Glitz and Celebrations !

This is a variation on my white Cinderella Bunting - It's a bit more glitzy and just a little camp. If you have cats you won't want this - this bunting sends sparkles around the room like a glitterball :) It's pictured with a matching little star.



One of my other white glass pieces - my angel wings - featured on Etsy's frontpage this week thanks to
Karlita and her fab treasury!



Please check out her gorgeous Etsy shop featuring felt accessories and beautiful jewellery!

Etsy Buy Handmade karlita

The view today

As it was such a lovely sunny day, I was outside taking photographs of my glass. However, it wasn't such a great day below in the valley! I love this view - it changes every minute of the day, when we have to move again this will be what I shall miss most!

Picture Window

I had an email from someone wanting a picture of my glass bunting hanging at a window. My photography skills are zero and I usually photograph my pieces outside in the sunlight to show the colours and textures but I thought this pic was worth sharing because it does show how the garlands can be hung.

At the moment I have my garlands swagged along the old wooden beams in my little studio which is very cute (I must remember to take and post some photographs of my workspace over the next few weeks!!) But they can be hung above doorways and around shelves too (especially pretty when combined with twinkly fairy lights!)

I also wanted to post a picture of our other cat Mr Lawrence.



Mister, Missy's brother, was the runt of the litter but soon grew into a big 'chunky' fluffball of a cat. When not snoring in his sleep , he likes to 'work' the dinner table, scrounging treats from every plate :) - hence the size.

Venice

A. and I went for a short trip to Venice this week, a sort of belated honeymoon loosely planned from last year.

We booked a small family owned hotel which was on one of the smaller canals and had been recently renovated and decorated in traditional Venitian style - as this was our first trip to the city we paid a little extra to get a larger room with a canal view.....only they didn't tell us that the canal had been drained for repairs and we had a view of mud, plastic sheeting and scaffolding..some you win..

After that little disappointment and the realisation that, despite it being November, the place was full of a million other tourists with a million and 1 tacky shops and stalls to cater for all our souvenir needs, we wondered if we'd made a mistake going there at all..

It was only when night fell and the streets emptied that I 'got' the Venetian magic and charm.

Music from a church across the square, footfall on the narrow streets, the eerie light from a side canal as a gondolier slowly makes his last journey of the evening, a chandelier lighting a fabulous building, distant voices and laughter. Perfect.

I loved this city. I loved the postal delivery boat, with letters piled unfeasibily high whilst the boat bobbed and lilted in the wake, I loved Telecom Italia's little red boat, I loved watching the builders piling rubble onto their boat, I loved the surly restaurant staff, I loved the little dogs with their cute little winter jackets and pyjamas, I loved the artisans with their quaint ateliers down narrow lanes, I loved the vaporetto, I loved the sounds, I loved the colours, I loved the textures, I loved the beauty and I loved the decay.




I dreamt fabulous dreams and awoke with fabulous ideas, I think it's love....

Missy 1998 - 2007

Missy, aka Madam, passed away on Sunday afternoon.

Missy, who liked to pull down the neighbours clean white bed sheets from the washing-line so she could sleep in the garden in style.

Missy, who could hear a yoghurt carton open within a 5km radius.

Missy, who would always come and 'chat' with me whenever I worked in my studio or in the garden.

Missy, my little chum.

She's resting now beside an apple tree in a quiet bit of the garden so I'll still be able to 'chat' to her whenever I'm gardening.

We're going to miss the gorgeous little dumpling.

A new name in the world of glass art!

This week my studio had a visit from a budding stained glass designer. Young Sina, from Ingolstadt in Germany, likes to work in bright and fun colours so she chose beautiful shades of pink/blue/green and yellow in a contemporary abstract design. Sina added embellishment with a jade green Swarovski crystal heart which provides perfect balance and harmony to her one of a kind suncatcher!

Definitely a name to watch out for in the future!