Friday, 31 July 2009
more spookiness!
Happy Friday everyone! This is my new Haunted Focal and the above picture is the front and back of the same bead. I'm really getting into relief work lately and this bead was so much fun to create! I feel some skull beads coming on too.. ooOOoOOooO!
And of course I couldn't forget my Pumpkin Patch beads. I made a set last Halloween and loved them so much I might have kept them for myself.. *innocent look* I'm so happy with the way this set turned out that I can't promise it will be going anywhere either!! The beads were made with my new Straight Sided Lentil (SSL) press which I'm currently in love with :) I etched them just to see how I'd feel about it and I really like the look of them. I'll take a fews orders for these guys so just let me know if you'd like a set.Anyone have any fun plans for the weekend? Kaia's friend, Ariana, is sleeping over tonight and we're celebrating both of their birthdays. Ariana's was last weekend and Kaia's is.. well, ok, Kaia's isn't until September but she'll be back in Florida so I like to have a little party for her while she's here :) I made some cupcakes and some jewellery for both of them.. let's hope they like it!
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Love,
keiara
Thursday, 30 July 2009
rainbows make me smile :)
Rainbows make me smile.. cupcakes make me smile.. cupcakes WITH rainbows on 'em make me practically explode with happiness! Just thought I'd pass along a smile to all of you :)Have a great day!
Love,
keiara
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
spooky kitties and cupcakes!
Hi everyone! I'm gearing up for Halloween (and a show in October) so I'm working overtime on creating some new spooktacular beads! Here is my new Ghost Kitty Focal. Isn't he cute?? I started with my usual kitty shape but tweaked it slightly to allow for a more 'draping' effect at the bottom. What do you think?
Next up is Spooky Kitty. I had SO much fun creating him! A simple black kitty adorned with a festive pumpkin and sinister skull; perfect for Halloween. I have so many Halloween kitty ideas floating around my brain.. just have to get them out now!
I couldn't let the kitties have all the fun so here are some Halloween-themed cupcakes too! These are my mega-sized cupcakes which means they're around 20-22mm high. They make GREAT pendants. Don't you just love the little frog head? He makes me giggle!
I also made some of my floral cupcakes, crowned cupcakes and my 'traditional' Halloween cupcake topped with an eyeball ;) I love making cupcakes and these keep me cheery all day :)
Last up is my Rock Diva Cupcake Focal. Like? I do! Actually I might have to keep this one for myself.. haha. The liner design makes the whole cupcake look so edgy.. if cupcakes can indeed look edgy?? Heehee. I'm off to try out new Halloween ideas.. wish me luck!
Have a great week :)
Love,
keiara
Thursday, 23 July 2009
dreads are in!!!
Here they are!!! My lovely friend, Naomi, came over yesterday for a tea party and dread day. It's lucky I plied her with wonderful sandwiches, cheeses, veggies and cupcakes.. cause it took 5 1/2 hours to install these dreads! These are Colinette Cherry wool and I LOVE them! They are very light and comfy. It was a bit awkward to try to sleep last night.. but I'm sure that will get easier :) This is what they look like down. They fall to about the middle of my back now that I've trimmed them a bit. I also layered the front a little after these pics were taken. Is it weird to want a more 'natural' layered look when you have bright pink wool for hair?!?.jpg)
This is what they look like in pigtails! They are braided into my hair and can be worn for up to 3 months (according to professional sources). I'm going to aim for one month and see how I go. The dreads themselves *can* be washed but it's not advised as they are very heavy when wet. A careful washing of the scalp once a week is recommended. How I'm going to wash my scalp without getting the rest of the dreads soaking wet is an interesting question.. which I will answer next week.. LOL ;) After they're removed they can be washed, air dried and stored for installing again in the future! I also have about oh.. a LOT.. of other colours to try. Do you think Naomi will be willing to stand there for 5 hours every month just to change my hair?! ;)Ok, I'm off to melt some glass.. since this is supposed to be a glass blog, not a hair blog!! heehee :)
Have a great day!
Love,
keiara
Monday, 20 July 2009
custom kitties and a hair update!
A lovely customer contacted me and asked if I could create some of my kitty focals to match pictures of fabric swatches. I told her I'd give it a go and these are the results! The black kitty shown above was the first one. I tried to capture the overall feel of the pattern as well as getting in as many of the different colours as possible. Considering the entire kitty is only 30mm tall, I'm quite pleased with the results :)
Next up is this sweet pink kitty. Again, it's pretty difficult to get the same amount of detail (in glass no less) on something so small. I wanted to make sure I captured the feel of the fabric but also some of the essential elements. Here I included a bird, the blue scroll/vine and a few leaves. The overall effect is quite similar :)
On to the hair! On Wednesday my friend Naomi came by and we chatted, had some lunch and late in the afternoon decided, what the heck, to go ahead and dye my hair. She did a GREAT job and I'm really happy with how bright it turned out! I'm so glad I decided to lighten it twice beforehand as I really think that made a big difference. Hopefully we'll get to installing the dreads this week.. YAY! :)
And because I just can't resist, here's a picture from yesterday! Steve, Kaia and I went to the Kent County Show (along with Kaia's friend Ariana). I'm a sucker for facepaint and the girls there are AMAZING! I asked for a 'gothy floral scroll-looking' design and this is what I got :) I LOVE it. The company is called Wacky Faces and they're based in Kent. Have a look at their website. I have NEVER seen such exquisite facepainting. They are true artists :) 
Here's Kaia with her cute fish facepaint. The scales have this pretty, golden glittery sheen going on. She was very pleased and didn't wash it off until nearly bedtime! I know everyone says this but, seriously, my kid is so cute! Look at that face! Awww :)How was your weekend? Do anything fun? I'm looking forward to a productive week and, hopefully, having my dreads installed. What are you up to?
