Play Day

It's always good to push boundaries - or so I told myself when I signed up for a neon glass workshop. Yesterday, I trundled off to Neon Workshops in Wakefield for a one-day course. Following an intro about the history of neon, the various gases, burners & other equipment, we were invited to create a design that would get created by one of the course tutors in the afternoon. Well........you know me, right? After explaining that I'd rather have a wonky squiggle that was mine than a masterpiece that got made for me, I hit the burner - As you know, I do do sculpture, but bending tube was a bit of a novelty, and my main reason for signing up. I was hugely impressed with how well behaved the glass was (neon makers work with soft glass, soda lime - did you know??). I discovered a love for the ribbon burner and managed to make two squiggles in 18mm tube - then, I have to admit, I let one of the tutors join them together into one long squiggle. Filled with Argon and a hint of Mercury, the squiggle will be my 'blue sea' and will proudly live one the wall in the new studio - now all I need is some glass fishies and boats to live above and beneath it.

Here are a few photos from the day - one shows my squiggle being filled with gas, one is of somebody else's piece (done by the tutors), and one show my squiggle on the 'aging bench' (underneath the main work surface), where the colour settles after filling :o)

Studio refurbishment - exciting times are afoot!

I'm in the process of refurbishing the studio, after my better half gracefully donated the rest of the garage to me.

So far, the internal wall has been moved, the wall has been painted, existing furniture has been re-shuffled, new ventilation and some additional furniture has been ordered. There will be five ventilated spaces (four permanent torches (two big enough to handle boro, so either 'four littles' or 'two with two oxys each') and a silversmithing/occasional 5th torch space), a coldworking area with grinder and sandblaster in the far back, silversmithing set up with tumble & wheel polisher & bench drill, and a bit of space to sit/ponder/design/peruse books.





I'm hoping to be properly up and running in time for the 'teaching the teachers' course on 12th March (which I still need to blog about!), and will also start running group evening and one-day classes :)

I'm very excited bout this, and couldn't have done it without all the lovely people who came for tuition and made me realise that increasing the teaching space would be a good idea - thank you!

There's a new kid in town

For the last few months, I have been thinking about a website aiming more at the trade than the general public, showcasing constant ranges made to order, gallery-style, rather than an actual shop with weekly-changing stock. Something to incorporate my slowly-growing sculptural work. Something the permanently house the fabulous professional photos we took a few weeks ago (yes, specifically for this website, among other things :o)

Well......it's here. The general public might never notice its existence, and there are a few things I'm not 100% happy with, but...ladies and gentlemen, may I present: www.sabinelittle.com. May the site live long and prosper.



The photo is, of course, by the fabulous Claire Penn again :o)

New year, new...everything :o)

Happy New Year everybody! I'm really looking forward to 201, th first full-time year dedicated to glass! It has been very busy so far already - last Saturday, I spent a fabulous day with photographer Claire Penn (www.clairepennphotography.com), hair and make-up artist Clare Ardern (www.harryjon.com), and three gorgeous models - Tabitha Courtney Smith, Terasa XDx and Leah Slater. All six of us trundled up to a farm in Lancashire, took over a barn, and worked our little socks off - well, all the others did, I just made sure the jewellery was facing the right way and suggested a few poses.

The girls were all fabulous - trying to shoot elegant, dreamy and glamorous pictures when it's chucking down with rain, or while you're crouched in a drippy little cubbyhole because of the lovely dark background isn't easy. Clare did a beautiful job transforming the girls for different 'looks', before Claire and I dragged them through the mud. It was very cold and wet, and with only the odd cup of tea and lunch to keep them warm, I'm very grateful everybody was so 'up for it'. You will be seeing more pictures cropping up as they get edited, but here is one to start with, the fabulous Leah Slater modelling a poppy ring.



To celebrate the new photos, I'm running a little give-away on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/littlecastledesigns), so be sure to look out for it!

Mystery guest in the studio

Today, I had a visit from a lovely guest, whom quite a few people will know by name, and a fair few personally. If you're out and about online, this won't be much of a secret, so if you spotted her posting that she was coming, *sh* :o)



Otherwise.........who might it be? :o)

Poppy time

I'm always quite late when it comes to beading ahead of the season, but recently, I've had the poppy fever - and all ahead of Remembrance Day. I've also found that a bit of sparkle has started to find its way into my beads, but I shan't mention the C-word just yet. Anyway, it's a funny old thing, isn't it? As a lampworker, I'm inspired by the seasons....in spring, the shoots and buds inspire me to get the frit out, do blossoms and vines....but jewellery makers need to get their beads ahead of the season, not when it's already in full flow. Right now, everybody is busy preparing for Christmas (oops, I said it!) markets, while at the same time trying to hold on to the last rays of sunshine. So, just out of interest, how do others deal with tis? The hell with it, and bead whatever, put things aside for ten months ;o)? Or enjoying being ahead of the times?

Anyway.....time to share some poppies!

Leave it to the professionals!

Recently, pieces of the Alcazar range travelled up to Chester to be part o a professional photo shoot. Expertly modelled by Tabitha Courtney Smith, hair and make-up by Clare Ardern of Harryjon, and photos by Claire Penn of Claire Penn Photography. It's amazing what a difference it makes when the professionals get a chance to play with my humble roses, isn't it? The two shots below are my favourites. The photos will be used for banners and advertising - one of them was already sent somewhere to hopefully go into print, but I'm not allowed to say where ;o)