Glassprimitif

At last our tiny garden is beginning to look more like a garden and less like a builder's yard with the runner beans, carrots, water cress and poppies romping away in the vegetable patch. The new lawn is growing well, despite the dog constantly rolling on it. It's a big change from the images I posted in May! Hello Sheddy . Gardening on a budget means that we have to do thing slowly so I try to grow most of my plants from seed or donations from friends but I can often bag a bargain at Old... Read Full Story

The Stalls, Harrogate I haven't been making much glass lately, despite buying a lovely new kiln, because I have been too busy with the day job and also organising Handmade events in West Yorkshire.   I have been neglecting both my Folksy and Etsy shops and haven't exhibited at a craft fair in over a year. To be honest, I'm never happy with my table display and I think that the way I show my glass makes it look amateur and a bit "cheap".  Then last week I gave a talk on glass fusing to my... Read Full Story

Les Haute Alpes This year's main holiday was a week away in the High Alps in France with my OH, sister and her OH. We took the Eurostar to Paris and then the TGV to Grenoble, where we collected the hire car to drive to Vallouise. The trains were so clean and efficient with great views of the passing french countryside and it only took 3.5 hours on the TGV! Clover The mountains are breathtaking and full of meadows of wildflowers with waterfalls and clean, clear air. We walked high up to 6,000... Read Full Story

A couple of years ago roots from the horrible eucalyptus next door broke through our sewage pipes causing lots of damage and smell and resulting in our back yard being re-concreted.  So, after much complaining that I need a new garden we saved up our pennies to have the back yard dug up and new flag stones laid in the Victorian tradition.  Nasty concrete and our rotten old shed Back yard in 2009 View from the back gate The shed was so old and rotten that the only thing holding it up was the... Read Full Story

Friday was a public holiday (Yay)! so we took a walk around Malham , starting off at the village to Janet's Foss and then along to Gordale Scar .  It's not a strenuous walk as there isn't much up hill walking until you get to the Scar. There people can climb up the rocks past the waterfall and walk on to Malham Tarn.  But, as we had two dogs with us we didn't attempt the climb. Instead we walked over the fields toward Malham Cove and the weather got warmer and brighter.  All the walls around... Read Full Story

Coffee and walnut cake. Ingredients: butter, caster sugar, SR wheat flour, free range eggs, Fair Trade coffee, vanilla extract, walnuts, icing sugar. Compared to a Shop Bought Cake . Ingredients: palm oil, sugar, glucose, fructose, invert sugar syrup, dried egg powder, skimmed milk powder, wheat flour, corn flour, modified maize starch, soya flour, disodium diphosphate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, glycerol, emulsifiers, flavourings, potassium sorbate, xantan gum, tragacanth and salt.  What's... Read Full Story

Today in Ilkley I popped into Cakewalk for a chat with Emma and a browse in her lovely shop. Cakewalk is a mixture of hand made loveliness and vintage finds and I was delighted to find three vintage Murano glass animals on a shelf.  I love original Murano glass animals as they remind me of my childhood when we had "nick-nacks" on small wooden shelves. My middle sister collected Whimsy animals and my eldest sister had a Murano deer, complete with little gold chain.  This little fish has... Read Full Story

Individual workshops available at Glassprimitif studio near Keighley, West Yorkshire for jewellers. Design and make your dichroic glass cabochons. This one day workshop will give you the skills to cut, grind and prepare glass for fusing. Glass fusing tuition is also included and your finished cabs will be sent to you by post.   Costs: £40 including materials and kiln time. This workshop will suit glass fusing beginners and is tailored for jewellers. Suggested further workshop: Designing for... Read Full Story

Recently I visited my sister for a weekend and flew down to Southampton to celebrate her birthday.  We had a lot of fun together, including a shopping trip to Brighton. I love Brighton, it just gets better with delightful shops and eating places, the pier, the beach and The Pavilion. The Royal Pavilion is completely over the top - a pastiche on oriental architecture and a mix of Chinese and Islamic styles - but it is the white stone that stops it becoming tacky and tasteless (mind you, you... Read Full Story

It was "Potfest in the Pens" on 6 August and I couldn't wait to get in my car and do the 1 1/2 hour drive to Penrith. I LOVE Potfest because there are over 100 ceramic artists selling their lovely, tactile pots, each pot shouting "buy me"! (and I did). But this year I had another reason to go to Potfest and that was as an intrepid reporter for  UK Handmade , the on-line magazine and blog that supports designer makers and hand made artisans. So, with camera and voice recorder in hand(s) I... Read Full Story