Sunday 25 May 2008

Glass Related Blogs

I move a good mooch around the internet looking at all the beautiful work glass artists produce. Blogs are quite addictive too here's a few I love!


www.amazingglass.blogspot.com



www.gj-dichroicglass.blogspot.com



www.glassprimitif.blogspot.com




Take a look yourself!

Saturday 24 May 2008

Weeeell, what a week!



Things have been so hectic this week that i've not known whether i'm coming or going! The new dichroic glass website and forum is only a week old and going strong! The site stats are really interesting to watch in the background...I can see where people are from and it's coming up some surprising hits...and some not so surprising!
Come and say hello on the dichroic glass forum and make yourself known!

Lee from Kilncare is now watching over the kiln/technical bit for us so all your kiln related queries will get answered by an industry leader!
I'll be starting the first of my monthly competitions this week also. Check out the website for details.


With all the hubbub with the dichroic glass website i've not forgotten either my dichroic jewellery website or ebay shop!


I've added lots more dichroic bangles...and more are coming over the next few days. I'm also adding lots of new dichroic ranges too-so think on!










Tuesday 20 May 2008

DichroicGlass.co.uk-Now Online!

The new Dichroic Glass Website is now up and running!-Come and say hello in the new forum or drop us a line if you've got something to share!

Saturday 17 May 2008

Ebay Changes

I know this a bit of an obsession with me but ....have you checked the new feedback changes?!
My feedback doubled in one fell swoop! Another new addition is the fact that the negatives and neutrals are now linked....you can click on 'em and have a snoop why the customer left the negative score. It's actually quite funny!....Also check out other people's feedback, you can see the seller who previously were attacking customers with negs and also telling complete lies about them!....Maybe they're a good thing?..Well maybe not but they're a good laugh at least!

Friday 16 May 2008

Exciting new glass fusing website-preview!

Ok, so i've had a few emails ths week asking where the tutorials have gone?

The answer is that i've still been doing them-but they're now going into the new dichroic glass and glass fusing website- Launching early next week!

The new site will be packed with news and info relating to all things glassy-with the emphasis on glass fusing! They'll be a tutorials section as well as forum to swap all of your tricks and know-how. A new links section is being added to get the details of your crafts out there an there'll be a website of the week, in which we'll spotlight an artist, supplier or resource website. Check out www.dichroicglass.co.uk early next week!

Wednesday 14 May 2008

Ebay's been Credit Crunched!

Anyone who deals on ebay know how many changes it has gone through over the past few months. There have been price hikes, listing regulations added, feedback changes and a hell of a lot of disgruntled sellers!

I sell a lot through ebay as I repeat...well, repeatedly. This changes have affected me heavily as they have everyone selling either dichroic glass jewellery and other handcrafted goods-to the point that a lot of sellers have simply abandoned ebay altogether.

What ebay don't seem to grasp is that those who sell on ebay also buy via ebay-I myself, buy a lot of findings etc on ebay simply out of conveinience. As the sellers have packed up shop, this in turn has had a knock-on affect on our sellers all noticing a slump in sales.

A few months back, Ebay announced the restoration of visibility to the US and Canadian markets via ebay.co.uk. This change will have a similar affect in reverse on ebay.com. This means that items placed on auction on the UK version of ebay will be advertised on ebay.com also...for a fee of course! This change couldn't come soon enough for me as before the drop in visibility ,I was regularly posting 3-4 items to the US daily, after the change 2-3 per week.
Check Spelling
Ebay have now also announced that this summer, the gallery listing-the picture that appears on the auction listing will be free , all summer!

This is unprecedented for ebay, and I can only assume it's due to the amount of people no longer bothering with auctioning item, coupled with people's strained finances at the moment.

Hopefully this incentive to list, along with access to overseas buyers will restore people's faith in ebay-myself included.

Tuesday 13 May 2008

A big thanks to Dichroic Sparkle UK

I must take this oportunity to thank Dichroic Sparkle UK, Tracey Mead for her help with a feature for the new Dichroicglass.co.uk website launching later this month.

Tracy kindly let me showcase her fabulous work on the site-it's first feature! I went to Tracey first because I was so impressed with the uniqueness and quality of her beautiful dichroic glass jewellery!

I'm sure you'll agree how amazing her work is-well worth a look!

Monday 12 May 2008

It aint 'alf hot mum!

I'm writing this form the comfort of the park across the way from my apartment. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology...plus a few wireless networks in the local office blocks I'm able to write outside! Here's the view from my apartment....I was getting jealous!





