Blog Tagged At Chez Gloria! - All the Eights!

I've been tagged by Bluefairy on the "eights" . . where we all try to get to know each other a little bit better . . so here go my eights . . 8 Things I'm looking forward too!

1. Finishing the base for my glass Gondola Bowl . .
2. The dichro-findings web site producing enough income to allow me to be able to stop having to go out to work for a living! . .
3. Making another Gondola Bowl . .
4. Selling my Gondola Bowls . .
5. Getting Vintaj Natural Brass Co findings on the web site . .
6. Getting more glass studio time . .
7. More time with my friend Amanda . .
8. Going to the Theatre in two weeks time to watch a spoof on an Agatha Christie play . .

8 Things I did yesterday!

1. Started the base for the gondola Bowl . .
2. Updated the web site . .
3. Made Crafteroo Pro (Well Saturday Actually!) . .
4. Planned next wholesale orders for web site . .
5. Vacuumed out my big kiln . .
6. Tidied up the studio . .
7. Stayed up late and watched "Revolver" with Jason Statham (sigh! sigh!) . .
8. Checked out Vintaj Brass Findings online . .

8 Things I wish I could do!

1. Sew . .
2. Knit . .
3. Crochet . .
4. Get my glass art work into a few good galleries . .
5. Fit a really big kiln into the studio . .
6. Paint and draw . .
7. Move to a small holding with a big barn where I can set up a big spacious studio and do some teaching . .
8. Pack in working now!

8 Shows I watch!

1. F1 on the BBC . .
2. Inspector George Gently . .
3. Ashes to Ashes . .
4. Watchdog . .
5. Great British Menu . .
6. Reggie Perrin . .
7. Country File . .
8. The Politics Show . .

8 Bloggers I'm gonna tag and Pass this on to!

1. Fran @ Scotstwinmum
2. Karen @ Krystal Velvet
3. Madly Creating
4. Nicola @ Murano Silver
5. Pippa @ Pips
6. Gill @ Hollingdale Designs
7. Stephanie @ My Calico Heart
8. Rita @ OOAK Fairy Fae Sculpture

Look out girls . . it's a comin' your way!! :o)

Steampunk Jewellery Article At Chez Gloria!

Following on from my blog yesterday about what exciting new products were coming to the web site, I've written a short article on Steampunk Jewellery and posted it on the site, along with a couple of example photo's of jewellery made in the steampunk style. Enjoy . . comments and suggestions on the article appreciated!

New Website Products At Chez Gloria!

After a busy two weeks . . both on the website and in the hot glass studio . . I thought it was about time that I updated everyone on whats been happening at dichro-findings.co.uk! . . apart from our 15% Off All Products for the Bank Holiday Weekend!

First off . . I hadn't realised just how perfect some of the jewellery making blanks on the website were for making Steampunk Jewellery . . as you might recall about 10 days ago I blogged about a bangle made by one of our customers in the Steampunk Genre . . and since then there has been quite a bit of interest in this . . So I spent a bit of time looking around and exploring Steampunk . . and I've managed to find a couple of great suppliers of watch movements and clock and watch parts for Steampunk Jewellery Making! Along with that, I've added some more blanks to the site as well and we've now got more than 220 stock items. So . . Here's a taster of what we've got coming to the website very soon . .

New Glass Project At Chez Gloria! - Completed

It's Fiiiiniiished! . . spent the whole afternoon gently shaping it on the grinder and then hand finished all the edges with a very very fine diamond hand pad! . . then spent yonks trying to get a decent photo! . . haven't managed it yet . . so you'll all just have to make do with this one . . anyway I'm bloomin' KO'd now! . . and definitely deserve a really good cuppa . . .

I'll post it separately as a finished piece . . have named it "Sea Foam" . . but it needs a base . . so I'll make one later this week and fully finish it off!

As you can imagine . . I'm very very pleased with the end result! *She says with a huge grin on her face!*

New Glass Project At Chez Gloria! - Another Update

Well . . I started the cold working process on the piece this morning . . and I'm still at it! Just having a bit of a break from the noise and vibration! . . and a cuppa!

I've cut off the waste flat glass at the sides using a band saw . . and started to grind the final shape into the piece . . by eye! So . . do ya wanna see it so far?? Do ya? DO YA? . . OK then . . about 1/2 finished at the moment . . but here goes! . .

There's still quite a long way to go yet . . about another 2 - 3 hours of work on the grinder . . and then some final hand finishing. But . . there's other stuff to do today as well . . so I may not actually finish all the cold working today! . . lets wait and see . .

New Glass Project At Chez Gloria - Updated Updated Update!

Well . . finally . . after 20 hours of heat application and another 18 hours of slow cooling . . the drop slump firing is now finished and the glass has cooled to room temp! Yay! So now we can see how the drop slump worked . . From above . . you can see how the glass has slowly slipped/dropped thro the hole in the mould . . From the side . . From underneath . . you can see how the glass has dropped more in the wider part of the mould than the narrower part creating a curved "Gondola" shape . . Now the glass is cooled down, it can come out of the kiln and I can begin the cold working process on the glass saw and grinder . . to trim off all the excess glass round the top and give the "Gondola" it's final shape. The finished piece won't look quite like it does now . . the glass is thinner at the top of the shape than nearer the bottom . . so I shall shape the sides downwards to give a curved outline and take the glass back to where it is thicker. This is a very delicate process . . cutting and grinding will stress the glass a little and the glass cannot be re-fired to de-stress it . . sooo . . carefully does it! . . That's tomorrows little job!

