Yard Clean Up

I have finally recovered from breaking my leg, last January. I am intent on cleaning up the overgrown flowers, and bushes. The front fountain pond, was in such a bad state. Even had frogs moving in. Now that's bad!!! I will not miss the frog concert every night!!! Funny how such a little creature, can be so loud. So here is a before, of the little pond,which was totally grown over,  and now after two weeks of progress!!!I have the fountain running again, and most of the overgrowth removed. More work to be done. Planting Flowers, and all the good stuff. I will try to post pics, as I progress further. Maybe in my own mind, sharing with you is my way, to keep myself motivated.

Humor for Handmade Artists

I just had to post this little bit of humor, on my blog for all to enjoy. I certainly did, when I read it.

A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They'd
Shared everything: they'd talked about everything, they'd kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe
box in the top of her closet that she'd cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of those years he'd never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not
recover.

In trying to sort out their affairs the little old man took down the shoe box and brought it to his wife's bedside.

She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box.
When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000.

He asked her about the contents. 'When we were to be married,' she
said, 'my grandmother told me the secret to a happy marriage was to never argue. 
She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll.'

The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two
times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness.

'Honey,' he said, 'that explains the doll, but what about all of this money?
Where did it come from?'


'Oh,' she said, 'that's the money I made from selling the dolls.'

fire in ice: Fall (color) Diet Pictures

fire in ice: Fall (color) Diet Pictures

I won a Contest.

http://julsbeads.blogspot.com/I was contacted today via email, from Juls. She informed that I had won a contest. WOOPIE!!! I'm excited. Can hardly wait. Now if I could remember what I entered for. Well, I guess surprises are good. Anyway the suspense will be fun. Here is the blog, which I am making reference to.And her name is Julianna Cannon, from Alabama.

Annealing Lampwork Beads

Cooling beads slowly is a must. When purchasing Lampwork beads for your jewerly designs, you should make sure your Lampwork Beads have been correctly annealed. Here is why:

To prevent cracks, beads are cooled in a kiln, where temperatures can be closely regulated. The beadmaker anneals the bead as soon as it comes out of the flame. That means the bead is left to soak up heat in the kiln so that all glass within it is the same temperature.

The soaking temperature is high enough for glass to flow on some molecular level, but not so high that the bead ends up in a puddle on the kiln floor. After annealing, the artist begins to reduce the heat in the kiln, taking several hours to bring the beads to room temperature.

The slow reduction in temperature produces glass beads with fewer stress points, so they're less likely to crack. Very small glass beads are sometimes slowly cooled between layers of insulation. It's not the same as annealing, but the process is usually successful because the small amount of glass in tiny beads cools at a more even rate.

Father's Day Airboats

I just had to share with all of you, what is going on in my neighborhood today. All of the men are out in full force with their airboats. And all of this goes on right out my back door. This is a view I can see from my Glass Studio. Enjoy!!! I do!!

Lampwork Shard Bead

Yesterday I posted a picture of the shards I made. Today I wish to share with you two of the Shard Beads that I made. I love working with Shards, as they create such texture, and each one is a one of a kind bead, that could never be reproduced. So here ya go. Some Shard Eye Candy.

Blowing Shards.

This was the first time, I have tried to make these. The first one did not work. The second one was too thin, and the last two were JUST RIGHT. WAIT! doesn't that sound just like something from the THREE BEARS. :)  Anyway, I tired the first ones, with not much luck, and it resulted in thin, cellephone glass, floating everywhere. I am sure that can not be very good to be breathing around. So I was a little dis-illusioned. But as usual,I don't easily give up. I found this site, by Jennifer Gelhard , she has the most awesome tutorial, on how to blow Glass Shards. Thank you Jennifer. http://www.glassgirl.com/shards.html

Jenelle Aubade-Caracas Tutorials

I was so happy with my lastest purchase from Jenelle Aubade-Caracas. I purchased a tutorial from her on her Etsy site called Radiantmind. http://www.etsy.com/shop/radiantmind  She is totally afforable, and anybody who's looking for new ideas, color combinations, and just easy to follow tutorials, this is the place to shop. Thank you Jenelle. I am so happy with my tutorial, and will be purchasing more. I love the way you explain things. Here is a pic, of a recent bead I made with the Tutorial. I named this one Eye of the Storm. The back of the bead, just might be prettier than the front. Funny how things go like that.

My Reef Series.

I had so much fun with the new technique that I learned. So, I decided to start a Reef Series of beads. The first of the set is Coral Reef, The Second is Sunrise Reef, and the third is Bahama Reef. Bahama Reef, is a green with purpleish reflections. ( Is that a word, purpleish), well, ya know what I mean. OHOH!!! I better not start with the PIRATE talk. All this talk about Reef, could get me started. LOL!!! In the future I plan on having a Dolphin Reef, and others. This has been a lot of fun, for me, and my sales, have increased immensely. WaahOOO!! Right now I have been filling my Etsy shop with Focals. I have had to many requests, that I decided to (get er done). For now, I am going to show you a little eye candy of my 2nd and 3rd set of the Reef Series.

