More dottiness and some new tools

Remember the green and lavender bead from the last post? well, it turned out like this. I really love that mossy, slightly yellow green against the lavender colour. Definite springtime vibes.

I'm still making big hole dotty beads.

I think some of them are a bit too large for bracelet charms but they will work nicely just strung on a chain, and of course jewellery makers can turn them into pendants. One of my favourite pendants is one that I made with an Akihiro Okama big hole tombodama bead. I must photograph it and show you.

But yes, dotty big hole beads. Some of them have so many dots. The one on the left in the photo below has 288 dots in total. That's a lot, right?

Those raised dots are made up of an opaque dot which I flatten with a tool before I add another dot of transparent glass. I've always flattened my dots with the paddle of one of those pairs of tiny tweezer mashers that I've had in my tool arsenal forever. Thing is, even though the mashing paddle area is only about 7mm x 10mm, this is a tad too big when you're working as small as I do and sometimes I can't flatten one dot without the paddle accidentally touching another dot. For as long as I've been lampworking I've always intended to buy a set of stainless steel sculpting tools and this week I finally got round to it.

They look a bit scary and surgical, don't they? Some of them have pretty sharp blade parts which will be very useful for making indentations.

There's a good selection of poker-prodders and some lovely ones that end in a tiny paddle shape about 3mm to 4mm wide which is just what I needed to flatten my dots.

That one that's second from the left in the photo below will also double up as a tiny spoon for eating tiny puddings, so that's handy. 

I bought the set of tools from Amazon for £15.99. Happy with that. The tools are really high quality and they come in a lovely little case.

In crochet news I've completed all 144 squares of my Aria Blanket and I'm now working on the border.

I was feeling quite sad about nearing completion of the blanket as it has been an utter joy to work on but my sister fell in love with it when I posted it on my Instagram stories, so I offered to make her one. I'm really pleased that I get to crochet all that colour and cosiness all over again. Hurrah!

Don't forget the necklace prize draw if you've not entered it already. I'll be drawing a winner tomorrow night so head on over to throw your name into the hat.