Friday Friends - Local Makers - Nazzy Beads

Hello readers - Happy Friday to you all. You may (or may not have) noticed the absence of a weekend blog post last Sunday. Maddabling had a little vacation and was a tad preoccupied road tripping. Never mind, I am entitled to miss one here and there *wink* 

This week it is my great pleasure to introduce you all to Naomi of Nazzy Beads. Naomi is a local maker and a dear friend of mine. 

I am a really really big fan of her work. We have given the gift of Nazzy Beads glass home wares on several occasions now; with the items of choice being a cheese board and beaded cheese cutlery set, a custom lamp work bead cake server set as a wedding gift and two bottle serving trays! Let me share some picks from Naomi's Madeit store now so you can see what I am on about.  

This is one of the fab Beaded Cake Server sets currently available - LOVE ♥ ! 

For a statement piece, you can't go past the vibrant colours of the handmade and melted Moretti glass necklace, this one is in Orange and Sky Blue - I really must get one of these, I do love the colour combination. 

And this is one of the gorgeous Beaded Cheese Cutlery Sets I mentioned earlier, it is just so delicious! 

Readers, I now invite you to put up your feet and read the inspirational creative story that is "Through the Nazzy Beads Looking Glass". Have a fabulous weekend xx

Through the Nazzy Beads Looking Glass

Hello readers, I'm Naomi, the face behind Nazzy Beads. From collecting antique glass from the age of 13, I have always loved glass over any medium. After trying many hobbies, nothing ever took my interest any further than trying it once. Then 3 yrs ago I was taught the art of Lamp working Moretti soft glass, well I was hooked!  

 The many designs,styles,patterns that you can make with glass, some designs that you can never ever recreate, the way glass moves,chemical reactions, the many other mediums that you can add and the absolute endless possibilities, opening up my eyes to the new and fascinating world of glass.

I've had great joy making Lamp work glass beads, modern jewellery,  beaded home wares such as cutlery, cake sets, salad servers, children's spoons and the ever popular cheese sets etc. Getting great joy of live melting demonstrations at art shows and festivals.

But my passion for glass grew, after looking at Antiqued glass I had collected, I toyed with the idea of going bigger, to recreate glass pieces such as platters and Vases that I'd collected, experimenting with another level of glass. 

Always having a passion for the large pieces of glass at art galleries and securing a few small pieces that Ive been able to purchase, I'd always admired the artists that created these beautiful pieces, never even considering that it would be something I could achieve,even in my wildest dreams! 

Well, guess what, with my beautiful partners encouragement, I took the extra step, with the purchase of another, much larger kiln, I have now ventured into Slumping and Fusing of glass; already knowing how glasses work together, I have taken to it like a duck to water.

My inspiration is constantly changing and quite vast, my latest inspirations are landscapes  the colours of spring , bright and bold jewellery. I also have great fun with recycling glass, such as window glass, and wine bottles. Using many mediums such as powdered & crushed glass, copper,silver,gold,granite and wood to name a few. Also incorporating the 2 styles of glass work-lamp working, slumping and fusing. I love being quite diversified with my work.

I do get super excited when I see someone wearing my jewellery out and about, or going to someones home and their using my home wares, that's probably my greatest joy, people enjoying my passion. 

I have many things in the pipeline, many ideas, but so little time to put them to fruition. It would be a dream of mine to be a glass  artisan as my full time career, there is nothing better than making a career out of your passion.

If you have any enquiries please do not hesitate to email me at:

nazzy.bead(at)westnet.com.au

Where can you see or purchase Nazzy Items? Check below: 

Find me on Facebook here: 

www.facebook.com/pages/nazzybeads

and buy lovely things online at Madeit here: 

www.madeit.com.au

You can view my items in person at the following locations: 

The Vancouver Cafe + Store, Vancouver St, Albany, WA, 6330

The Denmark Visitor Centre, Denmark WA, 6330

and in person at the following markets: 

The Ivy Street Fair Sat 29th March 2014, 11am-5pm

Denmark Arts Festival in Denmark (during Easter) 19th April 2014

Vancouver Art Street Festival in Albany on the 3rd May 2014

Friday Friends - Local Artists - Nazzy Beads

Happy Friday Maddabling readers. How was your week? I managed to remove the weeds strangling our vege patch and planted out some garlic, rainbow chard and beetroot, still deciding on what else we should put in - any ideas? 

