Crafty Ladies - Bugs & Fishes

I was recently interviewed by Laura (aka Lupin) on her Bugs and Fishes blog as part of her excellent  Crafty Ladies series.

Laura's is one of the very first blogs I ever read, so it's really nice to appear on it, and it was interesting to look back over a few of my projects from the past 12 months.

It also sparked a little conversation about Blogging Vs Instagram, which has motivated me to post more regularly here again (or at least try to!).

You can read the interview here.

Eagle-eyed stained glass folks will notice I have neither scratched or tallowed my solder joints in this picture.  It was late, I needed a workshop picture, it was just me and a self timer.  I forgot.  Rest assured when I actually soldered this panel I did scratch and tallow first :)

To blog or not...

Blogging.  A constant dilemma.  Seems entirely superfluous these days.  But then I read sweet, funny posts like this, or see beautiful photos like these and think, Yes, there is a point.


From top to bottom:

1) Work in progress on exhibition panels
2) There are always funny little things I find when tidying the girls' rooms 
3) Auditioning new bird shapes
4) That day when it felt like summer, even at 7am
5) My favourite beach activity

To Do List.

source

I was all set to come back to this blog after the Christmas break full of excellent pictures and great resolutions and exciting new work projects.  

Instead I got an ear infection which burst my eardrum and it's left me a bit lacking in vim and vigour.

When normal service has resumed, here are a few things I would like to do:

1) Set up MailChimp.  
I have plans to streamline the way I do things, and one of the ways of doing that is to change the way I run my Etsy shop.  Currently I make to order.  This is a stupid way of doing things.  It means I sometimes have to fire up my kiln for one little bird.  Not very cost effective or environmentally friendly.  So when I reopen my shop, I will make pieces in batches, and have a monthly shop update.  That way I can also try out new designs more easily and it will leave me with more free time each month to work on larger projects.  In order to let people know that I have new stock in the shop, I'll send out a newsletter - which means I need to get my head around MailChimp.

2) Apply for a CPD Award.
A Continuing Professional Development Award is given by the Worshipful Company of Glaziers each year to 2 established stained glass artists in order for them to learn new skills or further existing ones.  I would love to attend one of Deborah Coombs glass painting classes in Vermont to learn a whole host of new techniques using an alternative paint mixing medium called propylene glycol.  Deadline is 31st January, so I really need to get on to this asap.

3) Make Some New Work.
In May I am taking part in a joint exhibition with 2 other contemporary stained glass artists, Stuart Low and Christian Ryan.  The show is called One Square Foot and we are each exhibiting 3 panels (of 12" x 12") at Chris's studio (I'll put up more details nearer the time).  I definitely need to get started on at least thinking about the designs for those.

4) Studio/Office Redecoration/Reorganisation
On the resolution list for the 3rd year running, still not achieved.  Maybe 2014 will be the year...

5) Use My Kiln To Make Some Clay Things
I've been meaning to do this for ages.  I'm not just jumping on the ceramics bandwagon, honestly.

RebelMouse / Blogging The Lazy Way

It occurred to me recently that what I need is a site that amalgamates all my interesting, informative and visually splendid* social media content (Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram), and puts it out there in one easily digestible dollop.

If you can get past the name and cartoon mouse, Rebelmouse does exactly that, and in a pleasingly simple layout.

*My actual content may not be interesting, informative or visually spendid...

Curtain

We've got this funny little door in our bathroom

Which leads nowhere, except to the hot water tank.

And it's kind of half-way up the wall.

I think it's my favourite thing in our whole house.

Even more now I've appropriated this gorgeous tea-towel

by Leah Duncan as a curtain (to hide said hot water tank).

*****

I've made a few changes hither and thither.

New header. New profile pic.

Been a bit confusicated about my blogging style lately.

More chatty? Less chatty?

More random stuff?

(Yeah, like, a post about a door. In my bathroom)

Or keep more focussed on work?

More personal, less personal?

Or just carry on ambling and rambling aimlessly?

Your thoughts much appreciated!

You know it's time for a little break when...

Necklace from here

...you start looking like your logo.

Happy Holidays! Back with tales of summery fun soon.

The Totally-Crazy-Once-In-A-Lifetime-Help-Yourself-To-Anything* Giveaway!

I know. Bonkers eh? But that's the deal, anyone can enter, just visit my Folksy shop, decide what you'd like, post a comment below (sorry, no anony-mouses though) telling me what it is and one lucky winner will receive the item of their choice! If it's something I have in stock I'll post it asap, and if not, I'll make it for you (you'll receive it in about 7 days for UK peeps, longer for overseas peeps).

For further chances to win, add yourself to the rest of the very agreeable followers over to your right there. If you want to blog or tweet a link (include @TheRoundWindow in your tweet so I see it) to the giveaway, that would also be another entry - just let me know in your comment. I'll draw the winning name out the hat next week.


