Category: Colour

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Farm glass

I had another special request from a customer recently.  They had collected a lot of old glass from a family farm, and the customer asked me if I could melt the glass and turn it into beads.  I said I would try….and I’ll show you the result soon!

The glass is so old, and so pretty.  And I love that this old glass will be made into necklaces that the family can wear and treasure forever!

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I love custom orders

I love it when people trust me to make a special necklace for them.  Sometimes the order is quite specific, and sometimes I have a bit more freedom to create something new and different.

This order was based on some necklaces that I made a while ago.  I was able to create a special pink necklace with etched and shiny, pink and clear beads.

Please feel free to get in touch if there is a special piece that you would like made for you!

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My favourite earrings

At the moment I am really enjoying wearing these earrings.  They are light and comfortable, and the colour really sparkles in the light.  I have made them in a few different colours.  They are great because the beads change over, and so you can have a few different pairs of earrings really easily.

I am having an introductory special offer on these earrings in my Etsy shop.  You will get the sterling silver earring, and 2 choices of colour beads.  You might like to get the red pair, and a transparent green pair.  Or any other combination of colours.  Let me know if there is a specific colour you would like.

Check out the listing on Etsy via this link.

hoop earrings with changeable glass beads

hoop earrings with purple glass beads

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Upcycling

I love the concept of upcycling!  The idea of reusing what is essentially something destined for the bin, and creating an entirely new product from that.

I’ve experimented with many, many ways of making beads from recycled glass, and over the years I have found that letting the colour of the glass shine through is what appeals to me the most!

I am very fond of the Skyy Vodka bottles and the beads that I make from that.  One of the prettiest necklaces that I make is this one, where one of the strands of beads is shiny, and the other is etched for contrast.  They are simple, elegant , and really beautiful necklaces.

Skyy vodka recycled glass jewellery

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Banrock Station Jewellery

One of the first recycled glass bottles that I started using was a Banrock Station Sparkling White Shiraz!  Yes, the drink is quite nice, but the environmental messages from Banrock Station are also very important.  They are extremely eco-conscious in their company, and I love that.  It matches with my philosophy on recycling and being aware of the impact we are having on the environment.

This jewellery set shows off the beautiful colour of the Banrock Station wine bottle perfectly.  It’s an ice blue tone that looks great on a lot of skin colours.

Banrock Station recycled glass jewellery
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Penny Lane Market

I haven’t been able to do this market for a while now, so I am really looking forward to heading to Mount Barker to be part of the Penny Lane Market.  The Christmas Pageant is also on Saturday, so this makes a good option for those people who don’t want to watch the pageant…or want something to do after the pageant ends.

penny lane market

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Recycled glass jewellery

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed…but I love making beads from recycled glass!  It’s quite a process going from the empty bottle to the finished necklace, so I thought I would list all of the steps for making recycled glass bead jewellery here:

  1. Empty the bottle!  My husband quite likes a bottle of beer, so he takes care of my beer bottle needs.  I’m quite partial to wine, so I am happy to take care of those wine bottles.  I have a few friends who drink gin, and donate their empty bottles to me (thanks everyone)!
  2. Clean the bottle.  This includes removing the labels, and making sure the inside is clean too.
  3. Smash the bottle.  I carefully wrap the bottle in a pillow case, and then I smash it with a hammer.  All of the shards are collected and stored in containers.
  4. Make the beads.  To do this I need to heat the glass on a hotplate, so that when I put it in the flame it doesn’t explode!  I then pick up the warm glass with tweezers and using the flame and all sorts of techniques I am able to make the glass beads.
  5. Anneal the beads.  Once I have made the beads, they are placed in my kiln to go through an annealing process.  Glass is temperamental, and it like to be heated up and cooled down slowly.  Letting it slowly cool down in a kiln is essential when making strong, resilient beads.
  6. Clean the beads.  After the beads have cooled down (usually overnight), I then take the beads off the mandrels, and clean the core of the beads with a diamond drill bit.

And voila!  This photo summarises the process:

Bombay Sapphire Gin recycled glass jewellery