Featured in another etsy treasury - this time, based on FHF!

FHF, to make sense of the title, is my glassy forum which I'm an admin on - http://www.frithappens.co.uk. One of the members has made an etsy.com treasury featuring the FHF members, me included (and I didn't even have to slip her a fiver!!).

So, here's the treasury featuring one of my latticeware bowls. It will be live til the 3rd July:

Accepted by DelightfulBlogs.com

Woohoo! I just heard my blog's been accepted by 'Delightful Blogs', a website which promotes great blogs. I was nervous to read the email to see if my blog made the grade when it came in this morning. It was a bit like getting exam results! Anyhoo, I'm in! Do visit my page (click the logo) and rate my blog. Thanks :)

Such a productive Sunday!

Busy, busy, busy weekend! I had 2 website sales, 1 commission enquiry and 1 commission that was a go-ahead. As you know, I glued 117 pairs of cufflinks (out of 150), did 2 loads of washing, packaged and processed the web orders, photographed and edited photos of new glass work & cufflinks and blogged them, as well as uploading them to flickr, my glass forum and my website, put a few bits of glass in the kiln including that commission...

'Jo-D'

...did a tonne of washing up (always is a low priority!) and yes, found time to paint my front door from a boring burgundy to a sexy teal. I managed to make some ikea shelving for my new craft stall makeover and watch 'Transformers' (love that film!). I also found some free time to see 'Wanted' at the cinema :)


Just thought I'd also post a photo of one of the 150-pair corporate commission cufflinks all done and dusted. Very nice too!

'I Wish' - handmade fused glass artwork rediscovered!

I thought I'd added this piece of handmade fused glass art to my website ages ago! I just updated the photos on all my framed fused glass artwork pieces and noticed one was missing - the fun, funky, bright and bold piece that is 'I Wish'. Poor thing, being overlooked! Well, no more. I've just listed it for sale on my website here. It's definitely much nicer in the flesh so I think maybe this needs another photography session too.

Better photos of 'Bellini Blockster' handmade fused glass artwork

So I took more photos of my latest artwork piece 'Bellini Blockster' as the other ones weren't very good and I really want to show this off the best I can as it is gorgeous! You can see it for sale on my website here.

The next stage in the big cufflink commission

This weekend I've been working on finishing off the large cufflink commission (150 pairs to make if you haven't been keeping up!). I am at 117 pairs fired, cleaned, glued and ready to go into the special cufflink boxes I use. The remaining 33 pairs will be fired tonight, along with a 6-coaster commission I received at the Sudeley show, and a pendant commission I got the go-ahead on earlier today. No rest for me!

Right now I am just tweaking the photos of 'Bellini Blockster' framed art which I posted some duff photos of on Friday. Hopefully these show it off better! :)

117 cufflink pairs drying

Along with all this I want to paint my drab burgundy front door 'Mallard' (a deep teal) but there are only so many hours in a weekend...!

'Bellini Blockster' handmade fused glass framed artwork

Not some of my best photography as I took these photos of 'Bellini Blockster' late last night, but a really bright and sunny addition to my handmade fused art glass range. I think my favourite combo is the orange and yellow at the bottom. As with most of my 'stacked' art, there is a teeny piece of sparkly dichroic glass in each square which really brings the piece to life. Tash already has her eye on this! I have added this piece to my website here.

Keep up with my events

I seem to be signing up for more and more events this year. I've just added the links to the events I'm doing to the left hand column of the blog so you can easily find where to see me.

"We Make: Oxford" venue photos

Thought I'd add a couple of photos of the venue (Oxford Town Hall) for the "We Make: Oxford" xmas fair on 9th November. It's stunning!

HOORAY! Website works again :)

FINALLY!! www.handmadeheaven.biz is back up and running, virus-free and just like normal now. I was getting worried that my online baby would stay broken. Do pop over for a nosey and to check all's tickety-boo. Let me know if you come across anything that doesn't work like it should.

Wedding cufflink commission

I love doing commissions. It's not only the work I enjoy but chatting to the folk who commission glassy goodies from me is so nice. It's great to have people who are as enthusiastic about your work as you are. My latest small-scale commission was no exception. I was asked to make 8 sets of cufflinks for a wedding in black, ivory and raspberry. I particularly love how the black & ivory ones turned out. So very, very shiny!

Here's the "Diarmuid Wedding 8" :)
These little beauties are off to Ireland and were specially commissioned by a lovely Irish gentleman. I asked him how he found my work:

"I found your website through a web search. I was looking for something a little different for my wedding and came accross your website and knew I had found what I was looking for!"

Bless. I feel all warm and fuzzy. :)

Another event

Not signed up officially for this event yet, but am very interested in doing "We Make: Oxford", a craft fair organised by folk on etsy.com. Will let you know more details later. It's going to be on the 9th November at about 11am-5pm.


PS: My website is still broken *sob*
In the meantime, check out my glassy goodies on etsy HERE.

