DTLL is a place to find unique high end products for all bodies in your life as well as your home. And being invite only, you really only find cool niche things on every page. I’ve already had a look around the site and am quite impressed with how well curated DTLL is.

My little shop has a few of my usual pastel pieces and some new ones too. I have been having fun mixing up the colours on a necklace to create some really unique pieces. And I will be adding more pieces over the coming weeks as Christmas is not too far off. Some old favourites and some new things too. So there you have it – all my good news.

Here are photos of my latest necklaces. You can find them and more on DTLL. Enjoy.

I’ve done a couple of silver smithing classes over the last year and a half with Matt Dwyer of Fio Contemporary, learning new skills and new materials to use with my glass.  The classes have been great and easy for me to do after hours now that I have a little bubby.  And Matt has been uber patient and really helpful breaking down projects to manageable steps.  He has loads of tools in his workshop which is awesome for getting things done quickly.

Ok, back to the jewellery.  The first is a simple ring with one of my scale beads sitting in a bowl.  I tried to follow the lines of the bead and shape the ring and nut on the top to match.  It’s a bit top heavy but it looks lovely so I don’t mind.  The choice of bead really couldn’t be anything but top heavy, I guess.  And I think silver just looks lovely with glass and gives it a different look to my casual leather necklaces.  I’d like to eventually make different types of rings with different shaped beads on them – practising all different types of settings.

The second piece is a focal bead sitting on a pendant. The bead is held on really snug but does move a little bit with a little bit of force.  But it wouldn’t move when wearing it which is fine.  I’m really happy with this one too and I’d like to make more of these pendants.  And I love the pattern on this bead so I’m going to make more beads with it but in different shapes. Pictures to come.

I think the ring was the hardest to do but it was the first piece I made so it was a lot of different concepts to learn.  By the time I got to the second piece it was a lot faster.  Actually, the pendant was supposed to be a 3 hour project that Matt gets us to do in class.  It’s a great idea and really forces you to move quickly and finish it in the 3 hours.  Though it took longer than 3 hours, most of it did get made in that time.  I’m sure as I make more of them I can get the time down.  All I need are some tools! 

Well, the first good thing was I got onto the front page of Etsy.  If you don’t know Etsy so well, getting a picture of one of your handmade goodies onto the front page of Etsy.com is a big thing – a really big thing.  All Etsians aspire to this.  And I achieved that goal one day a couple of weeks ago.  To be exact it was Oct 7th, 1am.  I wasn’t actually awake when this happened but I do have proof it happened.   My pretty blue necklace is there – yes!

I’ll leave you now with a picture of some beads in colours I’ve been playing around with lately.  Blues, greens and nudes – just lovely soft colours.

And if things go quiet around here then you’ll know why. But it shouldn’t get too quiet, I was making quite a bit of stuff since I wasn’t working at my day job the last few months. And I have to say, my third trimester gave me the most creative ideas I’ve ever had.

Forgot to say: By the way, the quilt in the background was made by my sister from Quilting Fairy. It took her about 3 days to make it and she blogged about it while doing so. She gave me some fabrics to choose from and she did the rest!

In Kyoto, there is a glass and tool supplier here called A3 International.  Clicking on “English Click Here” on their site, then on “Glass Studio Ark” takes you to their map and directions in English.  Their shop is located on the western side of the city and looked easy enough to get to by train or subway.  I didn’t have time to get to this place but next time I’ll visit as their shop looks like it has a great selection of glass supplies.

Also, I found a Kaleidoscope Museum near where we were staying.  It was closed the day I walked passed it so I just took a photo from outside and of a couple of posters that were there.  I’ll go there next time I’m in Kyoto.

An hour by bullet and local trains from Kyoto is an interesting community arts town called Nagahama.  It’s positioned next to Lake Biwa, a large fresh water lake north-east of Kyoto.  The local people and businesses decided to turn the town into a glass and arts community  in the ’80s when tourism to their town was dying.  This has increased tourism and I can see why.  If you love glass, studio glass, stained glass windows, glass beads, glass objects, glass Art Deco objects, etched glass, it is all here in this little place.  This would have to have been the star of my trip, hence the  big post.

Nagahama has a massive array of glass activities and sights to see.  We were staying in Kyoto and would travel the one hour to get here, but I would recommend staying here for a night or two so that you can get to see everything without having to spend 2 hours on the train each visit.  There really is so much to see here.  Not only for glass, but for temples, shops, antiques gallery and figurine museum.  And a warning, this is a long post so get comfy.

In the centre of town, and on the main street of Nagahama,  is the historical building of Kurokabe Square.  This two level, western-style building was built in the 1900′s and used to be a bank.  It was painted black, and received the name “Kurokabe-ginkou” which means “black wall bank”.  This building was restored by the towns people turning it into a glass shop spread out over the two levels.  Downstairs is more modern and current works and trinkets and upstairs is larger beautiful modern works from glass artists around the world, from Japan to Czech Republic to Murano, all for sale.

Behind Kurokabe Square building is Studio Kurokabe. This is a glass gallery and hot shop filled with works from the local artisans made in the hot shop.  The back wall of the gallery is all glass so you can view the artisans working in their hot shop studio.

The Kurokabe Museum of Glass Art – this museum is situated in a renovated merchant house from the Edo Period (1600 – 1868) which is interesting to see as well as the collection of Bohemian glassware and other pieces from around the world.  The garden is quite a beautiful surprise when you see it.  I have a photo of it as it was quite spectacular, I thought, and the last thing I expected on the grounds.  But I won’t post the photo as I will leave it as a surprise for those who go there.

Sunrise KOKO is the lampworking studio of artist Akiro Katoh.  This tiny, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, shop is located on the main street of Nagahama just where the street is covered to protect from the rain.  Akiro Katoh has appeared in Japanese contemporary glass bead making books and the Japanese lampworking magazine, Lammaga.  Judging by his website, www.kosaisya.jp, there is a second shop in Nagahama, but I’m not certain as I didn’t see it.  The shop I did visit is tiny but crammed pack with his beads.  On his back wall are his more expensive and elaborate beads, along with works from other foreign glass artists that he is selling.  I managed to get a photo of a Dan Adams and Celia Toops necklace!  OMG, Celia’s glass mosaic work is really amazing!  The necklace was so expensive, something like $2000 Australian dollars, way out of my price range but at least I got to see it up close.  I would love to do a class with Dan and Celia one day.

The Narita Glass Museum (or Musee Narita as it’s sometimes called in brochures)  is a private museum just 10 minutes walk from the main street.  This museum houses about 50 works of the French glass artist René Lalique, all part of 70 pieces collected by one lady who lives in Nagahama.  Lalique made and designed exquisite jewellery during the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods.  Jewellery was not his only work though and this museum shows his glass vases, sculptures and hood ornaments.  A very impressive collection and I highly recommend it to glass lovers.

Now for the best part of my trip.  The Kurokabe Glass Making  School gives hands-on glass “experiences” to visitors for a reasonable fee.  On my first visit here I booked into a glass sandblasting experience here.  I met a gentleman, Tadayoshi Okuta, who is a glass fuser.  We had a great conversation about glass art in our respective countries and then he invited me to his studio across the street!  This was a great experience, and Tadayoshi  and I chatted for quite awhile.  He showed me some of his work and what was cooking in his kilns.  Some beautiful work as well as some cute little glass animals.

The next visit to this town I booked into the glass blowing “experience”.  These experiences don’t run everyday so it’s best to plan ahead, visit the town’s main website Kurokabe.co.jp , translate it to English so you can plan the days you go.  And also maybe get your hotel to book you a spot.  And I should explain what “experience” means.  These are not glass classes or workshops where you are paying to learn about the craft. It’s just a brief experience where you just get to interact with the glass and the tools.  It’s still great though and a good price I think.  I had a look at the Kurokabe website above and there does seem to be some more in-depth glass classes availabe.

My glass blowing experience was really good and I loved it.  The lovely girl who works at the reception, Miyako, really helped me and the glass blowing staff to communicate during the experience which I’m really thankful for.  Anyways, I got to make a bowl made that I had to go back two days later to pick up.  There is a possibility to have them post it to you,  I think.

I also visited the Kaiyodo Figure Museum, also on the main street of Nagahama.  Kaiyodo is a company that started out making little figurines that you used to find in breakfast cereal boxes.  This museum shows where they started and all the pieces they’ve made since then, even a dinosaur that they created for the Jurassic Park movie.  They have displayed a lot of their figurines in dioramas which looks like to be an impressive amount of work but a lot of fun to see.  And then there is their shop…oh dear, some really cool collectable are available here!

We ate our lunch at a little restaurant next door to the Figure Museum (to the right when facing the museum).  This lady does an awesome pork and noodle soup that we ate each visit.  And coffee!  It wasn’t espresso but it was lovely tasting filter.  A little happy surprise for me in this restaurant were two cabinets filled with handmade glass beads!  I found out that the restaurant’s owners’ husband is the lampwork experience teacher back at the Kurokabe Glass Making School.  I only know his business name as “Glassbeads Kaka” and his website URL.  Next time I’m in Nagahama, I will do the lampwork experience class so that I can meet him and actually experience Japanese glass bead making!

Other glass things to see in Nagahama that I can think of: Stained Glass Studio and Shop – they have classes here too; the Rattenbery Engraving shop; the giant kaleidoscope!  Yes, Nagahama has a giant working kaleidoscope!

This post is quite long but I did warn you at the start that there was a lot to see in this one town, and there is a lot more – a train museum, a roman beer museum, a folk history museum, a castle.  And this town used to have a gourd industry, a silk industry and they also have ceramic studio where you can attend classes!  And the one amazing thing about Nagahama was that I didn’t even know about this place until my partner accidentally found it in the Lonely Planet guide book!  We visited Nagahama the very next day.  And then continued to visit is two more times over 4 days!  Kyoto really didn’t compare with this place for us.

Other ways to get into glass while in Japan:

* Go to a kimono shop and look for the beads that are used on kimono belts.  you can find some exquisite examples of Japanese designs in glass here.

* Otaru, a town in the far north of Japan that has a small glass blowing industry

* Hakone, a town more known for its hot spring, but it’s really pretty and has a cable that you can see Mr Fuji on a good day.  Gora park has a glass hot shop.  You can do a bit of hands on and make a cup for about $40, but you have to make sure you can pick up your masterpiece the following day.  (From Nancy)

If you know of any other glass places in Japan, please put in a comment and I’ll add it to the post.  Hopefully this will be a useful resource for glass bead makers who are wanting to travel to Japan.

More photos on Flickr

Here, the gentleman that owns it, has created a museum, shop, workshop experience area, jewellery making and a small library. He must be a very busy man as he also publishes the glass Tonbo Dama books and Lammaga magazines, along with running his museum and organising glass events. He’s done a great job and it shows as it seems quite popular with the local tourist market. He has an impressive collection of beads and glass from artists from all over the world as well as Japan. This place is worth going to if you are a bead maker or are just someone who loves glass beads. You can also have a play with glass while you are there. It’s called an “experience” which is just 15 or 30 minutes of play time with melting glass on a Japanese torch. I think you can make a couple of beads in that time under supervision of one of the staff.

If you know of any other glass places in Japan, please put in a comment and I’ll add it to the post. Hopefully this will be a useful resource for glass bead makers who are wanting to travel to Japan.

One more post to go…

More photos of Kobe on Flickr (Yes, there is another picture of a giant robot. It has nothing to do with glass but it’s still impressive and a lot of fun to go see.)

I’ve split these posts up as it was too long as one post.  Hopefully it makes it easier for people using it as a guide.

First up, Tokyo.  All I had for Tokyo was an address to a shop called Kinari in Asakusabashi suburb.  Translating this page and then finding it on the Tokyo JR (Japan Rail) map was easy.  I used Google Maps to get a bigger map and compared it to the one on the website.  It’s only a short walk from the station passing a few interesting shops along the way.  The first floor of the Kinari Asakusabashi is beads and findings for sale.  These beads are made by Japanese artists.  The second floor is where I spent most of my time – lampwork books, magazines, tools and glass rods are all here.  The third floor is their workshop for classes and the fourth floor is big equipment sales (I think) – I didn’t make it up to the 2 top floors.  I bought some different shaped mandrels – rectangular, half-moon and a flattened blow tube – and a lot of Japanese glass magazines and books.

They also stocked Glass Alchemy boroscillicate glass rods, an American glass brand, and their own glass that they make called Kinari glass.  This is a soft Japanese glass which I would think is similar to Satake.  They have a lead series and a lead-free series.  There were some really beautiful shades of colours but I didn’t buy any.  Too heavy and I already had bought tonnes of mags and books!

I’m sure there’s a lot more glass stuff in Tokyo but I hadn’t done a lot of research by this stage.  I wish I found this website on Japanese glass artists, galleries and museums a lot earlier!

If you know of any other glass places in Japan, please put in a comment and I’ll add it to the post.  Hopefully this will be a useful resource for glass bead makers who are wanting to travel to Japan.

More photos for Tokyo on Flickr

And yes, the Japan post is coming! I promise