Welcome!

Welcome to Pamela Offret Designs! 

I am a local artist offering hand felted hats, handmade lampworked glass jewelry, copper electroformed accessories, unique costumes pieces and other delightful accouterments. Come on by and explore unusual adornments that collaborate with YOUR remarkable expression!

Felting I hand felt mushroom, animal ears and witch hats using wet felting and needle felting techniques that involve alpaca and sheeps wool fibers, soapy water and a lot of elbow grease. Then I use heat, some stiffener and hat blocks to sculpt the felt into fantastic hats! Some hats even feature embedded lampwork glass that I make as well.

Lampworking (also known as flamework and torch work) is a type of glass art where a torch is used to melt the glass.  Once in a molten state, the glass object is formed by blowing and shaping manually, with tools and with gravity. 

In my work, I primarily use borosilicate glass which is the same as Pyrex.  Borosilicate is considered a “hard glass” and is less likely to break or shatter.  My recycled glass pendants are made from old bottles and are considered soda lime glass or a “soft glass”.  All my glass pieces are annealed overnight in a digital kiln for even more durability and strength.

Electroforming is a method of fusing layers of copper onto an object using electricity.  The copper “skin” is electrically formed when positively charged copper is released and, moving through an electrolyte bath, attracted to an object given a negative charge.  It is much like plating in metals but done over a longer period of time (23+ hours), creating an organic looking buildup of the metal with unique textures. 

I use recycled copper whenever I can and keep the copper on my finished pieces bare so that it can patina naturally.  Those sensitive to copper can clear coat it to create a barrier between metal and skin.  Copper on delicate substrates (like bees and feathers) are strengthened by the metal but please keep in mind that it can be bent, much like a piece of copper wire.

I think people create fascinating stories and I like to think my trinkets have a special place in them.  I have a BFA in Performance Art Design with an emphasis in Theatrical Costume, which really just means I like to dress interesting characters. I tend to be very flexible in using unordinary materials to make unusual things. What that means is when I get asked questions in a store, it often ends with a confused store clerk.