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A brief history of Depression Glass

depression glass

A brief history of Depression Glass: it was manufactured in the 1920s to 1940s and was essentially given away in an attempt to stimulate the sale of various products or services and to subsequently stimulate the economy during the Great Depression. Many colours were produced, but green, pink, light blue and amber are the easiest to find. Highly collectible since the 1960s. In this photo I have used pink and green Depression glass. (The blue is Harlequin glass).

depression glass

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Beer bottle necklace

recycled glass necklace

My husband loves my work! Don’t get me wrong, we don’t drink all of the alcohol bottles that I use to make beads. I get a lot of gin and wine bottles donated to me. But I am happy to buy the beer bottles when I am getting low. And my husband is happy to help drink them!

[I tend to use Coopers Ale beer bottles for the brown beads I use, and Coopers Clear beer for the clear beads. I also use Peroni to make a really pretty green bead].

recycled glass necklace

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Blue and Green plaited bracelet

blue green recycled glass bracelet

Today as I was unpacking all of the beads that I took to T’Arts yesterday, I was also thinking “what on earth am I going to make today?” Sometimes I am a bit more organised than this when it comes to my daily challenge to make a piece of jewellery from recycled glass. Sometimes I have beads made from the previous day that are ready to make into jewellery. And sometimes, I’m just a bit behind, and it kind of forces me to look at what I have on hand, and what I can make from that. I find this way very stressful, but it has also resulted in some nice pieces of jewellery too!

So today I was putting all of my green beads in this pile, blue beads in that pile, and I thought “why don’t I use some of those small blue and green beads in a bracelet?”

And this is what I made:

blue green recycled glass bracelet

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Harlequin glass bracelet

recycled glass bracelet

Today I needed a bit of comfort, and a bit of cheering up. It was a lot to ask of a bracelet! I didn’t really know what I was going to make, but I’d had this idea lingering in my head for a while, so today seemed like the perfect day to pull it together. Beautiful Harlequin Glass beads made into a beautiful plaited bracelet.

I actually used to make this style of bracelet ALL the time, way before I started making my own beads. I made a few using my own handmade glass beads, but that was many years ago, and now that I have made this one I am wondering why I stopped making them. I really like how this one turned out.

recycled glass bracelet

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A visit to Bethany Wines

recycled glass necklace

It was lovely to visit Bethany Wines this morning! I love the drive from Murray Bridge to the Barossa Valley, and autumn is a great time to visit as the countryside is rich with colour!

Before I left this morning I finished off a couple of necklaces for Bethany Wines. I love using their wine bottles to make beads and jewellery for their customers!

recycled glass necklace

recycled glass necklace

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Colourful Flower Earrings

recycled glass flower earrings

I was asked to make some colourful flower earrings out of wine bottles for Bethany Wines, and when I put them together this morning I wondered why I had never made them like this before!

I love using old wine bottles to make beads, and it’s nice to be able to add so much colour to them just by using bits of smashed up glass.

recycled glass flower earrings

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Bombay Sapphire Gin earrings

recycled glass earrings

I have had some time this week to enamel some copper tubes, and I have been really enjoying the process. I love being able to get even MORE colour into the jewellery that I make!

These earrings are quite long, quite dangly, and very eye-catching. I was already a fan of the Bombay Sapphire gin bottle glass, but adding the enamelled copper makes it really pop.

recycled glass earrings

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One for the beer lovers!

recycled glass necklace

I was so pleased with how the pendant that I made using gin bottle beads turned out yesterday, that I decided I had to try making one with beer bottle beads!  In the photo you can see all the different types of beads that I used. Some had gold leaf, some had gold pixie dust, some had frit. It’s a really diverse mix of beads! I love the little copper tube that has been enamelled, tying it all together along with the little Swarovski crystals.

I wore the necklace from yesterday for a while, just to see how it went, and I have to say I really enjoyed wearing it. I found myself reaching for it every now and then, and because it had so many things going on, it was quite a tactile experience! A bit calming as I was rushing around trying to get everything done.

recycled glass necklace

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Sparkly!

recycled glass bracelet

I was kind of struggling to get something made for this project this afternoon. I actually have lots of beads that I can pick and choose from, but nothing was quite working for me. As it was getting closer to school pickup time the pressure was really on!

I knew that I had a bunch of small round Bombay Sapphire Gin beads, and I was going through all of the other beads I have, wondering what I could add to them to make something…anything!

I came across some clear wine bottle beads that I had made for cufflinks a while ago, and not used all of them. I started to put something together, and I have to admit…I really like this bracelet. It’s super sparkly, which kind of matches the day we are having here. Sunshine and perfect weather!

Now, time for school pickup!

recycled glass bracelet