Branding gets a makeover

So I thought it was time for a change at HH. I am running very low on my stickers so I thought instead of ordering the same old, rather conservative design I'd shake things up a bit and create something new. I really liked the design I came up with for the sign I made for the Sudeley show, so I decided to rework that into stickers (above) and business cards (below). I LOVE the new look! Very in-keeping with my style and certainly eye-catching. I hope you approve :)

Good news and bad news

The good news is my 'Cherry Mint Spots' coaster quad was selected and featured in an etsy.com treasury yesterday/today and was featured on the etsy homepage (unfortunately I missed this). So that was great news!


The bad news is my website is broken :( I had trouble with it Sunday night and all of yesterday. It still seems to be having problems and is not working. I will report back here when it's better and will be sending an email round to all my mailing list to tell them all's well. It's so frustrating when technology fails!!

"21:40 23 June 2008. Some of you may have encountered issues on Sunday and on Monday with your website. This problem has occurred on various websites, and not just on Mr Site websites, throughout the internet. Fortunately it has only affected a small number of Mr Siters. We have been working overtime to fix this problem for you and once again apologise for any inconvenience caused by this unforeseen problem. You will not be able to update your website for the next two to three hours while we finalise the updates, but please do be assured that the problem will be fixed shortly."

Another chance to see my work in person - 14th September, 2007

Just decided to do another show. This time it's the Frampton Country Fair, Frampton-on-Severn, Glos. It's on Sunday the 14th September, 10am-5.30pm. Pop the date in your diaries! :)

'Patience' monochrome latticeware bowl

I made this bowl AGES ago but have only just got round to photographing it properly. If you look back through the posts you'll find it makes an appearance at the Cheltenham Home & Garden show about a year ago! Taking proper photos of it has been on my 'to do' list for ages but that list is so long it takes me a while to get round to things. Anyway, enough of my waffling, I'm sure you want to see it, right?! This particular bowl is more square than my other latticeware bowls. I love the monochrome colouring - it means it will fit in just about anywhere and looks very classy. Currently it's displayed on my dining room table but the last time I did that with 'Viridian' it sold in a couple of days! (Not that I minded that too much...). It is now available on my website, here.

So, here are various views of the latticeware bowl named 'Patience':

Corporate commission progress

Here are the next two stages in the large 150-pair corporate commission I'm working on...
Glass laid out in the kiln, pre-fired Cufflink glass fired, still in the kilnThe next stage is cleaning all the pieces and fixing them to the silver cufflink backs. Photos soon!

New notebooks

Along with the new fobs & hangers I made for the Sudeley show, I also got round to realising an idea I've had a while now. I love the teeny little glassy nuggets I use on my cards and thought they'd also look great on notebooks. I've just photographed the first few and they are SO cute! Lovely fresh colours, each with a complementary trio of glassy gems applied to the cover. The endpapers and hand-printed using my 'Bloom' design and the final endpaper is stamped with my hand-carved Handmade Heaven logo to brand each book. These are now available, in 2 sizes, on my website here. They'd make a great gift and are very affordable.

Production line glass!

I have to say a massive thank you to Tash for helping me out today on my big corporate order. Tea, hot chocolate, 'Labyrinth' and 'Coming to America' also helped us get through making 300 single cufflink pieces to eventually make 150 pairs. In total we cut 1,500 pieces of glass! Some feat I'm sure you'll agree. They are ready to go in the kiln tomorrow. I'll post another photo once they are fired and cleaned up, then the final shot of them all finished and looking sparkly and amazing! :)

Yummy scrummy stationery, print & pattern

I've been browsing the web for inspiration today for work. Visiting my usual haunts (namely the print & pattern blog) led me in a round-about way to the website of Ecojot stationery. You have to see this stuff! 100% recycled but not your usual drab recycled stationery. No no no! It's amazingly bright, bold and colourful, funky design. Right up my street! The website is: http://www.ecojot.com/ and apparently is stocked in Paperchase, for those in the UK.

Equipment and materials for glassy magic!

Equipment and materials for glassy magic!
Originally uploaded by handmadeheavendotbiz

I just added this photo onto flickr and thought you might like to see the sort of tools I use to make my glassy goodies. Obviously this is only a few things out of many but I'm sure it's interesting to see how the glass looks before, as well as seeing the 'after'.

Friends from the show

I met lots of lovely 'crafty' folk at the show last weekend, which is one of my favourite parts of a fair - talking to like-minded people. My next-door-neighbour on Saturday was Annette Yoosefinejad of WildScarlet.com. I particularly loved her czech disc bead jewellery:Do check out her website. I'm all for supporting friendly, talented people's work I admire. (I think she upset Tash when she bought my 'Cherry Mint Trifle' coaster duo though!)

