I bought quite a lot of stuff, and I have a few more online bead shops I can buy from. And everything was SO cheap! See the two massive bead strings below? £1 each.
Everything I bought |
I found it quite hard to pay £1 each for these as I'm used to buying beads and pendants in wholesale, but I do think they are worth it :)
Unusual focals |
Eventually I found some and as soon as I got home I made my very first tree of life pendant! I'm very proud of it.
Tree of life pendant I made using some bead chips and craft wire |
Here is a list of my favourite stalls and their websites;
- Sweet Poppy Stencils - http://www.thecraftstation.com/
- The British Polymer Clay Guild - http://www.bpcg.org.uk/
- The Southampton Bead Shop - http://www.thesouthamptonbeadshop.co.uk/
- Silver Design - http://www.beads4less.co.uk/
- TuffnellGlass - http://www.tuffnellglass.com/
- The Pearl Girl - http://www.thepearlgirl.cok/
- Spellbound Bead Co - http://www.spellboundbead.co.uk/
Some beads I bought from the Spellbound Bead Co |
I've always been interested in lampwork but I never thought I'd be able to do it at home. I also thought I'd need to spend hundreds of pounds to buy all the equipment. My preconceptions were absolutely wrong, I can do it in the comfort of my kitchen for less than £100! The man running the stall (can't remember his name!) was lovely. He gave a demonstration when I asked him to and he answered my many questions. He didn't even try to sell me his products, he told me B&Q sell the refill gas canisters and I can use a cheese grater instead of the fancy tools they were selling. The basic kit cost £56.00 and the gas canister cost about £12.50.
Included in the kit;
- Hot head torch
- 1 Kilo mixed glass rods
- Mixed pack of 24 mandrels
- 2 pots of bead release.
Altogether, today was a pretty awesome day for only £10 admission ^^
Loppy x
No comments: