New Easter Promotion 15% off all Glassware

I decided this Easter weekend to have a 15% Promotion off my Glassware. So Happy Easter everyone. Offer ends midnight Monday!

Happy Shopping at www.glassimagination.com :)

The Feast of St Peter 2013 - Glass Imagination's New Event

I have just booked a stall at this years 2013 Feast of St Peter. I'm really excited to get set up in my little 10ftx10ft pitch and showcase some of my glass works.

This years event looks to pull in around 10,000 people.

I'm thinking of setting up my marquee and having a promo day, with some jewellery & glass for sale. The rest of my pitch, i think will have lots of promo, maybe a raffle. I plan to make some smaller less expensive glass pieces especially for the day that are more suited to the summer celebration vibe.

The 2013 headline act is the UK's leading Elton John tribute - Ultimate Elton - who will be appearing with his band and playing hits from Elton's huge 40+ year catalogue of fantastic music.
 
The 2013 event will take place on Saturday 29th June so get it in your diary now!

Guide to Help Your Brand Utilise Trends and Grow as a Company - Let's Trendspot!

Let's learn to 'trendspot'

I found this guide to be a successful trendspotter as a brand.... Trend Bible believes the best brands optimise:

1. A clear, defined start to the season. Usually some sort of inspiring away day where they can think about new ideas, new directions, what worked before and what’s new.

2. Working sufficiently far ahead – some of our clients work 6 months ahead, some work 2 years ahead, but all of them work with us to create a strict critical path so that we all know deadlines and dates we’re expected to hit. Our clients work backwards from their delivery deadlines, so they know exactly when to book us in.

3. Senior management attending – most of our clients get senior management involved in some part of the trend forecasting process. If there’s something they don’t like, it’s best they know from day 1 what the concept directions will be so they can share comments there and then -  much better than commenting 12 months later when the product is being shipped. It goes without saying that designers, buyers, marketing and PR teams must attend initial trend meetings to develop a coherent strategy. Each of these needs to bring their own ideas for future trends to the table too, good trend forecasting is all about a team approach.

4. Getting a good variety of external opinions, advice and expertise. Breadth of experience, style and information ensures you don’t miss a trend. The trick here is the editing stage – who’s in charge of deciding what does and doesn’t make it in the final cut?

5. Mid-season sense-check -  a vital part of the process. It’s amazing how much the original plan can morph and change over a few months and it may be that things need to get pulled back on track. This also allows the opportunity to flag up any fast-moving ‘satellite trends’ that may have suddenly sprung forth. It’s at this stage in the season we help our clients decide exactly when each trend story and colour range should go in-store – down to the exact week.
6. Communicate with manufacturers from the off – get them involved in your management trend presentations and they will understand the finishes, techniques, style and look you’re after. They can then begin their own research files, looking out for production techniques that fit with your new concepts an bringing yet more innovation to you.

7. Test, test test! If you are not sure about a trend, colour or design, create a system whereby you can produce a short run of products and test them out. The best brands use this to get a read on new products before rolling them out. Fear is the enemy of trends! You won’t be fearful about new trends if you’ve already dipped your toe in the water and got a read on whether your customers like it.
8. One internal person is responsible for, and looks after all of trend. This person works with and briefs the external trend experts, collates information and is the go-to person for anything to do with trends.

9. A physical trend guide. Whether this is a poster, brochure or booklet, it’s important to have a trend document that shows exact colour palettes, pattern directions and concepts that can be shared with the internal team and externals like suppliers. Don’t forget to Copyright it.
10. Keep a logg of all seasonal trend developments. Any changes in directions should be noted, dated and signed off by head of trends. This way, if there was a product or theme you had to lose from your range for whatever reason, you know exactly when and why this decision was made.




... Tick all these boxes and you are well on the way to establishing a relationship with  more consumers by optimising these trends

Painting in Glass - Coming soon

Hand-painted Glass Art will be coming soon to Glass Imagination

The painting begins.

Finished Enamel Design

 I am currently trialing small art pieces to enter into Glass Imagination Homewares range.

I thought I would show the methodology behind the craft.

Enamels & glass can be an exciting process full of possibilities, but it takes several steps to create the perfect piece ...

Once I decided the design the slow intricate process of hand-painting enamel on glass begins. The consistency of the enamel is everything, therefore painting can take a long time to get the enamel thick enough to be distinct, but thin enough to flow off the brush freely. This particular design is that of a tribal bird. It is inspired by home trend of 2013-14 'Natural Selections', particularity the decpiction of birds.

Once the painting is complete the next step is the place it in the kiln to fuse the enamel into the glass permanently. However to spice up the mix I have decided to use one of my previously fused glass pieces to decorate the art further and add levels to the design. The 'Bullseye' glass eye is placed in the on the top layer of the glass in the kiln, ready to be fired. I fire this glass piece at 600 degrees Celsius. This is enough to merge enamel and glass and cause the glass eye to sink securely into place on the transparent glass. It is a low enough temperature for the glasseye to keep it's shape and hieght of 1cm above the flat surface.

All that remains is to frame the art piece....

After kiln-forming, the enamel is permanently fixed on transparent glass.

Finished Product signed by the artist.

New Glass Range of Pendants, Drilled Glass Jewellery, with Silver Pinch Bail.

Previously here at Glass Imagination all the pendants have been affixed to sterling silver bails by using a strong, durable adhesive; now this is about to change... 

Although the previous technique is successful and efficient GI is now offering a technique for those who want that something more. Drilling through fused glass cabachons creates a new way of affixing silver through the glass itself. This provides a more secure fitting, but also the opportunity to create pendants with more weight and varied shape. Another bonus is GI can offer three new types of silver to secure the pendants. Adding heavier and different style of silver makes new pendants appear very different from previous constructions & can accommodate more expensive tastes.

How it Works

To create a Glass Imagination pendant the cabachon  is hand designed &constructed, then kiln-formed at temperatures ranging from 595-815 degrees Celsius. Then pendant is hand affixed with adhesive to silver and is ready to be boxed or displayed. Now there are a few more stages before the pendant is complete.....

This glass pendant is made using kilnforming at up tp 805 Degrees Celsius. The cabachon is then drilled using a diamond tipped drill. The process is difficult, the glass needs to be lubricated every few seconds with Dremel cutting Oil or submerged in water. 

I currently use a hand drill Dremel 3000 with Dremel drillbit 662 & cutting oil.

 

Protective clothing, gloves, goggles and mask are necessary when using hand drills because of the fine glass dust produced by the drilling progress.

Once I have a 3.2mm hole right through the glass the pendant is ready for the next step.

I then re-fire the pendant in the kiln at a temperature up to 600 degrees Celsius, known as a 'TAC Fuse'. Firing at a lower temperature allows the pendant to retain it's shape and original design, but is hot enough to round off the edges of the drilled hole. The glass is then beautifully rounded and sfae enough to be affixed to the silver.

Finished Drilled Pendants with Sterling Silver

Type 1

Sterling Silver Pinch Bail with Loop 15mm. It has an integral loop for suspending from chain or cord. The bail is approx 15mm long and approx 6mm at its widest.The loop has a minimum diameter of 4.5mm. 

 

Type 2

Sterling Silver Pendant Bail Large. A large pinch type bail approx 2.4mm wide at tip and 4.4mm at the top. In the open form it is approx 14mm high and each leg of the bail that holds the bead is approx 2.5mm.

Type 3 

Sterling Silver Slotted Pendant Bail Large. A large pinch type bail with two decorative slots. Approx 14mm high and 8 mm at its widest. Each leg of the bail that holds the bead is approx 2.5mm.

Instant Owl - It's a Hula Hoot - Drop two Hula Hoops into a cup of coffee and create an owl

Hula Hoot

 

Posted on Twitter by conceptual artist Stuart Rutherford from Norwich!

 ‘Who’d a thunk dunking a couple of Hula Hoops in your coffee would be so beautiful.’ 

Well Stuart this image amazing for a happy accident! Although this was posted in September 2012, it is still trending. Well done on creating a masterpiece out of something so simple.  I could see the marketing team at Hula Hoops kicking themselves still.... or turning your idea into a multi million pound ad this year. I wonder when it will be released?...

Image sourced from the Daily Mail