There seem to be some some web pages that I view constantly, several times a day. My Etsy statistics page is a good example: I stalk my stats almost hourly ;-) But, sometimes it can be hard to find the right tab in amongst all of those many, many web Read more…
One of my articles has been published! In a fairly obscure e-magazine called Soda Lime Time, a monthly magazine for lampworkers. Anyway I submitted an article, it was accepted, and it was published in this month’s issue. It’s not specifically related to lampworking, so I am republishing it here. My Read more…
Sorry, no, this isn’t going to be about birds. Instead it’s about my current obsession: feathered, also known as “raked”, beads. Okay, okay, it’s just one of my many obsessions but this one has been going on for a while. It started early last year after I attended JC Herrell‘s Read more…
A little while ago I started using a quartz crystal as a prop in my photos of beads and headpins. It works quite well, most of the time, giving a sort of icy feel and adding a bit of “artistic” interest. But sometimes the crystal is a bit small, or Read more…
Do you have trouble remembering the different passwords for all the different sites that you visit? Here’s a tip to create a unique password for each site, and remember what it is. As you know it’s important to have a good password. But it’s difficult to have a different password Read more…
It’s simple enough to do: melt a small amount at the end of the rod (where it was cut), and pull a short thick stringer, about 2mm thick and about 4-5 cm long. Try to make sure that it’s straight in relation to the rod.
…Warm/melt the end of a rod in the same colour and I used to melt and use the stringer handle as well as the short rod, but now I flame cut and throw away the handle.
[I wrote this a while ago, but I have finally updated it with photos.] I have collected a whole bunch of matchboxes from one of the cafes in the neighbourhood that was kind enough to leave them lying around. They are small (5.5 x 2.5 x 0.7 cms), but you Read more…
I found this tip a long time ago, I think on the glass section of Wet Canvas. I’m sorry that I can’t credit the owner of this idea, but it’s neat one. Get an empty aluminium (aluminum) soft drink can (soda can) Wash and let dry Using a sharp knife, Read more…
My close-up vision has been deteriorating of late (sigh), which is a real hassle if you make glass beads. A beadmaker should wear special safety glasses, made from a material called didymium. Didymium glasses have a dual function: to protect the eyes from flying bits of hot glass, and to Read more…
There is nothing more irritating that a rod of expensive glass that self-destructs when it gets anywhere near a source of heat. No matter how careful you are, it just flies off in little, unusable bits. I have been hoarding some rods of River Rock (Vetrofond 931, once created, never Read more…