My neighbour on Sunday was Laura Kent of Silvercat Design and her chatty husband. They were a lovely young and fun couple who I enjoyed chatting to. Laura had a really great display of bracelets and necklaces:I also came over all generous and gave her two necklace stands which I bought a while back but haven't found a use for. She had the same design in a smaller earring size so I thought she might be able to use them in her next show. :)

Someone else who deserves a mention is Charmaine Bartram. Her stunning fashion designs were incredible. Tash got drawn over to her stall and made a few purchases. I'm jealous - it's an amazing style but I'm too chicken to wear it! Her website is well worth a visit. There's some fab photography and really inspirational work. It was great to see someone with something very different to offer.

New coaster duo added - Heyday Patchwork

Just before the show I made lots of new designs. This is 'Heyday Patchwork', from the 'Patchwork' range. It makes me think of early hollywood black and white movies, hence the name. You'll find it now added to the coaster duos page on my website.

Fobtastic!

Here are the new fobs I made for the Sudeley Show. Tash and I each have one on our keyrings (I have 'Romeo' and she has 'Cherry Kisses'). I sold 2 others at the show - 'Eternity' and 'Loved Up' - but all the others are available to buy now on my website.

The show's over...

...Sudeley Show that is! It was this weekend just gone (14th & 15th June). All in all we had fab weather, which is always a plus point. We also had a lovely, spacious pitch. I am saying 'we' as I shared the stall with my contemporary painter-friend Tash of TishTash Art. The event organiser was kind enough to let us have a 2nd table in our pitch so Tash and I had a table each. We were quite well positioned, opposite the entrance. I always like that spot, when you can be seen from the door. Here's how the set-up looked on day 1:
And closer views of my table...
On day 2 the set-up changed a bit and looked like this...
And again, a closer view of my table...
The organiser also had a bit of extra space to fill so Tash and I soon sorted out! This is our THIRD table (we only ever paid for one pitch - which we split cost-wise - so I think we came out winners as far as space goes!).
I'm not really one for shows but I did make profit, meet lots of new customers and crafty folk as well as coming away with a new commission to do. Add this and an 8-pair wedding cufflink commission I got on Friday to the 150-pair corporate cufflink order I need to crack on with next, and you can see I am going to be a very busy bunny, as ever!

Again! On the etsy.com homepage 11-06-08

This is turning into a habit!! Just spotted my "Bandits!" cufflinks on the etsy.com homepage - was "Kryptonite" earlier in the week, someone said my "HH Rainbow Quad" coaster set was on the homepage a day or two ago, then "Deckchair Daze" coaster quad and now these. Pity it's not a good site for selling though if you're in the UK & insure items (like me). Ah well, all publicity welcome :)

What an honour!

Oo, how exciting!... I've been asked to be a featured artist on the UK glass site www.dichroicglass.co.uk and of course I said "yes!". How exciting & what an honour :) So people do take notice of little old me after all!! I tend to forget that I do have fans and folk who follow my work (she says, writing her blog religiously!) when I'm working away in my little studio. The article will stay in the archives and is also on the homepage for a week as of today, 11th June '08.

Text from the article reads as follows (he's said some great things - thanks Phil!):

Author : DG

Published Date: 2008/6/10 23:42:28

HandMade Heaven is one of those websites that's practically edible!
Page after page of simply sumptuous fused glass designs with a crisp, designer edge!
Steph Jones, owner of HandMade Heaven is a trained graphic designer, and that 'designer edge' is the hallmark of her work. The site has been going since 2006 and Steph combines working on her own site with providing help and advice to other glass artists on the Frit Happens forum.

The range of products available on the website is extensive with glass jewellery, glass homewares, glass art and even handmade cards all providing eye candy!

You can buy direct from the website or even commission a piece from Steph herself. Gift vouchers are available if you simply cannot make your mind up! Check out her work at www.handmadeheaven.biz


On a side note, I also got emailed today asking if I'd teach 3 people my tips & techniques on fusing glass. More flattery! Am still mulling it over due to time & space constrictions. I love teaching though...

Super duper equipment!

Am very excited today. I won this on ebay last night:

It's a morton work surface and lots of bits and pieces. I've been hankering after this stuff for ages but have been put off by the price. I got a REALLY good deal and I can't wait to start using it. I also got some more glass in today, along with a new pair of breakers, which put my cheap old beginner set to shame!

It's all go on etsy.com today for my glass!

Had another look on etsy.com this evening and spotted my glassware on there AGAIN! Twice in one day, how exciting! I'd checked who had me as a fave shop this morning - 324. After my 'Deckchair Daze' set hit the front page that number's shot up to 358! cool :)

'A Day at the Beach' handmade fused glass dish

Took this lovely dish out of the kiln this morning. It goes with my new 'A Day at the Beach' coaster set. I have been meaning to make larger items for a while but I never get round to it. This time I dusted off the fusing mould, bit the bullet and created this funky glass dish/plate. It's turned out so well. I love bigger fused pieces and am regretting not making more earlier on! I will be making more larger pieces soon, based on existing coaster designs. I think 'trifle' bowls would be just beautiful, with the shallow curve working well with the copper strips - anything too curvy might not work with the copper as it's quite stiff.