A Change of Plans and Facebook Giveaway

Long Purple Rock Candy Earrings - $40

 We've had an unexpected change of plans and won't be traveling South with the Dunkley's Great New Zealand Craft show this year after all.

This means that we won't be selling in Christchurch, Dunedin or Invercargill this year.

Please accept our sincere apologies if this upsets your plans - perhaps we can talk through something with you by email or phone.  

I'm always happy to take extra photos of pieces and of course I give a full money-back guarantee if you're not 100% satisfied with what arrives at your door.

I've launched the Facebook page properly this week with a giveaway of a pair of Rock Candy earrings of your choice to be won by a lucky "Liker" at the end of August.

Short Black Rock Candy Earrings $35

 I'm going to run super-specials and discounts for my lovely followers, so if you want to enter the draw and be notified of the deals as they go up go to 

Glitz Art Glass on Facebook.

The first super-special goes up today!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

It's Christmas Eve already - with all that's been going on here in Golden Bay, we missed quite a bit of that lead up to Christmas.  However, the road workers, contractors, volunteers and generally everybody in our wonderful community has worked togerher to get everything cleaned up and ready for the summer visitors.

I noticed last night that there were campers back in the Pohara Motor Camp which means that they have solved their water issues and are up and running.

There have been people working every single daylight hour cleaning up - we've had every kind of contractor up and down the street from road repairers to carpet cleaning companies.

When I woke this morning I couldn't hear machinery running, and that's the first morning since the floods and slips that that has happened.

Our workroom was untouched during the floods and we will here seven days a week over January.  Please drop by and say "Gidday" if you're around.

We were all devastated to hear that Christchurch has had another nasty swarm of earthquakes and it seems that they are now predicting that it may continue for some time again.

As I walked through the Takaka Market this morning on my way to the workroom I asked what we would wish for Christchurch for Christmas?  Still ground, peace and freedom from the stress were some of the replies.

Can we gather our collective energies and wish these things for those poor folk suffering there?

Wishing you all peace, love and light for the holiday season.

Blog Giveaway!

As a very special thank you to my newsletter followers and as a follow up to my website sale, I have decided to do my first online giveaway.  There is one condition...as there always is!

If you register as a blog follower you will go into the draw to win this pair of Sapphire Blue Rose Earrings.  You will also need to let me know how to contact you if you are the lucky winner.

I will draw the prize before we go away to do the South Island run of the Great New Zealand Craft Shows and will post them off to you at my cost - this includes overseas postage.

Mark these dates on your calendar

Christchurch Show - Addington Racecourse Friday 19th to Sunday 21st August

Dunedin Show - Edgar Centre Friday 26th to Sunday 28th August

Invercargill Show - ILT Velodrome Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th September 

There is a printable discount coupon for these shows on my Facebook page.

You can "Like" the page to receive updates from the studio.

And don't forget to enter the draw for those earrings!

This giveaway is now closed, and the winner was Carol Soutter Earle.

Red Raku Barrels

I thought it was time I showed you the Red and Black Raku Barrel beads that I have been making lately.

The Raku Barrel beads all began when I was trying something out for someone in Australia, and we were trying to come up with a shape and style within some parameters for her.
I've used glass raku frit (tiny shards of crushed glass) for a long time now in my beads, and have always loved it in combination with red and black.  As I understand it, the colours in Raku glass are made by using a lot of metal in the recipe, and that metal is usually silver.  Anyhow, it gives a lovely effect rather like that of tiny pebbles or spice sprinkled around.

Being an ex Cantabrian (that's the province in New Zealand where Christchurch is located, for you folk overseas), I have a penchant for red and black, especially in these post earthquake months, when our hearts go out to the people there.  I wanted to combine them both in some beads but in a kind of subtle way that's more wearable than the usual sporting colours.
So...without further ado...here they are...

Red and Black Raku Barrels Necklace

This is the first necklace I  made with the smaller shards of raku glass.

Red and Black Raku Barrels Bracelet 225mms

Red and Black Raku Barrels Earrings 1

And this is the set that I made with the larger shards - I can't decide which I like best!