New Glass Project Underway At Chez Gloria - Updated Update!

Well . . it's still in the kiln!! . . been at temp since 9.00 am this morning . . sloooowly dropping thro the mould . . and here's where it was at, at 9.00 pm this evening . . . this photo was taken with the kiln full on so the colours are distorted a little bit . .

Lazy Sunday For Some At Chez Gloria!

I've been busy keeping tabs on the new glass project as it slowly slumps thro the drop mould . . but for some of us at Chez Gloria it's been a totally different picture!

New Glass Project Underway At Chez Gloria! - Updated

Well . . my TTNP (The Thursday Night Project) this week was to sand down and kiln wash the drop mould I made for this latest project . . and for once I actually achieved it! . . so here is the mould . . ready to go . .

. . and yesterday morning I set up the kiln and the mould/glass ready for firing it . .I set the timer on the kiln for an early morning start this morning . . so it's up to temp about 9.00 ish and I've got all day running backwards and forwards monitoring the glass as it slowly drops thro the mould . . very slowly . . might take about 10 hours or so! . . don't want to crack the glass or anything so I shall be extra careful when viewing progress!

A Gift From The Good Ol' US Of A At Chez Gloria!

Well . . bit of a nice surprise yesterday morning . . postie delivered a big box all the way from the US . . and it turned out to be a lovely gift from my very very good friend Kathy . . who lives in Oregon! She's a Glass Artist too!

But what is it? I hear you say . . well . . it's a stainless steel rubbish bin for bathrooms! . . or is it? . . cos turned upside down . . yeah! You got it! . . it's a very large floral vase former!

New Web SIte Gallery Pics From Sweden At Chez Gloria!

One of our best customers . . a lovely lady called Anita, from Stockholm, Sweden . . has asked us if we can add some pics of her glass art jewellery to the web site . . so we have! Anita is also an accomplished glass artist making bowls, platters, wall hangings etc. So, Here's a little taster of her jewellery and glass art work . . . .

You can see more of Anita's work on her web site. Thanks very much Anita . . this is fabulous work!

SteamPunk Jewellery At Chez Gloria

A couple of weeks ago we sold one of our burnished bangle blanks to a lady in California and amazingly she has sent us a photo of the finished piece for the web site . . A piece of SteamPunk Jewellery!! We've added it to the customer gallery so everyone can see it . . but here it is anyway!

New Glass Project Underway At Chez Gloria!

New project from me . . it's what I was doing this last weekend . . it's still in the kiln and not quite completed . . will need to drop form it thro a drop mould and then trim it . . thats next weekends task! Design Stage:

Chosen my glass and laying out :

In the kiln and ready to fire:

First kiln firing finished:

New Glass Art At Chez Gloria

It took a bit of working out how to do this . . if you are glass blowing it's a lot easier than doing it by kiln forming! . . but . . I managed it . . a curled round bowl . . or is it a bowl? . . could it be a vase? . . or a Folded Fan? . . any ideas on what you think it is please let me know!

More Web Site Gallery Items At Chez Gloria

It's been a busy week at Chez Gloria . . so I've spent the weekend relaxing . . by packing orders . . and cutting glass for my ongoing kiln formed shaped glass bowl project. In the mean time I've found a smidgeon of time to add some more customer photogs to the customer gallery on the web site . . here's a taster:

Fabulous Gift Received AT Chez Gloria

A couple of weeks ago I sent an unused Pillar Drill to a fellow crafter and silversmith - Carole Allen - it was sitting about in my studio still in it's original box, never used and just taking up shelf space. Carole said she was looking for a Pillar Drill so I sent it to her for the cost of the postage . . she did me a big favour by clearing some much needed shelf space! Well . . yesterday a package arrived at Chez Gloria from Carole . . and inside was the most beautiful silver pendant hand made by Carole. I was amazed . . it's absolutley gorgeous . . and soo unusual too! . .

So a big Thank You to Carole for the gift . . It's fabulous . . and I shall be wearing it quite a bit I think!

New Gallery Section On The Web Site At Chez Gloria!

I've had quite a bit of of feedback from web site customers over the last few weeks . . all of it very positive . . and I'm very pleased about that! So I've added a Customer Gallery to the site so everyone can show off the jewellery they make using dichro-findings.co.uk products! . . and get a little free advertising for their work as well! Top of the page is Pippa from Bath! She's a very talented Polymer Clay Jewellery Artist and follower of my blog so you can check out her work by clicking on her blog link in my followers list. These are photo's of Pippa's work for everyone to drool over :o)

There are some new findings this week on the web site . . all very gorgeous! . . and 15% discount over the Bank Holiday weekend.