Christmas comes early

Look what the postman brought me. My prize from Jane arrived, plus some extra goodies. It was great timing too. I'm off work today as I feel dire. Feverish, achy and bunged up. Hopefully I will feel better soon. My little parcel really cheered me up. I love the little felt brooch she included too. I've pinned it to my coat to show it off. I've been after a brooch for some time now and it looks so sweet :)

the colours of the leather are so vibrant

and i love the dandelion-esque lining - corduroy is my fave!

the cute felt brooch...

...looks fab on my coat

Woohoo!

I'm very excited. I entered a give-away on a blog I read, written by a very talented fellow crafter. Jane of Appliqué creates stunning designs in fabric and felt, which I think are a cut above (no pun intended, ok, maybe a little bit!) others who create similar things. Well, I never win anything but I thought "what the hell" and entered anyways. Lo and behold I was the lucky winner, and very lucky at that. Look at this beauty, created in leather no less. I can't wait to receive it.

Festive berries

Here's a pile of glassy goodies made this weekend. There's a coaster quad in here, a 'love token' hanger, some pendants and lots of cufflinks.

Below is a 'love token' hanger made for a commission. The colourway is based on our 'festive spirit' coaster.

the 'love token'-style hanger

the 'festive spirit' coaster

I also made my mum's Christmas present - a set of 4 handmade coasters to go with her 'Berryforest' bowl. I think they've turned out really well. They're goregous colours and I think being a mixed set (each one a bit different) works well.

Glassy gifts

Well, as you well know, Christmas is a-coming! Huzzah :) I love Christmas. I also LOVE making gifts for people. Yesterday I spent the day on the sewing machine. Can't really post photos of the goodies I made as my family may see, so the fabric creations remain hush hush. I enjoyed making them and although my sewing is never fault-free I definitely need to sew more, it was fun.

Yesterday was fabric, today was glass. Popped my last commission of the year into the kiln today - a 'love token' style hanger in the 'festive spirit' colourway.

Along with some cufflinks and other goodies, I made this set of 4 coasters in the 'Berryforest' design to go with a bowl I made for my mum. She requested these so it is safe to post a photo or two :) Each one is different but they make a great set. Final photos to follow :)

Fun, funky, chunky rings - 'Jaxx' - now listed in my shop

Look at this! The first two sets of 'Jaxx' rings are now listed for sale on my webshop. They're for sale individually but photographed in sets to make things a little easier. There are quite a few to list. I've taken the photos but just need to edit them to look pretty.

Apologies, again, for the quiet blog. 'Life' has been taking over lately. My good friend Tash of TishTash has just bought a lot of my stock for corporate gifts for her company which makes for a happy Xmas for me(!) and a great incentive to make new glass. So, if you're fed up of not seeing lots of new glassy goodies here, then 2010 is the time for me to change that :) Promise.

Dull but important stuff

Yep, that's what I am doing right now, hence the blog quietness. I am sorting out all my books/tax at the mo. Ugh. Want to get it out of the way asap so I can enjoy Xmas and not dwell on receipts/invoices!

At the mo, Handmade Heaven is travelling with my friend Tash of TishTash. She's showcasing my work at private events, along with her handmade creations. I'm very grateful to have her as a friend. She's the perfect saleswoman for my glassware :)

Suction hooks for window hangers

I've been looking for some suction hooks to go with my window hangers for a while now. I've finally found some and have been testing them out. Seems these ones are just the right size and do their job well so I will be packaging these with each window hanger I sell. Here's one of my smaller hangers on my bathroom window...

Colourful commissions

This weekend just gone saw me in the studio making some commission work. I'm sure you've seen the bright and colourful 'Rainbow Lattice' handmade fused glass latticeware bowl on the website homepage? Well, I had an order in for one of these bowls. To be honest, they're a joy to make, especially in these vibrant colourways. The bowl, as with most of my work, is a teeny bit different to the original - every item is unique! I took more pics than these (see flickr) but here's the full and detailed views.

I also made a pair of coasters for a customer who's bought from me before in the popular 'Teal and Chocolate Blocks' design.

TishTash & Handmade Heaven event

My friend Tash of TishTash came over last night to pick up my Handmade Heaven stock. She's arranged a selling event with cocktails and canapés where she'll be displaying and selling her work and mine. Tash creates funky and modern paintings, jewellery and art cards over at http://www.tishtash.co.uk

I mounted some of my pendants onto presentation cards last night so above is the result. I think they look pretty good. Each one is certainly very unique! If they come back to me after the sale I'll be putting them up to buy on my website.

Cufflinks & congratulations!

Remember the chocolate cufflinks I made for my big bro's wedding? Well, they were in action this weekend just gone as he got hitched. Congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Jones :) Here's a couple of snaps of me in my posh frock and his wedding ring & the cufflinks :)