The reason I'm doing this? I'm being featured over on the brand spanking new and gorgeous UK-based website Craftsville, who will be bringing you the best in independent art, craft, design and creativity. The lovely Michelle and Helen will be giving you a guided tour around my (newly de-cobwebbed) workshop.


*Anything?
Yes, Anything.
Anything?
Yes, Anything.
ANYTHING?
Er, yes.

The week so far...

World domination edges ever closer to Through The Round Window! Not one, but two mentions in the Blogosphere. First came this nice little nod from I Love Handmade followed closely by this beautiful photo on Peonies & Polaroids. That totally made my day. She is so ludicrously talented, stylish, funny, eloquent, generally-all-round-sorted and (here comes the really painful bit) only 24.

And stuff has been selling! My Items You've Sold page at Folksy is looking pretty impressive!

Random people are e-mailing me just to say they like my work! Isn't that nice of them!

Anyway, I'll stop now. Next week will probably be really quiet and I'll wonder what the hell I'm actually doing all over again. But for now I shall head towards the weekend in a little bubble of contentment.

Oh, and I've listed a couple more birds in the shop. I was pleased with the way this picture turned out.

I wonder why...

...my last post does not seem to be coming up on Blogger. It's definitely there. Maybe this will help.

That's not a recent picture by the way...but there are some goodies to show you soon!

Happy New Decade!

To think, at the end of this decade, I'll be the mother of two teenage girls. Very scary. Especially considering the last decade went by so fast.

Anyway, I have little to post, as I've been just stepping back from all things work/blog/twitterish the last two weeks and concentrating on families and festivities. And I feel much the better for it. But it's nice to be back in the swing of things again.

So here's my list of intentions for the year to come:

Make more things. Draw more. Write more. Read more.
Buy a new computer. A really nice one.
Overhaul website. Actually that is so urgently urgent I don't know why I'm not doing it right now.
Phone distant friends more often.
Have more fun.

And that's probably enough for starters.

Happy New Year. What are your intentions?

Why thank you...

...Beth Foster (you know, her from The Linen Cat) not only for your patronage, and the very kind words on your blog, but also for giving me an award! I'd like to pretend I'm far too cool to care about such things, but well, I'm not, and I do.

Here are some of the gorgeous soft toys and lavender bags she makes...she has such a good eye for a snazzy fabric...





Go on, you know you want to visit her shop...

Wanted: Interesting new superlatives. Hackneyed cliches need not apply....

The problem with blogging is that eventually, you're going to run out of nice things to say. So to nip that problem in the bud (well, I've not been blogging for that long, or that regularly but I'm already getting very weary of "lovely") I'm putting down some alternatives:




Hmmm....even some of those are looking a bit jaded. I might have to resurrect one of my dad's favourites - "Marsupial*". Any other suggestions?

*I should add the background to this...about 300 million years ago when I was a little girl, my mum and dad ran a pub. My dad claimed that, being the thrusting trend-setter that he was, he could start using a word behind the bar, and eventually everyone would be saying it. His word of choice was "Marsupial", (which is a very splendid word and rather limited in its usage, so he appropriated it to mean marvellous, super and special all at once). It did indeed catch on.

New look...and new things...

So whaddya think of the new me? There's something a bit, erm, Gothic about it isn't there... but I just kinda liked it! Thanks to those of you who have commented on it already - it does feel a little bit like coming out of the hairdressers with a totally new "do" - so the support was much appreciated! It's funny how influences seep into your consciousness isn't it? If I think about it, I've probably been spending too much time here, and I've certainly been drinking too much of this lately...

And huzzah, hooray and hallelujah! I have re-stocked my Folksy shop at last! With these rather spiffing things...









As a result of photographing, tweaking, listing and generally melting my brain, Every Day in May has had to take a back seat - I am hoping to do one later tonight though...

Hooray I'm a Genius

After much geeking about, I think I've finally got everything ticking along nicely on the web/blog front. Phew!

Just got my listing on Craft and Design Selected http://www.craftmaker.co.uk/florajamieson too, so I'm feeling mighty proud of myself.

Slight technical hitch with my Etsy shop - ThroughTheRoundWindow is one letter too long to use. Harumph. Not sure that ThruTheRoundWindow works for me....

Right, am now heading to the workshop to continue a small panel that is halfway through, and investigate some sketches to see how I can work them into glass.

Getting back in the swing of things

Well, hopefully I have successfully managed to create a blog and add it to my website. Either that or my website is now a hideous mess of broken links and dead ends...

Have started work on some more small pieces to sell on Folksy.... and soon I'll be on Etsy too. Seem to be spending more time on promoting the stuff than making it!

Pictures soon : )