Ooops!! I forgot to blog...AGAIN!

Well it's been a couple of months since I blogged...yet again! I'm not very good at keeping up with this so please accept my apologies if you've been stopping by expecting new and exciting things.

As promised in my last post, here is my news from the 2010 Flame Off (well, better late than never).
Day 1 - 9am I was picked up somewhere along the A5 by my friend Debs of SilverArtz it took us about 50 minutes to arrive at Towcester Racecourse(above) where we met up with Elise another friend of ours from Beadazzled by Elise.

This was the first time I'd been to the Flame Off and as a total bead addict I was open mouthed as I walked through the doors to be surrounded by gorgeous artisan lampwork beads, they were everywhere!! God, was my purse gonna get a bashing...

After a much needed coffee, we headed out into the marquee where there were work benches set up with different types of lampworking torches, glass rods and all the things you needed to make a bead. Now it was time to 'hog' a torch and have a go!!
This is Debs(right) giving me my very first lesson on how to make a bead...and Elise's first play on a torch (left).





...and here is my first ever bead...made by my own fair hands!! I was pretty chuffed with it as well.
It was a really busy first day with lots of demo's to see including Sabine Little's fantastic rose demo. There were also lots of beads to buy with stalls from Sarah Bedwell of Flame Force Five, Sabine Little of Little Castle Designs and Kate Sullivan of Sublime Beads to name but a few.

Day one was finished nicely with a meal in a chinese restaurant where we met up with Sooz and a few others from the Bead Buddies forum before heading back to the Travel Lodge for a good nights kip ready to do it all again on day 2...

Day 2 - The highlight of day two for me was watching Lorna Prime of Pixie Willow Designs demo. Lorna's work is amazing and to see her make one of her trademark beads has made me appreciate her work even more. I even ended up with one of her practise beads much to the envy of my friends, which is staying firmly in my stash!!

I spent most of day two on the torches and made lots of beads, I completely lost myself in the flame for 2 hours at one point. My stash of lampwork beads that I made during the two days(right)

I thoroughly enjoyed the 2010 Flame Off and can't wait to go again next year!! I'd recommend it to anyone who is thinking of starting out in the lampworking field, lampworking is an expensive hobby to start out. You need specialist tools and equipment and the Flame Off is the ideal opportunity to 'try before you buy'