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Tillerman_Beads

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Artfire Sale with the Glass and Jewelry Collective Guild

Join us for our first time ever event, beginning on February 27th and continuing through March 13th. The two-week event includes members of the Glass and Jewelry Collective Guild featured regularly on Artfire. This sale promotion, however, offers a variety of sale items from participating members and sale prices ranging from free shipping and up to 10% - 25% off some items in the members stores.

The Glass and Jewelry Collective was created to bring our diverse community of glass and jewelry artists, living and practicing all over the world, closer in hope of creating a place and forum to communicate and exchange more easily and on a continual basis. Professional, intermediate, and novice are all welcome to participate. Our focus at the Artfire Guild is on helping promote and sell our work as a group in recognition of the myriad of individual aspects each artist contributes in the field.

Participating members include:

David Louis and Hannah Rosner. Good River Gallery. http://GoodRiverGallery.artfire.com
Blue Flame Art. http://BlueFlameArt.artfire.com
Raisin Mountain. http://GinaJeans.artfire.com
TinYen Designs. http://TinYen.artfire.com
N Valentine Studio http://NValentine.artfire.com
Tillerman Beads http://tillerman_beads.artfire.com
Diane Norman. http://lunacatjewels.artfire.com
Diane's Dangles. http://dianesdangles.artfire.com
WyrmWyrks. http://wyrmwyrks.artfire.com
Peraza Studios http://Peraza_Studios.artfire.com

DogmawGlass http://www.dogmawglass.artfire.com will also offer discounts when you check out from her stores and mention of the sale (GJCG Sale) in the comments section conveniently provided on the Artfire check out page. You will receive the discount in the form of a refund after you check out.

To find other participating members, please check items tagged with GJCG (Glass and Jewelry Collective Guild).

We hope you will enjoy our work and visit with us soon.

Sunday, Sunday...

It's a challenge getting back into a routine after so much time off during the holiday, either from the horrible virii that have been taking hold everywhere or simply the cold and the holiday down-time. Still, it's now all hands to the torch, or at least Mike's. He's been inspired lately and it's starting to appear in the new beads he's been making, I think. He's also working on some new historic types of beads which will make their appearance in York this weekend. All in all, exciting times in glass ahead. We've looked at the upcoming schedule and it's going to be a busy few months. Two days in York, three days in Coventry, one day in Perth, three days again in the Coventry area and two days in Cheltenham and two days in Brighton. And then a weekend off after six weekends on the run.

That sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but it's what we do, and we do like to eat.

After that is the Second Flame-off at the Towcester Racecourse. Mike's been included in the Lampworker's Village for the two days of the Flame-off itself and we'll be at the bead fair on the Sunday, so lots of fun and work all at the same time.

It's hard work but I don't think Mike would trade it for any other job in the world. He loves every morning, knowing that he will be getting up again to go in and melt glass. It just doesn't get much better, really.

's up? Oooh, look, a blog post!

It's been a long two weeks of hard work by Mike, striking a balance between contemporary beads and historic ones. There will be a good selection of both at the York Gem'n'Bead fair at the Racecourse next weekend. We've trimmed back on the online venues we will be selling in, dropping the UK-based Folksy site, and building up stock in the Etsy and ArtFire shops, along with here in the main online shop.

With the exchange rate being so variable and unfavourable to buying in stock from outside the UK, we have decided for the moment to not re-stock the bead pens and beadable items. At the moment, for us to re-stock bead pens would mean a 30% price increase and we simply don't feel it's a good thing to have that sort of price hike. The same applies to silver jewellery such as the beadable braclets. We have seen the value of the pound drop while watching silver prices climb. Again, this means that for the moment we will not be re-stocking anything that will require a price increase. Please note that the Bali silver, sterling silver and copper beads for sale in the shop are still at the prices they were before the current financial situation. We have not raised prices on any items, nor will we. Our prices always reflect the costs at the time we stocked them, we never raise prices on existing stock. This means that some of the silver is actually quite a bargain at the moment, so make sure to take the time to compare our prices with anyone else, we're sure you'll see what we mean.

New beads are in both the Etsy, ArtFire and Tillerman Beads online shop, make sure to check out the bead sets. All of the stock will be with us at the bead fair in York, as usual. See you there!