This week it is my pleasure to introduce a new Friday Friend, local maker and totally talented artisan, meet Naomi of Nazzy Beads. Naomi crafts wonderful things from soft glass called Italian Moretti Glass. Gorgeous gorgeous things in fact. I have seen Naomi at work and was fascinated by what she was creating with a Gas Hothead to melt and mould the Italian Moretti Glass.

I caught up with Naomi at a local market this week for a chat and want to share a couple of photos I snapped :) I tried to capture the colours and beautiful bead shapes - aren't these stunning?

I also want to entice you with you some of the things I found while snooping around Nazzy Beads photo albums. I simply adore the colours in this bracelet, reminds me of the coast and red red dirt of Broome and surrounds,  

and I love these beautiful entertaining ideas, an elegant cheeseboard set 

and this stainless steel bowls and utensils set, perfect for olives, fetta, dips. 

I will now hand you over to Naomi to tell you all the goss on Nazzy Beads, a  little Nazzy Beads Natter. Be kind to one another and have a fantastic weekend xo 

Nazzy Beads Natter

Hi, I'm Naomi of Nazzy Beads. Nazzy Beads specialises in Fine Handcrafted Italian Moretti Glass Beads and is West Australian Made and Owned. I’ve always been interested in most art forms and genres, and working with my hands, which has included Hairdressing, painting, mosaic, but my heart has always belonged to glass, I started collecting slumped and blown antique glass from an early age. 

Then being taught the art of lampworking Italian Moretti Glass as a hobby in 2010 opened up my eyes to a new and fascinating world of glass. Friends and family took great interest, which in turn has turned it into an enjoyable career.  

I am very passionate about glass, vast array of glass colours, endless ways you can manipulate glass and glass combinations that sometimes bring the most amazing results which you may never be able to recreate!

Travelling around WA for the last 12yrs, moving from the city to the country, from the Great Southern to the out skirts of the WA Desert, My heart always belonged to the country life. Now settling and residing back into the Great Southern, I’m proud to call myself a Local Artisan of Albany.

I get great joy out of my live melting at shows, markets and festivals, showing the public how the glass starts from a rod of glass to the bead. Wanting to expand my repertoire and experiment with other elements and different glass, 

I’ve purchased a large kiln for slumping and fusing large pieces of glass. Allowing me to make large bowls, platters, vases and other art glass pieces, which I am very excited about. SO WATCH THIS SPACE…

Dear readers, do you want to see more? Here is how you can connect: 

Become a follower on facebook here: 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nazzy-Beads/269670509736812

Buy lovely things here: 

A range of Cutlery is available for purchase at the Albany Visitor Centre and 

a range of Jewellery and Cutlery are available to purchase at the  

Denmark Visitor Centre. 

Good Fortune, Soulfood Soup, Saturday Outing and Handmade Goodness

Happy Sunday readers. I have so much I want to share with you today. A summary would be Good Fortune, Soulfood Soup, a Saturday Outing and Handmade Goodness. Do I have you intrigued? Read on :)

Good Fortune

I recently put my haiku writing skills to work in a gorgeous 1000 Likers Giveaway hosted by Fruzsi Kenez of Peach Patrol. Fruzsi asked: "If you write a little poem/haiku/rhyme about someone in the picture your like counts for TRIPLE!" I got my creative thinking cap on, I love the challenge of a haiku. 

"Haiku poems date from 9th century Japan to the present day. Haiku is more than a type of poem; it is a way of looking at the physical world and seeing something deeper, like the very nature of existence. A haiku poem consists of three lines, with the first and last line having 5 moras, and the middle line having 7. A mora is a sound unit, much like a syllable, but is not identical to it. Since the moras do not translate well into English, it has been adapted and syllables are used as moras."

source : http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-haiku-poems.html 

I looked at the strange friends in the picture, and my focus was drawn to Lulu, I Keep My Antlers Warm. I read Lulu's story and wrote this haiku: 

Nimble fingers knit

a kaleidoscope of warmth

happy Lulu smiles.

Fruzsi loved it! "Congratulations Samara, your prose brought a big smile to my face and completely encapsulated the energy of I Keep My Antlers Warm." 

I received this gorgeous package in the mail from Fruzsi and feel so very blessed! Thank you so very much Fruzsi - readers, don't forget to stop by her facebook page to say hello!  

Speaking of good fortune, I recently featured sweet Debbie of The Smile Emporium who sent me a lovely thank you gift - aren't these peacock earrings and hair pins beautiful? Thank you so much Debbie, they certainly brought a smile to my face :) You should also stop by Debbie's facebook page to say hello!

Soulfood Soup

Coming into the cooler weather, I find it's time to dig out the cookbooks or enlist online searches for soup recipes. I made this one on Friday night, simply delicious! 

French Onion Soup 

(source: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/12576/french+onion+soup) 

Ingredients

80g butter

4 large brown onions, sliced crossways into rings

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp plain flour

1.5L (6 cups) beef stock

125ml (1/2 cup) dry red wine

1 bouquet garni sachet 

Salt + freshly ground black pepper

1 30cm baguette (French stick), cut crossways into 12 slices

55g (1 cup) finely shredded gruyere cheese

Method:

Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until the onions are soft and light golden. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until flour bubbles and comes away from the side of the pan. Add the stock, wine and bouquet garni. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until soup thickens slightly. Remove bouquet garni. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat grill on high. Place baguette slices on a baking tray. Place under preheated grill (about 5cm away from the heat source) and cook for 2 minutes each side or until light golden. Remove from grill and sprinkle each slice evenly with the cheese. Place under grill and cook for a further 2 minutes or until the cheese melts.

To serve, ladle soup into serving bowls and top with the baguette 

Saturday Outing and Handmade Goodness

There is a fab little facebook page called Stuff To Do In Albany. This page is full of information about what is going on in Albany town. I found two things to combine into a wonderful Saturday Art inspired outing with my dear friend Del of DEL-icious Designz.  

Firstly we visited the amazing free exhibition at the Albany Museum - Line of Sight by Broome photographer Peter Strain. The exhibition is definitely worth a look and runs from Sat 4 May 2013 – Sun 23 Jun 2013, 10:00am – 4:30pm. "Line of Sight is an exhibition of photography and nature pictures by Broome photographer Peter Strain. It features extraordinary close-up photography of tiny creatures from Australia’s rugged and remote Kimberley region, from Broome to Darwin" Here is a peek at what we saw.

In case you are wondering what that big glass thing in the background is, I can tell you that it is the "Eclipse Island Optic consisting of three glass lenses, each three metres high. The optic rotates silently on its bed of mercury and lights up the building." source:http://museum.wa.gov.au/museums/albany/whats-on

I found a short history lesson for you dear readers, through some selected text, on the Eclipse Island Lighthouse. "Eclipse Island Lighthouse was built in 1926 on Eclipse Island off the south coast of Western Australia. It was built as a cylindrical tower made of concrete. Initially it was a manned station using kerosene as lantern fuel in combination with a first order Fresnel lens. In 1976 the lantern was completely removed though and the optic was put on display at the Western Australian Museum. Today the light is emitted from atop a mast on the lighthouse's concrete trunk. The characteristic is a group of three flashes every twelve seconds from a focal plane at 117 metres (384 ft) above sea level."  

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_Island_Lighthouse

We then meandered on to the Vancouver Arts Centre for the Annual Mother's Day Market. Maddabling and DEL-icious Designz were both visitors rather than stall holders this year. There was a lot to see, and we were inadvertently snapped by Stuff To Do In Albany, while we browsing the fine handcrafted Italian Glass Bead creations on display at the Nazzy Beads stall. It's kind of amusing that we were in the photo as we had earlier joked about Photo Bombing you see! We also had the pleasure of watching Naomi of Nazzy Beads creating glassy goodness right there at her stall. If you want to see for yourself, you can find more on the Nazzy Beads Facebook Page. 

photo courtesy of http://www.facebook.com/StuffToDoInAlbany

We stopped by the This Paper Cut Life stall and had a chat with Sue Codee. Maddabling couldn't help but buy herself a new brooch, the "Levelling Brooch" to be precise. Isn't it just divine? You can find more of This Paper Cut Life by Sue Codee on her facebook page.  

It was really good to catch up with several of the regular stall holders for a chat, the special folk who become friends (you know who you are ladies) as they do in a small creative community and I hope each one had a very successful market. So readers, that wraps up the Good Fortune, Soulfood Soup, Saturday Outing and Handmade Goodness blog post. See you all on Wednesday for a new Wednesday Wishes x