Back from my first craft fair of the year...

I've just finished doing my first craft fair of the year at Central Milton Keynes shopping centre. I arrived at the shopping centre last Wednesday evening to set up my jewellery & glassware stand which took several hours. The craft fair was on for 4 days and I really enjoyed myself. There was a good variety of stands to browse in the shopping centre and some really beautiful handmade gifts. Here's a picture of my stand just after setting up on the Wednesday...

I have been working on my display for some time now, and am alot happier with my lights. I bought a couple of 150 watt lights to hang over the back boards which worked very well. At about mid-day the sun would shine right onto my stand and that really did help make my dichroic glass jewellery sparkle : - )

I was so chuffed with all the lovely comments I received and was even more pleased when a couple of customers were wearing jewellery they had bought from me before. I sell my handmade glass pendants for £5.00 each or £9.99 on a sterling silver snake chain and they went down a treat.

I'm going to have a look for a few more craft fairs to do, but I am returning to Central Milton Keynes for their next Craft Fayre from the 3rd to the 6th September 2009. I have lots of ideas for some new jewellery pieces and am hoping to make my display look even better next time : - )

Getting ready for a craft fair

I have got my first craft fair of the year coming up next week. It's at Central Milton Keynes shopping centre in Middleton Hall and is on from Thursday 19th March to Sunday 22nd March 2009. I really hope it will be busy that weekend and I have been busy making lots of new dichroic glass jewellery pieces for Mother's Day.

There will be over 100 exhibitors in the hall, so a good variety of handmade crafts. I will be taking along all of my dichroic glass & silver jewellery plus my glass giftware pieces. I have lots of new handmade dichroic glass pendants, bangles, bracelets, brooches, necklaces, matching gift sets, cufflinks and more. The last couple of weeks have been really busy as I have been working on a new layout and getting some new display items. I hope it all comes together okay.

My stand will be by a shop called Woolfe. If you are in CMK between the 19th - 22nd March, please pop over and say hello.

Lots of new jewellery in my Ebay shop

I have been busy all week taking pictures of my dichroic glass jewellery so that I can get them listed in my Ebay shop. I have lots of new pendants plus bangles, bracelets, necklaces, cufflinks, earrings, rings and more. All of the jewellery in my Ebay shop has been handmade and all of the glass is cut by hand, so each piece is unique and cannot be exactly reproduced.
Pictured above are just a few of the pendants and necklaces available to buy now from my Ebay shop. Click on the picture above or click here to visit my Ebay shop.

I am always busy making new things in my workshop, so please check back for new updates.

Wire Wrapped Dichroic Glass Pendant

I've been working on some new wire wrapped dichroic glass pendants. The pendant pictured above is the latest one I have just finished. I have used 5 purple cord strands to make the necklace and finished it with a pretty heart toggle clasp. I have used several layers of glass in this pendant which creates some very vibrant colours as the light hits it.
I've got a few more wire wrapped pendants to finish off, so I'll hopefully have some more pics soon.

Shaping Glass Stringers Demo

I've been busy making a few glass bowls and earlier today I recorded a short demonstration on how to shape glass stringers. I first of all cut my glass to make the base of my bowl, and then shape the glass stringers under a blow torch to add a spiral design.

I have never really been that confident in front of a camera, and could definately do with alot more practise. I am okay when the camera is switched off, but as soon as it's on, I feel silly and usually get the giggles if other people are watching! Anyway, here goes...

I've discovered Twitter...

I followed a friend onto Twitter last night and started my very first twitter. I love going into the forums on Etsy.com, but I'd never been on Twitter before. I instantly found lots of cool Twitter pages through the forum in Etsy and was suprised when I logged in this morning to see I now have 17 followers : - )
Here's a link to my Twitter page: http://twitter.com/chloesdesigns. I'm going to try and keep it updated as often as possible. If anyone else is Twittering, please drop me a message. I would love to read them : - )

New dichroic glass jewellery designs

I've been working on some new dichroic glass cross pendants this month and have just finished some of them. The white sparkly cross pendant pictured below is probably one of my favorites and took me the longest to make.

Here are a few of my other dichroic glass crosses that I have just finished making...

This week I also discovered a cool site that is building together a website for crafts and other items that are handmade in the UK. The website address is http://www.handmade-crafts.co.uk/. I think these kinds of websites are brilliant for people making crafts and also people looking to buy crafts. I have often trawled through endless search engines on the internet trying to find that extra special gift for someone, or just something that's a little different.

I've got my first craft fair at the end of March at Middleton Hall in Central Milton Keynes shopping centre. It's going to be on from Thursday 19th March to Sunday 22nd March (Mothers Day). I have lots of preparation to do before the fair, so I have already made a start and hope it will be a successful event. If you are in the area around Mothers Day, please come over and say hello : - )