Have a great week!
Love,
keiara
Monday, 13 July 2009
more keys.. and a hair update!
Hi everyone! How was your weekend? I had a strenuous weekend of zombie slaying. (Translation: I played computer games most of the weekend.) It was fun! We didn't get to meet up with Jen & family :'( but we're all going to meet up at the Kent County Show this weekend :) So that's definitely turning a frown upside down! I also bleached my hair this weekend. More on that in a minute. First up is Unlock Time Flux Key Focal. I took this pretty brass key and created an ivory bead around it which is swirled with special silver glass and then dotted with clear. I really like the look of this one. I called it Time Flux because the patterns in the ivory make me think of something ancient whilst the shiny, metallic finish of the silver glass makes me think of futuristic gadgets. I feel a series coming on!
Next up is Unlock Faerie Whispers Key Focal. Another lovely brass key this time with clear and that same silver glass (it's called Aurae) encased in clear. I hand shaped this one into one of my organic gems for added visual interest. When left on the surface Aurae appears very shiny but when encased it takes on this fabulous, ethereal mother of pearl effect. Pretty!
Hair update! I've now bleached my hair out. Pic on the left is what it looked like right before the bleaching and, of course, pic on the right is the after. It lightened up quite well but I'm going to put it through another round (and pray it doesn't fall out!) to lighten it up just a bit more. It's actually kind of pretty on its own as it retained a bit of the red so it has an all-over pale apricot look. Hopefully it will be ready for the pink colour by Wednesday! More pics soon ;)
Next up is Unlock Faerie Whispers Key Focal. Another lovely brass key this time with clear and that same silver glass (it's called Aurae) encased in clear. I hand shaped this one into one of my organic gems for added visual interest. When left on the surface Aurae appears very shiny but when encased it takes on this fabulous, ethereal mother of pearl effect. Pretty!
Hair update! I've now bleached my hair out. Pic on the left is what it looked like right before the bleaching and, of course, pic on the right is the after. It lightened up quite well but I'm going to put it through another round (and pray it doesn't fall out!) to lighten it up just a bit more. It's actually kind of pretty on its own as it retained a bit of the red so it has an all-over pale apricot look. Hopefully it will be ready for the pink colour by Wednesday! More pics soon ;)Anyone have anything exciting going on this week? I'm hoping to have a get-together with a friend on Wednesday, schedules permitting. I received several different key shipments in the past few days so be on the lookout for more keys from me!
Ok, off to melt glass! Have a great week :)
Love,
keiara
Friday, 10 July 2009
Happy Friday.. my hair is here!!
Hey guys! Happy Friday :) As I was sitting down to have some lunch the doorbell rang. When I answered it the delivery guy was holding this HUGE package and I thought he must have the wrong house. No, sure enough, it was addressed to me. I took the package and glanced down. COLINETTE! My hair!! Woohoo! I hurriedly signed the electronic doohickey and raced inside to open the package. Pictured above are three skeins from the package. From the back: Velvet Birberry, Florentina and Cherry. The picture does NOT do them justice. Each and every colour (and I got LOADS) is rich and bright and utterly divine. I'm sitting here stroking yarn. I've finally lost it.Now I will strip my hair, shave the underside and dye it all magenta before installing my first set of dreads. I'm going with a mix of the Cherry and Velvet Birberry. I can't WAIT!
I'll take pictures along the way.. this is gonna be so much fun!
How about you? Anything fun planned for the weekend? We're having a 'family lunch' with Jen & family tomorrow which I'm REALLY looking forward to. Kaia will get to hang out with Ariana again and I'll get to love on Jen's little boys. They are SO adorable! I could just squeeze them til they pop :) Ok, I promise I won't do that.. but I'll be thinking it real hard!
I'm off to melt more glass.. lots of custom work this week keeping me busybusybusy!
Have a great weekend :)
Love,
keiara
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About Me
- by keiara - lampwork beads
- Folkestone, Kent, United Kingdom
- Hi! My name is keiara and I'm a native Floridian currently living in Folkestone, England. I am a hot glass and jewellery artist and I'm passionate about what I do! I love to 'talk shop' so feel free to contact me. Thanks for stopping by!