Waving but not drowning

It's definitely been an up-and-down sort of week, but we're getting there slowly. Mike's made more beads and they're in the shop! Some 'Fitz' beads, some bead sets and also some focals. We're not going to the London Bead Fair due to all the problems with the 'flu this winter, Mike's not up to the trip (poor thing!) Good news, though, as it means more time to make beads.

Blue Monday?

Blue Monday? Don't think so. The back of winter has been broken and although February seems to be miles away, it's just around the corner and after that comes spring! Mike's back in the studio again today, although he's not as happy as possible because he's still got a chesty cough and isn't feeling up to par. Still, can't keep a good man down, he's torching away because it's better than going home and having a nice lie-down in a comfy bed. Men! At least it means beads. And more beads, which will be nice for a change.

Sometimes....

.... the only way I can tell what day it is lately is to see how much of the Cadbury's advent calendar we've eaten so far. The worst part now is the fact that we're almost out of chocolate, but the good part is that Christmas is just a few pieces of chocolate away. It's also almost the shortest day of the year! How do we cope with that? By having another giveaway. So, if you read the blog, then you know that on the 21st we'll be sending out a random email to one of our customers/newsletter subscribers/students (see? plenty of ways to be eligible for this one!) with the happy news that they've won something special. With luck it will help brighten someone's day, even if it is the shortest day of the year.

Brrrr..........

Still cold, but with luck Mike will get to make more beads. We've decided to do something slightly different and give the lucky winner of the drawing their choice of colours for the set of 5 beads instead, as we realized that some people prefer a particular colour combination or don't like bumpy beads, or they do like bumpy beads. We want the winner to really love their beads so the best thing is to give them a choice of colour and surface. Can't say fairer than that.....

Don't forget, the drawing is on Tuesday, the 16th. We've decided to extend it by a day just because.

2009! How did that happen?

It's been so good to have some time off, we've all had the lurgy in one form or another over the holidays but today seems to be the first day where we've felt well enough to simply get on with things. Mike's down in the studio, playing with glass and we're trying to get the momentum going again to get things listed. It's still a few weeks till our first bead fair of the year, it's nice to know we're not having to rush like very mad things to get ready.

It's a good feeling.

Ping goes the glass!

It's been blisteringly cold up here, which has slowed Mike down considerably as it's not as easy to work when it's so cold the glass shatters more than it melts, even in a heated studio. The 'giveaway' beads are in the kiln, photos will be up asap, and the specials keep on coming. Check regularly for what's on special and don't forget to sign up for the newsletter to be eligible for the giveaway.

Advent Calendars and chocolate

Advent calendars abound at the TillerBoat, chocolate rushes at 6am with the First Mate and later today, the first of the fabulous Lego Advent calendars will be opened. I toyed with the idea of a beady Advent calendar, a bead a day but it seemed like just so much work that it's been relegated to Good Idea But Not Practical.

So, have you seen the newest 'Thank You' specials? We've had a special on bead sets, and on the 'Fitz' beads, and on focals. Who knows what we'll dream up next? And, don't forget. Sign up for the newsletter here in the shop by the 15th of December to be eligible for the beady giveaway, names will be drawn from the list of subscribers. No purchase necessary.

So.....

Every day something new. Today it's getting the shop settled in, and making all the bits talk to each other, including the payment systems. PayPal seems to be working, WorldPay is getting there and of course, cheque and postal order works, as it doesn't require any sort of technical trickery to get it running.

Still... what do you think? A bit thin on beads at the moment but getting there. And some of Mike's new beads are worth the wait!

Feeling better than before

... which in a way isn't saying a lot because we've been down with the holiday lurgy in one form or another since November. It's worrying because whatever strain of virus this is seems to not go away unless you wait it out and really, really, REALLY fight it with lots of fluids, vitamins and a sheer determination to not let it get the best of you.

Mike's been down with it off and on for a month now, which means his beadmaking has slowed down too as some days he simply couldn't get out to the studio and torch. It's a bit scary sometimes when it's your income to know how fragile the balance between income and eating beans three times a week is. Fortunately for us, we keep the balance on the right side, and when Mike is in the studio he's very focused and concentrates on beadmaking. So, things don't get too far behind.

He's also had several contacts with various archaeology/museum departments who have been very interested in his historic beads, which has been great as the time and research we've put into the beads is really paying off now. It's not the easiest market of course, because you need to know the subject in depth as you get some very intense discussions about bead construction. But, it's going well and all the people who have received beads from Mike have been extremely positive.