Why do you pay so much for Handmade goods.

http://munkinarts.com/blog/2010/05/12/the-value-of-handmade/

Wavy Beads Encased with Clear/Technique

Lately I have been playing a lot with wavy beads, and encasing with clear. I was having a lot of problems with using my CIM stringer, until Laurie Donnette, gave me a hint. She said, that if you keep the tip out of the flame, and heat above it, then it reduces the about of scumming. She was so right. This hint, has helped me a lot. So here is one of my sets of Wavy beads.Here is the link to Laurie Donnette.
http://www.everafterartistry.com/

Silver Glass Stringer application. Necklace and Bracelet.

This is a full set,necklace and bracelet. The scrolls, and dots are done with a black silver glass. You must have good ventilation when working with glass, that has metal content. One cold day, I tried this without opening the windows very much. It was a big OPPS!, had a headache for the rest of the day.
It's a little chilly today, so instead of making beads, I am messing around on the blog here, and of course, Facebook. Even use twitter once and awhile, although, once I discovered Facebook, I have not spent much time, on My Space, Twitter, etc. Even guilty of not keeping my blog up in a timely fashion. Oh well, such as life. Seems like we just do not have enough hours in a day, once you start getting a little older. So below is the picture of the set I listed on my Etsy site.

Art & Craft Fair at the Moose Lodge.

A few things I have ready for the Art and Craft Fair tomorrow, at the Buckhead Ridge Moose Lodge This Saturday.

Seed Bead Crochet Rope Necklace

A picture of Seed Bead Crochet Spiral Rope, made into a stunninng necklace. This will not be for sale in my Etsy Shop, unless I do not sell it next Saturday at the Art and Craft Fair, at the Buckhead Ridge, Florida Moose Lodge. I really enjoy doing this crochet work, when all the Lampwork Beads are tucked away in the Kiln, waiting for the Kiln Fairy to determine what I will get the next morning. This is very relaxing to do, when you finally learn how to do it. It is not easy at all to learn, yet once you get it down, it is quite fun.

Handmade Lampwork Feathered Peacock

Here is a beautiful set of 9 round lampwork beads, and a focal, all listed together as one set on Etsy. I also handmade the Murrini used on the Focal. I have finally made it back to my torch. My broken leg is feeling much better, so easier to sit at the torch and make my Hot Glass Beads.

Seed Bead Crochet Rope

This is what I have been up to since I broke my leg, last month. I have taught myself how to do seed bead crochet. I have to keep my leg elevated, a lot, to keep the swelling down, so I am now totally addicted to making these ropes. Now to make up some patterns of my very own. Whoo Eeee!!, I am having some fun,when not making Lampwork beads. After all, you have all that time, while the kiln is cooking, and waiting for the BEAD FAIRY, to determine if you get a great batch of beads. Sometimes, you wonder what the heck she did in there with your beads. I could not have possibly made some of the Uggly ones. Big Smiles. :)

Fire Divas

This is a great blog to follow if you are a Lampwork artist. A little something about the blog:

About the Fire Divas
We are a group of lampwork bead artisans promoting the use of artisan made glass beads. We believe that, by promoting one another's work, we all benefit.

http://networkedblogs.com/p28300405

Frogs and Lampwork Glass

So this is what I have been up to lately. I think he is just adorable, and I only have one left. I better work on this tomorrow, and make some more.

FREE Lampwork Beads

Hey check out this blog. She is giving away FREE Lampwork BEADS.
Julesbeads.
http://julsbeads.blogspot.com/

Donna Felker CGBeadrollers.

I made this Bracelet with CGBeadrollers from Donna Felkner.
http://www.cgbeads.com/

I used the Round Bead Roller, and the disc. I abosolutely love these tools.

The Chunky Oval, is awesome for making a pendant or focal bead. When you flatten the Oval, you always have a perfectly centered bead, on the mandrel.

Not sure how I ever lived with out these tools before.

Raku Frit, and Etched Spacers.

I made this for my Mother in law this morning.It is her Birthday. She is 81 years old, and smart as a whip!!! Although she does not quite understand that I make the glass beads with a torch. Gotta Love her. The straight sided lentils, I used a very beautiful raku frit, and the company I purchased it from is no longer in business. The spacer beads are etched, which gives them such a nice frosty look. I have a similiar bracelet with butterflys available on my Etsy site. I sure hope she likes this. Maybe somebody in Church will tell her what she has. :)

Rose Pink Bracelet

It's my Birthday today. Still working on my birthday though, because lampworking, is what I love best. Can not think of a better thing to do, than to share with you my new round Beads,and disks, that I have been making. I love to make these round beads. The Pink glass, is such a lovely Blue, Pink, Rose color. Geez, how else can I explain it. Anway it is a wonderful color.

I raked the round beads, while still hot, and then reshaped. I also included a HEART clasp, just in time, for you to give to your sweetheart on VALENTINE DAY.