teacher at my class on Tuesday.

My friend explained me how to finish it (she lives too far for me to go easily), so I'll do that during my Tuesday classes.
There is an additional step when doing leaded glass compare to copper foil: cementing. It helps secure the glass in the came, strengthen, and weatherproofs the piece.
For more details about leaded glass panel, click here.

Another lamp

Stained glass project number 4 is a Rennie Mackintosh style lamp.
I am at the grinding stage.
This lamp is going to be for me (again) :o)


On Saturday, I am going to learn another stained glass technique: leaded stained glass panel. I am not sure of the project I will be doing yet, a garden lantern or a window panel probably. Pictures should be available on Sunday...

Stained glass mirror

I have finished another stained glass project (Well, I still have to apply the patina): a mirror.
One of my cousins is getting married in September and I asked him and his fiancée if they would like a stained glass mirror as a wedding present. They liked the idea and I had carte blanche for the design, the only condition was that the colour had to be white/cream. I decided to use some mosaic tiles I had, white glass and some translucent beads with a thin line of white inside.



Now, I will have to bring it back to France without breaking it.
I hope they will like it, the wedding is in September.

Lantern (the end)

Done! I brought it back home on Tuesday and applied the patina yesterday. The lid took much longer to assemble than I thought. Also, I broke one large purple piece so I had to re-cut/grind and copper foil it. Luckily, I had enough glass left to cut another piece!
The teacher helped me for the finishing touches (especially making sure the lead is smooth) as it is not my strong point yet (it comes with practice I've been told) and it takes me ages (so I would not have been able to take it home).
This is it before the patina...

and after:


The lead is silver when it's just been melted but then it becomes greyish. The patina I used gives a black finish. There is another type of patina that gives a copper finish.
So, now, I just have to put a candle in :o) Actually, I was thinking putting a photovoltaic cells instead to have a sun powered lantern (on the same principle as the "sun jar"). I should have a trip to the DIY shop one of these days...

My next project is a mirror for my cousin's wedding. I made the design myself :o) and I will incorporate some mosaic ceramic tiles with the glass.
There is no class next week, teacher is on holiday :o(, so you will have to be patient (I'll try not to forget the camera next time).

Lantern

Just a quick post to show you progress being made on the lantern. All the pieces have now been cut and copper foiled.
The green pieces are for the base and the purple ones (and the bevels) are for the lid.
To give you an idea of the size, the panels are 10 cm x 20 cm.

I am going to solder it together on Tuesday.