Yaaay.

It's been raining like mad for the last month or so, in between bouts of freezing weather, which means the ground is saturated and the water runs off everywhere, including the street at the bottom of the hill we live on. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, it's just plain strange to sit in a boat halfway up a hill and watch the road down below flooded and cars stranded.

Isn't life odd and interesting?

Hey ho, where have we been?

In the summer we did have a trip to London, but we didn’t get a single peek at the Queen, instead we followed her to Windsor, where she spent time in the castle and we watched from the opposite hill at LegoLand. Who knew we travelled in such exalted circles?

Anyway, here we are again, posting at irregular, infrequent and random times that resemble the train timetables far too closely.

Mike’s been busy, we’ve been to many fairs, teaching takes up a lot of his time too. He’s been invited to demonstrate his skills at beadmaking at the first UK Flame-Off this April. Should be fun! Lots of beadmaking talent there, and of course, a bead fair too.

It’s been fascinating over the past few years watching beadmaking grow by leaps and bounds. People who weren’t even making beads are now becoming very talented artists on their own, and some have moved to teaching their skills to others. It’s all good, really, the more people who make their own beads, the less the bead-buying people have to rely on *ick, ptui* cheap imported lampwork. But the best part is that the bead buyers over the past few years have said more and more that they’re learning the fine art of determining how good a bead is, and knowing what to look for in a handmade bead is vitally important.

I’d repeat the most valuable bit of advice that I’ve ever heard, from Kandice Seeber. Never sell anything but your best work.

Cheers, and best wishes from the TillerPeeps for happy holidays and a wonderful new year.

Back from Ireland and what beads!!!

Mike's back from Ireland and has finally had a chance to put all the beads he made during the course into one heap. And what a heap!

When interviewed by his son, Mr Poole said 'It was like a religious experience for me, making beads at that level. I've learned more in a week than I'd learned in the past year.'

Mrs. Poole declined to comment, she simply offered him more tea... oh go on! You will, just a cup, go on.. go on... go on!!!!!!!!!

Happy happy, joy joy

...ok, not everyone watched Ren and Stimpy but it does sum up Mike's experiences so far in Ireland. He's been so full of enthusiasm, and praise for the way Michael Barley has taught the course and the amount he's learned in such a short space of time. And apparently he'll even have beads to bring home and show me. And of course, when I see them I'll get pictures and show everyone else.

The location for the bead course in Ireland is by all accounts wonderful, and the organization of it all has been excellent. We're considering sending him off again in July for another course but it has to be discussed in depth before any decision is made. By that I mean, it will take me a few days to convince him that he should go.

It's the best news we've had in a long time, the amount of excitement that Mike's shown with the beadmaking course. I'd pay a lot more to have him this inspired again.

-Su

Phew! New computer woes!!!

It was a lovely summer, we went to Cornwall and came back to the news that the computer we'd ordered from Tiny.com would never arrive as they'd charged our credit card for it the day they announced they were going into receivership! Nice. Thanks. Then we tried to order from Dell. I won't go into that exciting roller-coaster ride, except to announce that during the process the laptop decided that suicide was better than redundancy and we ended up with no Dell computer and a dead laptop!

Enter Mesh Computers. And we're back!

There's a new online shop now, which is proving to be as amusing as being reincarnated as a money who hasn't figured out how to get his hand out of a monkey-trap but it's getting better slowly. At least the photos match the bead sets, and that does go a long way when you're trying to run a business. It was that or just put everything up in a 'grab bag' and ship what we liked. Fun for us but maybe not good business practice.

Mike's away for the week to Ireland taking a course with Michael Barley. When he returns, I'll lock him in the shed for a week and see what he makes. I've re-done the shed door while he's gone, so I can slide food trays through much easier than before. He apparently kept spilling the tomato soup, the poor thing!

More news and more regular blogging as I get used to the keyboard and recover my passwords.

Thanks for stopping by.

-Su

A new blog for the beading community

This is the first post in the blog, which has been set up today to offer a few thoughts and possibly an insight or two into why lampwork has become part of our lives.

Thanks for looking, and stay tuned as we work on getting used to the concept of blogging about making beads.

-Mike and Su