The British summer last approximately 23 minutes so i'm making the most of it while I can! Having a few kilns in my living room, it can feel a little stiffling in this heat!

I'm gathering news stories for Dichroicglass.co.uk and i'm testing as we speak so hopefully it'll be live and kicking in the next week or so. I'm also beefing up GlassKanvas.com. I offer wholesale dichroic glass jewellery accounts so get in touch if you're interested.




Ebay is picking up nicely again now. I've been mulling leaving it for a while. Although prices have come down I think that's largely down to changes that haven't had an effect yet. I've met a lot of lovely people via ebay so it'd be a shame to loose contact with them, I will keep a presence there even if it is reduced. While it's true some fellow sellers can be a little aggressive, most are lovely and I enjoy reaching out to them through this blog....Although one cheeky blighter writes all over the internet criticising plagiarism yet got the know-how on how to make their latest ranges from this blog! ....If they're shooting at you, you must be doing something right!

Saturday 10 May 2008

Isn't the world a small place?

Doing this blog I get to see/pry where it's readers are from. The results are always quite surprising-Here's a screen shot of the last 2 days visitors. No-one's interested in Greenland! How rude! I'm busy adding bits to my dichroic glass jewellery website as well as my ebay store. Tryng to fit all this in whilst preparing the new site has been tough but thanks to the glorious weather this week i've not been too over stretched-everyone's outside!


Here's a few from my sundrop dichroic pendant range. These are all based on transluscent art glass-very summery! You can get one for every outfit...please!


As well as my ebay site which is my sale site, my website also offers wholesale dichroic glass accounts for resellers so just get in touch!

Friday 9 May 2008

Dichroic Designs of Shaker Heights


Oooo, I'm now featured on a great website based in the US. Dichroic Designs of Shaker Heights, a fab website featuring some truely beautiful dichroic glass jewellery. It's an honour to be among them!

Got that Friday feeling?

Friday's here already and the weekend is upon us. Bank holidays really through me out of sinc with the week so can never remember what day of the week it is. The only clue really is the church next door rings it's very loud, very annoying bells on different days to alert me. Not just for me obviously. Friday's are practise night and tonight i'm looking forward to 4 hours on monotonous clanging from the novices. Can you tell i'm not a fan?

When the droan starts I normally put my ipod on to drown out the noise. One podcast I listen to regularly is Craftcast. It's a multi-discipline crafts show I download to tunes and is great for ideas and resources. It deals with so many fields that you're sure to pick up inspiration for your next venture. It's also good to reach out to the craft community from time to time.

With that in mind....stay tuned for a very special announcement from me and incywincy crafts about a brand new website for the craft community starting very soon!

I really must slow down with these websites!!

ttfn

Wednesday 7 May 2008

Summer's Finally Here!



British weather is a marvellous thing. One second it feels like we're in suburban Antarctic, the next it feels like the Algarve!


The sun is currently cracking the flags and everyone is out an about- hence no-one staying at home buying things from me!- Seriously, it's tragic!



I always notice a downturn in sales when it's sunny so i'm not too concerned-I'm enjoying the weather too much myself!



I'm busy adding to my website and getting things together for a bit of a relaunch. My main sales avenue is ebay and to be fair the whole site is fast going down the drain! So i'm going to concentrate on that -plus the new website!

At the moment i'm doing quite chunky designs with textured dichroic glass. It can be quite a pain using ths type of glass as the clear top you add can pull in, ruining the piece. Conveniently though, i've already done a how-to for the new site so it'll be easy for beginners to tackle using this glass after they read that....if they want. Not that i'm pressuring anyone or anything.


I'm also starting to reintroduce dichroic 'slider' pendants. These pieces are fused with a hole near the top so they'll 'slide' right onto chain etc. They're probably my favourite pieces as they're so thick and full of depth. The finished result can be so random after fusing! I get quite a few questions about these so i'll add a how-to on these to the site as well.

Anyway-it's too blooming nice to be stuck indoors next to the kiln so i'm going far a walk!

Enjoy!

Sunday 4 May 2008

Exciting New Dichroic glass and Glass Fusing website

Exciting news folks!...Well relatively speaking that is. I'm launching a brand new website launching in late May http://www.dichroicglass.co.uk/ for everyone interested in dichroic glass and fused glass jewellery and art.

The site will combine tutorials, news from suppliers and artists, website reviews from both glass artists and suppliers plus a forum!





I'll be adding contact details here very soon so please get in touch if you've got anything to share in the world of fused glass.


I've been very quiet on the blog for a while as i've been so busy working on it and I'm hoping it'll be a great resource for anyone.