Red and Black Raku Barrels Necklace 2

Red and Black Raku Barrels Bracelet 2

Red and Black Raku Barrels Earrings

I've been experimenting with the barrel shape in bigger beads too - here it is in the same True Red and Black, the same as the other ones here.

Medium Red and Black Raku Barrel Pendant

I think they look vaguely oriental, and because they're smooth and long, they're lovely to wear and quite neat and dainty looking.

There are a few more to look at here.

So, what do you think?

How Society Changes in Times of Trial

We are still very focused on news of the earthquake at the moment - desperately hoping that more people will be found alive.
But no-one has been found for more than three days, and hopes are fading.
Tears come freely right now.
I have noticed how kind we all are to one another at the moment. The first thing we do whenever we meet is to ask how the other person is? Are their loved ones safe? Are they OK? And we listen...
We are so mindful that there are people among us who are hurting badly.
We make phone calls - when we can - to check that our wider community are OK - calls that we would usually put off.
Maybe this will make us all better people? If so, it's a hell of a way to find out!

Lost for Words

I feel that I must post something about the quake that has devastated Christchurch, but I'm not sure where to begin, or even that I can express how I feel about it all.

Christchurch was my home town - it's where I come from, and the old city has almost totally collapsed with many deaths.

Fortunately, all of my family are safe - though it took us a few days to find everyone as phone systems are either totally overloaded or down.

We remain glued to the television and radio, and already we have seen a face in the reports of victims which we recognise. A lovely young guy who worked in a music store locally for a while.

We all wonder what we can do? We have offered beds in our home for anyone who wants to run away, but what is really needed is money.

Donations can be made through The Red Cross - this is the fund that was also used after the last quake, and is now needed more than ever.

For information and images you might like to look at www.stuff.co.nz - they have regular updates.

To everyone in Christchurch I send my deepest sympathy and aroha.

Kia kaha!

Travelling South

When we heard that the Dunkley's Great NZ Craft Show was cancelled we were all packed and ready to leave - in fact we delayed our leaving because we were so sure that it could not go ahead.
So we decided to come ahead anyway, if only to take time to visit with elderly family living in Christchurch. It was an amazing experience, and one I'm not keen to repeat anytime soon.
I checked on this amazing website (you may have to install Google Earth to see it), and found that they have had in excess of 500 (yes, that's right) aftershocks since Saturday's huge quake. The ground is moving all the time, and even in the short time that we were there I began to wonder if my head was spinning or if the world really was moving constantly. A lot of the shakes were quite frightening, even then.
We had a brief drive around the city checking on old haunts and it seems that one of our old homes in the suburb of Dallington has probably gone - a victim of liquifaction. We could not get close enough to be sure, and it felt rather ghoulish to be viewing other people's misfortune quite so closely.
Liquifaction is where the earth is shaken so vigorously that the silt and fine sand comes to the surface with any groundwater - rather like shaking a container of wet cement.

The quaint old shop where I had my first after school job has totally gone - it is the gap in the photo at the top - there are so many of these lovely old heritage buildings disappearing and being demolished before they can do any harm.
We had a little essential shopping to do while we were in the city and found that when we asked shop assistants how they were coping they almost broke down - the whole city is in a state of shock and grief.
It's hard to convey just how hard this vibrant place has been hit - the damage goes much further than the eye can see - literally!
It has been a relief to move further South and sit in this gorgeous little fishing village on the coast. How fortunate we are to be able to do this! I will tell you more about this over the coming days.

Half Price Tickets!

Would you like to have half price tickets to any of the next three Dunkley's Great New Zealand Craft Shows?

The Toy Boy and I will be exhibiting our work at the shows in Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill next month, and as exhibitors we are offered as many half price tickets as we would like.

The price is normally $8, but we can get them for you for $4!

Show dates and venues are...
Christchurch, Addington Raceway, Friday 10th to Sunday 12th September
Dunedin, Edgar Centre, Friday 17th to Sunday 19th September
Invercargill, Stadium Southland, Friday 24th to Sunday 26th September

10 - 5 daily.

Drop me an email to lesley at glitz dot co dot nz and I will order and post them to you before the shows - I'll even pay the postage!

I will let you know our site number once we know where we will be.

Don't miss out on a great show - there are just so many unique handmade goodies there - it;s a great place to do your Christmas shopping.