A Walk to Bronte Falls

Last Bank Holiday Monday 5 May we took the dog for a walk to Bronte Falls. Here he is, keen to get moving.

We walked from Penistone Hill in Haworth to the Falls, a short walk of roughly 4 miles there and back, no strenuous climbing, just a gentle path. We could see across the valley to Stanbury and Oldfield. Below is Stanbury village.

The weather was hot and hazy, therefore the light quality was quite poor. This image is looking across the valley toward Lancashire, the Falls are below.

Once there we stopped to sit and paddle our feet in the beck. The original bridge was washed away in a flood so the Bronte Society paid to have a new one made. I don't know if the Falls had a name in the 19th century (someone enlighten me) but they are now named the Bronte Falls because the sisters lived at Haworth.

We intended to walk up to Top Withens, a ruin of a farmouse, said to be the inspiration for Wuthering Heights, but I had forgotten to bring a drink and, as my tongue was dragging on the ground from thirst, we walked back into Haworth and adjourned to the pub.

Here is Jackson, entertaining himself and anyone who was passing, by digging for stones in the beck.

Spaghetti Glass

More experiments with float glass products. This time I have been messing about with a tub of mixed glass "tangles".



After some disappointing results with bubble powder I have had success with the tangles. They are in assorted colors and are different thicknesses of hollowed glass, similar to stringers. These tangles are all 82 coe, making them compatible with float (picture) glass.



Noodles is a fused glass dish, now for sale on Etsy. I would, ideally, like a wider color range but I am quite pleased with the outcome.

You win some, You lose some...

In a previous post, Float Glass Products, I raved about the exciting new stuff I had bought that is COE82, making it compatible with float. Whilst the colors of float glass are disappointing (compared to the vibrancy of Bullseye glass) I had high hopes that these products would help me to make new, innovative glass designs at a fraction of the cost of COE90 glass. Here's what has happened so far...



Clear bubble powder: I was hoping for large, blistering bubbles such as the ones I get in my sushi dishes but the bubbles came out more like a rash. Unperturbed, I made another tile with lots more bubble powder (see below). If you look carefully you wlil see that the larger bubbles have stress fractures in them.



Below: clear bubble powder experiments with other bubble powders.
Curious! The one of the left is clear and turquoise bubble powder. The clear powder appears to have stripped the turquoise of any color, leaving it a dirty gray. The one on the right is clear bubble powder mixed with red bubble powder. It has also stripped the red color from the bubbles. I'm blaming the clear powder but, as I am still experimenting with this, I could be wrong.



Below: bubble powder stud earrings with clear and pink bubble powder. You can see a faint sheen of pink around the bubbles. They do look unusual in the fact that the bubbles look as if the glass is under water but, as I am an "in-yer-face" with color kind of gal, I will be working on this to make it more colorful.



Transparent frit: because colored float is slightly disappointing I was expecting the frit to be a bit wishy washy. Instead, I am quite pleased with the results.
From left to right: First one is frit mixed with clear bubble powder. again, it's turned a horrible grayish color, like burnt ash.
Second one is amber, orange and red frit between two pieces of float glass. It looks quite good close up because it has tiny air bubbles trapped inside.
Third and fourth ones are both frit placed between and on top of the glass. The image doesn't show it clearly but these pieces have a lot more depth and color to them.



Below: amber, orange and red frit earrings. The transparency makes them look almost liquid. I'm quite pleased with these and they are available for sale in my Dawanda shop.



Silver and gold glass sheet: this glass has a coating of gold or silver and it has lots of pre-made scratches that make a pattern on the glass. (It would be good to be able to buy it as a solid metallic color too). Here's what I did with it.



Below: various glass nuggets fused with gold and silver coated glass. The ones on the left have been fused with a cap of clear glass. The gold and silver coating has burned out and the glass cap has devitrified. Not good! The ones on the right have been fused with the gold ands silver coated glass on top of the clear glass. Although it looks much better I didn't get the shrinkage in the kiln that I was expecting so I have since cut the glass shapes to a smaller size.



Hearts of Glass. These glass hearts have been hand cut and fused by me, Glassprimitif. They are made from float glass (coe82) with a coating of gold or silver glass. Each one measures 1.5" (3cm) and are available for sale at Glassprimitif on Etsy.

Three years old today!

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

You look like a doggeee....

and you smell like one too!

Creative Minds for Charity

Creative Minds for Charity is a collaborative project between the Creative Glass Guild of Etsy and Etsybead. Both teams have paired up to create jewelry to be sold in aid of HOST (Helping Others Street Team).

My team mate for this project is hot torch worker Dorsethillbeads. Dorsethill has created a beautiful set of salmon and deep red beads with a candy striped focal bead. These beads are absolutely gorgeous and have been a delight to work with.

I have used sterling silver wire and a jig to twist wire into decorative links. I have connected each link with a sterling silver jump ring and a lobster clasp. The beads have been threaded onto sterling silver wire along with amber glass beads and silver plate beads.



Because I have used fish shaped silver beads and twisted wire we decided to call this piece "Catch of the Day". (Well, the credit for the name actually goes to DorsetHill). This necklace measures 18" and has been carefully crafted.



Now we need your vote. If you like "Catch of the Day" and you are a member of Etsy please click HERE to vote. Soon, "Catch of the Day" will be available for sale in Host Etsy store and all monies raised will go to charity.